Banglorean's great traffic sense !!

           Bangalorean's have a great traffic sense !! There is no denying this fact.An outsider who follows the normal traffic rules here may end up with an accident.
           I came to stay in this city two years back and was amazed and shocked at how the city traffic moves. The two wheeler riders completely seem to miss the point when it comes to wearing the helmet. Some of the ways they use or wear their helmets is hilarious. The best way to not miss a bus or train is to travel by the autos. They can challenge any formula one driver when it comes to cutting the traffic and speeding through it, sometimes just maintaining half an inch from the vehicle ahead. They need to at least make seat beats mandatory for riding these local Ferrari's.
         The universal rule to be followed are as below.
1) Size matters -> The larger vehicle gets it ways. Forget the traffic rule book at home.
2) Beware of Auto's, Taxis -> If you are driving your personal vehicle please give way to auto's and taxis. They don't think twice (actually they don't think) before hitting or scratching your vehicle.
3) Beware of SUV's or the traffic elephants (no offense meant to the actual ones) -> They think they rule the road but don't know the basics of driving at all. In 90 out of 100 scenario's I observed these giant bulky vehicles create the major road blocks. There mahouts simply don't know how to tackle them. Some animals are best meant for the jungle.
          Below illustrations are on a lighter note.

Lalbagh Fest..a floral delight

               Lalbagh tops the list of famous tourist spots in Bangalore. This botanical garden is the heart of the garden city. Once famous for it's greenery today's burgeoning Bangalore now more famous as the IT capital, real estate capital is struggling to keep it's glory of being the garden city. Spots like Lalbagh, Cubbon park are places which remind us of it's old glory.
              This vast and beautiful botanical garden was sanctioned by Hyder Ali and completed by his son Tipu Sultan. My first visit to this place made me realise what pleasures we have been missing in the name of development. I wish there were many many more of such places were I could fill my lungs with the fresh air. Could look at the flowering trees in their full bloom. Listen to the birds, feel the wind, watch the fruits dangling from the tree branches and laze around on the grass. Reminds me of the famous lines from a childhood poem -            Leisure by W.H. Davis.
                                     ¨What is life if, full of care
                                       We have no time to stand and stare¨
           This Independence week the 200th anniversary of the annual flower fest was being held in Lalbagh. Being a nature enthusiast I planned not to miss this occasion although it meant fighting the traffic to reach, or spending 1 hour finding a suitable spot to park the vehicle.
           It was a weekend and huge crowd had turned up.The main flower decoration is situated inside the glass house. As in any other tourist spot you just need to follow the crowd to reach the spot. Each year the theme changes and this time it was a floral replication of the famous Mysore palace.The entire structure had been designed using roses. Two huge elephants also stood before the structure. Surrounding the structure there was this display of variety of flowering plants.

              Around the glass house there was these interesting stalls from numerous nurseries and horticulture departments. The best sellers were the indoor orchids and the anthurium. It was a paradise to pick up stuff to decorate your home garden. Vegetable seeds, coco peat, organic fertilizers, decorative pots, coco peat fibre hanging pots.
              I ended up buying few plants for myself.  Plant names like geranuim, anthurium, hydrangea were added to my limited vocabulary. It helped me connect to nature. It was a Refreshing break from our weekend mall outings which have become a integral part of our make believe lives.

 
 

Trip to Bal Bhavan..a feast for my senses

        Today we went out for a painting competition to Bal Bhavan, Cubbon Park organised by concern India foundation. Both children and teachers were equally excited. Teachers were excited as well as anxious. What if the children forget what they had practised for past one month ? what if they are distracted by the crowd ? would they be on their best behaviour ? several such questions popped up.
      The drive was long as expected in the Bangalore traffic. But surprisingly the children seemed to be enjoying the ride.We reached few minutes late.All children from several different schools were already settled and had just started.The venue had these open air cottages were the children had to settle down. There were groups based on the age. Bala and Laskhmi accompanied the younger lot; Ranga,Mihir,Saras and Ishaan whereas myself and accompanied the bigger boys; Sandeep,Sanath and Rohit.
      The atmosphere was a perfect blend of elements which would have made our children anxious on a normal day. Blaring speakers,unknown people, unfamiliar place and smell.But they seemed to be immersed in their works completely unaware of anything. This made us realize how we underestimate our kids.No one would have guessed that our kids suffered from ASD and were sensitive to loud noise,unfamiliar place and people.
        Rohit and Sanath finished their drawing before scheduled time. Rohith's masterstrokes had managed to capture many spectators. He seemed like a young Da Vinci at work, using both his left and right had with equal finesse. Sanath had drawn foods that he liked and had documented every food precisely with the flavour. He was then enjoying some Bollywood masala news from a Bangalore times which was lying nearby. Sandeep had meticulously drawn all details of traffic safety.