For..umm..?

This blog officially marks the end of the second weekend of February 2008! Before you ask, there wasn't any significance to this past weekend, I was just being melodramatic (that's the price you pay for being a regular reader here - sucker!). No, I haven't hit my head against any blunt and/or sharp object, just that it's been some time since I could express myself so freely and hence made full use of this opportunity.

Anyway, enough of the nonsense prelude to the forthcoming..err..nonsense. I am sure you are curious w.r.t. the title of this post. Even if you are not, please read it again and gather some curiosity from somewhere.

The sole purpose of this post is to tell a sad, maybe even tragic story. The story about a girl who has lived in a city for the past seven years(eighth year running) and is yet to witness/visit/ experience one of the most overrated places in the city - The Forum Mall. First, a little bit of background. This mall was built in..err..ok, you don't need its history, let's just say a long time ago, for convenience sake. This was the time when the word "mall" did not make your mind conjure images of glitzy showrooms, over dressed people of all age groups, escalators (functional or otherwise) and eventually, a hole in the pocket.

The closest anything got to the concept of a mall was what was referred to as "super bazaar". A set of shops, in the same vicinity and if it can be helped, in the same commercial complex. But there in lies the catch. I mention "shops" and not "showrooms" on purpose. The former served some essential purpose where as the latter serves just one - spending. One met the needs where as the other meets standards. Anyway, I am starting to sound like a Marxist now, so let me just get on with the story I was building up.

As you can imagine, when such a place opened here, right here in namma Bengaluru(translates to our Bangalore), it was an event! Relatives and cousins from everywhere asked about it and made it a point to pay a visit to this place of worship (of shoppers i.e.) and friends were busy planning when and how to go there. What about me? Well, here in starts the tragic tale. Every time something was planned, I was either ill, out of station, busy(don't laugh!) or just not invited!

Days turned into weeks and so on and so forth. Finally the whole world and their step cousins had been there, done that, except yours truly, of course. College days were left behind and I started working, working quite close to this temple of commerce, by the way. I was presented with an opportunity again, past Saturday. I leave it upto you to guess what happened. By the time we started for it, it was late evening and the plan was ditched, again. There are other malls in Bangalore now, mind you, but there's something about Forum.

My company bus goes right in front of it in the morning and behind it in the evening. That's as close as I can come to it. I look outside at it every time and think to myself - "one day I will conquer you, my Everest"(hehe..heights of melodrama eh?).