There is never as exciting a time in life as bachelorhood because he has all the time in the world to pursue whatever he wishes and do whatever he wants at his own leisure.Well this statement is coming from a married guy(me) so I might be a bit biased.ITS OK.Because post the marital-phase your wifey’s wish is your command.So before you skips the next sections thinking I am the typical bloated mid-aged guy,let me move you to a different location.
10-15 am IST.On a cloudy Saturday, I had to come down to diary circle as my wife had some work in her office.So to kill time I did what I knew best.Go to Forum Mall ,the happening mall in Koramangala.I thought it would be a good idea to go ahead, spend my morning at Landmark and read all the mags available there!I promptly entered Landmark at 10.30 –quite an early time to come to a Mall ,but nevertheless it was starting to wake up to activity and the college kids were slowly making their way into the mall.I walk pretty briskly than the usual mango ppl(or so I am told) ,I thought to myself –‘dude ,chill you are here to kill time’ and I consciously slowed down my pace.Got into the books section.That is when I noted two things.1)People still love books and 2)Computers books are not available! I realize there are lots of people who still love reading on floors sitting cross-legged as much as college kids skimming through the international mags that they can ill-afford.There are loads of sales and discounts going on each section.But even I picked one ,my thought process went like …”let me see ,how much will this cost on flipkart?”.This is what we do now isn't it? We are all looking for deals and comparing coupons and checking on the cheapest deals.So there goes my book buying options .I even saw the pick any for 99 offer also,which were available earlier only at select discount book houses stacked with non-sense novels or the once in a blue moon book festival.I still remember those days,how exciting it was to see so many story books in a book–fest at school ,all printed and packed and fresh with some bookish odor!
10.30 am IST.I looked around and saw kids making mayhem, couples being lovey-dove,teens chatting away and middle-aged folks being busy on the smart-phones.Typical scenes everywhere.Never-the-less ,I have always wondered how is it that the worst guy in town gets the good-looking girl?(now where did this thought come from?)Well mind works in amazing ways when you don’t have anything in particular to do!So I thought lets do sociology and anthropology(though I never consciously thought abt these subjects).And as more “mouth-looking” I went, my beliefs were confirmed.The skinny – scrawny kid hanging on to his low waist jeans was ignorant of his bombshell of a gf!WTF! I mean, you should have been drooling all over her.Again all of ‘em had a common factor .THEY HAD MONEY TO THROW IT ON THE BITCH!(just adding a few swear words so that someone censors me and I get critically acclaimed)
11.00 am IST.Hovered to the CD section which also had loads of deals .There were deals on Blue ray also as well as DVD and CD’s.Well then how many times have geeks bought DVD’s and blue rays from these stores.Of late never would be the answer .In this age of Torrents and YouTube, you can pretty much watch anything at your own leisure and for free!Times are tough for these retailers in believe .Anyways I just lingered along in this section just to see how much cheap(discount), it will get ?There were DVD’s for just 49/- but still my developer mind said –“Never mind,chalo” I moved over to the toys section and kids were having a great time.Toys with remotes ,scrabble ,puzzles,action heroes,angry birds …the list goes endless.Kids are always on the lookout for new toys no matter how much they have.I wish I were a kid again !Finally I decided to check out of the store with some books (which is more of a impulsive buy
),but as I paid the bill with my CC, the system hanged and they had to write the customers,the old fashioned receipts.11.30 am IST.I went back to doing what I did best in college days or rather teens,”staring”.I was starting to get frustrated with my waiting .Why do guys have to wait and girls get away with it with a smile(never happens vice-versa)??And then I thought let me get a breath of fresh air .So I went outside and sat just outside the Mall under some small tree.As I looked around, I could see that all my neighbours were couples and they were all staring at me, with a look that screamed “PERVERT”.Impervious ,I started to fiddle around with my smartphone and then I realised that its been a long time, that I had a chat with my friends.Hence I started to call the numbers.It was a good exercise and I had a nice time talking to college friends and fellow mates.All this while, I failed to notice that a couple of girls from the nearby beauty shop had come along and sat nearby.And there I was chatting and laughing away in the typical mallu style,and I think there were more mallus nearby than I had presumed,as they smiled along to my boisterous demeanor.Its later that I realised that among this whole crowd of couples and teens, I was the only odd man out.And it was not in the sense, that I didn’t have a girl beside me .I had two sales girls next to me!And they were giggling and laughing away to something as well.OMG !Even as I felt the ever rising urge to escape from the place, a couple of girls came along and passed that look which literally said “cheapo –is this all you could manage?!”
1.30 pm IST. I hurried to the food-court on the top floor in the mall as I realised my hunger pangs had got the better of me and I also need to use the bathroom.Thankfully as fate would have decided the bathroom was under repairs and I couldn’t use it.Anyways I grabbed some food from one of the non-veg counters and sat down trying to figure out, where my wife was.It would take another half an hour before she could come down.I thought let me wait for the next half an hour.I could see from inside that the clouds had ascended and it would sooner or later bestow its tears over namma urru.I slowly came down the top floor and quickly went to the opposite side of Forum Mall.I didn’t want a repeat of the pre-lunch event.I started my calls to friends again.And it felt good to catch up on old times,old events and talking of our new experiences.Friends were all doing good in their own lives and half a dozen of ‘em(I am not exaggerating on this one!) had managed to knock up their respective wifes.Phew time sure flies by,but the talk that we boys did mostly didn’t change much from out college days.Old jokes,whisky,cricket,football,tech,comments on babes….etc –though not necessarily in that order!
3.30 pm IST.Finally my wifey managed to get out of work and come down,though it took another half an hour to reach Forum Mall.It was a good wait and I could enjoy the Bangalore Fashionistas on display and ah that cool breeze when BLR is gonna rain!I wanted to check out the Manchester Club United Pub but it seems it is no longer in business.There will always be a next time, when I am left alone a bachelor!!
