Category Bangalore East
MAKING A CONNECTION
Everytime I go looking for people and places from Bengaluru’s past, I end up joining a few dots and sorting out some puzzles and missing pieces in city history. But sometimes, there are more dots than one can imagine.I’ve driven past this building for ever so long and always wondered about it, and so it […]
Love is Everywhere
February has always been my favourite month of the year. It’s when the stardust from New Year celebrations and resolutions makes way for spring flowers. Birds speed date in Bengaluru parks and the bees are equally busy. Trees prepare to bloom, the weather is perfect.High above the city, the sky blushes coral pink at sunset. […]
A Nobel Cause
A mosquito whined past me yesterday and I remembered childhood days in Bengaluru when windows were shut as early as mid-afternoon to keep out this winged menace. Doors had wire mesh frames and the garden was fumigated regularly. The precautions were valid. Malarial fever had taken lives across India for centuries. It was also widely believed […]
A French Connection-Abbe Jean Antoine Dubois
I popped into Blossoms Book House on Church Street one morning before heading to Indian Coffee House right opposite for a cuppa. It’s a familiar Sunday routine for most book-loving Bangaloreans. As I was browsing through a used books section stacked higher than my head, I bumped into Abbé Jean-Antoine Dubois. The bearded Roman Catholic Missionary […]
Tests of fire-The Drowpathy Amman Firewalking Festival
A wild eyed boy runs shrieking across the smouldering coal pit. His face is a turmeric paste mask on which an intricate tattoo of red and white dots has been painted to circle his eyes. He wears green bangles and flowers in his hair.He runs past, hands outstretched. His glazed eyes are unseeing. I have […]
Maratha Darshan-A piquant Past
I am sitting in Maratha Darshan off Queens Road. The nati chicken curry on my plate looks relatively innocent but it conceals a ferocious green chilli aftertaste that flashes fire periodically. It brings to mind Soyarabai, a feisty 17th century Maratha lady, sister of the powerful military commander Hambir (Hansaji) Rao Mohite. Bangalore is where she was […]
Greet.Meat.Eat-RAMZAN STREET FOOD
“Kya Baa! Main kitta bulaya tumna, dekhech nai na. Akele baarish mein khadleko khareein kya!” he says accusingly, catching up with a friend who stands loaded plate in hand, guilt written all over his face. Nearby, rain drips off the tarpaulin and immolates itself in the angry coal below. The sizzling grill belches smoke and covers us […]
Discovering the heart of Sindh in Cox Town
Far from an ancient city built by the Mirs on the east bank of the Indus River is the reclusive Sindhi Colony in Cox Town. This quiet residential area with modest houses is located right opposite the Indian Gymkhana at the intersection of Wheeler and Assaye Road. The temple, Sindhi Association, Sindhi Primary School (1954) and […]
Placing Bengaluru 