a typical Bangalore winter morninig

Cold, Gloomy and Overcast



A typical Bangalore Winter Morning!
Cold mornings to start with and as the day passes the humidity levels go high. The sun comes out once in a while out of the clouds (Bliss).

City Market

Every been to a market before?

The bustling sound of street vendors, the chai wala shouting chai chai and running to shops to deliver the much awaited chai, people pursuing you to buy and buy more, cut throat competition and a perfect place to learn and test your marketing skills.

Sunday evening nothing to do and I was off to Bangalore's very own City Market a.k.a. K.R. Market (I never knew that though). City Marketing is operational thought out the day 24 hours and 7 days a week. As early as 4 AM in the morning vendors from all over gather and start stocking their small shops in the market to as late as midnight, these people just keeping going on and on and there is nothing to stop them.

Shops in City market complex are rented out for people to do business. However since the place is extremely crowded, people tend to buy from vendors on footpath outside city market complex, leaving shop owners angry and disheartened.

Well that does not leave the vendors on footpath to take away all. This being illegal, the vendors too pay 50/- for a small 4 x 4 feet place to do business to the authorities.

For some business was good and specially for the people who deal with flowers. This person in particular was having a bash with Marigold!

All said and done and finally I got one shot and which set the tone and true essence of Market.

Money does matter!

This is what happens at City Market at the end of every transaction.

Wet Wet August!

Bangalore, famous for its April Showers and mild summers, however 2007 was extremely different. Call it Global Warming or Pollution or whatever, April was Hot and Humid with absolutely no rain. People missed the April showers, but they had to miss monsoon it for a long time. It's August and not only Bangalore but almost all parts of the country, its monsoon time!

Surprising!! August used to be one of the most beautiful months, with all places lush green and clear blue Skye's and huge patches of pure white colored clouds. But the scene is quite different this time!

People confused all around and have no clue on whats going on...! For some its a serious problem but for some its time to enjoy. The cold water falling all over the city, people running here and there for shelter, some people tied up from top to bottom in protective gears and some of them just enjoying the ran and getting drenched.

Well everyone has their own perspective, and for me, you call it effects of global warming or whatever, but its raining and its beautiful.

Bangalore to Mysore via State Highway 17

What a beautiful day it was on Saturday 16th June. The clouds, the whether, perfect sunlight (to a certain extent) and a beautiful evening. All the way along SH 17, beautiful landscapes, beautifully formed clouds and the shadowed Hills and fields were the most beautiful thing I have witnessed in sometime.

Started the trip a bit late but it turned out to be the perfect time. Stopping at almost every 20 minutes, we got a chance to capture almost everything, nature, mountains, landscapes, people, etc.

A good time to start would be early morning at about 7 AM from Bangalore. The first place to stop would be definitely near Bidadi, where you have beautiful hills on both sides of the road and railway track and the state highway running between them.

Breakfast at Kamat Loka Ruchi is without a doubt you dont want to miss. The Idli's wrapped in coconut leaves are a delight to eat.

You can than carry on towards Chanpattna's very famous wooden toy factory, Maddur's coconut market, Srirangpatna and Ranganthittu bird scantury. Stop for a meal at Srirangpatna and you can get your hands to a decent dish of chicken biryani. The evening time would be best captured from the Srirangpatna bridge. Beautiful landscapes, water and loads of White Breasted King fhisher to capture in flight and resting on wires and branches.

On the way back to Bangalore you can stop at about 1 KM before Kamat Loka Ruchi. The highway is elevated and thus an extremely good location to take some exposure shots.

The best part of the trip was the interactions we have had with people whom we captured and the coconut factory at Maddur. Aaah fresh coconut water was definitely a good deal for no money.

For more Pictures from Bangalore - Mysore , SH 17, check my photostream on flickr.