Deepawali 2024 - Strolling around Malleshwaram

Deepawali is the season when Bengaluru feels like old Bengaluru. With hardly any vehicles or people in sight, the city seems to return to the quietude of yesteryears! The city feels void with surprisingly no traffic and walkable areas. We decided to stroll through Malleshwaram Sampige Road, soaking in its Deepavali vibes for the day.

We had sweet start to day savoring Rabdi Jamoon prepared by bestie in house. Once done with relishing the dessert, we started our drive to Malleshwaram!

It was annoyingly smooth drive :-D. Hardly took 20mins to reach Malleshwaram. The entire city was out of city! Momentarily I felt like Bangalore broke free from its reputation of a traffic choked city. We also could get easy parking in Malleshwaram and quickly started our exploration. Being festival day, most of the shops were closed. But the street vendors and remaining ones were enough to cover the day. Malleshwaram felt strangely empty, devoid of its usual bustle. This seemed like Tier-2 city than a metro one.

After a short purchase by wife, we decided to hop into Asha sweets. I have heard their famous Badam Milk. We ordered Dabheli as well. It was our first eat. Perhaps that was best eat we had. TIll date, I have not found such a tasty and soft dabheli. I have been to Asha sweets thereafter for couple more times but couldn't get stock of Dabheli. They say that stock gets emptied by noon itself. Many vendors do not prepare Dabheli perhaps due to lesser shelf life? The Badam milk was too delicious as well. Thick and balanced sweetness. Just the way I want! Here are digital version to fill your tummy!

Next stop was to be unstoppable and wander more :-). We explored further and local markets had these aesthetically setup plastic garlands. Malleshwaram doesn't mean cheap, just that its full of energy!

Goodupeeda, decorative hanging nest lamp. People buy it during Deepawali festival. We generally reuse

It was lunch time and we didn't find any good restaurants. Most of them were closed due to festival. The one we found was Bharjari Bhojana was overcrowded. It implies lack of quality. Also wife was in no mood to munch south indian meals. We headed to nearby small darshini and had light food.

The famous Dosay joint of Bengaluru, the Central Tiffin Room. Not sure if it was holiday today or not. They have close timings during noon. We saw crowd slowly queuing up in front of restaurant. Perhaps, its open today. We don't prefer this famous joint anymore after no-hype maiden experience. But this joint has large fanbase in Bengaluru!

Once done, the next stop was to savor natural ice cream and wind up the day. It was long walk and was worth it. The store was relatively empty. These are the ones who started the real fruit pulp ice creams. We consumed jack fruit and one more which I dont remember now. It is worth the price. Naturals came up unique real pulp based ice creams without preservatives. They have grown into one of the most popular ice-cream brands today.

We headed back home. Another empty signal to cross. The signal was flipping its colours for no reason. Absolutely no traffic. Authorities could have permanently shut off signal for the day I felt :-D.  It was just 20 mins drive again. This stroll  turned in food tour largely than buying anything. It was just for resetting the mood and matching the  festival frequency. Things were expensive in Malleshwaram which would get in lesser prices nearby house. The food is inevitable part of any journey and unavoidable.

The night was fully lit with fireworks and captured few of them!