Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Bangalore Winter Cameos

After due diligence and deliberation, I have decided that Bangalore in the winter is what reminds me the most of Bangalore.
And therefore I present below, 15 things not to miss in a Bangalore winter:
  1. The ethereal morning mist on the Sankey Tank.
  2. My naturally botoxed face after a freezing bike ride.
  3. The blue, dew-covered lawns at Cubbon Park.
  4. The insanely pink Tabebuias in full bloom all over town.
  5. Street dogs curled up in little bundles inside dustbins.
  6. The Bangalore Boom inducers - avarekai.
  7. My great-aunt's lovely Christmas pudding.
  8. Hot hot rava rava idli at Adigas.
  9. Missy M in her red sweater.
  10. The artists' walkway at Bengalooru Habba.
  11. Christmas lights on Brigade Road.
  12. Open air concerts at the Palace.
  13. My mother serving bisibele bath and bonda to delighted carollers at 10 in the night.
  14. My numb fingers on the guitar accompanying well fed carollers at 1 in the morning.
  15. And my birthday. Cash, cheques, facelift coupons and trips to exotic destinations accepted, thank you.

37 comments:

Mo said...

Oh man, how I miss the hot hot rava idlis at Adigas.

Happy birthday in advance.

Prats said...

aaaww.....the tabebuias....its all over the road near my house...and every morning, the best sight to greet my eys....
**The ethereal morning mist on the Sankey Tank..

The blue, dew-covered lawns at Cubbon Park.
The insanely pink Tabebuias in full bloom all over town.
Street dogs curled up in little bundles inside dustbins.

ou've summed it up brilliantly...
Now I shall get back to avarekai bath and some cake too....


When's the birthday????

Fark said...

Great list.
The the botoxed face after the bike ride - haha!

When's the birthday dude?

http://farkandfunk.wordpress.com/

Sav said...

The "insanely pink Tabebuias" drive me insane too these days. I keep trying to take good pictures of those, almost always from a bumpy auto. Haven't been too disappointed with the result, though. The pictures are always a delightfuly pink blur/smudge/wave :)

Pettai Maami said...

konde...nekkum anda christmas puddingnu edho sonniye...konjam unga aathulendhu parcel panni anipchidu... he he.....

ps: egg poda maatolo?? naan pure- veg aakum ...lol..

rads said...

oooo, u carol?! Cute. And your mom sounds like the best! :)

Happy birthday! So many Dec birthdays!! This is my 3rd bday wishings in the blogworld..

I guess Spring does bring in the birds and the bees :D

Sujatha Bagal said...

"The artists' walkway at Bengalooru Habba."

Aren't they tearing it down for a flyover or something?

And happy b'day!

Anonymous said...

Was never much of a Blore lover, always felt the place was a bit too lazy, but you sure make it seem a lot more interesting.

http://nrimaami.wordpress.com

Rithish said...

Winter is what I loooove about Bangalore... Well summed up!!!

And... Happy Birthday!!! Can I splash the pudding and cake on your face??? ;o)

Anonymous said...

Nimmantha BengLoor sowkaar-ella chaLigaal
Banth andhr swaterr haak-kond
Keri myaag hadag-naag hoekkonth haada haad-theer-ree-pa!

(Like you BengLoor rich people all, winter
came means sweater wearing
on lake, boat going, song singing ree-father!)

(ChaLi ChaLi thaaLenu ee chaLiyaaa…aha..oho!
GeLathiye baareya nee sanihaa..aha..oho!)

(Cold-cold can’t stand this cold..aha..oho!
Girlfriend won’t you come near..aha..oho!)

Num Hubl-yaag chaLigaal-daag-in manj kavdhr agdhi santhosh aakkyth!
Yaakandr kaNN mundh aenoo kaNall-de hodhaag, num shendhi angdi mandhi yella-roo tactor toob-naag shendhi thumbiskond smuggling maadaak anukool nod-ri!

(Our Hubli winter time fog envelopes, extreme happiness happens!
Why means eyes front nothing visible, our country liquor shop-wallahs all
Tractor tube inside moonshine filling and smuggling doing very convenient-see!)

Prats said...

Hey....Happy Birthday..

Anonymous said...

Hey HAPPY BIRTHDAY dude...........

Bikerdude said...

All: Thanks for the budday wishes. The budday is on the 18th. Would have loved your august presence at the occasion, except for the fact that (a) It's not August (b) Im turning too old to be seen in decent company and therefore (c) I would prefer your presence in the form of presents only (kidding :))

Mo: Me too. Havent been there since 1999. Loser no I am?

pryatsu: Thyanksu. Eat off avrekai quickly. Everyone's doing it so your.. well.. acoustics.. will pass unnoticed!

fark: thanks :)

sav: Please send a pic across if you get a good one. Im going to plant a series of tabebuias in my garden this year, one for each season.

poojitha: Muttai illaadha cake is like paruppu illadha kalyaanam :(

rads: Yep I get around to it sometimes. My mother's bisibele bath serving was highly spur-of-the-moment the first time. But when she saw how much the carollers appreciated it after eating cake all evening, she decided to make it a custom.

sujatha: yes unfortunately the MG road promenade which was the earlier venue for the walkway is history. It has now been moved to the equally charming Edward V octagon in Cubbon park (near Minsk Square), about a km away. it's now an artists' roundabout. The bigger one is in the Chitra Kala Parishad. Do go, its beautiful.

rekha: Laziness and savoir-faire is Bangalore's USP and nobody but a Bangalorean will appreciate it as much. In fact we all panic that is getting less and less so as time passes.

ritish: yes please. thats the best it will have looked in years.

thoppe mama: LOL This was the best. I can just imagine my entire family getting into a boat and grimly singing chali chali in chorus (with mridangam and violin accompaniment). And as for the tactor-toob hooch, dayavittu solpa ithlakade nu kalsi!

rush: thanks :)

Pri said...

i'll tell you what i dont miss. those creepy santas on commercial street. one groped my unsuspecting friend this one time. it was quite funny actually.

also some people example my aunty make these yummy mutton puffs/pups. varynice. and that thomsons plum cake. nilgiris' cake is totally overrated. mostly that diabetes inducing icing.

RustyNeurons said...

Birthday boy getting ready eh? blogger friends want treat! all that cake talk has had an effect on me - I want them now..

Yes, the pink tabebuias - I cant take my eyes off from them - Cubbon park entrance, malleshwaram... this is the only time when I feel sooo very good about the present bengalooru!!!

themartianscientist said...

I didnt understand the avarekai part...sorry...solpa ignorant

Preeth said...

Oh, you December birthday as well eh? cool bro. Me too :)

pepe M. said...

awww, happy bday in advance bikerdude! wanna join me in istanbul ;)

The Darkling Thrush said...

Oooh, (belated?) happy birthday.
And yes, winters are so gorgeous here.

This winter is beautiful-er than ever this time. It's cold, and is dotted with drizzles, and induces only i-want-to-sleep/i-want-random-french-window-to-stare-out-of feelings. Especially when one is at work.

Everyone looks like they're in New York. And somewhere in the head, light carols play. The traffic, despite being terrible, doesn't bother. The chill finds you out, under so many layers of clothing, and lingers as the blue nails.

However, this time's tragedies include the lack of an artist's walkway altogether. So, when one sits upstairs at India Coffee House and looks outside the window, one sees a creamy mess.

Sigh. Such is life.

Aqua said...

got here from squirrel's blog! i love how cold bangalore is right now. cold and nippy just so! now this is a 'real' winter i say. loved yr list! ppl have been telling me that this is how blore used to be some 10 yrs back.

Bikerdude said...

pri: Haha once a santa came up to my friend and said Hi Im Sunil. Friend didnt know whether to laugh or cry!

rusty: sadya atleast something does, no? Been doing the monster schlep to E-city this week. NOT enjoyable!

martian: avarekai is something like mochchai kottai. Very very gas forming when you eat it. Hence the collective Bangalore Boom :)

preeth: Thanks :)Oho yes aa? Sagitarians rule boss!

Pepe: You lucky so-and-so! What are you doing in Istanbul? I hear the people are err.. quite friendly!

darking: You have a wonderful way with words. I dont quite feel like Im in NY, what with the bisi bele bath and all, but you do have a point about everything being nicer in December :) PS: The artists walkway was in cubbon park this time.

aqua: True dat. Defly like the old days :)

Pri said...

hello. ex fuse me. satthodra?

Spunky Monkey said...

I am back, I am back!
As are the tabebuias, like you point out. The college campus has gone all pink. Littttle hard on the eyes, but overall pleasantness is there, of course.

You leave pa, you write such a lovely posts and all.

DesiGirl said...

My naturally botoxed face after a freezing bike ride.

Unmissable? Really?
:D

Many happy returns - whenever it is! And in true Tamizh tradition, I give you, not cash, cheque or other trivialities, but halwa! :)

Anonymous said...

Vatitis, people ayving nice blog and not updating.....please to b updating....please please....pramise to send gift for oppy budday

Prats said...

hey..tagged you at my site...check it out....would love to see what you'd do...

Divya said...

Found your blog by accident....hated B'lore when i was stayin there.....but after i read your post I miss it a lil...keep up the good work

Deepa said...

It was fun reading your blog...I'm enjoying all the kannada references. The police station conversation in your earlier story had me reading aloud. Funny, funny, funny. Keep writing.

Usha said...

hey, u've got a cool blog here!
came here googling for Tabebuias, though
have a happy happy budday, dude!

Anonymous said...

happy belated birthday, if it was in the past weeks!

Bikerdude said...

pri: Illa ma innu badkiwni (just about)

spunky: hauda, sari :P

desigirl: haha thanks, and good idea!

anon: nowyand then updating ma.

pryatsu: Tyanksu as usually. Dunno when Im going to stop calling you pryatsu. Maybe never(u) :)

divya: Glad to be of some service. Escuse pls, how can you hate Bangalore? You're only allowed to be "eh whatever" about it at the most !

usha, veens: Thanks :)

Divya said...

How can I hate Bangalore?
Hmmm....Let me see.....coming from Hyd it’s koncham difficult no to fall in love with B'lore roads?? Wat say??

Bikerdude said...

Divya: Heh poor Bangalore I say. Hating it is like hating a kitten thats been rolled in the mud.

I must say though, that your city's roads are like desi ghee. Hae, what a lovely! Dunno if you managed to read one of my earlier posts about Hyd.

http://bengaloorubanter.blogspot.com/2007/04/cyberabadu-i-am-comingu.html

Bikerdude said...

deepa krishnan: Thanks muchly! :)

Divya said...

I've read your post on Hyderabad. I felt romba happy reading it.

Peace.

I don't hate B'lore so much. I like it for a lot of reasons. My wildest years have been spent at places like Styx & Purple Haze.

I miss it I say.

deepthi vinod said...

macha i so miss those days in sukh sagar near hosur road near barista in 5th block koramangala...(i know i know got carried away with the address)and heard my fav restuarant coconut grove shut dwn next to william penn...:( neat blog anywys

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