White is the Theme for Today

Manali-Leh Highway

From a Trip to Best Western Resort in Manesar

Nanda Devi: Kuari Pass Trek

From the Strees of Bangalore

PS. Life is quite hectic till 27th April. Should be getting more time after that.

Flying from Delhi to Bangalore with Air Sahara

Recently, I was in Bangalore for a short Holiday made possible due to the availability of low cost air tickets. I remember the time when air travel was too expensive for us and by train it took almost more than 40 hours to reach to Bangalore from Delhi. Short trips were just not possible then.

When we do air tickets, we solely go by the lowest price. For two and a half hour flight everything else can wait. This time we booked our tickets through Makemytrip.com. They got us Air Sahara round trip tickets for Rupees 7500 per person. I have traveled with Air Sahara before they tried to get a merger with Jet Airways (and failed). That experience was good (they had excellent meals back then) though the ticket cost was more than twice too. I was a bit apprehensive how it would be this time but all in all, it was not a bad trip.

The Check-in at Delhi: Nightmare is the word to describe it. I was dog tired, coming straight from work (after teaching 18 year olds!) and the Air Sahara counters were overflowing with people. And overflowing people mean chaos and frequent attempts to break the queue (we Indians just can’t stand in a queue!). Sesha and I stood in different lines, maximizing our chances that at least one line may move. Both moved at a snail’s pace and I asked at least three people (politely) not to break the queue (and got ugly glances in return but I can live with it). A few people (and one well dressed young girl, actually she started that unofficial line) tried directly to go to the back of the counter to bypass the queue but thankfully she (and everyone else) was told to join us mortals for the check-in. My line moved faster and Sesha got out of his. But when I handed the lady our tickets and photo identity cards, she started talking to her colleague and complained loudly about her supervisor not giving any attention to the legitimate demands and got out of her seat! Not very confidence inspiring but thankfully she handed our tickets to another person and I finally got the boarding passes.

We immediately attacked a snack bar and crashed in the waiting area, I reading a book (Silas Marner, still unfinished and I am reading O. Henry now) and Sesha chatting on the phone.

The Flight: I will forgive the lady who got up in quest of her supervisor because her coworker gave us exit row seats! My mood immediately improved. I also got instruction on how to open the door in case of an emergency.

The flight was uneventful (except for the fact that Sesha hates flying and always cribs inside a plane). I still love to watch the Delhi night lights during the take-offs and landings. The meal served was from Taj-SATS but it was a typical flight meal, pretty unappealing. Still, at the price of the ticket I paid for, it was a plus that they were serving a meal! The flight started late from Delhi and arrived late at Bangalore.

The Return Flight: I was traveling alone from Bangalore to Delhi as Sesha was coming later. And can you believe it? I got the exit row seat again. And next to me were a bunch of giggling, cackling teenage girls going to Delhi for some school competition (don’t know which school they studied in!) but thankfully they feel asleep halfway through the flight. The breakfast again was very average but the flight was on time.

On both the flights their cabin crew was polite and professional. On our return flight the flight captain was a lady but I could not catch her name on the announcement system properly. If Air Sahara manages to give me such good prices, I will have no problem flying with them again.

Ayudha Pooja in Bangalore

I was in Bangalore just before the Dusshera festival. On the 9th (or is it the 8th day?) I saw many vehicles decorated with banana leaves and flowers.

Vehicles get Decorated for Ayudh Pooja in Bangalore

I was quite surprised as I have not seen something on this scale in North India. I was told this is called Ayudha Pooja where people worship their means of living. I found the way of celebration quite interesting.

Vehicles in jainagar at Ayudha Pooja, Bangalore

Then the other day we were going to a place through quite narrow by lanes, when we came across this procession. My brother-in-law was driving the car and we had to pull aside. I immediately got down and started clicking pictures.

From the Bylanes of Bangalore

I had been discussing my plans for buying a new camera all around and my brother-in-law said "if you are this crazy, you should buy a digital SLR!" Amen to that.

Colorful Flowers and a Partial Rainbow from Bangalore!

I have been in Bangalore for past few days (Sesha belongs to Bangalore) and I never thought I would take a break from blogging. In this IT city our home was (actually Sesha's parent's home) without a net connection as soon as we landed. Only today we got it back. So here I am showing you some stuff that I photographed.

Flowers from Streets of Bangalore

I love the colors of the flowers I see on the streets, it is not so colorful in Delhi. On the flip side, CNG has made Delhi a lot more liveable, here it is getting too crowded for the size of the roads it has.

Such a Riot of Colorful Flowers

I requested all the ladies selling flowers to let me take a photograph, and they gladly did but I could not gather the nerve to ask if I could include them in the pictures too.

Shades of Oragne: Flowers from Streetside, Bangalore, India

White Flowers

What striking colors! Don't you agree?

A Partial Rainbow in Bangalore

Finally, there was a rainbow (OK, so what even if it was partial?) and I had a camera. I know the surroundings are bleak but the rainbow does not give a damn and neither do I. There were two occasssions when the rainbow had come out in Gurgaon and once I did not had the camera. The next time I didn't notice it at all. And later people told me that there was a rainbow only after it had vanished.

Finally everything worked. I had the camera, there was a rainbow and we were in the car going somewhere. We stopped for petrol and I immediately came out and took pictures and here they are!

Some More Pictures From Bangalore

When I was in Bangalore in the first week of November, the weather was like what you can see above and I had a nice time going around with my camera.

Here are some more flowers from Bangalore, but don't ask me what they are called.

This, I was told are coffee beans! Had never seen it before.

This is a fruit that in my part of the globe is known as 'Chiku.'

A street side shop that caught my fancy but I was not in a mood closer and ask for permission from the lady sitting there to take the photo.

The roads of Bangalore, and this one is good, because it has no pot holes in the middle of the road.

Small coconuts kept on a windowsill and saying Bye Bye (below) this photo was clicked at the airport.

I can Understand Why Bangalore was Called the Garden City

I have been for a few days in Bangalore and I clicked all the lovely flowers, a few coconut trees and a faboulous sunset around the housing complex I am staying. It has been raining on and often and flowers seem to just grow out of their own free will.

Though Bangalore in general has been changing , so much traffic, narrow roads, pollution and washed away roads are the things that we had to negotiate if we went out of the house. I have uploaded a few of my pretty photographs only.

Sympathy White Lily (First Photo) and Small Yellow Flowers

Such a Small Rose Bud

Frangipani

Flowers, Tress and a Bit of Sky

Coconuts (above) and Yellow Hibiscus (below)

A Glorious Sunset