LEISURE

I had heard a lot about the Manchinbelle dam (across the river Arkavathy) from fellow photographer friends and it appeared at the top of my interest list for the weekend. Trip To: Manchinbelle DamFree Add-On: Big Banyan tree, Naga TempleDistance: 40 Kms.Trip directions: From Bangalore city, drive down Mysore Road and turn right at Rajeshwari Dental College. The road will take you directly to the Big Banyan tree and then continue to Manchinbelle Dam. The road is a great all through but the last few kms to the road promise to be bumpy.. EXPERIENCEAs the drive from the Rajeshwari dental…

Standing in front of the High Court, facing the street with the din of the traffic passing through, it is hard to imagine the life here in late 19th Century. No smoke-spewing vehicles, no harried traffic police and not even the huge imposing Vidhana Soudha. The Cubbon Park was a sprawling green area with the barracks on one side and the imposing Residency (present Raj Bhavan) on the other. Officers of the Secretariat would ride through the lush green park environs on horse carriages and enter the Mysore public offices (present High Court) for their everyday work. The entire area…

Here's a message I found on an auto recently:It seems to imply that the person patronizing this service is...a female horse....!But it's actually the Kannada-ization of the emphasis on the word customer... (phonetically, "customer-Ey")Messages like these really add spice to the humdrum day....here's another romantic message on another auto.... That says, "the mind is full of you"....wonder which lucky damsel the auto guy was thinking of! ⊕

Day three at the recently concluded Bangalore test. The setting was perfect, the day promised a lot for India and Sachin fans. Bhajji and Zaheer started the revival of India towards the end of the day, hopefully the revival for the series.Sachin gets going in the first innings, his first boundary, joy was shortlived though as he was dismissed for 13More than the cricketers patrolling the boundaryShock and Awe tactics by the crowdEcstasy for Watson , despair for Dravid as the dreaded finger goes upWho uses the Drinks Trolley anymore ?They have the best view and the stamina‹ › $(document).ready(function(){…

Nandi Betta or Nandi Hills, 60 kilometres from Bangalore, is a favourite and convenient picnic spot for all kinds of Bangaloreans – young or old, with or without families, with girlfriends or grandmothers. ‘Nandi nodade iddavaru handi ginta kade’ (Those who haven’t seen nandi are worse off than a pig) is a popular old village saying. But try to avoid the trip on a public holiday since there are more footfalls here than in your nearest mall. If you do visit on a weekend or a holiday, reach the hills in the early hours. Walking across the fort and in…

Today, the 17th of October, Ranga Shankara organized a press conference to talk about the upcoming Theatre Festival, which will run from 31st October to 9th November 2008. There will be plays, documentaries, solo performances by veteran thespians, and two plays specially commissioned by Ranga Shankara, along with Vodafone. The presentation was as well executed as any theatre production, with veterans like Paramashivanna and Jayashree rendering beautiful songs.The Golden Era of Kannada theatre was aptly evoked:Both Arundhati Nag and Girish Karnad who are directors of the Sanket Trust, spoke to the reporters, and harked back to the age when Kannada…

As the weekend approached, the weather looked good on Friday evening as I left my office with the printout of a map of place called Hesarghatta. At 5 AM the next morning, we started on our journey to this famous lake. The idea was to have a enjoyable day out and capture some scenic photographs and lots of birds too, as promised by various websites on the place. The roads were empty and we hit the outer ring road by 5.30, but as we crossed the Hebbal flyover, we realised it was going to be almost a never ending journey.…

I used to live in South Bangalore until a few years ago. The Gandhibazaar-Jayanagar-VV Puram area has always been a haven for lovers of South Indian snacks. It had been quite sometime since I visited this area and when I met an old friend, we struck upon this idea of rediscovering South Bangalore food. Not the hotels, but the eat-as-you-go type – the Indian version of the street cafes of Europe. Small Cafes and Darshinis Brahmin's Coffee Bar, Basavangudi. Pic: Poornima Dasarathi.The best way to start the day would be with the soft and fluffy idlis soaked in the watery…

There are any number of destinations in and around Bangalore which need to be on your quick list of getaways for sightseeing, heritage visits, walks, trekking and more. Here is a lowdown on some of these popular places with descriptions, directions and much else. Heritage BuildingsBangalore Palace, Vidhana Soudha, Attara Kacheri/Karnataka High Court, Bangalore Fort & Tipu Sultan's Palace. ParksLalbagh Botanical Garden, Cubbon Park, Jawahar Bal Bhavan, Cariappa Memorial Park, Bannerghata Zoological Reserve. MuseumsGovernment Museum and Venkatappa Art Gallery, Sheshadri Iyer Memorial Hall, Visveswaraya Museum, Nehru Planetarium. LakesHebbal, Ulsoor, Sankey, Nagavara, Agara. City Tours and WalksCubbon Park (Sri Chamarajendra Park),…

Bangalore is indeed a ‘Garden city’ even now; not many can boast of such vast gardens in the heart of the city. Blessed with a pleasant climate and fertile land, Bangalore was also fortunate to have many rulers with a love for parks. Read about Bangalore's famous parks and gardens.1. Lalbagh Botanical GardenDetails Lalbagh was created in 1760 covering an area of 40 acres, as a private garden for the then Mysore Rulers, Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan. Today, spread across an area of 240 acres, the lush green garden is famous for diverse and exotic flora collected from all…