The Johnson Market

If you walk out of my apartment building, take a left onto Curley Street, walk past Alexandria and Serpentine, and head towards Aga Abdullah, you will run smack into the Johnson Market.

Walking into the market is like stepping directly into a time portal. The building, the people, animals, sites and sounds seem totally removed from the IT parks and luxury stores that have become the hallmark of new Bangalore. The Raj-era building faces busy Hosur Road and is hemmed in by a Shia mosque on one side and an unreal kabob, shawarma and roll joint called Fanoos Hotel on the other.

The market caught my attention when I visited Bangalore two years ago but I was a little hesitant to venture in on that trip. This go-around I'm a regular.

I will never forget my first expedition into the center of the market upon my arrival a few weeks back. All seemed relatively tame until I turned a corner onto the goat aisle. There, hanging from the ceiling, were three freshly killed and skinned goats twisting on their ropes. Blood was still dripping in beads into small pools on the floor. My jaw must have dropped a mile but it got better. Just a few yards away a live goat was tied up awaiting what was sure to be a similar fate. We locked eyes and I whispered to myself, "you're definitely not in Kansas anymore."

Poorly lit, dirty and a little intimidating, the Johnson Market has to be one of my favorite places in the city. It certainly seems to be the heart of the neighborhood.