What's the big deal?

I've spent 26 years of my life getting familiar with Bangalore. I studied at a college which was on Brigade Road for 2 years. I spent a hell lot of time walking up and down that high street. I've seen shops come and go. I was also around when the first CCD, then known as Cyber Cafe became a hangout for coffee connoisseurs. 

Yet, I have never seen Pecos or Fanoos. Didn't really understand what the big deal was. Given a choice I'd rather spend a hot sunny day, in campus playing a casual game of cricket with like minded teetotallers and vegetarians.  

They're both holes in the wall. And yet, when i tell a true patron that I havent been to either of these landmarks, I manage to elicit the following response everytime. "WHAT??? YOU HAVENT BEEN TO PECOS/FANOOS? HUMM...." 

Mysore as my base for the weekend - Day 2

On day two, we got in the car and visited the Gumbaz and Sangam which is about 15 kms from Mysore. Again, it was the wrong time of the day for pictures. 

I seemed to have planned my visits without thinking at all. 5 pm would've been apt. The sun wouldnt be too harsh, and we could really get some good golden hour pictures. To be frank,I  didnt really have the patience to ensure an early evening visit. Besides, driving at night is a pain. Anyway, managed to get some "for the sake of shooting" pictures at these two locations. 

Wevu being patiently cute while I walked off with my camera.
The Gumbaz sunbathing in the hot blazing sun.


Wevu on the banks of the river, sitting pretty.
Performing last rites.
Mixed emotions. Members of a family performing the last rites of a loved one while members of another family enjoying a ride on the coracle.









Chaddi pals.

Mysore as my base for the weekend - Day 1

Road trips are fun. They're fun cos you're on your own. They're fun coz you have the option of keeping a chiller stuffed with cold beers at the back. They're fun coz you dont have a definite agenda. And they're fun coz you dont have to put up with public transport in India. 

We sat in a car and drove to Mysore, stopping at Ranganthittu, a bird santuary to try our hands at shooting birds. Reached there and realised, we dont have a tele lens. We knew we wouldn't get good shots with an 18-135 at 3.5 - 5.6, but decided to rent out a private boat anyway. The timing was wrong. 11 am in the morning? What was I thinking? 

250 bucks lighter and 30 minutes later, we were less than happy with ameature looking pictures. I made a mental note of going back there with a tele some day.

We then drove another 10 km and shacked up at Ginger. That evening, we decided to go shoot Mysore palace during twilight. I love twilight shots. They give you brilliant results. We were at the gates at 6pm, set up the tripod, chose a good vantage point and started clicking. 2 and a half hours later we produced these...

Be Humble

I was at a shoot with a star... so called star. Someone who hasn't even seen real success. Someone who's probably just about getting there. 

It astonishes me that people can be such perpetual assholes. How hard is it to be humble? Fine your a budding STAR in the cricketing world. Does that give you the license to behave like a demanding, greedy and snobbish bastard?

One bit of advice. Be humble. You wont lose a thing.

Check

Just checking an iPhone application. I love technology :)

Posted with LifeCast

bangalorewalks.com

I went for a walk yesterday that literally knocked out my entire day. If you browse through bangalorewalks.com, you'll see that they conduct guided walks across different parts of Bangalore. I've never really enjoyed History, but yesterday was something different. It was a session on Victorian Bangalore. We walked the entire length of MG Road taking in the little tidbits and unfathomable stories of a few historical landmarks.

Well the walk itself lasted 3 hours as promised. However, I've been out of shape for a couple of years. So the 3 hour walk actually became a 3 hour walk + 3 hours of deep sleep and finally an hour spent on nursing my aching head for which I quickly blamed the hot sun.

It was a day well spent. A good solid lesson on History made me realize that if people hadn't evolved eventually, we'd still be slaves to Monarchy. Monarchs back then were cruel and Im glad they're fucking DEAD. 

A few snapshots taken during the walk.

Breakfast at Koshys

Humm
All ears
Getting a History lesson
Our history teacher for the day.

Ripped to shreads. Plaza theatre on MGs.

Still Standing. A bungalow on MGs
Even I've got an iphone.
Climbing down the bell tower at Trinity Church
Trinity church at 7 am. 
Armed and ready