Bangalored!

Yen ree? Tiffin-giffin Aitha? Posted using ShareThis

If this were modern art … Posted using ShareThis

I nteresting photographic print of Brigade Road,BLR available for sale on Art.com . Photographer : Walter Bibikow

The city's cultural festival will most probably not take place this year due to terror threats across the country.

Nothing gets me more agitated than a bunch of anti-social elements gutting my country.This post remembers how the Nov 26 attacks on Mumbai shocked the nation.

I write this blog far away from Blore (got married and moved).Lots of ideas for my favourite city have been delayed for this blog,but I promise to make up for it. Here is what I recommend any new comer to do while in Blore: 1) Take an auto-rickshaw ride : for the pure joy of haggling with the drivers who dont go by the meter(if you get them to agree where you want to go that is:) 2)Walk down M.G road and Brigade Road on Saturday evenings to spot the most ludicrous dressed youth hanging around(beware of your belongings). 3) Stop at India Coffee House on M.G road for hot dosas and the mandatory piping hot -coffee.On another day you should try the "english" type breakfast. 4) Drop by the Vidhana Soudha building or Cubbon park just to sit on the lawns and eat a bhutta(corn cob). 5) Go for an early morning walk in Lalbagh and rush to stand first in line for breakfast at MTR. 6) If you are looking for souvenirs,here are your choices: sandalwood articles from Cauvery Handicrafts(M....

I love the idea of events such as Chitra Santhe and the Bangalore Habba(both take place in December).These have started quite recently i.e around 2003-2004. The Chitra santhe however being next door for me is something I just dont miss ever since it started in 2005.It takes place in the premises of Karnataka Chitra Kala Parishad,Kumara Park area on the last Sunday of every year. I am not much into art but find it irresistible to attend these events which are more public and open to all.Here are some snaps I clicked during the santhe this year. Street side view: The CKP campus: Some paintings I liked:

Hah!!...the most common lunch or eat out in the city must definitely be the darshini's.You cant miss them,,they are all over the place..Whoever said Indians are not very innovative,can take a walk,coz this is fast food..our style:).. Here is an article posted on Discover Bangalore.com worth reading. "It's like the Starbucks or the McDonalds of America or the Tim Hortons of Canada. The Darshinis of Bangalore have come to stay. The fast food outlets dishing out hot crunchy Masala Dose, soft idlis, crispy Vade and hot piping coffee are all over Bangalore now. Bangalore literally has thousands of Darshinis under several individual managements serving south Indian vegetarian food. They usually are identified with small round steel tables and diners standing around them eating Dosas, idlis, vada's, curd rice, Vegetable Pulao, rice with sambar, lemon rice, Bisibele bath, Uppittu, kesaribaath and coffee. The low-cost and "on the go" breakfast and lunch are a big hit...

I have lived my entire life near Golf course and Race Course in Blore(hehe,,cant specify more than this).But little did I know that Gandhi visited the Kumara Krupa Guest house which is a stone's throw away from my house.Hmmm,why didnt it strike me earlier when "the Gandhi Bhavan" is just near it? "Source: The Hindu Date:Friday, Oct 01, 2004 FROM TIME immemorial, some rocks have been sanctified and recognised as `Divine,' bestowing peace and happiness to mankind. In the Ramayana, after the abduction of Sita, Rama and his brother Lakshmana went in search of her. Just before reaching Kishkinta in the Southern region, he came across a small black granite rock and rested on it for a while. Touching the rock, he blessed it saying it may be worshipped for 700 years in Kali Yuga, bestowing mankind with all boons. Sri Raghavendra Swamy decided to enter Brindavan alive at Manthralaya in 1671 AD. Dewan Venkanna made all arrangements for the function and a beautiful Brindava...

India 's first low-cost airline, Air Deccan from Bangalore started service on August 25 , 2003 . The airline's fares for the Delhi - Bangalore route were 30% less than those offered by its rivals such as Indian Airlines , Air Sahara and Jet Airways on the same route. The success of Air Deccan spurred the entry of more than a dozen low-cost airlines in India. Another airline based from Bangalore - Kingfisher airlines started in May 2005.Though it can be counted among the low cost carriers,it also promotes itself as a luxury carrier with its In-Flight Entertainment System, a first among Indian airlines. Its quite a ironic thing that both these airlines can now more or less be called partners after Kingfisher acquired a 26% stake in Air Deccan recently.On one side Air Deccan is a no-frills airline while Kingfisher is known for luxury. Whatever the future brings,it definitely has contributed the skies opening up literally and my personal hope,after a very long wait -The Bangal...

I dont know how many remember but the Radio City group was India's first private FM radio station and was started on July 3, 2001.I still remember the starting days as I had just started my first job and radio was a completely new medium of entertainment for me. Born and bred on the idiot box,listenening to popular and my favourite hindi songs available 24 hours round the clock soon caught up.I used to wonder how the cassette companies would survive if everyone was going to tune into this new station.I couldnt care less as after some days I got my dose of entertainment by just switching on the radio button.Mornings used to be more fun especially while getting ready for work while listening to the cool talk of the RJ's at that time. I still think the first two RJ's of those days -Rohit Barker and Vera were the best and no one has matched their professionalism till date.Though the RJ's were mostly english or hindi speaking they set the tone or style for today's multi...

Ever since I started this blog,I have been waiting for my favourite magazine- The India Today to dedicate a coverpage on Bangalore city for any reason that would make me prouder of my hometown.I have grown up with this magazine and believe each of its coverpage is a masterpiece in recording India's modern history. Sadly,this week we have nothing to be proud of given that a person born and bred in India has become faces of terrorism worldwide.I suggest you pick up this week's magazine for the entire story which makes all of us in the city and the country worried.

Blog from Ibnlive.com - Posted by D P Satish Whenever I visit my home state of Karnataka, friends and relatives ask,, "Why don't you come back to Bangalore, where you can happily eat Idli, Dosa, Mosaranna and Chitranna. Why do suffer in hot and dusty Delhi, eating the same roti and sabzi day in and day out?" Good, heart warming advice for a hardcore Kannadiga like me indeed. But is food only attraction in Bangalore? Certainly not. But surely it is one of the best things about Bangalore. At least it was. The city has a hundred labels, such as Garden City , Knowledge City , IT City, and Pub City.. But Food City describes Bangalore better than all other labels.. But sadly, the best eateries of Bangalore are dying. Bangalore's famed hotels (so called by the Kannadigas even if they offer only food and no lodging !) are disappearing one after another. These hotels are not just eating places. They are institutions. When two Bangaloreans settle down for snacks (favourite Dos...

Read more "Nostalgia or need?"

I have edited the below list from what is already available on the web. Most of the people are just associated with the city and not necessarily completely from here.And yes,there are many missing as they may not be known in other parts of the country.I hope to keep adding worthwhile names to this list:) Models/Media (i cant possible name every model out here:) -Lara Dutta -Prasad Bidapa Business -Vijay Mallya - the flamboyant entrepreneur.Has various ventures like Kingfisher Beer , Kingfisher Airlines Entertainment/Movies -Girish Karnad -Guru Dutt - Hindi movie actor born and brought up in Karnataka. Graduated from Bangalore Central College -Rajnikant - Worked in Bangalore before becoming a Tamil movie superstar -Dr. Rajkumar - I am sure you must have now seen his poster stuck on every glass building in blore! Government -Deve Gowda(First PM of India from Karnataka,not a blorean in a true sense though) -H.T. Sangliana - best known as Super Cop! Mathematics -Shakuntala Devi Science...

With most people having internet at home,cybercafes may not be that much of a rage anymore.Just a decade ago,cyber cafe's were new and welcomed hundreds-thousands of people who just were getting the hang of the web.Initially,the cost of surfing was Rs. 75 to 80 per hour which came down to Rs.10,thanks to a number of cyber cafes mushrooming in every neighbourhood. There are few other cafes which claim to be the India's first as they were opened around the same time.But the general assumption is that the Cafe Coffee day outlet on Brigade Road was India's first cyber cafe!It opened in 1996 as an internet cafe while also selling varieties of their now famous coffee. That's not all, a few more cyber firsts in the country: - the same Cafe Coffee day chain has brought in India's first wireless cyber cafe in Blore(around 2003). - first cyber crime police station in 2001,Blore. Click here for their offcial website.

Here are some of the multiple sobriquets/nicknames kept for Bangalore.They keep changing and the old one's no longer hold good! 1) Garden City : this one must be the most popular.Somebody once told me the nickname stuck during pre-independence era where most houses in the city had a garden.I dont know how far this is true but i am sure it hardly applies to the current era!And you thought,it was only because of Cubbon park and Lalbagh this is a Garden city,eh? 2) Pensioner's paradise: this one's a popular one of yesteryears where many people preferred to live in Blore after retirement.The pensioners though now have long and gone:) 3) Pub City: It must have been pretty prestigious(and shady too) to be called the "pub capital of India" back in 80's - 90's.Today,the shutter shuts at 11:30pm.Go to a friend's place instead!And yeah,beware of the cops on streets at late night waiting to fine drunkards. 4) Silicon Valley of India,IT City: I will pass this o...

MTR(Mavalli Tiffin Rooms) is ofcourse the most legendary and respected food brand from this city.Started in 1924,it still draws crowds in huge numbers who patiently wait in queue to eat their authentic and even more tastier dishes.I am sure you know all this already. However, did you also know ... the Rava idli was invented by them? Here's the fact from them direct.

- While the rest of India drives on the left side of the road; Bangaloreans drive on what's left of the road. - In the rest of India, there's no flyover with a traffic intersection; in Bangalore, they have a traffic signal and criss-crossing traffic atop a flyover. - In the rest of India, one-way roads mean traffic can only move one way; in Bangalore, there are two ways traffic can move on a one-way road. It's easier to smile at the above traffice jokes than being stuck in the infamous traffic of the city.My only hope to this madness is that everyone accepts we dont have civic sense.Forget the governing bodies taking any initiatives,we as people have never tried to make a difference coz we just dont seem to have the time.If even a few people try not to be in such a tearing hurry,we could make things more pleasant on the roads. Keeping my expert comments on one side(we all have something dont we?)...here is a good article on the one way system: Source: Times of India,Jun 200...

Ahem,this one's finished it's circulation in email forwards a million times over.I would hence like to paste this here and check a few years later if any of it still holds good?(or it it it ever had:).I wouldn't argue with the facts about two wheelers and traffice density though! Source: Karnataka Tourism website -Bangalore has the impeccable record of highest growh within a span of 20 years [as of 2005] -Bangalore has the highest number of 2-wheelers in the world. -Bangalore has the dubious reputation for the highest 2-wheeler thefts. -Bangalore has the highest number of pubs in India. -Bangalore has the highest number of breweries in the world. -Bangalore has the highest number of public sectors and government organisations in India. -Bangalore has the highest density of traffic in the world. -Bangalore is considered the fashion capital of the East comparable to Paris. -Bangalore has the highest number of Anglo-Indians in India. -Bangalore was the first city in India to ...