Deepa's Jottings

It's now the time of the year, when the Mahogany trees in the city put out their lovely "chocolate ice-cream" fruit-pods.... here's what they look like:If you find these pods upon the ground, pick them up and see the beautiful red striations inside!I wish the BBMP would start planting the saplings of such life-sustaining, shade-giving, and long-lived trees once again in our city.... ⊕

Everywhere in J P Nagar, I am coming across trees carved with the symbol of a political party, and then coloured:Is there no better way for the political party to flaunt their symbol? Carving the symbol into the tree saves them printing and posting costs, I suppose. Who cares what happens to the living tree? After all, we nail umpteen posters on to their trunks anyway....These are the people who are wanting to govern us.... :( ⊕

Several people ease the difficulties of our daily lives, and provide fairly inexpensive services. Mr K Subramaniam is one such person, plying his trade of cobbler, at a stall on Bannerghatta Road, near the BTM Checkpost bus-stop, for nearly 15 years now."Both this stall, and another one I sometimes go to, in Koramangala, belong to Mr Madheswara," says he. "All the income from the bag and footwear repair comes to me, and from the sale of the footwear go to him," he explains, pointing to the footwear that he makes, behind him, at the "Samatha Sainik Dal" stall. "I belong to…

The J P Nagar branch of Corporation Bank recently shifted to the 3rd Phase, in the Mini-forest area, and I was happy to photograph their gesture in having a ramp for wheelchairs.However, yeaterday, I found that they had put up illegal notices on the public road in front of their branch, "reserving" parking for their customers.  How can a bank reserve parking on a public road? And not just one, but quite a lot of space, witness this photograph:I sincerely hope they take away their signs soon. If the Bank wanted reserved parking for its customers, it should have rented…

Having got the info from Amit Chaudhary about the affordable food at BIAL (Bangalore International Airport Ltd.), I decided to find it and check it out, too. Where is it?When you come out of the Arrivals area, you have a long corridor stretching perpendicularly in front of you. First cross the car lanes, and on the right, you will find the BMTC buses. Go further and on the right, you will find the Sulabh Pay and Use toilets. Go to the left of, and behind, this building, and behind the area where all the taxis are parked, is the Parking Cafe:…

I was walking past the new Corporation Bank building in JP Nagar, and found that wheelchair access was provided:This got me thinking, and I started looking at other public buildings...and private ones too...and was saddened to find that in very, very few of them was wheelchair access provided. Why can't we, at the construction stage, take a little extra effort and provide wheelchair access? This would be so helpful to those whose mobility is restricted. One of the best examples I have seen, of a wheelchair ramp beautifully integrated into the steps, is at Alliance Francaise de Bangalore. One can…

I went to Lalbagh this morinng, and near the Siddapura gate, Colville's Glory is in bloom now:And all over, not just in Lalbagh, the African Tulip (Spathodea) is in full bloom:All of us know about the serial flowering of the avenue trees of Bangalore, that was introduced by Gustav Krumbiegel ...and many of us can't help wishing that we had him now, when the BBMP doesn't want to plant trees but chop them for development!For more on the common flowering trees here, see Karthik's journal ⊕

Since I have a BSNL broadband connection and since this is India, the connection does cause problems once in a while, and I lost all connectivity for a couple of days.In such situation, I have two alternatives: register a complaint on the phone, and wait for action...or just take my modem and laptop, and go to the (luckily, nearby) J P Nagar 3rd Phase Telephone Exchange, where I have always found the staff very helpful and friendly. Here are the two Junior Telecom Engineers, Ms Padmaja and Ms Nagarathna: There is also Pushpa, who is on a contract basis; all these ladies…

Toto Funds the Arts an organization that recognizes, awards and encourages young artists in their endeavours, had organized their September reading atCrossword Bookstore Here's the blurb from TFA: Sharanya Manivannan's first book of poems, Witchcraft, was described in The Straits Times as "sensuous and spiritual, delicate and dangerous and as full as the moon reflected in a knife". Her poetry and fiction have also been published in Drunken Boat, Ghoti, Softblow, Pratilipi and elsewhere, and a personal column, "The Venus Flytrap", appears in The New Indian Express. Sharanya lives in Chennai.www.sharanyamanivannan.comSruthi Krishnan is a Chennai-based journalist. Previously, she reported on technology…

Art of Bicycle Trips invites you to enter your most stunning photos -highlighting the beauty, adventure, freedom, inspiration and art ofbicycle trips and travel - in the 1st Bicycle Travel Photo Contest.The organizers are especially looking for beautiful photography representing thewide range of bicycle touring and travel experiences.Winner will get Bicycle Riding Gear. Check for more details on how to enter, eligibility, deadlines etc. by clicking here Follow the Facebook group here ⊕