Annipura Main Road (Sudhamanagar)
Spidermen!
August 18, 2009
August 17, 2009
1st Main, Kalasipalaya
It's been raining all night and a day can't get duller than what it's today. But the vegetable mandi at Kalasipalaya is bustling as usual. No Monday morning blues here.
August 16, 2009
Off Charminar Masjid Road
Ripening at a banana trader's godown in one of the gallis in Shivajinagar.
For a picture story about bananas from City market, click here.
August 15, 2009
Dr Rajkumar (80ft) Road
Hey! Isn't that Vishnu's bed?
Star Signs.
I've very little idea about Western and Indian astrology but I thought that these stone carvings of star signs on the walls of the Shaneeshwara Temple were different from what we usually see in Deccan temples. It stands out like the stained glass work at the Mangeshi Temple in Goa. Something different. This temple seems to be new, very popular and prosperous too. Shaneeshwara or Saturn is supposed to be one of the most powerful gods in Indian mythology.
After Ganesha, Shani is probably the most popular Hindu deity in the city. Even though there aren't many large temples dedicated to him, he's everywhere on Benglur streets, especially in the crowded market areas. If you have seen small shrines with bright painting of a God sitting on a crow, you have spotted him.
August 14, 2009
Kempegowda Road
The original Raj The Showman
Down but not out: A transistor radio!
Sandalwood Friday Movie Release: Raj The Showman.
It's the biggest release in Gandhinagar in a long time. Raj The Showman, stars Dr. Rajkumar's son Puneet and his fans are out in full strength. So are the cops. The theater is cordoned off and regular black market ticket sellers wait at a safe distance. College students wait across the road, on the pedestrian overbridge and around the roadside cigarettewallas for the gates to open at 10.15am.
And here's Puneet, the Chikka Showman, doing a Depp.
August 13, 2009
Evening Bazaar Street
He makes coal heated irons that continue to be used across the city.
Work in progress. Forever.
Which Nallah? What Drain? Evening Bazaar Stretch
This is one of the dirtiest parts of the city and much of it is because of the drain covering work that has been going on many months. If and when the work is completed, we can expect this place to become a lot cleaner.
August 12, 2009
Charminar Masjid Road + Off OPH Rd.
A shopkeeper from a lane off OPH Road.
Kneading dough is good exercise. The baker who runs Azad Bakery next to Evening Bazaar.
August 10, 2009
Annaswamy Mudaliar Road, Rukmini Garden
Which Nallah? What Drain? Tamil Heartland
So our Chief Minister makes a gamble that seems to have paid off for now. The Thiruvalluvar statue that faces the green Ulsoor lake and stands close to where the Nallah from Shivajinagar reaches the lake, has finally been unveiled. Today, the day after, the security blanket around the statue is thick and the entire area is a vinyl poster-fest with everyone from Ajith Kumar Fans Association to the Government of Karnataka shouting for attention. Thiruvalluvar, about whom I know very little, sits with marigold garlands around his neck and has an expression that says, 'Get me out of this mess da dai!'
Around the corner, Benglur's most famous graffiti - 'Read The Holy Thirrukural' with the addition 'And then the Da Vinci Code' has been untouched.
However, the roadside star-struck small businessmen and women of Rukmini Garden and surrounding areas continue with their business while proclaiming their fan affiliations loud and clear. Like this lady who sells sticker, temporary tattoos and posters out of a shack bordering the Nallah. She is an MGR fan.
August 9, 2009
Church Street
No streetlights: A passerby uses the light from his cellphone to view exhibits at Blowup.
Blow up, a street photography exhibition by BlindBoys.org. Church Street. Until 10.40pm, Monday, August 1o.
See street photography on display and where it belong - on the streets. Which Main? What Cross? has also pasted 8 pictures from this blog along with the photographers from Bangalore and across India. If you want to display your pictures, bring your prints along, paste it on the walls of Church Street. The friendly cops from have promised to keep an eye on them until Monday night too!
For more information, call Blindboys at 919833230562.
This is being organised by Blindboys.org. The spectacular new online photography magazine.
Billa, the boy from KGF who sells stickers on Chruch Street for Rs.10, was fascinated by the pictures on display. He had a lot a questions for the exhibitors and he was surprised to find out the each print on display cost only Rs.15 to print. His worry: Blowup was trying to sell the pictures and that would eat into his business.
Picture from Which Main? What Cross? on display. It's on the wall of the building that houses Coconut Grove restaurant.
August 7, 2009
Evening Bazaar Street
Which Nalla? What Drain? Series: Evening Bazaar.
Even though it's called the Evening Bazaar, it is open all day long. And it is home to scrap dealers, blacksmiths and stores selling hardware and second hand bicycle parts.
August 6, 2009
Nala Road
Which Nallah? What Drain? Series
Lining both sides of the drain from Charminar Masjid Road to Seppings Road are two narrow lanes with markets. The one on the south sells vegetables, meat and other provisions while the one on the north, called the Evening Bazaar (it's open all day long), sells scrap metal, etc. These pictures are from the south side.
August 5, 2009
August 4, 2009
Off AM Road
Name: Muneer
From: Mangalore
Occupation: Helper at a dry fish trader's godown
In Benglur for 2 years.
Like Bangaloreans, people from Mangalore are multi-lingual. Muneer says that even though his first language is Tulu, he reads and writes in Kannada and can also understand and communicate in Malayalam and Tamil. However, this shy lad seems to be more of a listener than a talker.
See the full Lure of Bangalore Series here.
August 3, 2009
August 2, 2009
July 31, 2009
Sajjan Rao Circle
Climbing all over the little gopuram of one among many temples that ring Sajjan Rao Circle are little boys created out of cement, like advertisement for couples who seek to have a baby boy.
Bangalore stat: For children under 6, there were only 961 girls for every 1000 boys in 1991. It came down to 937 in the 2001 census.
July 30, 2009
July 29, 2009
Ulsoor Lake
Which Nallah? What Drain? Series: Colours of Ulsoor Lake.
On the left is the calmer, settling and aeration tank where the drain from Cox Town and beyond empties into the Ulsoor Lake. In this separated area of the lake, the muck is allowed to settle and a series of fountains aerate the water. Using gravity, and depending on the flow into the lake, the water slowly spills over a separation wall (shown in the above picture). However, enough nutrients spill over to feed the green algae of the Ulsoor Lake proper (that is seen on the right).
And that's Muniraju fishing on the green side. He catches enough fish everyday to make a living. The fish that will make its way back to a pot in Cox Town, completing a cycle and harvesting what we sow.
July 28, 2009
July 27, 2009
July 25, 2009
CIL Road, Matadahalli
The communist freedom-fighter Shahid Bhagat Singh finds a home outside the BJP local office. And this bust is a perfect example of Benglur's Street Art style (Click here for examples) translated into cement.
July 24, 2009
SC Road / 6th Cross Gandhinagar
July 23, 2009
MTB Road
Lure of Benglur Series : Killer Mush. Killer smile.
Name: G K Das
Hometown: Bhubaneshwar, Orissa
Occupation: Hotel Doorman
Hometown: Bhubaneshwar, Orissa
Occupation: Hotel Doorman
In Benglur for a year.
July 22, 2009
July 21, 2009
Brigade Road
Education is one of Benglur's most important industries and is home for thousands of youngsters from across India, including quite a few from the North-Eastern states. And yes, they are the best dressed people in town.
July 20, 2009
Cubbon Park: Hudson Circle Gate
Decoding our DNA.
The number of trees in the city may not have kept pace with the number of people but the truth is that the city is not called the Garden City for nothing.
Throughout its short history, this city has made its rulers, influential citizens and residents, lovers of trees, gardens, flower and all things green and colourful. The people who created a green city out of a dry, brown plateau that's far away from life-giving rivers that usually spawn cities. (Read The Greening of Bangalore Story by P. Dasharathi here)
Today, to find out the age of a locality in Bangalore, all we have to do is measure the girth of the trees. Visitors to city often go back with stems and seeds of exotic roses and flowering plants they see in the private gardens of their hosts (Or from Lalbag). When Heads of State visit us, we make them plant a tree. These days it's CEOs of multi-national companies. And it's not just Mallige, Soppu and Tarkari that goes in the procession outside the Benglureans door each day, we usually have the men pushing a heavy cart selling plotted plants too.
Even today, the event that draws the maximum number of people in the city continues to be the flower shows that are held twice a year at Lalbag. And thankfully, the cutting of trees is also the only thing that brings the people of the city out on to the streets.
The trees in Benglur may be down, but they are not out because love for trees is something that still defines a lot of what makes us Benglureans.
And finally, here's a treat for your eyes: Flowering trees of Bangalore by S.Karthikeyan
July 17, 2009
State Central Library, Cubbon Park
9.30am. Cubbon Park.
Moonsoon havoc in Malnad and the clouds that didn't burst for us in Benda Beantown. For a series of Monsoon 2009 images from outside Benglur, click here.
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