Ulsoor

Aam Artist Gallery

RK Mutt Road

Layers of Bangalore.

Shivajinagar, Ulsoor, Mahalaxmi Layout

The South Palette Series Continues...

Meanee Avenue/Ulsoor Lake

Which Nallah? What Drain? Series.

It takes a brave heart to step in to the primordial sludge that fills the Gowri-Ganesha immersion tank carved out of the Ulsoor Lake on the Meanee Avenue, Kensington Road and AM Road intersection.

See the full Which Nallah? What Drain? Series here.


Indian Road Romeos and Juliets, the group for street photography lovers on Facebook is having an interesting challenge called 'Emotion on the Street' this coming week. Click here for more details.

KR Road

Cubicle.

Ulsoor Bazaar + West Park Road

'Old Bangalore' Style.

This man could be a character straight out of the 'Bangalore book' by a young writer named Srinath Perur that is going to be published soon. 

Earlier this month, I happened to listen to three stories from the unnamed book, at a reading by the authour, at Crossword. At the reading, I, along with about 50 other lucky people were transported back in time to the Bangalore we grew up in, in the 80s. Those days, brought alive by characters Srinath has created, or rather, brought back to life, around a street named Crescent Road. And the man above could have been one of the characters. 

Luckily, you don't have to wait for the book to come out to read one of the stories. It's your turn to go back in time. Here's one of the stories: The Middle Path by Srinath Perur.

And here's a picture of an Elephant Park slide, similar to the one you will find in the above story.   

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Ulsoor Market

Remains of an earlier election.

Thanks to the Election Commission's 'Code of Conduct', we don't find such wall paintings during election time anymore. The money is now used to give saris, booze, gold earrings, etc.

However, CK Jaffer Sheriff's drooping face (and a past candidate for the state legislature) continues to remain on a wall in Ulsoor Market. His pet constituency, Bangalore North has shifted and shrunk after delimitation and Jaffer Sheriff has to slug it out in a different part of the city. While it's OK for the wall painting to survive,the sad part is that old men cum mob leaders like him manage to get their names on the voting machine (To earn the ticket, he proved his strength by organising a protest against Saddam's execution that led to riots. News report here) . 

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Bazaar Street

Novaagallva? (Won't you feel pain?) proclaims a poster inside the market at Ulsoor.

Language chow-chow bath.  

The first thing to strike you when you enter the bazaar area of one of the oldest parts of Benglur - Halasuru or Ulsoor, is the number of languages that scream at you from the walls of the sardine can-like packed gallis. Kannada, Tamil, Urdu, Hindi, Telugu, and Malayalam mingle to create a chow-chow bath of twisted tongues. For instance, the newspaper boys sort and distribute thick bundles of newspapers in more than 7 languages!

Not as many languages as on the the Indian Rupee note.  

When you walk into a shop here, the shopkeeper usually takes a few seconds to figure out what language to use. Using a combination of signals like the colour of your skin, the oil in your hair, the saree or shirt you are wearing, etc., he's an expert in the old Benglurean habit of speaking to the customer in his or her language. And if you live in the Bazaar area, you can usually manage to communicate in most languages. 

Each part of the Bazaar area has its own identity. As you go down the Bazaar Street from the Ulsoor Road side (BSNL/Park Hotel), you encounter the Kannada quarter on your left, first. Starting with a church that has service in Kannada. Next to it is a lane that leads you to the Yellamma Temple. However, it is called The Yellamma Koil Street. Not a Devasthana. 

To the right of Old Bazaar Street is the predominantly Tamil section. Here's the Plague Mariamman Temple. Mariamma is the Dravidian small pox goddess (Sitala Devi is the Northern equivalent). Now that small pox has been eradicated, she represents any epidemic. Plague in this case. 

Outside a Tamil medium school near Someshwara Temple (Last pic).

Adjoining the Tamil Quarter is the main market. Standing tall next to the market is a huge mosque of the Muslim quarter. But this is Ulsoor or Halasuru, and here too, the first thing to catch you eyes is the chow-chow bath of languages. Church, Mosque or Temple, the faithful speak many tongues.  

Stumbled upon this. The remains of an anti-terror campaign by Ogilvy, Bangalore.

And across the Bazaar Street on the right, near Old Madras Road is the Marwari and Jain Quarter. The traditional financiers speak the common language everyone here understands -business. 

That's the reason, if you have are looking for things for a steal, head for the Halasuru or Ulsoor Bazaar. You never know what you will find.

 

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Ulsooor / Halasuru. Someshwara Temple Street

Karunatakam, Khova, Pithar, Pelkaam, Kulparka, Katak, Pakalkot and what about Pijapur?
Only in Ulsoor... sorry Halasuru. Outside a Tamil Medium School.

Someshwara Temple, Off Bazaar Street, Halasoor / Ulsoor

Bazaar Street, Halasooru