Parks are central to our lives. We have very few left, but they are therapeutic, writes RESHMA KRISHNAMURTHY SHARMA

The green cover in Bangalore has been through a lot of changes and thankfully one of the forms it has managed to survive is in the form of parks. One cannot deny the importance of parks. It is not only an essential public space but also one of the visible signs of greenery.

From people who step out early mornings for their daily jog or a bunch of collegians who would like to catch up at a park or a group of housewives to senior citizens who find these parks the ideal place to unwind with or without their grandchildren and couples who look forward to get cosy ; parks are utilized by all age groups.

Whether people go to a park for health or to enjoy nature; parks play an important role as critical lung spaces in the city. Many residents agree that a park is welcome space.

Arun Pai of Bangalore WALKS says: “If you have noticed, most of the residential areas have had the history of housing parks from a long time. Even now you can find parks in a planned residential area as compared to a commercial area. A growing trend is also seen where builders recognise the need of a park for people and have started incorporating mini private parks within residential complexes.”

“The weather of Bangalore unlike most other cities is very conducive through the year for a person to spend time in parks either for a walk or jog or to chat up with friends. Moreover parks bring out that positive energy in you; I want people of Bangalore be proud of what we have in terms of greenery. It may not be what it was fifty years ago but everything is not lost. Going by the sheer numbers who throng Cubbon Park and Lalbagh we need to be satisfied with what the city has and try and improve it wherever we can.”

Says Nidhi Jain, a young mother, “It is because of my son that I go to a park in Vijayanagar. In fact, five years ago I was new to Bangalore and hardly knew anyone. When my son was a year old he would feel uncomfortable in the presence of many people . Soon I realised that a park was the ideal place for him to get used to people and I too needed company. Today, I have many friends from this park, most other moms get their children, so they get to play and we get to chat.”

According to Neeraj Parashar, a businessman, “It is only in the recent days that I have started going to parks for my morning walks just before I hit the gymnasium. The feeling of fresh air and watching other people exercising, is quite an inspiration.”

Echoing a similar point of view is Yashwini. P, an executive in a television channel says: “I regularly go to the Bugle Rock Park in the evenings. Unlike the vehicle-choked Bangalore roads, a park for me is a space where I completely unwind and have time for myself.”

With entertainment options in cities getting expensive by the day, spending time with family and friends in parks is becoming common sight. While the city can never be as green as it was, let us at least save what is left of it.

Park Bench

If you want carbon levels to sink, save parks.

The focus in most parks is on traditional trees including Gulmohar, Pongamia, Eucalyptus and Bougainvillea.

The two largest parks in the city are Lal Bagh and Cubbon Park. They are home to more than 1,000 species of plants including trees that are over a 100 years old.

Bread has become a staple at the breakfast table in most Indian homes today, thanks to the convenience factor, finds RESHMA KRISHNAMURTHY SHARMA
KICKSTART THE DAY There’s a profusion of stores selling specialty breads

Talk about a normal day in an urban Indian household, most will mention having bread as a convenient and natural choice for breakfast.

Obviously the change has made many women thank bread for excluding her from the hassles of preparing a full-fledged breakfast on a busy morning.

It is no longer surprising to find varieties of bread as part of the breakfast spread at a star hotel or the bakery around the corner doing brisk business. Moreover, there are enough patrons who find bread the most accessible, convenient and healthy option in their diet. Cities like Bangalore are finding a shift in stores selling breads.

Well-maintained specialty outlets like the chain of Daily Breads have driven home the point that bread is a product that can be had in delicious options and can be viewed as one of the edible and appetising foods available.

Reasoning her habit of consumption of bread daily at her home, Preethi Williams, homemaker and mother of three growing children says: “With crazy schedules in the mornings, it is difficult to prepare elaborate breakfasts. Bread is a healthy option, it is all the more better because you can add vegetables, salads, cheese and make it interesting even for children.”

Lalitha Vishwanath, a soft skill trainer in her late 50s says, “I think it is the concept of convenience.

“Food habits over the years have changed and it is no longer practical to stick on to traditional breakfast options like paranthas or rice items. We do accept that breads at our home are the only alternative as mornings are packed with eight lunch boxes to be sent out. Even if I had the time to prepare it, neither me nor my daughter-in-law would venture into it as we find bread ready to eat, and light on the stomach.”

There is also the notion that traditional forms of food, particularly breakfast foods, were digested more easily by people earlier who did a lot of physical work.

Down the ages

Says Dr. Swami, a fitness consultant: “Ages ago it was acceptable for people to consume heavy breakfasts or elaborate meals during the day. Today with most people doing desk work, everyone prefers a light and quick breakfast option, even for lunch.”

So how healthy is having bread as part of daily diet? Says dietician at Manipal hospital, Sreemathy Venkatraman: “Brown breads are a better option than white breads as at least 50 per cent of the nutrients are retained in brown breads. I always recommend those in the habit of regularly consuming bread to go in for whole wheat bread.

“But one should remember that it should be in moderate amounts and not take it as the only meal on a regular basis.

“However, to make it nutritious for children or for other family members, you could top bread with a cheese spread or peanut butter or just toss a vegetable sandwich.”

Talking about how the trend has actually caught on with Indian homes, Manish Gaur, director, Institute of Baking and Cake Art, says: “If you observe, bread is a food product that is gradually consumed across all socio economic groups. Right from the lower middle class who would be content with chai-bread, youngsters have started binging on varieties of sandwiches and you find urbanites picking up a loaf of bread every other day. It also stems from the natural attitude that urbanites have adopted — time and effort cooking food preparation at home.”

“What started out as a product primarily given for those who are ill, today it has become part of our daily diet,” he adds.

“The only thing is that one needs to be aware that brown bread is healthier than white bread and that there are couple of more interesting varieties of bread, which Indians are not even aware of. If specialty outlets or bakeries start introducing varieties like French bread, rye bread, or pita bread, one would have more options of having a healthy food product.”

Though most homes have made bread their regular dose of breakfast, it not uncommon to find people to have bread at other meal times, particularly to save time and enhance convenience.

TRENDS Commercial pockets are springing up in every locality making the word glocal more meaningful in an age of franchises says RESHMA KRISHNAMURTHY SHARMA

Step right up If the customer does not come to store, the store will go to the customer

Old-time Bangaloreans will agree that nothing is more dramatic for a city like Bangalore than its changing physical dimensions. The influx of a floating population, growth in the IT sector, introduction of the call centre industry made the city suddenly wake up to a boom and its accompanying nightmarish transitions.

These days each area is so self sufficient and well contained that a resident living in Jayanagar need not venture out to the city centre for shopping. Large volumes of traffic has meant that people are reluctant to travel distances for their shopping or entertainment needs. The presence of malls and branded stores in most parts of the city, creating little pockets of consumerism, makes shopping and life for the consumer easier.

Retailers are recognizing this trend and you have branded stores in multiple locations, be it clothing, groceries and eateries. The local kirana stores are gearing up to the competition and we find them offering innovative packaging, high quality standards and efficient service.
Magic mantra

The mantra is that if the customer doesn’t come to your doorstep, you go to his. Every business is adopting the multiple-presence strategy be it branded jewellery stores supermarkets, multiplexes, eateries like pizza outlets or even branded beauty salons and fitness centres.

The franchise model has made businesses go into an intimate level of client-customer interaction.

The very fact that a trusted brand is in the neighbourhood makes shopping and eating out much more convenient and hassle-free.

Says Bhushan Oberoi of Casa Piccola restaurants: “Within Bangalore, all our eight outlets are on a company-owned model whereas in cities like Chennai we are on franchise mode. It is a natural way of expanding one’s business.

“If you observe, particularly in cities and metros, people are getting more and more reluctant by the day to travel long distances.

“So obviously a trusted store or entertainment outlet in the neighbourhood eases the strain of travel. Also for businesses, it helps in creating a larger footprint.

“Although there is the ever-increasing infrastructure costs, whether it is manpower or the skyrocketing real estate prices, one has to go along with a multiple-presence model as it becomes a necessary mode of evolving the brand.”
Worth the effort

Manjul Gupta, owner of the well-known beauty spa and salon chain Body Craft, says: “Even though there is deployment of additional manpower and infrastructure, having a multiple presence is worth the effort.“

Also there may be initial teething problems to ensure the same quality is rendered at every centre, but with trained staff and policies in place, it is quite manageable. Now we have a lot of clients who are quite relieved to find a centre of their choice closer home.”

Lathangi S., a resident of Jayanagar, says: “I have been living here for the last 35 years. Though Jayanagar was one of the first areas in Bangalore to develop at a faster pace compared to other areas like Banashankari or J.P. Nagar, today you find each area is becoming self sufficient in every aspect.

“Be it supermarkets like Food World or Nilgiris or even cinema halls, one need not move long distances.”

With multiple stores, a business or a service is also ensuring that they retain the loyalty of a customer, who might otherwise switch over to other brands if they find distance a problem.

However one of the core reasons for multiple presence of stores is the attitude shift in the Indian consumer. With rising incomes and disposable amounts on hand one does not mind splurging it easily. It is even better if there is an option of spending it closer home.

Coffee shops are not just lively hangouts for bubbly college-goers
THE WORLD IN A CUP Cafes offer a lot for people who want to meet

It has been a while since coffee drinking has emerged into a lifestyle habit. Visiting your neighbourhood coffee outlet to relax with friends, family and colleagues has caught on over the last couple of years. However another noticeable trend is that these coffee outlets are also doubling up as workspaces thanks to the increasingly informal work atmosphere. Meeting a client, setting up the initial business talk, working on a pending presentation; all of these can be done over a cup of coffee. With changing attitudes in work cultures, the concept of Friday dressing, informal customer-client interactions, it is perhaps an expected change that work, for several professionals, is stretching to new spaces.

Needless to say coffee outlets are welcoming its new set of customers. Simran Sablok, General Manager–Marketing at Café Coffee Day says, “The trend of using cafes as a workplace is not confined to the metros alone; we see this across the country. People running individual businesses find our cafes an attractive option to meet their clients. The cafes are convenient to discuss business, or meet before a flight out of the city.”

Many cite the ambience and the location at various points in cities as a major plus point. Prakash Paul, voice coach and Radio Jockey cites his reason to use cafes for official meetings: “First the ambience is unofficial, which allows a person in a business like mine to sit and talk to people. Another thing I have noticed is that there is a free flow of thought when people are in an informal atmosphere.”

The other plus point as far as a cordial work atmosphere goes, is wireless connectivity. Many people are seen working alone, either with their files, or on their laptop using the Wi-Fi enabled cafes.

Rini Dutta, VP, Marketing and Product Development, Barista, says: “Given the long working hours and the increasing time spent out of home, our guests sometimes use the espresso bar to catch up on their work. We have noticed this trend is increasing with the progress made in wireless connectivity.”

Whether it is individual businessmen, freelance professionals, executives from a company or people from creative fields cafes are taking a sizeable space in urban life. Rini adds: “Other than chunks of the B-school student community, who get together with classmates to work on a project, we also find entrepreneurs who use Barista as an impromptu office to meet clients and business associates. We are also aware that several senior executives use Barista to meet for job interviews.”

Tapan Roy Choudhury, GM, Operations, Pyramid Retail Ltd. Says: “Cafes are located in central points, which eases out travel time and helps when one wants to have a quick meeting. Many are comfortable to meet a client or colleague at cafes like Coffee Day or Barista though senior executives of a company may meet at a coffee shop of a star hotel, which still is work at a café.”

Even though at times the noise level gets high, people who use cafes for extending their work insist it is ignorable and one can select cafes that have more of an office-going crowd rather than going to a café in a residential area. In any case it is perhaps another way of combining work and fun together.