Meerut Musings

Culture shock for a city slicker… small towns are small, but not too far behind! For all those of you who thought that tank tops and Nokia N-Series phones are only to be found in Ansal Plaza, Meerut proves to be an unlikely spoiler.

Zipping past a posh residential locality, you see a “Men’s Salon”. The name? A very with-it pun… “Head Masters”! The façade, at least, looks straight out of Malabar Hills!
In the ultra-swanky PVS Mall, while hanging outside the Pizza Hut outlet, you see a girl talking on a Razr. The t-shirt legend is disarmingly honest… “So many men. So few who can afford me!”. Ah – women’s problems never change!

You go past a supermarket… 711. The signage is an exact replica of the chain-stores you had seen in Bangkok, a large Seven (in numerals) with an Eleven (in letters) along the bottom. However, a local points out jokingly that a more appropriate name would be Eleven-Seven! The store seems to be opening only at 11 and promptly downing shutters at 7! After all, with the rising crime rates, you cannot take a risk – he reasons!