A piece of heaven

After successfully managing to screw up my glasses this morning I had no option but to drag my ass to the optician's to get them fixed. (Just for the record, I detest doing anything useful on my Saturday's off! ). With lenses in my eyes & a frown on my face I took the elevator down to the parking lot and drove towards Moledina Rd. Driving sans glasses puts a whole new spin on the word "painful"!

Two minutes of driving, eight minutes of reverse parking & five minutes of handing over glasses led me to the newly opened Landmark in SGS Mall. Now for those of you who haven't been taking notes during my rants.. I love bookstores! Landmark was previously situated next to Dorabjees & I loved the nooks & crannies, the fact that each floor catered to different stuff & that even though it was so spacious, you'd have to squeeze yourself between the racks to get from one aisle to the other. Why do I love crowded book stores? They just seem to have a lot more character!

So when I walked into the new Landmark I'd already decided I'd hate the place. It is afterall a huge open space with everything literally "under" one roof. Little did I know that this would be my columbus moment of the year (you know like Christopher Columbus.. I discovered Landmark. Oh forget it!!) The new Landmark is everything the old one was... and then some. While the ground level houses music, movies, gadgets, stationery & games, level one is filled with all the books your heart could desire. While not really comparable to an attic, I'd say the book section is really warm & inviting and the aisles are still narrow enough for you to bump into random strangers while checking out the latest reads. I spent almost an hour just browsing through the fiction, indian writing & romance sections and locking eyes with atleast two intellectual looking guys!

Once back down I skillfully avoided the movies section and went straight to the toys & games area. From huge Santas to automated BMWs to DIY painting kits, they have it all. Hopefully their in-store cameras didn't capture my awestruck expressions for the bored staff to play back & laugh - a 26yr old behaving like an 8yr old kid. They even had some glowy, hangy creatures filled with water for a little over 100 bucks. If only I'd figured out a use for those, I'd have bought a couple.

Landmark also has the most impressive stationery section I have come across in recent times. They had calendars, planners, telephone directories & notebooks in all shapes, sizes, patterns, colours & paper textures, a hand-made paper aisle, folders, office supplies, pens, markers, pencils, canvas, artist paints, crayons, shading pencils... the list is endless. At one point I felt so overwhelmed by all the amazing things around me I had to take a deep breath to calm myself down. Overwhelmed by awesomeness :) Oh and I may or may not have spent 20 minutes fiddling with a Transcend music player cum digital photo frame cum video viewer type thing.

Landmark on Moledina Rd - a must visit if you're in the city & my own personal piece of heaven in Pune!