Streets of Okalipuram.

By Lasya Priya

Bangalore is a vibrant city. It is not only known for cafes and malls but also popular for street shopping. One of the interesting places in terms of existence of various cultures, languages, and fabrics is Okalipuram. It is located near majestic.

Okalipuram is familiar for fabrics. They are sold in units of Kilograms and meters. Existence of various languages and cultures makes the space interesting to observe. It is a mixture of Tamilians, Kannadigas, north Indians, Andhra and Telangana people. At times it could also be a sensitive area. The inner lanes are similar to commercial street, but differs in terms of sale of goods. It consists either materials or ethnic wear. Although it sells wide range of varieties in terms of patterns and designs of clothes, customers mostly prefer purchasing the cloth over readymade dresses there.

Architecture of this area is another captivating factor of this locality. The shops are situated in the ground floor and the houses are on the top floors. Considering this aspect, the area becomes a combination of residential and commercial space. A similar arrangement can be found in chickpete and K.R. Market.

When walking on the streets further, for a student of cultural studies it gives a different experience to listen to different languages in different lanes and directions. This combination of languages might make an interesting place but the cultures or groups do not interact in their day to day operations. For example: one street will have shops of only Tamilians but in a different manner with respect to other streets. They could have a minimal conversation but there was no strong evidence on bonding between these cultures.

One of the disadvantages of this place is food. The other street shopping places in the city such as Jayanagar, Majestic, Malleshwaram, etc. attract customers by installing restaurants and small-scale eateries, Okalipuram plainly focuses on textiles. It may not be crowded in comparison to other places but it is beneficial for individuals with good designers on hand.