2nd of B'lore series: 'Sony World'

Sony world is literally a world in itself, a world full of memories, people and me! Throughout my six months stay in B’lore, there was not a single day without Sony world. Its much more than just a crossing or signal in koramangala, for me it was always a pause… no matter how small or big. I always had to stop and think or wonder what next! Not just because it was this junction from where I had two options to walk down to my room in Nidhi villa after coming back from office, but because it was this junction which decided how I was going to spend my evening that day!
The very first time I came across this name ‘Sony world’ was on the internet while searching for an accommodation in koramangala. Its mention in many addresses sure made me imagine this place as a very famous and big landmark in koramangala. And indeed this small Sony showroom has extended its neighborhood presence to a much bigger area which also includes other big landmarks like Mahindra Renault showroom exactly opposite to it, the Reebok showroom next to it, the adidas showroom, a nice and populated hanuman temple, subhiksha store and many more… But its only the name Sony world which everybody associates to this whole area… I wonder why? ‘Sony world’ sounds like absolute truth and all other places have mere relative existence like ‘near’ or ‘opposite to’ Sony world! Truth… like this … is beyond logic…
Ohh but this is not why this place is close to me.. its more for the memories it created during my stay in B’lore. After a lot of loneliness and frustration during my stay in REVA guest house, located million miles away from the B’lore population (or for that matter any population of human beings and all other animals), just the evening I shifted to my new room ‘near Sony world’ (hahaha), I got to meet meenu! and in a very surprising manner… Next day, on Sunday when I left room to explore the koramangala area, it was this Sony world where I saw shweta waving her hand at me!!!... There are countless surprises like this, associated with this place… most of them involving this guest appearance girl meenu! This is the place where you meet nice people whether you decide or not!....
I don’t know if it is just coincidence or what, but whomever I met in B’lore, at least once it was near Sony world! I have so much about this place in my mind that I can’t write everything but just pause, wonder and smile. This is the place which never did let me feel lonely or lost… I wish no matter where I go in the world, let there be a ‘Sony world’… ‘cause there is nothing like meeting surprises!!!...

Shanthi Sagar

Very true name indeed! The typical south Indian refreshment place in koramangala… where I daily used to eat idli, wada and south Indian coffee… But what got a special place in my heart is something else… the tree outside shanthi sagar!!!... my thinking tree…
I have spent hours sitting under that tree, enjoying every sip of my favorite coffee and thinking very peacefully, about yesterday, today and tomorrow… everyday! It had become a very integral part of my daily routine. Every evening on my way back home from REVA office, I used to get down near shanthi sagar instead of going home straight away. Initially it was more of a means of spending that critical evening time among ‘people’ instead of sitting alone in my room in Nidhi villa. Evening snacks and coffee was one more reason, but it could have happened anywhere there…
But sitting on the chabutara under that tree never required a reason… just like having millennium coffee at middle gate till 1:30 in night… It used to give me so much peace to be with myself and think calmly… No it was not at all a peaceful place or the time like my middle gate at midnight. But then I feel peace doesn’t necessarily refer to silence or absence of sound.. Its more like absence of all those things which keep you away and separated from yourself!... Familiar people, their activities, thoughts, your duties, responsibilities… all these insulate you from yourself more than the irrelevant noise of strange people! And that’s why having coffee under that tree outside shanthi sagar was so peaceful even though surrounded by so many people and noise. Probably my inability to understand their conversation in kannada also added to the ‘peace’.
There was no one there to ask me why I am sitting there for so long and what I am doing… just me myself and my own time… not just the time I used to send there, but also the time in my past and my future which I used to think about… I don’t know why… It was magic of that tree I guess… I don’t know where I will be tomorrow… But I hope He has made such peaceful thinking places for me… wherever I go…. like middle gate and shanthi sagar…