24th December, 2021.
My classes had gotten over at 12pm, and we had nothing to do. My impatient soul kept triggering me to leave the campus and go to a random, crowded, messy place. I couldn’t recollect the last time I went to a wholesale market due to COVID. I didn’t look for a company, neither did I know which bus to board. Nevertheless, I went to the bus stand and stood for about fifteen minutes. A waiting game. A few minutes later, I found myself sitting near the aisle. Traffic was sprinkled upon the blacktop that day as if the roads were a playset that came with only a few cars. I just kept staring.
Within thirty five minutes, I could see a tower standing tall, brick-red in color, with beige as the base. It slightly reminded me of the Royapettah Clock tower in Chennai. The crowd was beyond my expectations, and I must admit, too many human heads at once made me vex. It took me two minutes to settle in. My head moved from left to right by reflex. I put my left leg forward and started sauntering.
A few minutes into the place, I found myself staring at familiar shops, familiar names, and it was quite uncanny initially, but I felt I had seen familiar faces too. Let me be honest, I never had the plan to buy something in there. Window shopping is mostly my thing, and I have always loved it. Whenever I go to places like this, I never buy dresses or accessories. I just have a shot of soda. The place had so much to offer, and my brain had disoriented. I decided to have some fun.
I walked myself into Oppanakara Street, and stood in front of a tall, white building with a green label on it. Could have used the escalators and elevators, but I decided to climb all the way. I had landed on a floor full of colourful sarees and lehangas, and within ten minutes, I was in the topmost floor and looked at my watch. A lot of time left. Hmmm. Peeped through the window, and there were way too many colours on the outside.
I teleported myself to two kilometers away from Town Hall, a mall, quite bigger than the malls I had been to in Coimbatore. Jumped right in, and the first thing I saw was a tall Christmas Tree decorated with red and golden balls and silver stars all over. It was beautiful. I wanted to take a picture, badly. But then, I realized I was alone. Never mind. My pacing heart and shivering hands halted me from asking people who were busy drinking mocktails and munching on sandwiches. After about seven minutes, I found a young lady, wearing a long, red top and Levi’s jeans. (I can guess Levi’s jeans quite well, umm). I went up to her and asked, “Umm, excuse me, could you take a picture?”. She looked around for three seconds, (prolly thinking with whom I had tagged along with), and finally nodded. But I must admit, the picture had come out quite well, and that is one of my favorites photographs till date.
I went to the food court and ordered a mocktail. There were several reasons why. One, it was quite sunny, and I needed a chilled beer. But I don’t drink, hence I needed an alternative. Two, I had only a hundred rupees in hand, and that was the only thing I could afford. Three, simply because I love mocktails. I went for the blue lagoon, because… well, I just found it attractive. It was a food court with colourful walls and cute tables, and it took me a minute to search for a place to be seated on.
Things were fine until, a couple of girls, probably of my age, looked at me with rolling eyes. I didn’t care. I took my first sip as I clicked on my Spotify playlist. It felt amazing. By the time I had finished my mocktail, my fifth song was in queue. I left the table with a happy heart.
Then I did my usual thing, which is wandering. The mall was quite big enough to burn a few calories, and I came out looking for a bus. No direct buses, but it was fine. I was happy with how the day went and that made me realize how amazing can solitude can be.
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