GAP

                                                                                Gap                                                       

This is not about the clothing line of stores, but about the ever-growing ‘gap’ which I continue to witness in our globalized world. See, on V Day, me and two of my friends decided to go for the 1Billion Rising (human rights on women issues) @ Cubbon Park. The adds were pretty impressive, and so were the facebook updates. Times of India covered it pretty well, and Anoushka Shankar was also expected to be a part of the dance cum rally.

Full of excitement and gusto, we traveled on the autorickshaw, with my cell phone GPS on, cz we had no idea where the main venue was. And we were fully prepared with an extra dose of sunscreen, comfortable shoes to dance through the streets of Bangalore, expecting a flash mob, and my friend with her Nikon SLR, and me in my compact Sony HD to take videos.

But alas, we reached the venue, and it was a pathetic sight with just a few handful of people, poorly organized, a few tribal women, eunuchs dancing on a handmade drum, and a few wannabe activist at the main entrance of the park. The whole ‘show’ seemed to just want to attract the attention of the heavy traffic jam cars, honking away to glory and 7 or 8 police officers trying to patrol the streets. This wasn’t what I anticipated at all. I had images of a Times Square type of hub, people packed through the streets like the time when Kolkata Knight Riders won the IPL, and full music blasting the streets of Bangalore with every woman, girl, student, activist, doing the Gangnam style. Even the street plays were so pathetic I cringed when I saw it, live paintings were somehow ok, and that was it. Where was the 1 Billion blast I was expecting???

So, full of disappointments, my friends suggested we visit UB City, which was right on the opposite side.We walked there, and lo and behold, I wasn’t in India anymore. Jimmy Choo, and LV greeted me, the mall looked like Dubai, and even the guards there were polite and posh. Of course we just strolled there for 15 minutes and made our exit, because this was way off our budget again.

This lead to an interesting discussion, the ‘GAP’ between the rich and the poor, the haves and the have nots, the downtrodden across the streets who lay their hopes and voices on a group of a poorly organized pot-smoking activist with their Fab India get-ups, and tie-dye t-shirts, and the high street fashion people in their BMW’S with just a road dividing them.

This is Bangalore, and this is India. …  and will I ever live to see the day when this ‘gap’ will close in I wonder…

But then I didn’t have much time to think, for we three were starved and thirsty and googled  ‘just dailed’  our way to Millers 46,  a cozy nice pup, with just the right amount of burgers and steak and drinks to quench our hungry stomach, and within our middle-class budget.

So that’s how I spend my V-Day 2013… experiencing disappointments, getting frustrated and gobbling it all down with a nice Texan style beef burger and a cool glass of margarita   the ‘tap beer’ would have gone better with the burger, but then they said they don’t serve tap !!!