Chitra Santhe–a riot of colours in Bangalore

Its that time of the year again when Bangalore gets colourful and celebrates art and artists. Head to the Chitra Santhe where stalls filled with a riot of hues are put up in the street leading from Kumakrupa Road till Chitrakala Parishad

Bangalore - Madurai sector - Desperate in need of a Jigar Thanda

Sometimes its easier to book a ticket to an international destination that book a ticket within India. I have been planning Madurai for ages from Bangalore and it seems to be next to impossible to get a ticket to this ancient Tamil city. There is just one train that runs on this sector everyday and a few others are scattered through the week but they are booked this entire month.

I tried for some cheap flight tickets and was surprised when I realized that there are no direct flights. All flights are routed through Chennai. I checked Air India, as I thought the national carrier should have better connectivity but the flights had a stop over at Chennai too. I have been online the entire week, looking at fares and some of them are as high as Rs15,000/- Yup..you read that right. Besides Jet and Spice Jet that offered cheap fares, the rest of them were expensive. And most airlines like Go Indigo does not fly to Madurai unfortunately , for I have now started flying them everywhere thanks to their penchant for being punctual.

I vaguely remember an airline that used to fly directly to Bangalore. I guess with Kingfisher folding its wings, loads of airlines have now dropped sectors on their routes. Madurai is not even a remote destination for that matter. I can understand if I was flying to Timbaktu. I have no choice but to go back to the Indian railways and check for tatkal . If all goes well, I leave tomorrow and will be cooling off with some Jil Jil Jigar Thanda

Travel Tuesday– Go bird watching- Black headed ibis

Drive barely a few kms out of Bangalore and sights like these are very familiar. Here is a flock of black headed ibis foraging for food in the paddy fields

Birding in Hebbal Lake, Bangalore watching pelicans

I was in Hebbal Lake in Bangalore, watching pelicans with some friends. I shot a couple of videos when we saw these beautiful birds in the waters. A friend explains the different kinds of pelicans while you watch them flying

Birding in Hebbal–Pelicans in flight

Pelicans in Hebbal Lake, Bangalore

Bringing home the Ganesha

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A little girl is putting finishing touches to the Ganesha that she is hoping to sell from the streets of Malleshwaram, Bangalore. I love the festival but the loudness is a bit jarring to the ears. Please celebrate Ganesha with a little concern to the environment also.

The spotted owlet that wishes me good morning

I have been lazy most of last year, but this year,  I have been pushing myself to wake up and head out for walks in the morning. And the motivation is a spotted owlet that greets me with a scowl whenever I chance upon it on my early walks. The owlet and I are half asleep but we spend a few moments gazing at each other, it looks down at me and makes a face and I grin at it.

On my birthday however, I took a few photographs of the bird and I found out there were two of them , probably nesting in that little hollow of theirs. Only one posed for me, that too rather reluctantly, while the other flew away.

I decided not to disturb them again by taking pictures, but we still greet each other every morning .

I saw it today as well on my morning walk and it did come out and sun itself on the branch for a while before disappearing into its home

2011 Flashback - The sun and the moon

The last day in 2011 and I leave you with some of my best memories of the two homes that I often shuttle between every year. The distance between the homes however is 360 kms. I am referring to Madras aka Chennai and Bangalore. 

2011 was a wonderful year from a travel perspective. I travelled extensively in the South of India - Tamil Nadu, Kerala and of course Karnataka. I had also a variety of travel destinations - birding, wildlife, heritage, people, culture, arts and crafts. I also visited Madhya Pradesh and Uttaranchal for the first time

Internationally one of my best years again - I was invited by Tourism Ireland and then by Jordan Tourism Board

Plenty of  travel coming up in 2012 . Meanwhile, here is my last story in 2011 for The Hindu - What traveller type are you ? Do let me know what you guys think..

The Marina Beach  in Madras was in a wild fury under the effect of the Cyclone Thane. However I did not carry my camera with me then . This is a photograph of the sea taken in the night with the full moon glowing on it . And my last photograph in 2011 is from my balcony in Bangalore, gazing at the setting sun. I took this photograph the day India won the World Cup in Cricket

 To see more photographs and posts, visit my Facebook page on my travels

Shatabdi musings - from jolarpettai - part 1

Sitting in an ac coach of a train and looking out thro the window , I feel like I'm living in an ivory tower watchg the world go by - yet the world outside seems to be headed nowhere - two lone people bicycling their way in opposite directions in a vast open green field ; a railway crossing where an assortment of cycles and bikes are waiting for us to pass so that they can get on with their lives : two drongos surveying the scene from the wire and some bikes and cycles parked below an old mandapa . After a montage of picket fences, old and new towns, vast open spaces, fields, dusty buildings, some huts and encroachments, lakes and trees , the train pulls up at jolarpettai for an unscheduled stop . The smell of cold vadai and upma comes in as breakfast is served .

The old and the young, the sleepy and the silent, the restless and the curious, the bored and the bores , all wake up suddenlty to attack the cold food, not necessarily out of hunger , but just to fulfil the need to do some activity .

A curious kid is still at it - the questions keep coming - idhu traina busa , namba eppo madras povam, nee enna sapre ( is this a train or a bus, when we reach madras - ok the kid said chennai , what are you eating ?)

Some phones ring and loud voices fill the air . A man switches effortlessly between kannada and tamil giving some instructions , another is talking about blackberry phones, the girl next to me is singing besura with her headphones on , aunty close by is reading her favourite magazine .

I shut my mind and look out , but the sun is shining right through . I draw the curtains, close my eyes, put the phone on silent and try to sleep or at least day dream . Another three hours to go to reach Madras .

PS - This is my first ever live post from a train and its the first time I have used my phone  - Blackberry to blog . Thankfully, the network is very good . As I travel between Bangalore - Madras (Chennai) every month , I hope to make Shatabdi Musings a monthly feature  - hopefully you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy posting them 

Where would you like to be this Monday ?

For a change, I would like to be no where - just be at home,enjoying a sumptuous Ugadi  lunch at my in laws place and gaze at sunsets from my balcony, like I did over the weekend

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 ..

India through my eyes - colours of sanctity

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

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. 

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 .

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.

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

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..)

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

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 :))