“Shopping in Kochi !?” my neighbour at our Kochi apartment was surprised when she saw the shopping bags as I stepped out of the Ola cab. “We head to Bangalore for shopping.” she added “What do you buy from here that’s not available in Bangalore?” she asked glancing at the bags. “Mantra is not there…
Tag: Summer
POTD: Queen’s Flower 💖👑
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 👉 Tree tales:…
POTD: Catching a sunrise 🌅
” 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 🌿🌳 (April series Part 𝟠 of 𝟠)
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: Arjun, Ashok & Swietenia🐝🌳(April series Part 𝟞 of 𝟠)
All three a family !? No chance 😀. 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: The sacred peepal tree (April series Part 𝟜 of 𝟠)
It’s difficult to miss the Peepal tree in the greenscape👇 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…
POTD: Colours of the Allamanda 🌝
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 Allamanda👉POTD: Allamanda 💮, a…
Tree tales: Pretty in pink 💓🌳 (April series Part 𝟛 of 𝟠)
Strong wind💨, sheets of lightning and distant rumblings of thunder with sudden downpours of slanting rains🌧 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…
POTD: Mango🥭＋Showers🌧
Yesterday Bangalore city had rains🌧. 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 🌼
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 💗🌸
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…👯🥭
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 grapes😋. 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 ☀️🌳 (April series Part 𝟚 of 𝟠)
We are deep into another sweltering summer in Bangalore; while news from hometown in Kerala has talk of rains, Mango showers🌧, 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…
POTD: Bottlebrush 🎋
The tree is covered in a canopy of small narrow green leaves radiating out from drooping branches with bright red bristle like flowers seen hanging downwards at the edges; the uncommon foliage and flora catches the eye; the flowers look like colourful tinsel tied onto the edges of the limp branches and the tree looks…
Bangalore’s Jacaranda 🪁
This beautiful flowering tree is quintessential to Bangalore’s nostalgic spring and summer months. The delicate bell shaped flower blooming in clusters and framed against the blue sky is an enchanting sight. Last year 👉 POTD: Jacaranda 💜 Learning a little about it’s history, the tree was introduced in India during the British Raj from Brazil;…
Sweet start to the month 🥭
June is always special; celebrating the arrival of the monsoon ⛈ ; but this year it is in June that we finally got to taste this year’s mangoes🥭. So double celebrations🥳. Usually we get a carton from Kerala filled with our homegrown Moovandan mangoes; but this time, mom said most of the mangoes were infested…
POTD: Summer sky ☁️☁️
Blue skies framed by Gulmohar A glimpse of the creator I thank him for opening my eyes ! 💮💮💮 Till next post, take care !!
Gulmohar ♥️🌿
The trees in bloom in Bangalore are harbingers of the changing seasons. It’s just a month ago that the Garden City was swathed in delicate pink and yellow from the tabebuia rosea and aurum trees 👉Tabebuia bloom in Bangalore 🌸🌸 heralding spring. And in May the city’s canopy has changed to red – the bright…
POTD: Sweet and in season 🍇
Sunday mornings we have a local vegetable seller set up shop at the apartment complex. And today he had grapes, the slender, seedless green variety. Sweet !! As Ruskin Bond reminded fruits are a compensation for the summer heat. 😎 To know which fruit is in season, you just have to look at the push…
Summer delights 🍹
” Some compensations of summer: Shade, and an iced drink. Laziness. Siesta. A cool breeze. Wearing as few or whatever clothes as one likes. The exquisite shock from a bucket of cold water. And the fruit, the fruit! “ – Ruskin Bond in A Little Book of Serenity 🌸 A homemade lime mint cooler with…
Miles and smiles 
You must be logged in to post a comment.