1st Main, Kalasipalaya

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Sandalwood Friday Release Series: Sticky Fingers

Finally caught up with the guy who does one of the most important tasks ahead of a Sandalwood Friday release. For the full (and ongoing) series of life around Sandalwood, click here. 

1 Road, Ashoknagar

The residents of Ashoknagar offer a coconut to a bone-dry public water tap to please the forces of nature that produce rain. 

 

Meanwhile in Slumdog Maximum Zhopadcity, the residents face the same problem. See Water Woes by Anil P. 

Pampa Mahakavi Road

Krishna Byre Gowda works for the constituency even after his defeat.

A BBMP Pourakarmika seeks the help of a vinyl propaganda poster of the unsuccessful Congress candidate from Bangalore South to repair her rickety trolley.

New Pottery Town Road

Three generations of stars stare down at Gandhi Gramam.

Which Nallah? What Drain? Series 
New Pottery Town (Gandhi Gramam)

Gandhi Gramam, is situated on a bend in the drain that flows from Munireddypalya (JC Nagar) to Ulsoor Lake. The drains skirts the Defence land and as it enters the congested New Pottery Town, encroachments narrow and choke the drain. No wonder, a few millimeters of rain and the whole place is waterlogged. 

That's also why this place is notorious for its water-borne diseases and the residents have well-worshipped shrines to the Christian and Hindu gods who protect children, who are the first in line when diseases strike.

However, the young and old men here have a different set of heroes. Paintings of their favourite Tamil film heroes spanning 5 decades tower above the steeples and gopurams of this drainside community.   

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

Pampa Mahakavi Road

There are real people behind these masks Vignettes from Bangalore Pride 2009 in today's Citizen Matters - Bangalore

Click here to view

Pampa Mahakavi Road, Basavanagudi

Bangalore Pride 2009. The Rainbow Parade

I was just a few hundred metres away from National High School Grounds in Basavanagudi to see the beginning of the Bangalore Pride parade when I heard a song dedication from a man named Indraneel, a father, to his son Indrashish, on Radio One. The song: Ma ka ladla bigad gaya.  He said that he hoped his son got his 'hidden' message.

Meanwhile, at the starting point of the Bangalore Pride 2009 parade at National High School ground stands a line of Television OB Vans, and hordes of reporters with microphone and cameras running behind colourfully dressed people, most of them in masks to cover their identity. While there were many who wanted to be interviewed, there were quite a few of them who kept hiding from the cameras. 

Fidgeting on the fringe is a young couple, mere boys, holding sweaty hands for comfort and debating if they should join the parade for a long time. They didn't. They were put off by the media attention.

The people participating in the parade occupied a corner of the large school ground where hundreds of children and young men were playing their usual dose of Sunday cricket. They continued with their matches while looking and giggling at the colourful crowd that was congregating. Some of them came over and asked questions. They were handed over leaflets that explained what "Bangalore Pride parade" was all about. A group invited a bunch of expats attending the parade to play cricket with them. 

Also watching the show unfold were members  of the traditional Brahmin families who live next to the Chowltry (wedding hall) across the road. They watched with interest as the crowd slowly increased to a respectable number. 

At the Chowltry, where Soumya was getting married to Abhinand, the guests came out from time to time to see what was happening. And when a group of transsexuals, looking for a urinal went into the chowltry, they were chased away. 

Finally, after a delay of about an hour and half, the Bangalore Pride Parade finally started marching to the sound of drums and dancing. A colourful, long flag, held high above their masked faces provided the shade.    

Cocooned in the crowd would have been a boy named Indrashish. Marching through the streets of the city among people whom he can call his own. Here he could be himself and not what his father or Bharat Sarkar wants him to be.

 

D Rajgopal Road, Sanjaynagar

Local gossip, national news, sunday morning movie on the tiny television, smell of talcum powder, cheap after-shave, and the sound of the scissors snipping away. The lazy Sunday morning at a barber shop.

MM Road, East Ground

The slogans on the walls of the maidan next to the Bangalore East station reflect the spirit of competition at the football tournament held here each year. The prize money can go up to Rs. 50,000 and the best player even wins what's called the Golden Boot. On holidays, the maidan is packed with different set of friends and teams, of all ages, playing tennis ball cricket and football but on a Friday morning, it's the playground of the local Madrassa.

For more pictures of playgrounds of Bangalore, click here.

Sankey Road

Lure of Bangalore Series

Name: Hanumanthappa

From: Yadgir, Gulbarga Dist.
In Benglur for a week. 

It's easy to recognise a person who is new to the city. It's the clothes a person wears and these days you will see a lot of people dressed like Hanumanthappa near construction sites across the city. The men usually wear simple, sweat-soaking, collarless, cotton shirt with a bright coloured band with a simple stitched pattern on the shirt pocket. They are yet to acquire clothes stitched in the city.  

According to Hanumanthappa, it doesn't rain enough in his village, called Pulioor in the almost-arid Yadgir Taluk of Gulbarga District. So he's come to Benglur where he has a few family members who work as construction labourers. The 'Biradari' has allowed him to get a job at a construction site, on arrival. And daily wages, which is something agriculture cannot provide. Once he settles down, he plans to go back and bring his wife and son.

Click to see the complete Lure of Bangalore Series.

Dr. Ambedkar Veedi

For Priyank: This is a monsoon shot for you from Bangalore. I think, the winds clear the air off dust and make the sky extra blue. Bangalore has the best skies in June. 

Off Marigowda Road, Arekempanahalli

The water cycle

Which Drain? What Nullah?  Series

Long before the biblical David slew Goliath with a stone, our ancestors are said to have walked across continents with their blunt stone implements and flint stones, burning and killing 'mega fauna'. However, we don't need such old fashioned tools anymore, we just have to use Thomas Crapper's useful invention to kill what remains. 

I found this wall in a studio that's housed in a scrapyard, which like all other scrapyards is situated on the banks of a Nullah. This one, the drain that starts from Lalbagh and flows east. 

Tank Bund Road, Subashnagar

Outside the Kempegowda Bus Station is this Tamilian with an interesting hairstyle. He's originally from near Kollegal and sells toys, perfumes and other things that travellers pick up on their way back home after a trip to Benglur. 

Hanumanthappa Road, Gandhinagar

People beginning to gather for the snake show outside Sam Fashions. This happens every Friday morning.  

Here are some earlier pictures of this Friday ritual (the day of Sandalwood movie release) when the snake charmer hadn't allowed me to take pictures of the snake : Character Artists Around Namma Theatres.

Guttahalli Main Road

Streetlit Bangalore 

Dickenson Road

There are said to be 330,000,000 Hindu Gods. Adding 2 more from the Levant will not make much of a difference. However, I'm not so sure if the Pope would approve of the Virgin Mother(in a saree) and her Infant son (in a frock) and the mandatory dots on their foreheads adorning the wall of the roadside Ganapathy Shrine opposite RBANM School on Dickenson Road. 

Tank Bund Road

Bus Art.

See the full Bus Art Series here. 

Pormenade Road + Davis Road

School gates.

Church Street

By Toutatis! I have a caste mark on my forehead. 

Found it outside a store selling new and second hand books.

NR Road + Pottery Road

Translation: "Excess love is injurious to life/health"

Translation: "Pray for Karnataka"

Susheela Road, Chickamavalli

Oora Habba, Chickamavalli. 

The people of Chickamavalli, that borders Lalbagh, near the West Gate, prefer to retain the social structure of the village that it has been for centuries. They have a small and well-knit community surrounded by the urban jungle called Bangalore. And this week, they are celebrating their togetherness with The Chickamavalli Oora Habba or the Chickamavalli Village Festival. 

All the men have taken the day off from work to lend a hand in arranging the festivities. To cook, to manage the various pujas, decorations and crowd at the little shrines that dot the clean, narrow lanes of the 'village'. The children have skipped school and are waiting to play on the swing next to the main shrine. The women have pulled out their best clothes and are doing the rounds of the different shrines with thaali-full of offerings. And more than a few women are parading their daughter-in-laws wrapped in silk sarees and covered in gold, while policemen on duty snore in their patrol vans.  

Each Galli in the village seems to have its own character. The Grama Devate Road (Village Goddess Street) is cordoned off with pandals and spicy chicken curry is being prepared. The Venkataswamy lane is where the rice and the vegetable dishes are being cooked. And at the central Susheela Road, the tables have been laid out for the big lunch where the entire village will be served.

The most popular shrine seems to be the one dedicated to Bisilu (Sunshine) Maramma that's on the main road, opposite the Kempe Gowda statue. And can there be a better time than now to have the habba, now that summer is over? 

 

 

 

Chicken being prepared for the feast.

Dressed in fresh flowers, silk, gold and stones, the Bisilu Maramma on her chariot.

The protectors.

2nd Main, Gandhinagar

It costs Rs 40 to watch a performance by the Sri KBR Drama Company of Davanagere that’s currently performing at the Rangamandira in Gandhinagar. Within 10 minutes the theatre is more than half full. It’s a decent crowd. The average age is just above 35 and all male. Most of them look like Government employees on their way back home or small traders in Benglur for business.

The drama itself is a collection of comedy performances that you see during award functions on any South Indian channel, interspersed with songs where the hero and heroine do some half-hearted dancing around the two microphones on the stage. A loose thread connects them to form a story and you will not miss much if you walk in half-way or step out before the performance is over. It’s more a group standup comedy act than a drama. Completing the performance is a digital drum set/synthesiser just below the stage drumming up the laughter. Adding to the effect is the man seated next to him controlling the lights.

The quality of the jokes is only slightly better than what you would see on the average TV award show. They were full of double-meanings, about sex and female body parts, and extracted whistles and claps from the audience. When they were not, there were a few good jokes about the current state of Kannada films. Luckily, the Bombay-Karnataka accent has a charm that can make even the dirtiest jokes sound nice.

The hero looked and dressed like Suresh Heblikar from Aalemane. He seemed to have much more in him and maybe, a solo stand up comedy show by him would be big hit with the masses.

 See the full Drama Series here.

Ranasinghpet

The Patli Galli.