I can never seem to get enough of Ruskin Bond’s Mussoorie stories; a hill station I have never been to in a district called Uttarakhand I hope to visit some day; but not this summer. May is the second month of scorching summer heat and more cloud watching, hopeful of the impromptu rain to cool…
POTD: Queen’s Flower ๐๐
The Queen’s flower also called the Queen’s Crape Myrtle also has another name, Pride of India. Till date I was able to get only a distant view of this flower, the colourful inflorescence stands upright like a bright crown on top of the branches. The flowers were violet mixed with lilac colour ๐ Tree tales:…
POTD: Catching a sunrise ๐
” A humourist once said the most difficult problem in life was getting out of a warm bed into a cold room. And he had a point. The longer you lie there and think how unpleasant it will be to get up, the more difficult it becomes. Even in such a simple operation as this,…
Tree tales: Figs in season ๐ฟ๐ณ (April series Part ๐ of ๐ )
There is a Muslim cemetery adjacent to the boundary wall of our apartment complex. Burial grounds are considered as sacred spaces, but if they are not situated next to the place of worship it’s upkeep usually gets neglected and as in all unguarded plots, weeds and waste tend to accumulate. People do visit the tombs;…
Tree tales: An April bouquet from Bangalore๐๐ณ(April series Part ๐ of ๐ )
The lovely tabebuia waves that engulfed Bangalore in March, showering the city streets, parks and gardens with pink and yellow trumpet shaped flowers have ebbed; after the summer rains, the bare tabebuia trees are now flush with the tender green leaves. And for April, the city is adorning a new coat of colours weaved from…
Tree tales: Arjun, Ashok & Swietenia๐๐ณ(April series Part ๐ of ๐ )
All three a family !? No chance ๐. But April is a good time to identify these three trees. Starting with Swietenia macrophylla, which is the scientific name for the large leaved mahogany also called the Honduras mahogany. I have walked past this tree many times not knowing what it was. We have two of…
Tree tales: Drops of Gold ๐๐ณ (April series Part ๐ of ๐ )
The Indian laburnum also called Amaltas (Cassia fistula) is a quintessential symbol of the Indian summer. Known as the Vishu Konna poov in Kerala; beginning from the month of March, when you land at the Kochi airport, you are greeted by hanging clusters these beautiful yellow flowers. And thereafter as you drive along, on the…
Tree tales: The sacred peepal tree (April series Part ๐ of ๐ )
It’s difficult to miss the Peepal tree in the greenscape๐ around the Kasavanahalli lake, Bangalore. Watch out for the solitary red crown in the row of green !! The tender and colourful peepal leaves have profused quickly covering the once bare branches. They are almost on the verge of turning fully green. The full red…
Onam in a Nightie๐: Buoyant & nostalgic, stories of homecoming and serendipitous conversations ๐งณ
I kept away from this book as long as I could; I found the title a bit of a put off. But the yellow cover wouldn’t let off, the book appeared in every bookshop I visited and was very visible. I had not heard of the author before and finally in one of the bookshops,…
POTD: Colours of the Allamanda ๐
Old woody vine, new leaves, generous buds and large flowers in an array of colours ! The woody climber had gone into hibernation during the last four months and now it’s blooming again prodded on by the summer’s heat and rain. The last time, I saw only one colour of the Allamanda๐POTD: Allamanda ๐ฎ, a…
Kappa Chakka Kandhari: Sweet and savoury, a taste of Kerala ๐ถ
The reason for the salubrious weather in Bangalore is its elevation at 3000+ ft above sea level. Ask any resident what they love about the city, after the weather, the next on the list will be the green canopy enveloping the city followed by the many eateries that abound the cityscape. And like every metro…
Tree tales: Pretty in pink ๐๐ณ (April series Part ๐ of ๐ )
Strong wind๐จ, sheets of lightning and distant rumblings of thunder with sudden downpours of slanting rains๐ง mark the evenings now in Bangalore city; leaving cool crisp air for the night and waking up to fresh clear mornings. And speaking of mornings, who has the prettiest leaves in the sky ? Well there are many contenders…
For special occasions ๐
“Why can’t you make this coconut chutney more often ?” asked the kid, slicing off and scooping up a large spoonful from the red coconut chutney ball and adding to his bowl of hot kanji. Good Friday lunch has always been kanji (rice gruel) made from broken red rice (matta) grains, payar (this year it’s…
Nasi & Mee: A scrumptious affair ๐
Our eating out expeditions usually see us heading towards the Koramangala, Indiranagar and MG Road neighbourhoods in Bangalore; but closer to home at Sarjapur, there are a few good places to dine out too and Nasi & Mee at the Bay building in the IT park Brookfields Ecoworld is one such place. The Bay building…
POTD: Mango๐ฅญ๏ผShowers๐ง
Yesterday Bangalore city had rains๐ง. The rain clouds arrived loaded and caused quite a stir among the city’s residents. Armed with mobile phones and cameras, people were ready to click, share and celebrate the cumulus arrival; but we missed on the umbrellas and some souls were drenched. No one’s complaining though, going forward the sudden…
Around the neighbourhood ๐ผ
Haralur, a relatively new locality framed by numerous apartment complexes, housing residents who either work at the IT Parks and SEZ on the Outer Ring Road or have kids who study at the international and CBSE schools along the Sarjapur road or maybe conveniently both. Haralur also ranks among the top five locations in the…
POTD: Spectacular Arali ๐๐ธ
Today morning’s paper had a forecast on the monsoon by a private weather forecaster Skymet “Normal South-West monsoon this year” the headlines read; “But Rajasthan, Gujarat, some N-E states. Karnataka and Kerala to get scanty rains”; is this the normal !? “Fortunately, key agricultural states such as Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and rain-fed areas…
Mango tango…๐ฏ๐ฅญ
It isn’t full fledged mango season yet; the harbingers, the push carts on the roadsides are still piled high with the sweetest seedless green grapes๐. Mangoes however have started making appearances in the supermarkets and yes…we bought some, it’s been a year long wait ! So what are we eating ? There are a large…
Tree tales: Summer blooms โ๏ธ๐ณ (April series Part ๐ of ๐ )
We are deep into another sweltering summer in Bangalore; while news from hometown in Kerala has talk of rains, Mango showers๐ง, it did rain heavily on one evening in Bangalore, on 1st April, but that was it. My kitchen window faces east; this perfect vastu feature is a big bonus for our rented home. And…
Sly Granny: A medley of flavours ๐๐ง
1 Apr, Friday afternoon and we were off to downtown Bangalore for lunch. The traffic is back in full josh on Bangalore roads. The outer ring road in Bangalore has metro work going on and this has taken up one lane on the road; another lane was demarcated as an exclusive bus lane, thus leaving…
Miles and smiles 
You must be logged in to post a comment.