All about Bangalore

Bangalore – If you want to know Bangalore or about Bangalore here goes the Pandora’s box.

Some basic info
New Name to be : Bengaluru

Languages Spoken: Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, English and Malayalam are predominant.

Weather: The most pleasant all through.

Geography & Environment
Surviving Lakes
BTM-Madivala Lake
Lalbagh Lake
Hebbal Lake
Sankey Tank
Ulsoor Lake
Yediur Lake
Dead Lakes
Dharmabudhi
Kempambundi
Karnaja
Vrishabhavathi

Extinction of Sparrows Around 1980, Sparrows were in every home nesting in every nook and corner on buildings. Wonder where they are now.

Trees
The pretty flowering ones are Jacaranda, Gulmohar or Mayflower, Parijatha, Moulmein Rosewood, Hibiscus, Tabebuia, Silk Cotton and Indian Coral.

Rain Trees are those large ones which are believed to pull the clouds down on them but are giving way to smaller ones.

People & Society
Why people like Bangalore
It is amazing how a weary traveller tends to slow down, take a breath and whisper, "I want to settle down here".

Hospitals
Some of the best ones are located here.

Orphanages
About 40 orphanages with varying capacities exist here

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Education

Schools
Anglo Indian Schools
CBSE Schools
ICSE Schools
Matriculation Schools
Playschools
State Board Schools

Colleges
Arts & Science Colleges
Business Colleges
Hotel Management Colleges
Engineering Colleges
Law Colleges
Medical Colleges
Vocational Colleges

The Educational Bosses
Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board
Karnataka Board of the Pre-University Education
Directorate of Technical Education
Bangalore University

Industries
Information Technology
Aviation (Civil, Defence & Entertainment)
Manufacturing (Small, Medium and Large)
Corporate houses of Small, Medium and Large Enterprises
Finance and Banking
Distribution
Cottage
Food processing

Transportation
Come in by Rail, Road or Air. You cannot Sail in as we are about a Kilometer above sea level. Perhaps you will, in about a 1000 years.

Local Transport
Bus services by Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC)

Call/Radio taxis, Autorikshaws and Local bus. Metro Rail (over ground) is under construction, could be up and running in a couple of dozen years. Two Wheeler taxis and riding threesome on a two wheeler is illegal here and just thoughts at the moment.

Hitchhiking can be an option if you are brave enough.

The Railway Stations
Bangalore City (Major)
Cantonment
Bangalore East
KR Puram
Banaswadi
Kengeri
Yeshwanthpur

The Airport
Bangalore International Airport Ltd. (BIAL), situated on NH7 near Devanahalli
For more details and to book airport transfers use the links below:
-> BIAL's official website

-> Via World, the official airport transfer via public transport reservation center. Call Centre BSNL:080-25329800, Airtel:080-41431000

-> BMTC, the official public transport provider

-> Book taxi online (a private agency). Call Centre +91-80-4052 8888

Please note that the details provided are as in the respective websites as on 4th June 2008. Do verify for exact details at the time of use.
HAL Airport (old) is redundant since end of May 2008.

Food & Entertainment
Coffee shops
Prominent: Coffee Day, Barista, Kalmane

Barista Coffee
Brigade Road
Ph: 2558-0087 / 2532-3292
100ft Road, Indiranagar
Ph: 5115-3554

Cafe Mozaic
Taj Residency, 41/3 MG Road
Ph: 5660-4444

Monsoon
The Park
Ph: 2559-4666

Mynt
Taj West End,
25 Race Course Road.
Ph :5660-5660

Pubs
Dublin
Enigma
Fabulous
Geoffrey's
Guzzlers Inn
Jcubez
Jockey Club
Legend of Rock
Maithri 'The Pub'
Nasa
Pecos
Purple Haze
Scottish Pub
Sherlock Holmes
South Point Pub
Sparks
Spinn Courtyard
Styx
Taika
Tavern At The Inn
TGI Friday's
The 13th Floor
The Blue Bar
The Bunker
The Eleven
The New Nightwatchman
The Polo Club
The Pub World
Windsor Pub
Zero G
Discotheques
Geoffrey's
Spinn Courtyard
Taika
The Blue Bar

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Eateries

Movie theaters
Prominent:

Malls
Prominent: Garuda, Forum, Eva, Central, Life Style, Shoppers Stop, Sigma,

Hotels & Accomodation
5 Star Hotels
3 Star Hotels

The trip to Madhumalai

This is a note on the trip we went on the last Friday and I happened to pen it down. This will probably give an idea to the guys who did not come.

And so, here it goes on a first person account...........

This was the most awesome weekend that I've ever had, probably after a very very long time.

I had been to Madhumalai (enroute to Ooty via Mysore) along with about 29 others from all around the globe.

We started at 10:30PM Friday, 25 July 2003.
Couldn't sleep a wink as the bus rattled through and finally when it stopped at Theppekadu (3 AM), it is supposed to be the entrance to the sanctuary itself, boy 'O boy, did we have to wait for the jungle jeeps to pick us up to go deeper in to a place called Masinagudi, that's where the "Jungle Retreat", a jungle resort is. It was a good thing that it wasn't freezing out there. The idea behind this visit was to trek, go on a safari, dine & do some partying around bonfire.

The place greeted us with a nice hot cup of tea and biscuits. Introduced ourselves first to the big Labrador "Duke" and his son, forgotten his name though. Doesn't really matter eh.

6.30 AM - the trek begins, with no change of clothes, just with the basic things done to keep us fit enough, the group is split in to 2, one led by a "The best Ornithologist" in the South of India, he really is THE best I should say as he can tell you the birds names by just listening to them and would you believe this...?, this guy actually chases tigers when he sees them!!!! He can see things that we normal "concrete jungle" guys can't see. So, unfortunately I was with another budding guide who knows the place pretty well. This guy resides deep in the forest, about 25 kms and walks to his place once a week or something. You should feel the muscles on his spine, rock hard & stiff and he walks the mountains like it's a tennis court. I was amazed by his ability. I guess one ought to look upon such people to participate in marathons.

The 3 hour haul in to the mountains took it's toll on the not so fit but surviving ladies and gentlemen. The trek was aborted and brought back on to the normal course and to a snail's pace. "Pissed off" is the word and I bid adieu to the party and trotted/galloped/ran along the already well known trail in something like 15 minutes. Ah, I should mention this untrusting lady who happened to slow me down a bit and what with clinging on whenever she hears a cow moo. Pretty funny sight that was.

Well, having reached the Retreat, breakfast was downed just like that, famished wasn't I? A dip in the pool, and back to the lounge overlooking the blue mountains.
PEACEFUL.!!!! Living life to that extent is worthy enough I thought. We humans are so tiny, yet so dangerous, do I have to tell?.......

4.30PM Time for the jeep safari and a ride through The Wildlife sanctuary by the assigned bus. Elephants showing off their might, protecting their young ones.
The revelation to me is that the aunt takes care of the baby while the mother is busy chomping to produce enough milk for the young one. A very very sensible
family value that. AND it's up to the baby to sound an alarm if it feels threatened.

I missed a peek at a tiger which was supposed to have just passed by but I did hear the barking deer. I guess it is a kind of an alarm if there is a predator around.

The ride in the jeep was far more exiting when I climbed on to the top of the jeep with a line in a song coming to my mind. "Cool wind in my hair...."
Real cooool. The Bison, Spotted deer, Elephants with radio collars,... why the hell did they need them, free animals. Man responsible again, will it ever "dashin'" stop?!!!

7 PM Back to the Retreat, evening already set in....
with a few drops of rain once in a while, a very welcome feeling and experience.The mountains around us getting darker.... Sometimes the stars shine brighter there. No need to tell you why....

Bonfire..... We sit around it, watching the flames, wild movements, was it saying something. swish-swash or lick-lick, haha ...., well, depended on what I was
thinking.

3AM was when I slept, waking up to a call from our trek guide choosing only the fit, fast, endurable, agile, okay okay, I stop, .... at 5.30AM. 6 of us and the young guide, Mani. A good 3.5 hour trek it was. The morning chill was good enough to take us through. A big bear at a rivulet and we decided to follow it. Man, did we ever thought it was going to blow on our faces. Luckily we had not casualties and even lucky to get away without having to wet our pants. Life seemed so dear when that happened HAHA.

Then there was this skull of a Samba deer with it's horns intact. could have been a good souvenir if it were small. An hour or so passed by and I spotted something amazing, apart from what we see on the TV. It's the real life experience which makes it so exciting. A cheetah or some big guy had pulled up the entire body of a Samba deer which probably weighs as much as a well fed cow, on to a tree which had just a trunk and about 30-40 feet tall. That gave me a feeling of the strength of these animals. The next time you get ideas like fighting a cheetah or any big cat, think twice, sorry..., just don't let that come to your head. Just stay away from these guys and don't get in their way.

The delicious fruit that you will be able to eat if you dare to do so (but not the pips in them) is the cactus fruit. Yummy, Pinkish-red in colour. It's thorns, if you are unemployed, even temporarily, can be a good employer, haha, can keep you occupied the
whole day if you want to be.2.30PM A good meal, a few moments later, we get a brighter idea of reaching the top of one of the peaks and it was shot down like a mad dog. 6 hours was what was required for the ascent and descent and that would be about 8 - 9 PM by the time we reach back. The Retreat guys just didn't want to add us to the statistics of elephant related deaths in the mountains. This is supposed to be about 5 – 7 people a year. hmmmm, pretty low for the number of people trudging in the mountains.

But, being good adamant humans as we are, we decided to conquer atleast half the mountain. This time it taught me of the agility of the village women folk who sweep the ground using small brooms and with their knees straight, painful.... This trek was more in to the deep woods, twisting, turning, stooping, crawling, a frightful encounter with another big bear. lucky for us again. Saw death on the face of Mani. Had a chance to sit at the edge of a cliff which had a neat fall of about 500 metres. I imagined getting a hang-glider of my own.

And towards the end of the 2nd day, no tears were shed but we were discussing religion and God. Pretty ironic, with the circumstances in which we live in.

Midnight, we depart to Bangalore and here I am using my office hours to tell you the story.

Hope you liked it.