These gigantic buildings with windows that shimmer like diamonds in the sunlight have started occupying more and more space of our city and the hearts of youngsters who inhabit it. [break]
Young people these days have more love for the glamorous indoors than the dusty outdoors. Although more developed countries like America have seen the comings and goings of mall rats, Kathmandu has started experiencing them too.
A visit to any of the malls in and around the city will yield loud groups of teenagers, wandering the marble halls, not doing anything in particular.
“I love coming to the mall with my friends,” says Archana Vlak, a 17 year old. “When we don’t have anything to do, we come to the mall and just window-shop,” she says. Archana also adds that there are days when she spends around three hours window shopping with friends.
Teenagers these days seem to have a varied set of interests, and the malls provide them all. Girls look for places to shop and to spend time chatting while guys frequent the bowling alleys, the gaming parlors, and the movie theaters.
An assortment of all things that attract the average teenager, the malls seem to be the ultimate destinations.
Although a mall seems to attract all kinds of teenagers, there appears to be very little interaction with new people. Teenagers have their own groups and stick with them, very rarely extending their hands to new people for friendship.
“I never meet new people at the malls,” says Archana’s 16-year-old friend Shreya Shrestha. “I come with my group of friends and spend the whole day with them,” she adds.
But assuming that teenagers visit the malls only with their friends would be quite a misconception. Teenagers frequent malls with their family members too.
Although when it comes to a day out in the mall with their family, teenagers tends to have a purpose – may it be shopping or just a lunch date with the family.
“Everything’s easy and accessible,” says 22-year-old Sabbu Maharjan. “I’m here hanging out with my sister and it’s amazing how I can have coffee with her, shop and watch a movie with her without leaving the confines of the building. Everything’s available when you’re in the mall. I guess that’s why we spend so much time here.”
Saroj Bhattarai, 18, says he loves the mall especially because of its many attractions.
“I love spending time in the game parlors,” he says. “I come with my college friends and spend a lot of time here. When we get bored, we move on to a movie or to the food court.”
Seventeen-year-old Vitastha Khadka agrees, ‘I visit the mall every weekend with my friends. I love how malls are one-stop destinations and I have everything I want in one place.”
Malls also seem to be replacing restaurants for dating. Couples can be seen walking out of movie halls, shopping together in exclusive stores and taking snaps behind the thick curtains of photo booths.
“I love coming to the mall with my girlfriend,” adds Saroj. “I take her out for a movie and can have a quiet conversation with her at the food court outside.”
The anxious minds of the teenagers wander a lot, and like the unconscious habit of flicking channels while watching TV, teenagers nowadays have so many things to occupy themselves with that they tend to get bored indulging in an activity for a long time.
This is where malls come in, like different channels, offering different activities.
And if one mall does not seem to satisfy, they tend to hop to other malls nearby. With so many things to do, and with so many forms of entertainment and so many ways of having fun, teenagers are wired now to experience many different things. In this, malls help to provide all those things that teenagers love.
Kathmandu currently has five malls – Civil Mall at Sun Dhara, City Center at Kamal Pokhari, Star Mall at Putali Sadak, People’s Plaza at Khichcha Pokhari, and United World Trade Center at Tripureshwor.
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