Articles by Deepa Mohan

I was tickled to see these two jostling for space on the roads of Bangalore... An auto and an automobile. Life is full of highs and lows, all existing together!

Did you know that so many amenities exist in the Bangalore City Railway Station? Here is the list of amenities provided at the City Railway Station. Such things as, "Comesum is a 24hr multi cuisine food plaza located near the entrance to the foot over bridge. Passengers can order food from here to be delivered to their respective coaches by calling 56904478."   and "RETIRING ROOMS AND DORMITORIES - These are located on the first and second floors of the station building, above platform 1.There are 27 rooms in all, including 8 AC rooms, 18 Non-AC rooms and 1 room…

Join in for Cycling Day! Join in for Cycling Day!

A touch of imagination, to match the hat!   I saw this traffic police shelter at the island near Windsor Manor, and was tickled to find that the roof was a "folded hat" to match the hats that the traffic constables wear! Nice touch by whoever has designed the shelter!   Bangalore, 16 November 2013  

Tucked away in the rushed, hurried environment of the City Railway Station is a most unexpected oasis...an art gallery. Indian Railways have, indeed, been promoting art of late. The underground passage that connects up the various platforms in the City Station have been embellished with photographs and art, themed on the railways, and travel. The art gallery is one more praiseworthy initiative in this connection. So folks, if you find yourself with time to spare, do visit the Rail Art Gallery ...it's between Platforms 5 and 6...and enjoy a little art while you travel! The art gallery at City Railway…

  Drive it with flowers! Sometimes, the appearance seems to be more important than safety on our roads. I saw several autos, vans and cars bedecked with flowers in this way, on the eve of Bali Padyami. How the drivers of such vehicles can drive safely is beyond me. While such festive displays make for quaint, National-Geographic-type of photography, how is it that the traffic police look the other way when road safety is so blatantly compromised?    

November First is the date on which Karnataka was formed in 1956.

We all have heard of the dangers of plastic - about how animals can ingest the plastic and can then die due to indigestion. But there are several other ways plastic can endanger wildlife, too. Sometimes, the dangers are seen quite dramatically. Let me illustrate with two examples that I saw. At Nandi Hills, I saw this Black (or Common) Kite, with a big plastic bag entangled in its talons. It was flying about, desperately trying to get the bag off, but in vain: Black Kite with Plastic Caught in Talon Nandi Hill The Kite could not chase any prey…

One of the amazing things about the city of Bangalore is that it sits on a natural wonder... the rock that the city sits on is one of the oldest exposed rocks in the world. Lalbagh rock. Pic: Deepa Mohan This wonder of Nature, called Peninsular Gneiss, is so easy to see. Here’s what the Wikipedia entry says: “The Geological Survey of India identified one of the best exposures of this rock mass, protruding high above the ground as a hillock (pictured), dated 2.5 to 3.4 billion years, in the Bangalore city in India at the famous Lalbagh gardens and…

Sumeet Moghe writes: Bangalore City Police needs to answer - How long is the lunch break at a police station?I'm just back from a thoroughly unprofessional experience at MICO layout police. This is with regard to my passport verification. The constable had arrived at my home on Saturday and after taking my neighbour's signatures, asked me to visit the police station with a list of documents and 3 passport size photos between 10AM and 6PM. I visited the police station at 1420 today. There was no one in Room #1 when I arrived and there was one more person waiting to get…