Travel In Home: Bangalore

Showing posts with label Bangalore. Show all posts

Some local flavour..

Radha, my friend calls it my eating marathon , but then she knows that I am no foodie. But what probably happened yesterday is a case of taste buds taking over my senses as I relished more than 25 different varieties of dishes, The fact that most of these dishes would never find their way into a regular restaurant's menu made the experience even more delicious.

A journalist friend, Aruna dragged me to South Bangalore yesterday to an event called Aromas of Karnataka where an entire local spread of vegetarian cuisine , representing every region of Karnataka was spread out for the foodie. I lost count of the many vadas , dosas and the rotis I tried as I munched into sweets and savouries..There was Davangere dosa, akki roti , dharwad peda, neer dosa , mysore masala, maddur vada, Mangalore bonda, guliappa and I tasted specialities from Malnad, Karavalli, Mysore, Kolar, Bijapur, Hubli-Dharvad besides the regular dishes.

Chatting with the cooks who got excited as I started clicking photographs, I heard that most of them had moved from interior Karanataka to Bangalore. One of them shyly posed for me, while preparing fresh sabakki vada. I learnt that he was originally from Udupi and he has learnt many dishes from almost every part of Karnataka..

As I was getting heady with food, musician Shivamani started rehearsing for his concert as a part of the Bengaluru Ganesh Utsav. . Here are the details for those who want to listen to some music while savouring hot pakoras. Mandolin Srinivas , Pandit Jasraj ,Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Sonu Nigam and many more are part of this utsav

As a traveller, Ive always avoided overeating as it creates problems for my sensitive stomach. But local cuisine is something that excites me. It forms part of the fabric of local cultures and most of these dishes, prepared from a simple leaf or a spice tastes heavenly. And sadly, one needs to search for some of these dishes in Bangalore which is known for its cosmopolitan cuisines , but seems to have forgotten its own local flavour ..

by Jour ~ Thursday, September 16, 2010 0 comments

India through my eyes - colours of sanctity

Selling like hot cakes - mountains of colourful vermillion in an Indian bazaar

by Jour ~ Wednesday, September 15, 2010 0 comments

The Ganesha comes home - India celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi

Frenzied drum beats as towering Ganeshas are paraded in autos ,crowds beating the rains and shopping for their puja paraphernalia , chaos wearing the cloak of a celebration - this is Ganesh Chaturthi , according to me the most frenzied festival .

And this is just the beginning as the loud pandals, the processions and the immersions are yet to happen. Today however Bangaloreans forgot the slush and the rains and flooded the market, looking for their Gowri and Ganesha.I was in Malleswaram, where the action happens . A newly constructed building was rented to house the ganeshas that had arrived from Bombay and they landed in hundreds , some of them as tall as 8-10 feet. As mayhem set in, I walked down the market, where the finishing touches were given to some clay ganeshas .

I love festivals in general, as there is so much of energy and colour around. But with all due reverence given to Gods , I am not very excited with the chaos this festival begins. At home in Madras, we used to buy a small clay Ganesha and once we finish with the festivities , the Ganesha is left under a tree and slowly the clay blends with the environment.

But many others immerse their Ganeshas - some in buckets and wells in their houses, while many in the seas and lakes around . unfortunately unmindful of the damage they bring to their own habitat.

by Jour ~ Saturday, September 11, 2010 0 comments

Bangalore skies get all dramatic

There is a lot of drama in the skies these days.. Bangalore skies are all fired up and dramatic during sunsets these days. I enjoy twilights and sometime back, I had posted my thoughts on twilights in one of my blogs.

Watch more pictures of the sky at Skywatch Friday

Btw, I was pleasantly surprised when I found a mail in my inbox informing me that I have been nominated for Indibloggies -2008 in the travel category. There are quite a few blogs out there in other segments as well. I would appreciate it if you can take a few moments and vote for me .

by Jour ~ Thursday, December 3, 2009 0 comments

Birding over the weekend - Getting there !

Ive been birding over the last few months and Ive enjoyed looking at them, learning to identify them, listening to their calls and also observing them. I was initiated into birding thanks to NTP (Naturalist Training Programme )conducted by Jungle Lodges and also some friends who guided me and even helped me picked up a binocs ..There was a time when every weekend I used to wake up early and go for birding and then there was a long hiatus. Finally, I went birding again yesterday and for the first time tried my hand into photographing birds. Shreeram,a friend , photographer and blogger lent me his lens and this is one of my favourite shots from yesterday's birding. An egret landing at TG Halli.

by Jour ~ Sunday, November 1, 2009 0 comments

Nature calls..

There are some moments in life when you realize that the most simple things in life are the ones that we ignore the most, take them for granted and assume that they are always there..

They also happen to be the finer things in life which we cannot do without - the birds, the bees, the trees, the flowers, the deer, the ants, the spiders,the grass, the thicket and before I say like Keats "and the fruit tree wild..", let me tell you that my vain attempt at poetic prose is inspired by the 3 days spent in a Naturalist Training Programme organised by Jungle Lodges.

I went bird watching for the first time and it was amazing to wake up to an orchestra every morning. We spotted close to 20 species and some of them stay quite fresh in my mind. The special moments were the sighting of the Tickell's Blue flycatcher and the paradise fly catcher, the purple sunbird,the small minivet,the golden oriole,the Eurasian eagle owl, the red wattled lapwing and the blue bearded bee eater. However, it wasnt just them.

It was about realizing that all nests may not belong to birds, but could be that of a social spider .It was also about looking at the differences between the red vented bulbul and the red whiskered bulbul,the magpie robin and the Indian robin,the spotted dove and the laughing dove, listening to the call of the puff throated babbler, the sighting of the coppersmith , the sillhouttes of the wing patterns of the swift and the swallow in flight,the eye of the oriental white eye,the brown cap of the pygmy woodpecker and the white browed fantail. The colours are still so vivid in my mind and I realized that just watching these birds and their behaviour can be so addictive . I wondered what really took me so long to get to the world of birds.

But its not just the thrill of seeing and discovering birds..its also about discovering the world around you that makes you alive and gives you an identity.Its also about telling you that there could be a world soon when all these will slowly die or disappear as their habitat gets taken over by man.Its also about discovering that for every species of plant lost, we lose 30 species of organisms. There is drama,tension, mystery, colour and wonder in this world which we often miss. Unfortunately there is also death and decay here which we are indifferent to.

On a different note. Some quick updates here...
This blog has been selected as the featured blog in Best Indian Blogs and Im quite kicked about this..Thanks guys for reading my blog and making this happen. Im off to a new destination day after, a hill station ,a fort and a forest rolled into one..Any guesses ? You can look for answers in Cerebrate . Ive been missing out on all your posts and will catch up when I am back next week.

To view different parts of the world please click here

by Jour ~ Monday, March 30, 2009 0 comments

Back in Bangalore -

Travelling is often passing one milestone and moving on to the next. I am now back in Bangalore and lazing around in the summer heat.My thoughts however go back to the photowalk in Chennai last Sunday.

I walked up to the milestone(in the previous post) to take a picture of it from the other side. It was at the intersection of Egmore over bridge and Poonamallee High Road in Chennai. With all the muck lying around, it was written in Tamil -

Poondamallee - 22kms
Bengalore - 328 kms..

The Poonamallee High Road leading to the village is one of Chennai's main arteries and it also connects to the highway - NH4 between the two cities. Well, I didnt take the road this time, but the late evening train. By road or rail, commuting time between the two cities is just under 6 hours (oops - had written years by mistake..my dad called to correct it..and in the meanwhile quite a few comments as well..)

by Jour ~ Thursday, February 26, 2009 0 comments

Wildlife Photography exhibition in Bangalore

Do visit this exhibition if you have the time .It is at Chitrakala Parishad.Gowreesh is a friend of mine and he is also a graphic designer and blogger . He blog, Bimba is in Kannada and even if you dont understand the language, his photographs are wonderful. He is also a writer at CLAY

by Jour ~ Thursday, December 11, 2008 0 comments

Some monkey business to attend to...

I had visitors today at home...unwelcome though. A couple of monkeys entered my 3rd floor apartment through the balcony while I was seated in the living room, watching a film and trying to work on a story . They sneaked in post lunch. We have an open kitchen and the house is kind of seamless, so an entry inside the kitchen virtually meant they are in my drawing room. It was a rather cloudy day, so I threw the balcony doors open .I saw a movement through my bamboo curtains and I thought maybe it is the wind or probably a bird in my little garden, when I suddenly spotted one monkey stealthily sitting next to the sink in my kitchen balcony..I rushed to close my balcony doors when I was stopped by one sitting happily inside my kitchen munching a carrot that it has probably snatched from somebody else's house..Today I had skipped preparing lunch and there was nothing in the house to munch..not even a stray biscuit ..so the monkeys probably had knocked at the wrong number. They didnt give up though..when I finally with the help of people chased them away, I saw one desperately opening a dustbin and gnawing at some pieces of apple and orange peels. They had plucked some flower buds in desperation and tugged at the clothes and left some paw marks in my kitchen ..but fortunately disappeared..Some monkey business this.Incidentally this is the second time I am seeing monkeys in this area in these few years Ive lived here .(By the way, the monkey in the picture is not the one that visited me today..this was taken at the Shibi temple at Tumkur..I had no intention of photographing my visitors.more keen on chasing them away :))

by Jour ~ Tuesday, December 9, 2008 0 comments

A dark day for Bangalore

The eight blasts in Bangalore have thrown the city out of gear and it is very unfortunate that terrorists have started resorting to such cowardly acts to psyche people. The discussion is not about whether it is a low intensity or a high internsity act and how many casualities were there..Its sad that it happenned and we only hope the authorities ensure that it doesnt happen again. My thanks to those who inquired on my wellness and I do hope that fellow Bangaloreans are safe and healthy ..I was on the way to the railway station to catch my train to Madras and I am now posting this from the sunny city. I am travelling again tomorrow and will be back to the blogging world within a week to ten days..Until then , take care and have a safe weekend

by Jour ~ Friday, July 25, 2008 0 comments

Sunday Stories

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by Jour ~ Saturday, April 19, 2008 0 comments

Life and lifeless in Bangalore

Nature has a way of portraying the different facets of life, the contrast between being full of life and bereft of the same. Its amazing how both these perspectives are in the same location . Sankey lake, Bangalore .

by Jour ~ Sunday, January 13, 2008 0 comments

The sun sets on 2007

A year doesnt end where it starts ..My last post this year is a tribute to the two cities - one that has shaped me and the other, which I hope will shelter me ..Madras /Chennai and Bangalore. And I thought the setting sun will be an apt metaphor for all that went right and wrong this year ..Im more an evening person and the soft, pink rays and the twilight zone have always been special to me .

To my family, friends and my fellow bloggers - Wishing all of you health, happiness and lots of positive energy and attitude ! Thank you.

by Jour ~ Saturday, December 29, 2007 0 comments