Different Hues of My Mind

March 18, 2011 - Akshaya Nagar, Bangalore Come spring time and the Tabebuia trees lined up along many roads of Bangalore blossom and turn into wonderful hues of pink and yellow. Although spring doesn't last very long, the short period of full bloom gives some respite for sore city eyes. Unfortunately, the trees that line up the road near our house didn't bloom in tandem. Nevertheless, it did make for a beautiful morning when I stepped out of the house to click the picture.

February 19, 2011 - Mettupalayam road, Karamadai We were returning from Coonoor when we passed Mettupalayam on the way to Coimbatore. As we approached this small town, heavy traffic indicated that the famous car festival was happening at the Sri Ranganathar temple. We were engulfed by a sea of humanity as huge masses of devotees made it towards the temple from all directions. This onlooker was watching me with amusement as I really struggled to click some photos amidst all this frenzy. He stood there posing for me, and moved on as soon as I clicked his picture.

February 18, 2011 - Near Lamb's Rock, Coonoor The sight seeing tour of Coonoor takes you through attractions like Singara Tea Estates, Lamb's rock and Dolphin's Nose viewpoint. Other than these, you can also stop at various points to marvel at the beauty of the Nilgiris. We had hired a car to take us through these tourist attractions apart from other interesting viewpoints and spots. On the way back, while passing by Lamb's rock I noticed these roadside hedges with beautiful red flowers appearing as streaks as we sped past them. I clicked a photo to capture that moment.

February 18, 2011 - Hotel Vivek, Coonoor We stayed at Hotel Vivek, located by the "Figure of Eight" road in Upper Coonoor during our visit. The hotel is a fine place to stay, and the staff is friendly and helpful. We landed at the hotel by breakfast time, but by the time we got ready for sight seeing it was 11.45 AM. At this time, the restaurant didn't have anything to eat except sandwiches. We were hungry after a 12 hour journey, and had no option but to dig into whatever was available. In the time spent there, the only worthwhile things were a couple of clicks.

January 26, 2011 - JR Meadows, Anekal Taluk I had gone to attend "Gruhapravesham" (house warming) ceremony of my relative's home in JR Meadows. While clicking photos of the ceremony I noticed that these 2 construction workers were watching the proceedings from a nearby (under construction) house. I walked up to the window and aimed my camera at them, they gave the most charming smile I have seen in a while. I clicked and then extended the camera out of the grill for them to see the picture. They seemed happy, and I was too.

January 22, 2011 - Akshaya Nagar, Bangalore This girl was preoccupied playing on the slide in the play area of our apartment. As she was climbing up from the sliding end she noticed me taking photos in the car parking area. She paused momentarily and posed for a photograph. However, I clicked when she resumed playing.

January 1, 2011 - The Forum mall, Bangalore My friend bought the 50 mm f1.8 lens, and I was trying it out at the Forum mall. The Christmas decorations were kept intact for the New Year celebrations as well, and I got a good chance to test the bokeh produced by lens. A little while later a staff of the Forum mall approached us and politely asked us the purpose of taking photos and requested us not to take photographs as photography was only allowed with family and friends. We obliged and vacated the place after giving the staff some suggestions.

January 1, 2011 - Majestic, Bangalore I was walking around in the Majestic area on the first day of the year 2011, when I came across a street artist. He was drawing the picture of Lord Ganesh using a piece of charcoal. I normally don't take photos of people. However I was with my friend, and we clicked few photos of the art and the artist. He demanded 10 rupees from us, and threatened to hit us when we gave him a 5 rupee coin. Curious public gathered around as we paid another 10 rupees, took a couple of photos and moved on.

December 7, 2010 - Horse carts, Bangalore Palace The Bangalore Palace stands in contrast with the glitz and buzz of the silicon city, located in the sprawling Palace Grounds, the palace offers a peak into the history of Bangalore city. Entry to the palace costs Rs. 175, and you get an "audioguide" - a recorded narration of the significance of the different areas of the palace. If you pay Rs. 500 for the camera ticket, then you can take photographs inside and outside the palace. This photo is of the horse driven carts parked in front of the palace.

December 25, 2010 - Tunga River, Sringeri Sringeri is a holy town in the Malnad (Western Ghats) region of Karnataka. Here the temples of Goddess Sharadamba and Lord Vidyashankara are located on the banks of River Tunga. There is a bridge connecting the other side of the river where the Peetham is established. Meals are offered to all the devotees visiting the shrine. The atmosphere here is very relaxing and one feels rejuvenated after spending some time here in the evening.

October 31, 2010 - Ladies Seat, Yercaud A famous viewpoint in Yercaud, allows for beautiful view of plains in the day. When we visited this viewpoint in daylight, the entire place was completely covered in mist and there was no view available. An autorikshaw guy persuaded us to visit the place in the night (for his benefit), but in the end it evened out pretty well. We got a stunning night view of Salem City.

October 31, 2010 - near Omalur railway station On the way to Salem, the Bangalore - Ernakulam Intercity express stopped at Omalur railway station. I spotted this abandoned building by the railway track, just as the train was about to start. I quickly set the camera to Live View and changed Picture Style to my custom black and white mode, extended the camera out of the window and took a shot. As the train chugged out of the station, I realized that this photo was a keeper.

September 11, 2010 - Raj Bhavan, Kemmannugundi. This is the highest point in Kemmannugundi hills, famous for beautiful views of sunset. Since this is the highest point, you also get a fantastic view of surrounding hills and valleys. We visited this place on a gloomy day just after monsoons, and spent an hour here as clouds were floating past us at the edge of the mountain cliff. The best way to reach Kemmannugundi by your own vehicle as there is only one bus everyday connecting to Birur and Lingadahalli.

October 31, 2010 - Montfort School, Yercaud This photo was taken inside the Montfort school campus in Yercaud, Tamilnadu. This is one of the famous schools in the region, and apparently Tamil Cinema star Vikram studied here. The school is open for visitors on Sunday, and it is quite a worthwhile visit. For a round trip from bus stand autorikshaws will charge around Rs. 50.

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university lecturer. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the lecturer went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, some plain-looking and some expensive and exquisite, telling them to help themselves to hot coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the lecturer said: "If you noticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves; that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the better cups and are eyeing each other's cups." Now, if Life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contai...

Deviating a bit from the usual stuff I write about in my blog, this one has a more technical context (not to say I'm technically savvy) to it. Of late, I have been trying to use open-source software to see how it fares in meeting my requirements. So, out of interest, I read quite a bit about Linux. I search the internet for the different available options (distributions). So, a simple search on Google for "review+ name of the linux distribution " reveals a lot of results. Sadly, more often than not, the so called reviews are just poor expressions of one's (author's) opinion. I often find them a waste of time, misleading & biased. For e.g. I've read a so called review of an operating system, where the reviewer wrote off the operating system because he/she didn't like the default colour scheme (theme), and refused to review it!! We know that changing the colours or themes is just a matter of couple clicks on any operating system, but to say that I will ...

Following my previous post about the so called "dog menace", I can't help but write this blog after my recent visit to a place called Valparai, in Tamilnadu. This is a very typical small town, with a few small restaurants, boarding and lodging places, a main street and hills dotted with houses. The only difference is that, the weather is typical hill-station like, town is unspoilt by visitors, and it is very less commercialized. We were told by the locals that there is not much to see. However, when we started exploring the place on bike, we soon found a clean little stream flowing between the tea plantations. It was breathtaking place. We spent quite some time here. We were also told that there is a waterfall named "Chinnakallar". The water falls are named after the place; but it is the dam that holds the significance. We parked our bikes, and enquired about the falls at a tea-shop on the way. We were told that water is less at this time of the year. Regardle...

Recent news about stray (street) dogs fatally attacking 2 children in separate incidents has suddenly caused the government officials to sit up and start doing something about the "menace". We have stray animals to tackle on our roads today to add to the woes of road conditions & traffic. Stray dogs chasing 2 wheeler riders in the night & attacking pedestrians is very common. Isn't "Dog is a man's best friend?" We take pride in the development, with cities outgrowing themselves, people trying hard to acquire land & property and have all the creature comforts. However, we also take the land & space for granted. We claim stake to land where animals lived amicably, and then blame them as nuisance. Would we appreciate it if somebody were to intrude into our space and call us a nuisance? Certainly not! So, the next time you pick up a stone or stick to hit a dog, or curse a stray animal on the road, remember, these animals may not have come your wa...

So much has been said about the condition of roads in India. On a recent visit to Nagarhole (pronounced Naagar-ho-lay), I ran into some of the worst roads that I have ever come across in my life. We drove down from Bangalore in a Wagon R via Mysore & Hunsur. The road till Mysore is absolutely fantastic and the drive is very pleasing and enjoyable. Sadly, the same can't be said about the 30 km stretch of road inside the Nagarhole forest. Nagarhole is a natural forest inhabited by several species of animals, vegetation & fauna. Most common ones are tuskers, tigers, deers, sambars and peacocks. It is also reported that wild animals can be sighted during the drive through the forest. The forest department also offers a safari (in a van) inside the forest where the chances of sightings are higher. I have observed that the roads that belong to the forest department are normally better maintained than other roads. The drive between Mysore and Hunsur was also good, save some patc...

Ok... I have to admit, I have nothing to write about, and it's been a long time since I posted anything on my blog. So, now that I'm back in Bangalore.. oops "Bengalooru" after 2 odd years, I was wondering what happened to Bangalore that was 3 years back. The change of name has nothing to do with it, but the use of these names helps us understand the divide that has set in. Since I've been away for a long time, and that I've experienced another city, I think I can analyze and put down some things that have changed in Bengalooru. Bangalore was a nice & clean city with great weather all round the year. Not that there were no shortcomings but that they were far outweighted by the advantages of the city. Bangalore had nice parks & gardens everywhere and had a more relaxed appeal. I'd heard so many comments that Bangalore is a pensioners paradise. Enough about Bangalore, let's speak of Bengalooru. Bangalore was renamed as Bengalooru on Karnataka Raj...