Namma Metro and the AvarebeLe Mela

29 Dec 2025

Took an Auto from Home (Sahakaranagar) to  West End – Sampige Road Malleshwaram, for the annual watch servicing.

Walked down to the Mantri Square - Sampige Road Metro Station – 11:38 when I entered. A Ticket to the last line of the Yellow line Delta Electronics Bommasandra Station. (₹80) 

Interchange at RV Road station — Clean signage to the Yellow Line. Waited for 14 mins before boarding. Given that it was a loop back on the same train, it felt a good time to put on some soft music and reminisce at all the development in that area, mostly residential now with most of the office space having already taken shape before i left Infosys in 2014. 

A young guy, who boarded at Silk Board station,  took out his ID card and prayed for a good day before getting off at Infosys station in 16–17 minutes.  I smiled, thoughts rolled back the years struggling in the office bus (during the construction of the flyover). It would easily take ~1 hour to cross Silk board at the time, i believe even with the flyover it would take 40 mins in peak traffic now. To do it within less than half the time and predictably is so convenient.

Swiped out at the exit at the Bommasandra station. Immediately bought the return ticket on Whatsapp (useful to have the BMRCL number and easy tickets via a bot). Came back through to same platform and boarded the same train. Destination was National College, ₹70  with the change at RV Road to get to the green line. Reached in about 45 mins.

Got out of the station and walked for about 5 mins in the dusty afternoon winter heat to the National College ground for the Avarebele Mela. Spent about 30 mins trying different items than the usual dose and holige.

• The Mela is open till 04 Jan. 
• Parking available, but it looked full and therefore can be chaotic. 
• Digital payments work, but as all places with crowds, network becomes a problem so better to carry cash. 
• There are different counters for each type of items, prepare for some lines.
• There is a premium ticket (available online), entry to a seperate tented area which has everything available plus a bunch of tables where you can sit and eat. Definite respite from the sun and crowding IF you can do justice to 399, which i think will be tough to do for one person.

Avarebele Masala Puri - VERY YUM

Chikki

Avarebele Soup

Avarebele Vade

Neera - Refreshing

Walked back to the National College metro station to head to MG Road (Purple Line). ₹40. A few stops on the green line takes you to the interchange at the always packed  Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Metro Station (NDPKG). The station signage has improved and I think it is a lot better now to move around (with some additional stairway/exits created). 

Switched to the Purple Line  before getting off in MG Road. Got out through the Church street exit and walked by to India Coffee House. The place is really old now, the waiters are older, the tables were mostly still occupied, which was nice. Had a quick cutlet and a really sugary coffee and walked back to the station.

MG Road to Sampige Road (₹40) is a quick ride, though it has the dreaded NDPKG interchange for the Purple to Green again. I appreciate the ladies-only exits and queues there, much needed. The home guards do a fair job in keeping the lines in control and generally try to discipline people, but I think the only way this can get better is if the frequency improves even more. 

Quick change to the Green Line, one stop back to Mantri Square Metro  – back to where I started in the morning. 

Walked back to West End to pick up my watches and stopped at the usual shop for Tamil calendars. Quick pit stop at Bhagyalakshmi Gulkand on the way back. The place has shifted a few roads over, but it was fun to enjoy Dry fruit gulkand with ice cream. Hopefully with all the walking I burnt enough to justify all the sinning. 

Quick auto ride back home. Approx. 6-hour day end to end.

Exactly 4 hours start to finish at Mantri Square. Overall experience was good. Doing the same by road would have taken minimum 50% more time, add driving stress, parking, and general chaos. Major win for mass transit. After all these years and good ridership, the trains are still amazingly maintained, as were the stations i was through.

The cost was ₹250. Same as a Day pass, minus the hassle of loading a card physically and paying a ₹50 deposit, which would have meant standing in ticket lines twice. 

Have been looking forward to the three line metro exploration for a while. Happy i could do this today. Looking forward to when the North and East Bangalore become part of the network in 2027.