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Malls..The New Hang-out Spots !!
Posted by Pradeep Sadanapalli | April 19, 2008 | 496 views
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Meeting up at the coffee shop is passe. So don’t even think of the chaat bandi or the humble tea stall near home, those seem downright tacky. Gully cricket isn’t happening either. As for local theatres, they hardly ever use their ‘House Full’ tag because like the good old parks, they are teeming with rowdy folk too. So where are our smart youngsters hanging out for their daily dose of gupshup? The MALLS, where else!!!!
Youngsters find malls to be the coolest solutions to the scorching summer days. They have adopted malls as the right venue to chill out after bunking classes at college or over a cuppa with someone special after hours. To shop, eat, catch up on a movie or simply laze around, malls across the city are the most happening hangouts for the Next Gen.
“We want entertainment, not just meaningless timepass,” claims Gavin Joseph, a B Com final year student of St Mary’s, who frequents a particular mall in Banjara Hills just to freak out with friends. Malls provide ‘wholesome entertainment’ he insists, explaining why fun-loving college students and young professionals throng to these commercial complexes almost 24×7, even when they do not intend to buy anything. The logic goes that if your wallet (or that of your friend, if you are lucky) is full you might just be tempted by all that lovely stuff on display, but even if you are cash strapped, you could just try out some games or snacks at the food zone!
Youngsters are no longer satisfied with meeting at parks for a casual conversation over endless cups of chai or ice cream and candyfloss. “Parks are boring! You have more options in mallsyou can try out clothes, find shoes and accessories that match, freak out at the games section, sip some coffee when you’re tired or get into a multiplex. Time just vanishes and even if you simply sit on the stairs and chat for hours it’s hundred times better than watching birds in parks,” beams 21-year old Sipika Khandelwal. Coupled with the need for wholesome entertainment is the brandconscious cosmopolitan crowd that doesn’t mind spending more for comfort and some classy fare.
Nitin Chabria, a 28-year old techie echoes the trend. “Both my wife and me are so busy on working days that we hardly ever go out together, even for our household shopping. But of late, we try to meet up at a mall near Punjagutta after office, to shop, have dinner and sometimes even catch up on a night show. Thank God we get to pick it all under the same roof; otherwise considering the traffic jams, moving across the city at peak hours is more stressful than relaxing and it ruins the entire evening,” he says.
So whether it is for the brand, chic ambience or a relaxed atmosphere, malls certainly have their finger on the pulse of the young crowd, which is constantly challenged with “aap sirf santusht hai?”
SOURCES:
Times Of India
Topics: Malls, Latest Trends |
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