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Showing posts from September, 2014

Why Malleswaram Railway Station Still Feels Like Home

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Malleswaram Railway Station — a place that never felt like “just” a station. A few months ago, someone forwarded me a video of an elderly lady speaking about the charm of Malleswaram Railway Station. She mentioned how, whenever her children visit Bangalore from Canada, one ritual remains unchanged. Her son insists on visiting the station, picking up idly from Raghavendra Stores, and eating it right there on the platform. I smiled when I heard that, because for many of us who grew up in Malleswaram, the railway station was never just a transit point. It was a quiet witness to our growing up. Even now, if I close my eyes, I can hear the metallic rhythm of trains slowing into the platform, the echo of announcements bouncing off the tiled roof, the smoky sweetness of roasted maize drifting from the bridge, and the soft warmth of idlies wrapped in paper from Raghavendra Stores. The station was never silent — but it always felt peaceful. For nearly a decade, ...

The quick witted

We get to interact with different kinds of people on a day to day basis.  Add a few kids to the mix, the interaction level changes completely.  It's always fun to get down to their level and have a nice discussion.  There is always a takeaway at the end of it; it's always a pleasant experience.  Their depth of interest in things always leaves me dumbfounded.  "How do kids pick up that? How can they be so smart and intelligent?" Anyway, to cut a long story short, as we were house hopping for Navarathri, I happened to meet a cute little girl over the weekend at my wife's friend's place.  Kids are adorable, and this one was no different.  She was like a bullet train, asking million questions a second, expecting you to keep pace with her and belt out the answers.  She is just six years old. "So, you and my father are school classmates?", she asked me. Nope, I replied. "Oh, so you and my mother are classmates?", she turned to my wife. ...