Do Join Us for the run for Cancer Kids.
Registration Page :
https://www.townscript.com/e/roadrunners
Donations will go to KIDWAI cancer institute and from KAAA :
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3c0U623dNiwX09oTndSWlBGOTA/view?usp=sharing
Category: fun
I had many times witnessed the classic work done by SRMAB kids in sports and dance. Yesterday, I remembered it again when Ram called me. Ram was one of the progressing students of SRMAB. While talking, he told me that he joined Vijaya college, which is off course one of the best colleges in Bangalore. Somehow felt happy that guys are getting benefited of what we are teaching. It’s almost more than 4 and half year to me. I never got problem in teaching, never got the complain that kids are not able to concentrate in class. And time passes so fast that boy who was a kid at 8th or 9th, is now in PUC final year and thinking perfectly what to do next in life and talks about girlfriends.
Here goes Ram, student of the year with Srinivas Sir, principal and founder, one of the most inspiring person for me.
3-4 weeks back, we decided to have quiz competition at SRMAB. Shardha, who handles lot of work at SRMAB, came with the complain that students are not doing too good in some subject and its good to give a holistic knowledge rather than just focusing on computer. For that purpose, we decided to take a quiz. It was beautiful to see that they go somewhere in the deep and replied to the answers so maturely.
We were organizing the quiz. Why on ground - that's our style. Photo courtesy: Priyanka Varma
More of such events will be definitely be our next step, whereas marking them “good” is important for us. Knowing theory and knowing where it exactly going are too different things and our education system now demand to have a correct balance of both. I want to say more but right now just enjoy the pictures. Probably some dancing competition :).
Roopani and Santosh performing the classic dance which was classic
Just adding the quiz paper for fun :).
Round 1: Here
Final Round: Here
It was Mohan(one of our bangalorecaptured blogger) and he had invited us at his home. A beautiful home with lots of Flora and Fauna. Plan was to celebrate the birthday at Nrityagram Dance Village – a killer place to watch classical dance. Informally photography was prohibited inside the classroom which makes sense. Some of the beauty outside the place, I am even adding some of the pictures taken at Mohan’s Land.
Pea Blue
Great tit
Loten's Sunbird
Old Asset
 Symbol of Dance Village |
 At her home - Purple Sunbird |
The Baronet
 Black Rumped Woodpecker |
 Patterned Flower |
Grass Demon
China Rose
After two awesome posts by Prathima and Priyanka, there is not much to write about Lalbagh flower show. But on the base line, I will say everyone should see it, specially for children and one who has interest in nature.
 Tailed jay on Zinnia flower |
 Common Grass Yellow on Zinnia flower |
Moving forward, I can see the crowd and excitement in people towards flower show.
One more flavor of Peruvian Lily. A true color of nature and this species exists in 90-120 colors across the globe.
Here is the red color flavor of the same.
Red Flavor of Peruvian Lily. A true color of nature and this species exists in 90-120 colors across the globe.
 Cineraria - Exists in 50 different species |
 One more flavour of Cineraria |
The forever flowers of Lalbagh(I mean when season allow) are Grand Crinum Lily and Orange Cosmos.
 Grand Crinum Lily - Always in Lalbagh |
 Wasps at Orange Cosmos |
Some of the flowers specially for Flower show.
Flower show special
Flower show special
A seasonal flower - Seen at lalbagh and Cubbon Park - Don't know the name
Red Rose embedded with Yellow Rose
Marigold growing up 🙂
China Rose - evergreen beauty 🙂
 Celosia - A siiky Feel |
 🙂 |
Sultan's Balsam - Lots of flavors.
I am not done but considering pictures, I am stopping here. For more, you can visit : http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150349715871281.394368.569911280&type=1 (My facebook album)
For people who are always looking for ways to get out of the city and enjoy some of the scenic landscapes our country has to offer.This is an attempt to provide some weekend drive informationfor all those Bangaloreans, who would want to take weekend drive.
Below is an itenary, which was not planned but just happened, typical Bangalore style!! . If you find any mistakes in the description of places or surroundings, please post them in the comments section, and I will promptly correct them 🙂
Below is what I and my friend had done a couple of weeks back, and I think anyone planning for a weekend trip can use this as a guide. This is part 1 of the travelogue.
Places covered in this drive. The below trail shows the destinations and the routes taken.
Day 1 Bangalore — > Hassan
Day 2 Bangalore –> Hassan –>Shettyhalli –> Hassan –> Halebidu –> Chikkamagalur–> Mullayanagiri–>Baba Budan Giri –> Hassan
Day 3 Hassan — > Manjarabad Fort (Sakleshpura) –> Hassan –> Bangalore
It just so happened that my friend was planning to visit his parents in Hassan, and I had called him hoping we could go for a photo shoot, he promptly replies, why dont you just come over to Hassan, we’ll try landscape photography this time. So i thought for a sec, and told him sure why not.
I and my friend met near Mantri mall, Malleshwaram at 3:30 PM on a Friday, and started our journey and 3:45 PM.
Drive to yeshwanthapur, make sure you take the fly over and drive towards nelamangala,the 15 Rs you pay for the toll road is worth it.
Take the exit near nelamangala, and once you take the left turn you should be greeted with the below signboard 🙂
From here on this road is fantastic till Bellur, gives you a feel of driving on Bangalore Mysore highway, minus the traffic. Driving on this road, you see several nurseries, if possible, get off the highway, and try to take some snaps if you like.
The landscape is very green and scenic, and you can definitely pull over to take some more shots if you want, but for us,we had to reach my friend’s parents house, so we couldn’t afford to capture the scenic drive. If you’re not in a hurry to reach Hassan, you can even visit Shravanabelagola on the way to Hassan.
There are several toll booth’s on the way, but currently they’re not collecting the fees, as the road work is still in progress. The road till Bellur is very good, beyond that the roads are good, but not great, and in some places it becomes narrow and potholed, and in places become a single lane 2 way traffic (or whatever it is called 🙂 ) But the roads are generally good overall, with some small stretches which require you to take some extra care.
We reached Hassan at 7:15, i guess this should give you an indication of the road conditions 🙂 . Here you can stay over in some hotel for the night. Hassan being a commercial area, you are not into the woods yet, so finding good food and accomodation is not a problem.
Day 2:
Next day we left Hassan at 7:00 in the morning, drove to Shettyhalli, which is about 30 KM’s from Hassan. The drive to Shettyhalli again is very scenic, and the rains made the drive surreal. Some of the very memorable things about the drive is the folk around Shettyhalli, this place can give you a glimpse of the lifestyle in places away from the city, particularly kids walking or cycling to school, people waiting for the occasional bus to arrive etc.
The place Shettyhalli is famous for an historic church which was built by the Britishers, the church carries a very European look and feel to it, and it’s a site not to miss, in the Monsoon the Church gets overrun by water, and only a part of the Church is visible and is not approachable. This is because this area serves as the catchment area for a near by dam (dont remember the Dam name 🙂 , pun intended
Drive a little bit ahead and you get a bridge, from here your get a 360 degree view around the catchment area, and the view from here is out of this world, here you also get to see the cloud cover over the vast and beautiful Western Ghats!
Since our primary intention was to do landscape photography here, we couldn’t get any bird photos, but we chanced upon, sunbirds, hornbills, shikra, Oriental white ibis etc.
Next, from Shettyhalli we next drove to the historic city of Halebidu. It’s about an hours drive from Shettyhalli at about 60 KM’s. You basically have to drive back to Hassan, and from there to Halebidu. You can read more abou Halebidu here. Wiki
The guide’s here are very helpful, and they speak Kannada, English , Hindi, Tamil, Telugu 🙂 , so no one would feel left out here. They charge 200 Rs, irrespective of whether your a group or an individual.
The tour is quiet informative, and shows the brilliance of the temple sculptors.
If you go off-season that is around July, it is not crowded, and you tend to enjoy and appreciate the place better.
Below are some shots from the temple.
It was around 12:30, when we were about to leave Halebidu, so we decided to have lunch and from there drive directly to Chikkamagalur. You should not have trouble finding a decent place to eat in Halbidu, or you can drive directly to Chikkamagalur, being a commercial area, you have better options for food, but then seriously what is the fun in eating in a chaotic city when you can eat some of the delicacies prepared by the Village folk, trust me it’s worth it, we did it, and it was cheap!! 😀 [Do it at your own risk though]
We drove from Halebidu — > Chikkamagalur –> Mullayanagiri (Highest point in Karnataka at 1,930 metres)
It takes about 90 minutes to reach Mullayanagiri from Halebidu, we decided to skip Belur. Once you reach Chikkamagalur, your greeted with the city chaos, try to find your way out of there, ask people for direction to Mullayanagiri, and people should start pointing you towards the foot of the Western Ghats.
Once you enter the Ghat section, take extreme care while driving, it is definitely fun, but dont drive recklessly, respect the place and the conditions and other drivers, you will enjoy the place.
The drive to Mullayanagiri, is quiet an exhillarating experience, the place goes from good visibility to zero visibility, there were instances when I couldnt see anything beyond 5ft and we had to drive watching the road which was lit by our Car’s headlights, and hoping that the road doesnt end with a cliff in another 5 feet. Since we were being extra careful, we had kept our camera gears aside, and we were making sure we were safe.
A view from inside the car, while driving.
This shot was taken when we were approaching the peak, as you can see, there are no barricades on the side, and the visibility can get very low.
Couple of points to keep in mind while driving near Mullayanagiri, keep your head lights ON. This was also my first time driving in Ghat section, and people usually are courteous (unlike what you find in City traffic), because of the nature of the drive. People are willing to give you the right of way, in case they feel it is safer to let you go.
Mullayanagiri is usually foggy, irrespective of what time you go, so dont hurry in planning to get there early in the morning. We were also planning to go there early in the morning :p , until a local suggested otherwise.
Once you reach Mullayanagiri, there’s man made stairs which will take you to the highest point, we couldn’t get there because the weather was really bad, and the low visibility wasn’t helping either.
Below is a video from the top.
As you can see, we couldnt get to the the top, as it was very windy, you can see that I had to grab my iPhone towards the end, as the wind was too strong and it was blowing it away
From Mullayanagiri, we decided to return to Chikkamagalur, as we drove back and reached the fork, where you take a left to reach Baba Budan Giri and right to Chikkamagalur, we thought what the heck let’s go to Baba Budan Giri also, it takes about 45 mins to reach Baba Budan Giri, the drive is similar to what it’s like driving to Mullayanagiri, only that the roads were a bit bumpy here.
Below is the footage of the drive to baba budan giri, and of Baba budan giri itself. The entrance to the cave was blocked due to maintenance.
To be honest, I had never visited places like Mullayanagiri and Baba budan giri in my life, what I mean to say is the low visibility and the incessant rains in these places, this is something that i had experienced for the first time in my life. And i am sure even experienced guyz would continue to be left in awe of the beauty of these places.
From here, we returned to Hassan, and decided to call it a day 🙂
Day 3
On Day 3, we decided to go to Manjarabad fort, this place is about 65 KM’s from Hassan, and is situtated in Sakleshpura.
Manjarabad fort was supposed to have been built by Tipu Sultan, as a strategic defensive point.
The road to Manjarabad fort is again good, some roads are twisty, and require you to be careful while overtaking. Ask for directions to reach Manjarabad fort, it shouldn’t be very difficult to find the place. Once you reach Manjarabad fort, park your vehicle, get some junk food if you want in the local shops around here 🙂 , as you’re going to hike for about 10 to 15 mins to reach the Fort. The hike is safe and easy, if you can even call it a hike that is 😉 , there are also stairs at the base of the fort, so be ready to get tired on your way to the top, again this shouldn’t be very tough.
Below are some photos from Majarabad fort.
We spent around 2 hrs here, and decided to get back to Hassan, at Hassan we had our lunch at 5:30 PM, in a Dhaba relaxed for some time, and decided to start for Bangalore at 6:30.
On our way back our tyre rim had been damaged due to which the Tyre had lost all the air, so we had to stop in the highway, and change the tyre, we lost a good 40 mins because of this. We reached Bangalore at 10:30 PM.
Next day we got back to work 😀
This was a very pleasant and happening trip, nothing was planned, everything was decided on the go, so it was even more fun.
I sincerely hope you enjoyed this Travelogue.
Feedback most welcome!!
Cloudy weekends are not leaving us. But since I take photos for just fun and enjoyment, it hardly matters to me. Saturday plan got dropped, so I decided to visit Bannerghatta national park area, again an endless space for birding. Late night, Ganesh, Bhavya and Geetanjali decided to join. And later we got the company of Prashant and Vinay. It’s always my pleasure to move with this kind of intelligent person who has great knowledge of bird, place and actually everything.
Sighting started with pair of Pied Kingfisher, sitting on the edge of the tree and seeking for prey. Soon, they started diving in the water. For some initial chances they didn’t get the fish but soon they got the stuff. Geetanjali told – We should learn patience from them. Yes, we should !
Pair of Pied Kingfisher - All set for action
 A unsucessful diving and ready for second |
 Ready to dive again |
Pair of Brahminy Kites sitting with patience and waiting something for their fortune.
 Brahminy Kite |
 Brahminy Kite |
After we moved towards Temple site, where we spotted the great action of Common Iora eating his prey in an enjoyable manner. We also sighted Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Fantail Flycatcher, Oriental White eye and Small Minivet. Some shots are here.
 Blue faced Malkoha with prey |
 Blue Faced Malkoha - Jumping on tree |
Common Iora with its Prey
Fill dignified having prey underfeet
Heading back to Zoo area, we saw lots of spider making home near road side. Gaintwood spiders were common of them.
Gaint wood spider
Ashy Prinia poping out from inside
Pied Bushchat - Juv
Oriental White eye ..a small beauty
Pied Wagtail
- Welcome !!!
Got few details from this link http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/articles/view/211-heritage-present-is-commerce-krmarket- written by Deepa Mohan !!
Flower Sellers inside K R Market.The central courtyard was a bustle with vendors and customers, striking their bargains.
The “Paytay, Kotay, Kerey, Thota” of the walk !!!
The “Paytay”, roughly translated, means “commercial centre”. The Krishna Rajendra Market area definitely continues to be one, from the time, approximately one hundred and fifty years ago, when it was designated as a commercial area. It remains, even today, a bustling hive of trade.
Apart from other businesses, K.R. Market, part of the old city area, is an important centre for those who buy flowers on a wholesale basis. Roses, ‘kakda’, ‘mallige’, ‘kanakambaras’, ‘sevanthige’, asters, ‘chendu hoo’ and ‘rudrakshi chendu hoo’ are bought from wholesale flower market (‘hoovina mandi’) and other places like Hosur, Timmapura, Salem and Tiruvannamalai of Tamilnadu, Nelamangala, Doddaballapura, Anekal, Chikkaballapura, Hebbal and Kumblahalli of Hoskote District.
Colorful !!!!
We are here to buy & sell !!!
Pay me !!
Close up for you !!!!
Close Up 1 !!!
These ladies are the playing most imp role, after this job they have 1 more job serving their families.
Busy sellers !!!
If the business goes well then you can see the smiling faces….
Happy faces !!!
Fine say bye to flower market its time for me to take to the other part of K.R. Market – Vegetable market….Many small traders stay around the wholesale market. The farm vegetables and fruits are shipped in by middlemen/wholesalers. They control the market and the prices. The farmers get very little, especially, when they grow a surplus. The retailers pick up their needs everyday starting 4 a.m., and carry their stuff to the various neighborhoods. Many small vendors work on a day to day basis borrowing money from loan sharks at rates of interest around 10% per day!
Man with proteins !!!!
Lighten it up !!!
He was very busy in sewing the sacks & packing up the vegetables, he made his free time & posed for my camera….
Maamoo !!
These guys dont have retirement plan, pension plan etc… they have only one plan that is ” BE HAPPY WITH WHAT WE HAVE FOR TODAY “….
I dont have retirement !!!
Even i dont have retirement plan !!
Ah man, this old guy was very active in his activities, in which smoking is also a active activity which he does regularly…
Smo..KEY !!!
Fun time to relieve their stress..
Fun tym !!!
They took their tym to pose to our cams with a smiling face..
Posing tym !!!
Here comes our capsicum Raja….
Indha Capsicum Endhu !!!
Today’s rounds are done with this, i’m damn tired & i’m going.. you guys read my blog……
Tym to say bye bye....drrrrrr....!!!!!
Season is calling. Thanks to Rohit Girotra and Deepa Mohan to get me interested in butterflies. Though I have zero knowledge of dynamics about this colorful creature. Here are some of those beautiful butterflies of Lalbagh, there are many more but not able to take because of time constraint. Bet you some more till next week.
Peacock Pansy
Peacock Pansy – It exists in two distinct adult forms, which differ chiefly in the patterns on the underside of the wings; the dry-season form has few markings, while the wet-season form has additional eyespots and lines.
Stripped Tiger on Orange Cosmos
Striped Tiger with some part injured on Cosmos Orange – Members of this genus are leathery, tough to kill and fake death. Since they are unpleasant to smell and taste, they are soon released by the predators, recover and fly off soon thereafter.
Chocolate pansy
Chocolate pansy – Individuals maintain a territory and are usually found close to the ground level and often bask in the sun.
Common Five Ring
Common Five Ring – Quite variation in color and wing size from Winter to Summer.
Common Grass Yellow
Common Grass Yellow – They exhibits seasonal polyphenism [Polyphenic pigmentation is adaptive for insect species that undergo multiple mating seasons each year. Different pigmentation patterns provide appropriate camouflage throughout the seasons, as well as alter heat retention as temperatures change.]
Chestnut Bob
Chestnut Bob – Found in Asia and parts of Southeast Asia.
Pea Blue
Pea Blue – Its a small butterfly. At first time, you can’t appreciated the beauty. A close view is required :).
‘The Great Outdoors’ – A Photo Exhibition on Adventure Sports & Outdoor Activities
Essen Communications is organizing, ‘The Great Outdoors,’ a Photo Exhibition on the thrills and spills of adventure sports and outdoor activities on land, water and sky by adventure organisations and enthusiasts. Other highlights include a display of adventure gear and rushes of adventure destinations and activities.
Venue: Alliance Francaise de Bangalore from August 4th to 7th 2011
Timings – 10 am to 8 pm.
For details contact: Tel: 94483 63336 or essencom@yahoo.co.in
Ever heard about a theater performance for the Visually Impaired people ??? We also had no idea about this form of performance but we got a chance to experience the wonderful concept on June 4th 2011.
All seated down at the auditorium of SRMAB (Shree Ramana Maharshi Academy for the Blind), a school for Visually Impaired, with around 110 students and a small group of volunteers and teachers. At the stage was the Yours Truly Theatre with all their actors ready to perform.
Yours Truly Theatre – a theatre that believes in spontaneity, audience participation and more interaction. Some snaps here:
SRMAB Kids having Fun
Performance by Yourstruly Gang
Performance by Yourstruly gang
Understanding properly
Harsha was telling them the story which they were supposed to perform in no time.
Harsha telling them the story
For more about their work: http://www.yourstruly-theatre.com/
India - Nature, Travel And Birding 