MG Road

Now Showing at Plaza: Ghost.

Like many Benglureans, I have spent a sinful amount of time in the darkness of Plaza, one of Benglur's oldest movie theaters, while our teachers and lecturers were busy shouting hoarse to an almost empty class. Today, it's Plaza that's empty. 

Before a show began at Plaza, an old man, who seemed to be as old as the theater itself, used to go around closing the wooden shutters. That ritual doesn't happen anymore.  

 

However, light beams continue to stream in from the holes where the projector used to be. Minus the whirring sound. Plaza is now an empty shell, stripped of all the seats and curtains. However, a few memories from the past remain. 

 

Above: Signs from the past.

Below: Not for sale. A sign from a very recent past when land grabbers ruled Benglur.

Right now, the plot where Plaza sits is under litigation. After all, the plot sits bang opposite the upcoming MG Road Namma Metro station. So before your say "A Prayer for the Dying" (probably the last movie played here - see last picture), watch out for a rebirth.  

 

 

 

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Now Showing at Plaza: Ghost.

Like many Benglureans, I have spent a sinful amount of time in the darkness of Plaza, one of Benglur's oldest movie theaters, while our teachers and lecturers were busy shouting hoarse to an almost empty class. Today, it's Plaza that's empty. 

Before a show began at Plaza, an old man, who seemed to be as old as the theater itself, used to go around closing the wooden shutters. That ritual doesn't happen anymore.  

 

However, light beams continue to stream in from the holes where the projector used to be. Minus the whirring sound. Plaza is now an empty shell, stripped of all the seats and curtains. However, a few memories from the past remain. 

NH 7, Hebbal

The only tramp to ever set foot inside a mall. 

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Patnoolpet Main Road, Off AS Char Street

In Benglur's City Market, like in most markets across India, you are likely to find as many hard-working women as men. Like this lady who makes and sells the heaviest breakfast in town comprising of a mammoth portion of rice, egg curry and one fiery green chili for Rs. 10. And the other who sells groundnuts for peanuts.

The colour is what remains of the previous week's holi celebration. 

Also see: Thindi - Eating In Benglur

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Avenue Road

The Kores Lady.

There were many typewriting schools across the city when we used to write. And just a handful now that we key words in. See the full series of Bangalore Wall Art

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S C Road, Gandhinagar

There's three hours to go before Sudeep's latest film 'Veera Madakari' opens and Kapali Theater in Gandhinagar, the heart of the Kannada Film Industry is House - Full. That's sad news for a fan who woke up late, but good news for the producer, Dinesh Gandhi, as you can see from the garland on the House-Full signboard. 

However, if you are die-hard fan of Sudeep, or Anna-avaru as Nagesh with a kerchief around his neck calls him, you would have reached Kapali at 5 am to make sure that you have the ticket for First-Day First-Show. 

It's not just die-hard fans who have turned up early. This old lady and the man in crutches were here too. They were peddling few "Gandhi-Class" tickets for Rs. 80 to latecomers and boys who have skipped classes to catch the morning show.

 
  

But it's not just college boys who have come to catch Sudeep's new offering. Peanut and watermelon sellers are there too, to help cool, people of all ages waiting impatiently for the movie to start. 

And here's something that I picked up from outside the Kapali Theater - empty boxes of exposed picture negative that was used for a Kannada movie called Police Story Part II (Can No 32288 5/7 that was used on 29/09/06).  

And finally, here's the star actor-director himself - Sudeep. With the mandatory handheld weapon of the angry young Kannada star.  

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S C Road, Majestic

They don't call her the Nagara Devate (City's Goddess) for nothing. Annamma Devi of Subedar Chatram Road, Majestic, resides in one of the oldest shrines in Benglur. She is a survivor from the city’s agrarian past. You usually find Annamma Devi temples next to old irrigation tanks and this temple was originally built near the old Dharmambudhi Tank. 

The Dharmambudhi Tank is long gone and is now the city’s main bus terminus but Annamma Devi remains and continues to be popular. She has evolved into the Nagare Devate and continues to have a new meaning to a whole new generation of Benglureans drawn from different parts of the country. 

And yesterday, the day the Marwari community in the Pete area celebrated the Kula Devata Puja, the temple and surrounding areas was filled with devotees offering grain, grams, milk and ghee. This picture was shot a few meters away from the shrine. 

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Seshadri Road

Sampangi, the roadside cobbler came early to work only to realise that the snake woman from Hyderabad had made his hole in the wall, her lair. 

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Hosur Road, Adugodi

A shepherd and his flock refuse to give up even though the concrete jungle has eaten up all their grazing fields. 

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Hayath Road. Off NR Rd.

Welcome to Hotel Hayath Road. 

This is a country where a majority lives for about a dollar or two a day. A dollar is worth about 50 Indian Rupees. And if you are a farmer or petty trader on a business trip to Benglur and you miss the last bus home, where would you sleep? 

Hotel Footpath?  No. I suggest the Taj (Minus the mustachioed doorman), on Hayath Road, just off the main City Market Square. 

In India, life overflows on the streets. And on Hayath Road, a hotel has spilled out on to the street. Hotel Hayath Road is a narrow street dotted with little businesses who have come together to provide all the services one can expect at the hotel, for very little. 

1. Common bed (with lockers) at Hotel Taj Or Hamidiya: Rs. 30 a night.

2. Bath: Rs.10. Crap: Rs. 2. Shag? 

3. Food:

Lunch or Dinner: Beef Biryani for Rs. 22/- Chicken Biryani for Rs. 25/-

4. Laundry:
Same day service.

5. Beverages:
No Minibar here. You can stand and drink at any of the Liqour stores.

 

6. Connectivity: 
Take buses to any part of Benglur or South India from the bus stand which is 2 minutes away.

  

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