Malleswaram Station and Visiting Family

Family: L-R: My grandfather's brother, Ashish, me, and my grandaunt.

Ashish and I at Malleswaram Station almost 20 years after we took the train to Yelahanka from the same platform. :-)

When I was a kid and mad about trains like most little boys are, my grandfather used to take Ashish and me from Malleswaram Station to Yelahanka on a Saturday morning. We'd pack some breakfast and take the hour ride to Yelahanka and back just for the fun of it. Today, I got to go back to Malleswaram Station. Gone is the cute little stone station from the days of the Raj right out of Malgudi Days. R.K. Narayan supposedly based the fictional town of Malgudi on Malleswaram and Basavangudi, hence MALleswaram and BasvanGUDI= Malgudi. It is now been replaced by a modern monolith with a big sign that says "SOUTHWESTERN RAILWAYS-MALLESWARAM."

We first went to see the house in which I grew up. Well, that house has now been razed and my Mom is building apartments. After we examined the construction site, we went to see my grandfather's brother and his wife. It was nice seeing them and catching up on the gossip. We then saw some old neighbors and friends. Fun times. Walking around Malleswaram is interesting. I see so many things I remember and so much has of course changed.