Fun of reading outdoors
Some of the places where I have enjoyed reading:
Windmills, Whitefield
I don’t remember who introduced me to this place. Cannot thank the person enough! One of my favourite things to do on Mondays is to visit Windmills in the afternoon, and stay there till they ask me to leave.
I usually occupy a table near their huge balcony. There’s always a gentle breeze drifting by, which is so relaxing that sometimes I doze off! I remember reading Harari’s Sapiens there.
Nandi Hills
Like all Bangaloreans, Nandi Hills has become my staple. I go there whenever I need a break from work and when I don’t have any plans on the weekend.
The last time I visited the hills was on a weekday. I sat on one of the many rock benches they have near the museum at the top, and read Fall of Giants from The Century Trilogy. The lush green surroundings, the whisper of the wind against the leaves, and the absence of a crowd made me feel as if I was alone in the hills.
Mysore Zoo
Well, this was strange even for me. One day I accompanied my friend to Mysore to see a prospective bride for him. While he spent his entire day getting to know his potential bride, I spent it inside the Zoo engaging with my book (No wonder, I am still single!). I sat beside their Giraffe enclosure, and got to see a couple of them when I occasionally took my eyes from the book.
Bangalore Volvo Bus
I have a habit of boarding Bangalore Volvo buses on Sunday mornings to go around the city. I choose my routes randomly, and get down only when I am hungry. The buses are almost always empty during early hours and thus, perfect for Idly getting around. If you have seen these buses, you know how bright they are inside. They have large glass windows through which the sunlight spills in brightening the worn out seats.
On these trips, I like to sit near the window seats in order to observe the city rushing by with a book in hand. Between watching the scenes unfolding outside to imagining the one painted by the books, sometimes I forget to get down on my stop.
The one book I remember reading on one of these trips is The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.
Hikkaduwa Beach in Srilanka
I went for a 5 day trip to Srilanka with a couple friends before the pandemic. Everyday, we used to go to Hikkaduwa beach and laze away there watching the waves, and turtles. There was no checklist of places to visit, and our time there stretched with us on the beach, yawning back at us. I remember carrying two or three books with me on the trip, and reading it surrounded by this bliss.
Enteveedu Homestay - Wayanad
Surrounded by thick forest on three sides, and a paddy field on the other, Enteveedu homestay is a perfect haven for nature lovers. This is easily among my top 10 places for relaxing, and it goes without saying that I have visited the homestay many times. Whenever I go, I usually stay there for about a week.
My favourite room is the one on the second floor overlooking the paddy field. There is nothing like sitting on a chair in the balcony of the room, and reading throughout the day. In between reading it is a pleasure to observe the idyllic life unfolding outside in the paddy field. The way the workers, both men and women, arrive in the early hours to start their work, how they flock together in the afternoon to chat and eat lunch sitting on the matted ground, how they disperse after that to nap wherever there is a shade and the way they resume work with much hesitation after their slumber. There is nothing extraordinary about these events. But, the simplicity, and unhurried pace of their everyday life never failed to fascinate me.
Cafe Mondo, HSR Layout
My go-to-place for cooking up ideas. It is conveniently located a few blocks away from my office in HSR. They have an open terrace on the first floor, where I usually sit because it is almost always empty as most people prefer sitting downstairs. I’ve read many books there - novels, technical books, and work related materials in this cozy upbeat cafe spinning their hot lattes.
Ashram & Garden in Whitefield
This was one of my earliest memories of Bangalore.
One day, one of my friends who reads a lot and is also a writer asked me to accompany him to Whitefield. It was quite far as we were living in HSR at that time. Anyway, I tagged along with him. We went to his friend’s place in a posh society. The highlight was the large and well maintained garden there. Seeing that, we asked his friend for a bedsheet, and then spread it out on the garden to sit with our books.
In the evening, we went to the nearby Puttaparthi Sai Baba Ashram and read there for a while. It was quite an experience to read while watching devotees come in their Sunday best to the temple.
Tirumala Compartment
Once, my mom and I decided to visit Tirumala without making any booking reservation as we wanted to experience the crowd and jostle of travelling pilgrims. So naturally, we ended up spending a lot of time, a whopping 18 hours to be exact, inside the compartment waiting for our turn. Fortunately, I had carried Chitra Divakaruni’s Palace of Illusions. Even the noise around me couldn’t stop me from enjoying, and appreciating how Divakaruni gave voice to the silenced, and misunderstood Draupadi. I completed it before we had to move forward in the queue.
Bangalore Airport
It feels good to visit Bangalore airport when there is no pressure to catch a flight. You should try it. I usually sit at Cafe Coffee Day (CCD), and watch people hurrying by. There is something so happy about watching people at airports and railway stations - there are some hurrying to catch the flight, some eagerly waiting to welcome their loved ones, some hesitating to send off their loved ones, and elf-like children pushing trolleys twice as big as them! I enjoy reading in the midst of all this.
Inside my car
Whenever I take my mom out shopping to the Metro store on Hosur Road, I don’t accompany her inside. It usually takes a couple of hours before she winds down, and I must say, I am a poor companion. So, I prefer to sit inside my parked car during that time, and read. From my car, I can see the hustle, and bustle of the city, the never-ending traffic, the weary security-guard guiding the cars inside, and passersby who glance at me from behind their shades while hurrying to their car. This constant noise of life ironically makes me concentrate better on my book. I remember reading To Kill a Mockingbird on one of these shopping trips.
Open terrace of our office
During the early days of my career, we worked out from a bungalow in HSR. It was quite beautiful. The house was designed in such a way that there is natural light spilling in all throughout the day. Big rooms, large windows, and an open terrace.
Those days, I used to arrive way early to the office, sometimes at 6am so that I could sit on the roof top open terrace and spend some time alone before the employees came in. There is a modest garden on the terrace where I usually sit with a book in hand, observing the early birds outside. I remember reading a lot of business, and technical books there.