Standing by the roadside, I was waiting for the traffic to slow down. Almost every latest big/ medium/ small segment had hit the road. Even the public transport has undergone a design upliftment…
Seems to me like an uncanny resemblance to a metro city.
With broad roads and busier people, the city wears a different look…
3 years back the concept of departmental stores was new here. Today Big Bazaar, Spencer and “More” are a craze. Having heard these names, atleast a dozen times from different people, I planned to make a visit to “More”. The idea was to do a bit of “Window shopping of the shoppers”.
Hats off to the perfect positioning strategy of the stores, even a week days pulls in enormous crowd.
Post the checking and frisking, the first thing I noticed were the heavily guarded escalators.
Escalators are new to Aurangabad.
2 domestic helps, strategically stationed at the head and foot of every escalator. They assist the anxiety-laden shoppers to mount and descend safely.
With footprints of a big city already making grounds, we see the resident’s adaptation to changes. At the same time, they manage to leave a beautiful local feel with at every stage.
If metros are popular for a BIG “NO PARKING” in front of multiplexes, Aurangabad joyfully erects mobile ferry rides and chaat stalls outside them. For those familiar with the term, it gives a typical Anand -Nagari feel.
FM Radio is another revolution. To suit the taste of the city audience, the Radio Jockeys generously host majority shows in Marathi. The buses/ auto rickshaws tuning the FM for popular numbers, has become a value added service for the commuters!
Well, for those wishing to hear, if anything at all remains unchanged in this city, for nostalgic purposes, gleefully I say “Yes”.
Maximum people (here) still call it a day, by 6.30 or max 7.00pm.
Post 9.30pm, the roads give a deserted look, where, even the sound of a barking dog, echoes.
Independent houses score over Multi- storeys, as it has been for so many years.
Local Newspapers continue to shout on top of their voice, when a bollywood celebrity visits the city.
“Lokmat Times” hasn’t changed its supplements or style. Saturday Sizzler, Sunday Montage, Campus Carol….all are the same with handful amendments, if carefully noticed.
And thanks to these unchanged treasures, that the city remains SPECIAL for a few!!!
10 comments:
nice and tight take on todays metro culture and then connecting it with aurangabad..
Congrats for enjoying metro culture in your city, but simultaneously, don't forget the other India -
http://bhaarat-tab-se-ab-tak.blogspot.com
Well, many cities in this country are fast changing into metros..as the financial condition of Indian middle class is improving..
nice post on metro culture keep up the good work
good post... u'r flow was gr8!! :) keep it rolling!
thts a vivid picture of how things are changing fast in India...thanks to globalization...
i like the pun u used in talkin about "more"...
liked the way this post flows..well written
Let me tell the story of a little girl. She was the quiet sort, never revealing much. When she went on annual vacations to the big city she collected stories from her grandma but wanted to hurry back to her own uncrowded town called Oulangabad.
For higher studies she moved to the very same biggest and baddest city. Over the years the little girl turned into a young, dynamic lady who stood out from the crowd. She found a new medium to express gracefully her many original thoughts. Now she told amazing stories and the world listened (or read)!
When she visited her school town again, she observed changes but amidst the nostalgic reminiscence, she could also detect the unchanged--with the right ("write") eyes. And that became hers-tory.
Blessings,
G Unc
awww.. good
Yes, the city has grown big from what I had seen it of 15 years back on my first trip to city.
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