Bangalore that i knew...

Those were the times, when Rs.10 was a lot of money. Those were the times when "Bangaaradha Manushya" was being played at Puttanna Talkies. Sugar cane juice was sweeter and the stripped glasses were authentic. Jayanagar was purely a Pensioner's paradise, wat with the "Pensioners" sitting on the cosy benches along the Complex lane. They would have had 2 things in mind. Visit the Ganesh Darshan and have an Authentic Masala Dosa and then walk down to Pavithra Hotel for a brilliant Gulab Jamoon. Mind u, the Gulab Jamoon episode would have never been narrated at their homes, wat with the Sugar level at 250 and BP to boot - They thought, a piece of Jamoon would do no harm!

We were in school then. And our natural choice of outing would be Jayanagar Shopping complex, which we fondly call "4rth Block". As soon as we get out of the Auto (had to be a rear engine, mind u !), we had 2 things on mind. When will i be able to hog into a delicious plate of Double masale at Pavithra. Double Masale was a plate of 2 mini Dosas. One with Saagu, and the other with Aloo Masala. Mind u, it was authentic. Not served in any other Bangalore hotel.

The Water fountain area in the center of the Shopping complex was where all the younger lot used to converge towards. We HAD to slide down the tiled area around the fountain. Moms werent very amused by this. She would have used a lot of Surf to keep my white shorts clean. And here i am, sliding down a piece of concrete, where, a few kids would have even pissed on, making sure, no ones looking!

Jayanagar was fun. Rather, it was the only fun we knew of. It was the only culture we were exposed to. Rightly so. MGs, Brigades were not for us. Not at that age. I say to myself. We were lucky.

It was those times, when there were 3 main diners (if i should call them so) in Bangalore.
Sagar Fast food in Vijaynagar.
Pavithra Paradise in BasaveshwarNagar
Pavithra Hotel in Jayangar
Having a Dinner at these places was something we looked upon as a special event.

I still remember the day when the Show had to start at 8:15 pm at Puttanna. It was Dr.RajKumar's Bangaradha Manushya. Who can forget the brilliant score "Nagu Nagutha Nali Nali", with his wierdly Pink shirt and orange lady's shoulder bag. It was a big hit. Its one, to this day. The show finished close to midnight and had to pay "double meter" to the auto wala to reach JP Nagar. Mind u , JP Nagar was wat Jigani is today - Outside the limits of actual city. So, u were forced to pay "one and a half" or "double" by default, if its anywhere close to 10 pm.

Let me continue more memories in another post.
Pls share ur side of the story in the meanwhile :)

Cheers
Pramod

Maharastra Mazedhar

It was time to cross the borders. It was time, to explore beyond what you know.
Well, it was time to hit the road again. And this time, a very long 3500 Kms on the highways.

The plan was to hit all the important destinations in Maharastra. But then again, it is never possible to cover all places at one go.
So, we saw the following places:

Yellapur (Karnataka)
Karwar
Panaji
Ratnagiri
Ganapathipule
Mahabaleshwar
Pune
Shirdi
Aurangabad
Ellora
Daulatabad
Akola
Chikaldara
Amaravathi
Hyderabad

It was truely a eye opener, interms of believing the reality that, its not just the beauty of western ghats in Malnad, karnataka, that needs appreciation.
Each place has its own magic. Could be in its culture, colours, food and the awesome nature.

The highlights of the trip were as follows:

1. Sunset at Jenukallugudda


2. Ganapathipule beach




3. Vada Pav, Jelibi at Mahabaleshwar



4. Early morning foggy drive to Chiplun


5. Bibi-Ka-Maqbara


6. The feeling of going to isolation and remoteness from Akot to Chikaldara.

7. Chikaldara itself! it needs any visit for sure. Couldnt hit Melghat this time.





You can read the full detailed Blog with photos on www.team-bhp.com

India

You may complain about the politics
You may complain about the beaurocracy
You may complain about the bad roads
You may complain about the hundreds of other things about India...

Travel for a while outside the country. And stay there for a few months.
You will realise what "love for motherland" means.
You will realise how patriotic u are.

India is great. And i love it.

TamilNadu travels

Guys,

I travelled with my family to Kodaikanal, Madurai and Kanyakumari from 5th March to 12th March.
The travelogue and photoblog of that is available in the following link:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/77250-bangalore-kodai-madurai-kanyakumari-nh7-lifeline.html

Its still in the making.

Cheers
Pramod

Old Bangalore Picture

I just realised that Bangalore is changing so much and i dont have any snaps of it from the past good old years!!

1. I really regret not taking a few clicks on "Nandha Talkies Road". Now that the Metro project is in full swing, i did miss that.

2. Another thing i should have clicked (this will surprise u ppl or u wil think i am crazy!) is that of the old KSRTC Super delux bus ;) The pale pista green & off white coloured Buses which were costlier than the other "Normal" red buses were a thing to envy, as not everybody could afford to travel on it. I am still searching for a photo of that bus on net. Let me know if u guys have one.. :)

3. I would wanna go to the Peenya truck check post and take some snaps of the Trucks from Rajasthan, Amritsar, Punjab and the likes. I am crazy about the artistic works on those trucks, the "Blow Horn" and the "We two Ours two" paintings on them!! Hmm! Never know. We may sieze to see these trucks in the future, wat with the Volvo BF7Rs and the Mercedes Benz truck on the prowl

Most scenic Roads

If WRC (World Rally Championship) wants a great tropical Rally, they shouldnt look no further than Coorg and Chickmagaloor! Let alone WRC, our K1000 (Karnataka Rally) have stopped looking at these possibilities.
Surprising/Shocking that, they want to CREATE a Rally route near Chickballapur (read barren unlimited) and other places on the outskirts of Bangalore, largely to attract crowd and get sponsorships and may be to reduce the logistic complexities. But the charm isnt there any more.
K-1000 rally was known for 1000 Kms of Rallying on the Hills, across the coastal belt and back. And i believe that used to be exciting.

This makes me think of the most scenic road trips that can be done in Karnataka and surrounding areas.

1. Gundlupet -- Bandipur - Masingudi - Ooty (take the 36 hairpin bend route)
2. Gundlupet -- Sultan Bathery -- Kalpetta -- Calicut
3. All time fav, but in shatters now -- Hassan - Gundia (Shiradi Ghat)
4. Gundia - Dharmastala
5. Kottigehara - Charmadi - Ujjire (Charmadi ghat)
6. Kottigehara - Kalasa - Horanadu
7. Kudremukh - Karakala
8. Nanjingud - Mananthwadi - Kalpetta (wayanad) --> mind u, no road.. almost :), but the most dense wildlife spot u can think of.
9. Chickmagaloor - Mutthodi - Kemmannugundi (very isolated, but very beautiful reserve forests)
10. Agumbe Ghat (Agumbe to someshwara)
11. Sirsi - kumta (Devimane ghat)
12. Yallapur - karwar (beautiful L&T built 2 carraige way)
13. Hassan - Belur (Sunflower fields)
14. Gerusoppa - Honnavar Ghat
15. Sagara - Talaguppa (wide paddy fields at Talaguppa)
16. Nagarahole - Kutta
17. Madikeri - Talacauvery
18. Maravathe Drive (all time fav)
19. Driving on Sholapur Highway on the banks of TungaBhadra Dam (before Hospet)
20. Sakleshpur - Arakallgod
21. Bisle Ghat (Somvarpet to Kukke)
22. Gundia - Kukke
23. Kollur - Nagara

List more if u think of any :)

Karnataka Post -2

3. Dandeli & Surrounding
Dandeli is a small town in the heart of Anshi wildlife sanctuary. Kali River flows in all its fury beside this quaint town. Kali river has a very short distance from its source to the Arabian sea, but is a very ferocious river to say. Its the only proppa White water (other than sita nadhi in Udupi district) south of the himalayas. (grade 3).
There are atleast 5 Dams constructed to river kali. Supa Dam at Ganesh Gudi is one of them. This dam is one of the deepest (tallest ) in karnataka. One can visit this place on the route from Dandeli to Londa road. A very experience to see the vast expanse of the reservior. You can also listen to the dam/forest guard's stories of how he worked in the Indian Army during Kargil and how he retired from there and is now a KPTCL security guard to protect this reservior from terrorist attacks. He also narrated a story of how a tiger visited the dam area from the surrouding Anshi and Dandeli wildlife sanctuary. I wont doubt him... cos there are atleast 200 tigers in that belt till Goa's jungles in the North.
A traveller can also visit the Dandeli wildlife santuary and take Night and early morning Jeep safaris. Dont worry you wont be among another 30 ppl in a bus. You can arrange for a jeep with just a driver and a guide. (Jeep could be open roof too!)
You can stay at "Jungle lodges & resorts" in the midst of the Dandeli forest, run by Govt of Karnataka for around 2000 Rs per head per night, inclusive of accom, all meals and safaris.
You can also stay at Hornbill resort and Bison River Resort near Ganesh Gudi. Both these resorts are on the bank of river kali. They will arrange White water rafting for 999 Rs per head. You also have Kayaks and Coracle rides. Dont expect more than 1 or 2 families to be here when u visit and that too the foreigner from Goa. Ppl rarely visit these places, as not many know about their existance at the first place.
If you have a bike, pls do visit the DhudhSagar Falls (tallest falls in India, if all steps are taken into account). No formal road is there to this Water falls , which is actaully on the Goa state.
A visit to Dandeli area, is defintely not complete without a visit to karwar beach, Sea bird Navy port, Devbagh beach resort (Island of the Karwar coast, Dream place !!), Kaiga Nuclear plant facility (not open for public now, need special permission ;) ) , Kadra, Idigunji (Ganesh temple), Yallapur (Magod falls).
Let me know if anybody wanna travel to these places in Uttara Kannada district.