By Ashish Arora on May 30, 2011
Mall culture in Varanasi
The Mall culture paints a portrait of the new-age changing Varanasi. Big and attractive malls are seeping through the city by leaps and bounds. Youth of the city is so captivated by the mall phenomenon that they don’t find any other place most suitable to hang out.
These newly-opened malls have provided a better place to young boys and girls in the city to chill out. On their visit to the malls, they can have a full round of it for a time-pass or sit for a chitchat. Also, they can enjoy parties, treats or just tea or coffee at any cafe inside it.
Mall culture in Varanasi
“Youth comes here to be more youthful. You can see some good-looking opposite-sex pairs all around. Really, this is the best place to chill out and time-pass, opines Rohan Singh, a software engineer. Nonetheless, It is not easy to determine whether mall culture is making the foundation stone of a new society. Or the new society is being the backbone of the mall culture in India.
But one thing is obvious that new generation gets a better place to show off and hang out. And this wave does not seem to stop somewhere as there is a way to go. Malls may seem to be most soothing place for time-spend of youngsters, but this is not the only reason of growing interest of people in these places.
Everything under one roof
Shalini Mehta, an interior designer, is of a quite different view, as she says, “you get shopping dinner and movies under a single roof. It gives a relief when you know that you don’t have to wander here and there for different needs. From Big Bazaar to McDonald’s and from Globus to PVR, just everything is on stone throw from one another.” It’s truly a pleasant surprise, she sighs.
Moreover, these malls are based on the formula of ‘something for everyone’. That’s why more and more people are showing their interest in these one-roof theatre-cum-markets. Further, different people have different reasons to approve the culture of this age in the city. Banaras had been depicting the sight of traditional India for years, decades and centuries. Now is the time when, the city welcomes this new era with open arms.
