Happy Holidays…

May the new year bring you the charm and freshness like this white lotus from Lalbagh nursery!!

Happy New Year!!

BDP is taking off till first week of Jan 2010 and will resume posting next year!! Warm wishes!!

Cake a Little!!

Make merry with sweet tooth, the range of cakes that are appearing and disappearing from shelves are on high!! Great way to celebrate year end festivities!! I am getting ready for few!

Mallige…

There is an undisputed love for Maliige (flowers and garlands), traditionally these have been the core ingredients of happiness. Due to a large demand these flowers are made onto garlands and sold across the city regularly few even have delivery mechanisms on monthly payment basis at your doorstep. Though Jasmine remains the most sought after flowers…

Going Pink!

Tabebuia blooms are paining the city pink & purple, these winter blooms are very colorful and charming. Courtesy Tabebuia impetiginosa’ from Tabebuia family, Enjoy!!

Silk Mark Expo...

Silk Mark Expo 2009, a platform for all silk lovers to explore various silk-ware options under a single roof. as many as 250 stalls from various indian silk weavers, traders exhibit their best and buyers get affordable quality stuff...

The photograph is a new panaromic feature of my new Kodak z915, so click on the photo and enjoy the ultrawide shot I took squeezing in a corner...( I might need to keep working on the alignement as these are three images stiched together by this cam.)

Fully Loaded Food Courts..

The holiday season uplifts spirit of shopping and brings people to markets and malls. Many prefer to shop all day long and manage to eat quickies in the food court, thus the food courts in the evening are fully loaded with food varieties and crowd of consumers!!

9th Hole @ Bangalore Golf Club

Golfing is passion for many and this city too has many enthusiasts endorsing the spirit of the game; The Bangalore Golf Club is the second oldest course in India founded in 1876. (18 Compact dry & sandy course with some rocky parts in the fairways but greens are lush and well-manicured) Looks like few prefer walking through the course enjoying great weather and peaceful surroundings..

Take a break!!

All it takes to pull the vehicles up in a parking area and take a nice and long nap, this auto driver must have started his day quite early and needed a desperate roadside break from his routine mid day!!

Now Reading!!

Street selling of best sellers, I like tracking this to know who is reading what! Most of these are the cheap / pirated copies but tends to give an idea about which titles are still in demand, compared to last snapshot in Jan 09 , April 09 , Jun 09, July 09 AND Sept 09 looks like some titles are here to stay…

Changing horizons…

The city is changing its color from green to concrete. Atop a multistory I could get a glance onto the horizon and looks like the city is getting dense, and greens tense….

Colorful Malls...

The festivities reflect more in markets and the malls, here is a wonderful display at Garuda mall, the fun and frolic is too exciting for shoppers looking for new arrivals…

Bengaluru Habba – Craft Mela..

Bangalouru Habba is here, An art exhibition “Craft Mela — Kalamadhyam” is organized in Chitrakala Parishat from Dec 11^th till 20^th loaded with various artifacts from different parts of the country, these colorful kites too represent the colors of the creations; don’t miss it if you are in the city!! More photos here…

Tender Chicken

Demand & Supply for chicken is on a track of transformation, more and more structured selling is happening as poultries are setting up their own stores in cities. Here is a price chart for one such outlet I frequent in nearby market area….

Fresh Veggies…

Fresh veggies at the market, the mix of fruity vegetables and leafy ones makes a wonderful combination into the meals, with winter lot many will attempt to upscale their physical exercise resulting in more appetite for healthy food!!

Ready to Roast!

The influence of the nearby mountain range and the coffee plantation is seen in few backyards in the city, the coffee plant such as this one with ripe coffee seeds caught my attention, guessing that this must be either Arabica or Robusta, the two common species around southern india..

Wood craft…

These colorful wooden toys with refreshing colors remain a major attraction for kids, the toys are called Channapatna lacquer-ware toys, the best of the wooden crafts with natural (organic) dyes …

Munch on the go!!

Served with green chilly chutney the cucumber or the fruity choice of ripe pineapple and raw mangos with salt n peppers too makes it a great munch on the go, the roadside snacking is endless!!

Modern Clay!!

Pottery is traditional but gets more creative with modern streams of thoughts conjoin it for betterment, few of the pots kept for sell showcase the new designs and patterns on the clay!!

Holiday Shopping..

The holiday shopping is on, the major market areas such as commercial street is pulling crowds, the shops have their decor up and are offering freebies to up scale the sales. the street is illuminated and colorful with lot many options to choose from...shoppers are delighted!!

Car wash!!

keep it clean! Early morning many cars get cleaned and few even get a wash with running water (wasting lot of water though!) the neighnourhood seem to generate quick cash for few men who offer to clean cars on monthly contract every day at dawn well before the owners go to work, a regular sight while my morning walk!!

Multi Seater!

This might not be the attempt for converting a two seater moped into multi-seater but this acrobatic endeavor must be challenging enough to balance the load from back seat! I followed him some distance and found that the rider did it well!!

Non-stop @Avenue Road…

The street shot of avenue road mid noon, the sunny side of the story and with very less people on the road somehow I could drive non stop from end to end which is a surprise!!

D2H way!!

Satellite TV, a new product is changing the way city entertains, a small dish being installed on the roof top which is directly connected to LCD TV, the installation is guided by a small devise connecting TV and Antenna while final adjustments are done for better signal quality…

Rajasthani Thali @ Chowka..

Enjoying the cosmopolitan food habits in the city, our search took us to Chowka, a fabulous restaurant in New Thippasandra to enjoy this tasty unlimited meal from marwad…simply great place to have Rajasthani food in a Rajasthani decor, served by people in Rajasthani attire….

Sugarcane Delivery…

Fresh sugarcane juice stalls in the city demand fresh supply of sugarcanes, what best if you can take it off via a horse pulled cart, this one looks like on the way for making a delivery to nearby juice stall…

People count, Profit does't!!

Posters on the wall besides a news-stand sends a cryptic messages, in this downturn the most important asset for the sociey remains “People” right?

Banana express..

The delivery van has arrived into the HAL market and the delivery boy is playing with his cell till the van is offloaded, the weekend will see all these bananas disappear, bananas remain on of the top fruit in the staple diet of bangaloreans…

Like Father, Like Son…

Some relationships are hard to the core, while my morning walk today I observed this father and son stroll with a gentle conversation between them, before I could distract their peace I moved on and back in my memoire connecting me to my childhood and revisited foundations of my bonding with my dad….

Kerala Porotta & Idiappam..

Kerala food is always a favorite choice for me. Especially this Kerala Porotta and Idiappam (recipe here) a culinary specialty served as the main course together with a curry (potato, egg, fish or meat curry), and relished with some mutton chops makes a great meal!!

Chilies & Ginger…

For any popular local dish the green chilies and or ginger are the important ingredients. The fresh Chilies keep reaching the city from farms and are consumed heap after heap!! The chills of the winter are scouted out by these chilies perhaps…on the other hand the ginger is my favorite flavor for “adrakwali chai” (ginger tea)…

The Modern Milkman…

While the urbanites get their share of milk in plastic pouches or tetra packs there are many who like to get the fresh cow milk delivered at their door step from the farm. Thus the modern farmer get these huge containers loaded onto his two wheeler (scooter) for the fresh milk delivery!!

Schooling around!!

Just after the school kids are following a local ice-cream cart on a busy road, took me back memory lane to relate my free times wondering around with schoolmates in and around favorite wannabe’s like the ice-creams, street foods and snacks back then…ironically the age of the vendor is almost the same of these boys!!

Madiwala Market....

Nearby Silk Board Junction, the madiwala market as locally known operates actually on a roadside area that connects kormangala, sarjapur road with hosur road, this side os the town relies on this market for vegetables, fruits, groceries and even fish and chicken. a trip to this market was interesting!!

Monsters Inc...

No, they ain't the monsters, while driving nearby Silk Board junction and just looked to my right these two were there and a kid in me just told me that those are the monster resting and hiding under the new flyover...no kidding! my car too believes this story!! ;-)

Shopping with Mom…

Buying veggies at a local market this girl accompanies her mom like many of us did in our childhood, the elementary building blocks about social behavior via observing and learning trades and negotiations ( read bargains) ….

Blessings from Ganesha…

Ganesha blessings, a busy running water tanker carries a painting of the deity on the rear side, the bikers are as usual busy looking for opportunity to overtake the tanker early morning to reach the work faster….

The Offering...

Typical offerings for pooja, the essentials without which pooja is not complete. The fruits, the kumkum, the termeric, flowers ...to name the few...

Selling Nellikkai…

A street sellers cart is full of Amla (Nellikkai), an Indian gooseberry that is eaten raw or cooked into various dishes or even used in traditional Ayurvedic and unani medicines due to its medicinal properties. The fruit also called as Amalaki is among the most important medicinal plants in the Ayurvedic materia medica.

Extended Bumper Sales…

Looks like this shop is still running ‘The Diwali Grand Sale’ promotion even though Diwali is over last month, the bumper prize is still on the display!!

BBF, Bangalore Book Festival, 2009

With over a three million titles on display, 340 stalls from leading publishers and distributors, this 10 day long Bangalore Book Festival (BBF) is open to public from 9th Nov till 15th Nov ( i.e. today) is claimed to be indias largest book festival....Open to public from 11am till 8pm.

The Sky…

Reflecting truly magnificent colors the city sky is breathing warmth after a weeklong rains and cloudy self…

Roadside …

The Pavements have lot more meaning here, they server many entrepreneurs to setup quick stalls for selling their commodities, one such commodity is food. The quick snacks for common man in the city are perhaps found on the roadside pavements, the varieties and affordability does the magic.

Bellandur Lake…

On a weekend drive within the citylimits, we drove around the serene Bellandur Lake. While monsoon clouds still covering the city sky, this drive was dry yet on muddy roads. Most of the city lakes are shrinking due to land filling for constructions this lake too is facing this challenge…

Car Rentals..

The most preferred transport for site seeing around is rental cabs or tourist taxis, upcoming the holiday season will generate lot of demand on such operators as many prefer to travel within the state via roads and want bother free transportation offered here…A flower seller lady is peeping in this shop to make a quick sale…

November Rains…

The city is fortunate to participate in two monsoons, one from the west coast – called Kerala monsoon typically from June till August and another in Oct – Nov from the south east coast of the country, called Andaman’s Showers…both help city keep cool and provide much needed water for greenery in the city, keeping it clean and humid…

Raining again…

It kept raining all the weekend and spills over to Monday, it is wet and cold start of the week, the mercury playing around 20’s…( 21~23 Deg C) . the drive to the work was great!!

Fresh n Ground...

The weekend was lazy and wet. it was raining and drizzleing all along and while I wondered the streets sipping this magic potion called "Filter Coffee" kept me warn and lifted the spirits!!

Rainy Day Rides..…

It’s drizzling continuously while it rained all night long, the roads are wet and weather is cool, good time for a nice ride around and stopping by enjoying hot coffee….this day seems born lazy!!

Well connected…

The BMTC Vayu Vajra Volvos outside Bangalore International Airport (BIAL), Since the BIAL commenced its operations outside the city limits these buses became lifelines for commuters for affordable transport to and from the city, a well run operation for sure…

IT Workplaces to shine again…

IT campuses in Bangalore are beating the economic meltdown and recent reports indicate these global IT centers are looking up with hiring plans, compensation increases and promotions, the terms long forgotten by this sector…