Busy hands...

A shoemaker is busy sharpening his cutting blade on a special stone in his roadside place. They do help recycle lot of waste material making it usable in other means...

The Shoemakers, also known as cobblers or 'Mochi's' may produce a range of footwear items, including shoes, boots, sandals, clogs and moccasins. Shoemaking is a traditional handicraft profession, which is a common sight anywhere in the city...

Green Bangalore...

Many roads in the city still preserve the green wealth and have huge trees along the pavements, here is one main road in sadashiv nagar.... urbanization demands trees to be cut down or translocated (of which many do survive!!) but the wealth is lost forever....

We are moving...

The famous M G Road promenade trees which make way for the Namma metro which is proposed to run along the famous MG Road are in a process of shifting out of the path.

A detailed project report prepared by the DMRC and RITES envisages a 33km elevated and underground rail network with 32 stations for Phase I of the project. The proposed gauge is standard gauge . On 25 April 2006 the Indian cabinet approved the project, which is now budgeted at more than 54.5 billion rupees (about US$1.2 billion). The foundation stone was laid by PM Manmohan Singh on June 24, 2006, and the work is scheduled to be completed by 2011.

Dosa n Chutney....

Hot dosa's being prepared at a local fast food cafe, the demand for these southern delicacies is growing with all immigrant population too, the simple yet healthy food options are becoming favorites of all day by day...

The true flavours get relished with Sambar and chutneys ( white > coconut and red > tomato) along with dosa...

Roadside ...

Roadside seller offering some clay / ceramic items, it is a common practice to sell such items on the highways / link roads to woo the passers by and save on expensive shop rents inside the city…

Corn on charcoal....

It's cool and cozy, the rains have changed the scenario. Many parts of the city got so much rain that literally caused flooding, but without any severe casualties. We catch up on a roadside corn seller who was offering the corns roasted on charcoal. What bliss to have hot roasted corn in a damp and wet surrounding!!

Lunch Break!!

Lunch break over a roof top....busy city, crumbled offices offer few to get to the roof tops of the buildings in M G Road area and enjoy their lunch with pigeons. Life offers few of such moments and even develops bonds between these lovely homing birds with few left overs from the Tiffin...

Aftershower....

It rained y'day ,,,a night long windy rain, let loose few trees off their flowers, on the pavement as i walk, was greeted by those beautiful evidences... Weather is nice and cool temparatues range 20 - 26 deg celcius! it was a pleasurable walk this morning...

Weekend Veggies...

Vegetable stalls in the of HAL Market area are interesting on weekends, specially on saturdays when everyone seems to shop for the week-full of needs. While this snap is taken a bit before the crowd starts setting in...

Glass Etching's..

A beautiful glass etching of a lady installed in the staircase of famous MTR, there are many such marvelous artworks on glass in and around old houses, temples,churches and inside many heritage restuarents in the city.

The Bull Power...

Sometimes good to see some bullock carts in the city...many being used to carry the small loads of vegies and fruits to supply nearby markets from peripheral farms. These pollution free [except the dung :) ] mean could be the next big thing!! who knows...

Mango Station...

Spencers on M G Road got creative in selling mango's last week. They stocked many mango varieties tempting customers to buy few ... Interestingly, The name of the fruit comes from Tamil and Malayalam language (manga) and popularized by the Portuguese after their Indian exploration, hence the word 'manga' in Portuguese...

Urban curves...

City is wearing more and more flyovers, as you look outside your car window it is more likely that your view is blocked by one of them under the back drop of monsoon clouds...

Bajji n Vadai...

Vadai and bajji over a counter of a dharshini ( i.e. the local fast food cafe). I feel lucky to have a vadai as breakfast followed by a cup of hot coffee... Although battered and deep-fried, the finished vadai should not be too oily if prepared correctly. The bajji's on the other hand retain the oil.

Stop Signs....

City roads witness heavy movement of commercial taxies that ferry loads of IT/BPO staffers to and fro. The creativity begins at the very possible opportunites such as STOP signs adjoing the brake lights... here is the one!!

Old Charm....

Demolishing its past for posterity, city seen continues to lose chunks of its old world charm. Few remaining catch attention as they continue to stand parallel with modern ones...

Many modest-sized properties that merit heritage status can be saved with government assistance, few of them made it though others remain in photographs...

Lambani Art...

Creative lambani work with CYPRAEA sea shell key chains displayed outside Cauvery Crafts on MG Road. Their work is sought after by collectors for its vibrancy of pattern and colour, and for the unusual technique of sewing hundreds of small mirrors into the compositions. Each piece depicts an aspect of the Lambani creation myths.

Key to survival...

Importance of keys is felt when you loose one, A key maker sitting on the road comes as a savior when it comes to making duplicate keys.

Many of these are seem manually making the keys when few have even got automatic key duplicator machines for the new generation locks... traditionally these key makers rely on their expertise passed through generations ...

Sugar Cane Juice...

Being on the most popular charts, sugarcane jiuce does score high. The jiuce is extraced via these manual or electrical churners and the bagasse is spat out. Freshly extracted juice with a touch of lemon and ice, makes a delicious and popular drink. Sometimes on the creative side it is mixed with pinapple too...

On the charts...

I think it is always a good idea to checkout once awhile, what's on the charts from the famous book stores, here is one window from the MG Road, book house....

Coffee on wheels…

A bicycle of a coffee vendor in the market… most of the street shops can not afford to take a coffee break but yearn for the sip, this mobile coffee serves them hot and homemade filter coffee at their place without leaving their business… a most desired option many shopkeepers opt in business hours….

Roti Roll, the Bombay Frankie...

As the cosmopolitans need to touch base with their taste, the city offers many trends and choices for food from the various parts of the state, country and even overseas… here is a typical Bombay Frankie ( roti rolls with stuffing) stall offering delicious veg and non veg frankie varients. ..

Coconut Water...

Even as the mercury settles due to monsoon taking over the city making weather cool and nice, the coconut water lovers continue enjoying the coconut water... Such roadside vendors continue to make living. ...

The Limelight...

Perhaps this could be rated as the famous location in Bangalore, the junction of church street and Brigade Road. Most of the Bangaloreans, specially teens, seen lurking around, passing by, just visiting and spending most of their time here with friends... the place glitters in the evening with iconic clusters of businesses attracting the customers, or even just making a statement of their presence in the city!!

Chips n Fries....

Leaving it to the vivid imaginations of the makers, Fries in Bangalore would definately be a candidate for research. The vatieties displayed in this small shop in HAL market is worth a look... some of these were sure 'mouthwatering' ones..

Small boy manning the counter gave me quite an indifferent look followed by a smile as I turned my camera away...

World Environment Day ...

The green Bangalore, perhaps this snap from cubbon park symbolizes the garden city greenery and remind us of the fact that we all should be aware of the year on year reduction of the coverage in the city...

The theme selected for 2007 focuses on the effects that climate change is having on polar ecosystems and communities, and the ensuing consequences around the world… I take this opportunity to introduce Green Tapisum, Review of the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification – 2006 by Environment Support Group (ESG) an independent not-for-profit voluntary organization from Bangalore.

“Given that it is the only piece of Indian legislation that explicitly mandates and defines the process for public involvement in decision making, it is natural to expect that the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests which issued the Notification would meaningfully involve the public at all stages of the process. The Indian Ministry made no effort to actively involve the public and merely organized a couple of token consultations with a few invited NGOs (which, by no stretch of the imagination, can be considered to represent the wider public). During the finalization of the notification, the Indian Environment Ministry went so far as to firmly shut its doors on the public and admittedly, it only consulted the industrial and investor lobbies. Even State Governments and Parliamentarians were not accorded this privilege.
The resulting legislation clearly prioritizes the needs of industry and investment over environmental and social concerns. The legislation, hurriedly finalized in an effort to get it notified by 14th September 2006, happens to be a truly shoddy piece of legislation. Rather than simplifying the process of environmental decision making, it complicates the process to a point that even officials within the Ministry have difficulty appreciating how to implement its provisions.” Refer…

Cossposted on Metblogs..

The Red Carpet!

It rained all night long, with gusting winds the 'Gulmohurs' shread lot of flowers making the natural red carpet ...With morning weather nice and cold walking on the red carpet was a wonderful experience...

Back to School!!

After a long summer vacation enjoyed by the Bangalore kids, schools reopen for the next new higher class sessions, parents get pushed to markets to buy new uniforms, school-bags, shoes etc…the shops catering to this need see a huge crowd every evening…

Feeding a Friend!!

Fresh milk is always in demand, this boy feeds his cow in the evening nearby his locality. The relationship is so developed between him and the cow that he seen sitting comfortably near her as she enjoys her evening dose of feed specially prepared for her by him. She will be ready to deliver the fresh milk at the customer door steps early morning …a quick buck for his family!!

Now Playing....

Latest blockbusters played in the city, the booking windows of a multiplex selling current and advance tickets.. the movies worth mention here could be Metro, Spidy 3, Shreak 3, Pirates of the Caribbean, Shootout at lokhandwala, Chinni Kum….

per box office report.