Mall Culture?

Cochin or Ernakulam, as it is called, used to be a sleepy li'l town when it comes to weekend life and night life. The beaches, places of historical importance and traditional ways, attracts a lot of tourists, but, youngsters in the city always said - "There is no place to hangout here. Its boooooorrring!". We notice the "difference" when we visit places like Bangalore or Gurgaon. The way of life in these places are different. Its more community-oriented and very social. Ok, Ernakulam can't be compared to both these cities. But, the "Youngster Revolution" was catching pace. A lot of people I know moved out to these bigger cities to look for "jobs and a Life" (as they put it).

It took a number of years, change had to kick some dust! You want a Mall? Ok, a Mall you get! But..but..wait..we have the Infopark (http://www.infoparkkochi.com) that came up first! So, these companies in Infopark employed a lot of youngsters and..they had no where to hangout. No Central Perk to sit with friends and go yakety yak.

Then, came the light, in the form of Cafe Coffee Day (http://www.cafecoffeeday.com) - the infamous cafe chain. Lets say the youth got a flavour of high-priced premium blend coffee and it became a good place to hangout..but for the people with the pockets! The guys got to see girls in jeans and tshirts and the girls saw guys in..ok..jeans and tshirts. You can make out what you want out of that sentence. ;-)

Shhhhhhh! then it came up - THE MALL! Now, I have been to these before in Gurgaon. Malls are..like..Da Hangout Centrallll. Many people here dont know Ernakulam has a mall. Rightly so, we didnt really know it came up. So, the big brands got their shops and displayed those pricey items on the shelves and big brand food outlets setup the foodcourt. Now you got a centrally air-conditioned Hangout place!! Once again the way people acted..changed. The age of the coffee pub got modified a bit. Girls wore jeans and tshirts and guys wore jeans and tshirts. It grew more hugging and maybe even shorter and revealing. Were they buying these from the malls? some do..people like me..who are crazy about some brands. Most other visit what we call "the AC market" (its open air..cheap stuff!) and other shops. These are places they used to shop from! There are exceptions to this..but..you can easily count 'em up.

So, Hangout changed tradition and culture? Hangout changed things about people. A normal guy who cant dream about getting a girl who can afford a glass of Swiss hot chocolate at the Barista, would try-to-be to impress or even get close.

I am not really a "hangout" type of person. I step into the Barista to enjoy a good tall glass of Swiss Chocolate. One of my friends asked me to "get a life" the other day. I argued with her for a longtime. Life is not about getting a steady lover (as in girlfriend), life is not about going to a mall, life is not about wearing those jeans and tees and wearing that wierd look hair and painting up faces.. Life is what you think it is and what you want it to be..and enjoy. Its not something that happens just here in Ernakulam, it happens everywhere, only, you dont really notice it so much in the so-called "modern" places. Its more noticed in places like these.

You could say "Times are changing, man!", but, where is it going and did time really say you need to do such things to advertise yourself? I am not pointing fingers at just the mall. Malls are good. Its a jazzed up shopping complex where you can buy stuff, eat and have a good shopping day!