In search of a soulful weekend


In olden times, families would get together on a Sunday afternoon to go for a picnic to a beautiful place in their city. There were keen interests in visiting tourist locations to see the ancient architectures and understand the ancient culture back in those days. This custom does not hold good today. We have become mall addicted.
In today’s world especially in India, there have been rapid mushrooming of shopping malls. Around two decades ago when the concept of a shopping mall was just cropping up it was merely a place to do window shopping with high-end designer brands. Today, these malls offer a one-stop family entertainment arena offering shopping delight, food delight, gaming delight, movie delight along with an indoor comfort from the external weather. This has been a go-to place during weekends.
How many times in a month do you normally visit a tourist location like a monument, museum, a renowned garden, planetarium or a historical site in and around your city?
You may argue that what’s the point in visiting a tourist location multiple times? It remains the same even if one visits it after decades. Well, in that case, what drags you to these shopping malls practically every weekend? Do these malls undergo a makeover every weekend? No!
If you visit a historical place, you can learn something new about it. You must have noticed those rectangular tablets with beautiful caricature displayed outside every monument or a historical site giving all the historical details. How many of us actually read these and even after reading the entire details, would you remember it for years? The answer is obviously a NO.
Well, you are not expected to be a champion in the field of Indian or World history but it is always good to gather more knowledge about the historical facts of your city.
You also get a chance to be with your near and dear ones and spend quality time with them rather than leaving them alone in a corner in a shopping store while hunting for your favourite pair of shoes or a particular handbag for hours together.
You practically waste so many hours just skipping from one shop to another without finding anything worth your choice. In a museum, you can spend hours appreciating different articles on display and walking alongside your family or friends reading the minute words in front of the articles displayed.
It is a leisure visit, unlike a shopping mall where you queue up at the parking gate, at the food court, at the billing counters and even for using the trial rooms and the restrooms.
In the end, a leisure visit becomes a memorable experience. A visit to a mall is a regular fare which eats away a lot of your precious time especially on a weekend.
A family time in a nearby park is much more worthwhile. You would never return disappointed, unlike the shopping experience where one feels cheated most of the times. It’s not worth your time.









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