Finding ourselves in Bangalore on a Sunday we discovered that it was astonishingly quiet for a large Indian city. The normal 'open all hours' culture didn't seem to apply and many of the shops and attractions were closed. We checked our guidebooks, pulled together a…Read More

Finding ourselves in Bangalore on a Sunday we discovered that it was astonishingly quiet for a large Indian city. The normal 'open all hours' culture didn't seem to apply and many of the shops and attractions were closed. We checked our guidebooks, pulled together a few ideas of places we could go and see and decided to head off and just wander around. How naïve can you get? You can't stroll in Bangalore - it's enormous. Everything is really far apart. We must have been crazy.

Before we even made it from our hotel to the MG Road we picked up a follower. A guy with a splendid moustache, dressed in a grey uniform slowed his auto-rickshaw to walking pace and asked us where we wanted to go. "We're just walking around, going to look at the MG road" I told him, "We don't need a driver". He stayed with us chatting away, telling us he'd be really cheap "Why walk madame, I only want 10 rupees and I'll take you to the MG Road". I wasn't convinced - I'd seen the map, it was just at the end of the road we were on.

Eventually he appealed to our sympathy. He told us that there was no business for him today and he hadn't had a customer all day. He said the shops on the MG Road would mostly be closed (I doubted him but it was actually true) and he'd happily drive us around for half a day for 50 rupees. What did we have to lose, he asked and to be fair, he had a point. We had no particular plans, he had nothing better to do, why not keep each other company. After a quick chat with my husband, we decided to just go with the flow.

We got into the auto and I told him what I had on my 'to-see' list. I wanted to go to Lal Bagh and Tipu Sultan's palace. He told us that he thought the latter wasn't so great but he'd really like to take us to Bangalore Palace. He showed us some pictures and we decided to let him take us wherever he wanted. It soon became very apparent that what looked like quite small distances on my map were a long way in a tuk tuk with a complex one way system. It seemed to take forever to get anywhere but eventually we found ourselves at the palace, the driver dropped us off and told us where he'd be waiting and said we could take our time.

After the palace he dragged us to two shops. This was at the heart of our bargain tourism - if we scratched his back and agreed to go to shops, he'd take us around for very little money. This is NOT to be recommended if you are in a hurry or if you have a lot to see but we were very relaxed about just going along with whatever he suggested. I did get very annoyed on our second day with the driver but on day one I wasn't too bothered about looking in some shops. I assumed that he was after sales commission so I made sure that he knew when we had brought things. He told us that it didn't actually matter if we bought or not - he had an arrangement with the shops and each time he or the other drivers delivered tourists to the shops, they were rewarded with a voucher for 100 rupees. Once I understood how he was making money out of driving us around, I was more relaxed to go along with what he wanted.

Two shops and a palace under our belts and we asked to go and get some lunch. He took us to a place called 'Sunny's' telling us it was for "lots of foreigners". That wasn't really what I wanted but we didn't have any other suggestions so he drove us to this rather swanky Indian-Italian restaurant, parked up and left us for an hour or so. After lunch he was a bit more willing to fall into line with my original plans and agreed to take us to Tipu's Palace (he was right when he said it wasn't all that special' and finally onto Lalbagh (or Lal Gardens), probably the place I had read most about before our visit. Most of the population of Bangalore seemed to have the same idea and we spent about an hour and a half drifting around the gorgeous gardens.

Well satisfied with the amount of things we'd squeezed into the day (detailed reviews to follow of the individual attractions) we headed back to the hotel. Our driver seemed more than happy with the 100 rupees we gave him and we negotiated that he'd come back and drive us around the next day as well. Considering that every other driver we came across in Bangalore seemed very reluctant to take us anywhere, our new driver friend was worth his weight in gold. So long as we were willing to do a bit of browsing in shops, he was quite happy to spend all day ferrying us back and forth. I half expected some kind of sting in the tail, a demand for more money or an appeal for something more but he was as good as his word. Sometimes we're too quick to say no to what sounds like too good an offer to be true.

The next day he returned to get us and we made several more stops. He dropped us at a local department store then took us to find an ATM where we could withdraw some more money, on to a pharmacy to buy mosquito repellent and on to one of the city's large malls. He did draw the line at taking us anywhere that was very far (so we failed to get to the ISKON temple which we'd have liked to see) but on the whole we didn't do too badly. We agreed to go to a couple of tourist shops and bought nothing (he didn't care, he got his vouchers) and he very kindly helped us with finding a state tourism office where we could book a tour to another city (which was subsequently cancelled because we were the only people who'd booked). We dropped in to another of the old British parks, Cubbon Park, and wandered around in the rain. We'd hoped to see the city's art gallery or science museum but both were closed for unspecified reasons.

We went back to the hotel to collect our bags and rounded off our day with our taxi-man with a run to the station for our train to Mysore. There was something weird and probably illegal going on when we got near to the station and he made some evasive diversions to avoid some policemen so we suspect he either didn't have the right paperwork or wasn't driving entirely legally. Without him and his inexpensive attentions, one thing was for sure, we wouldn't have had half as much fun in Bangalore which really is a rather dull place.   Close

We boarded the train in Mangalore for a trip down south, through Kerala and Tamil Nadu! It’s spectacular, and it’s no wonder why it is quickly becoming the new tourist hot-spot. Our overnight train journey dropped us off in Ernakulam (very close to Cochin). We…Read More

We boarded the train in Mangalore for a trip down south, through Kerala and Tamil Nadu! It’s spectacular, and it’s no wonder why it is quickly becoming the new tourist hot-spot.

Our overnight train journey dropped us off in Ernakulam (very close to Cochin). We toured Cochin and went to a museum of Ravi Varma’s old palace. After a few hours in Cochin, we made our way to the town of Munnar, a hill station, high in the Western Ghats. The resort was beautiful and overlooked the mountains, and mountains, of tea plantations. We took a jeep safari ride through the mountains, and went to the highest tea factory in the world (at 8500 feet!), where they still process the tea leaves in exactly the same way as they did in the 1800s, when the factory was first built by the British. Sufficed to say, my father definitely closed his eyes a few times on the way up, around those hairpin turns! We saw the highest mountain in South India, and were able to look across the mountains from Munnar to Kodaikanal (in the neighboring state)! At the resort, Club Mahindra, we relaxed, played carem, sipped tea, and enjoyed the cool climate (we even had to turn the heater on at night!). But we soon had to be on our way.

Our next stop was Thekkady and the Periyar Tiger Reserve! We arrived and prepared for what Thekkady is known for, ayurvedic body massages! We also took a boat ride through the reserve, hoping to spot some tigers or elephants! (elephants are very common there—one lady I spoke with had seen three just one month prior!) But unfortunately, there had been a lot of rain in the past month, so the elephants didn’t need to come to the lake for water. We didn’t see any elephants or tigers, but we saw a huge monitor lizard, wild boar, monkeys, and an elk. Periyar was just the beginning of our boat rides...

We left Thekkady well-rested and massaged, and drove to Alleppey. We stopped briefly in Kovalam for lunch—a beautiful and famous beach! In Alleppey (formerly known as Alluppuzha), we boarded a houseboat and set sail on the tranquil backwaters. We enjoyed lunch and dinner, Kerala-style, complete with fish, paripoo (dal), and rice. For breakfast, we had idlis! The waters were beautiful and very serene. People live all along the banks of the waters, but to travel from one side to the other, a boat or water taxi is needed! At night, the men tied the boat to the bank and we chatted and played cards by moonlight. We drifted to sleep by the sounds of the crickets and the water lapping against the side of the boat. We arose at sunrise and watched as not only the people, but the river, awoke. People were taking their morning baths, washing their clothes, gathering water for cooking, and children were on their way to school. We cruised a little more and then headed back to the town of Alleppey. What a marvelous experience to see how these people lived, and to see their world for one night.

From Alleppey, we continued farther south... until we couldn’t go any farther! We had arrived in Kanya Kumari—the tip of the Indian subcontinent. That evening, we watched the sun set over the coast, where the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean all converge. It was an awe-inspiring evening. Directly south of that point, there is no land until Antarctica! (Technically Sri Lanka is to the south east of India, in the Indian Ocean)

There is a Gandhi museum, dedicated to the life of Mahatma Gandhi and it is a very interesting building made to have characteristics of a church, a temple, and a mosque and represent peace and understanding between all of the religions. There is also a tsunami memorial built for the people that lost their lives on December 26, 2004, when the tsunami killed about 1000 people from Kanya Kumari. It was a sobering experience to imagine that I was standing in the same place that was covered in water only one year ago on that fateful day.

We also went to the Vivekananda Memorial where there is a temple and a building built in the memory of Swami Vivekananda, who walked all through India in the 1800s and then decided to walk to the tip of the country. When he couldn’t walk anymore, he stopped. But he saw a rock off the coast and said, "I am not to the end yet, there is more!" So he swam from Kanya Kumari to the rock. And there he meditated for 3 days and nights with no food and water. He later went on to be a world-renowned swami and traveled to Chicago in the early 1900s to spread the principles of Hinduism to the western world. Presently, there is a meditation room in the memorial, where you can sit and meditate for as long as you like. Being there on that rock really invokes a sense of spirituality and introspection.

Recently built was also a statue of Thiruvaluvar, a famous Tamilian poet (Kanya Kumari is actually in Tamil Nadu). The statue is huge and stands more than 100 feet high. We were told that the tsunami (which came from the Indian Ocean side), in fact created a wave that went over the statue and stranded some 1500 people on the Vivekananda rock. These 1500 people were later evacuated to safety via helicopter.

We drove from Kanya Kumari to Trivandrum and went to two final museums, one of Ravi Varma’s art work (a famous Keralan artist, one of the few recognized by the western world during his time, in the late 1800s/early 1900s whose palace we visited in Cochin upon arrival in Kerala), and one with historic sculptures and artifacts, some over 1500 years old (the Napier Museum).

The train ride home led to stories recounting the past 5 days with treasure and glee, until we dozed off with fatigue. The sunlight awakened us and we arrived in Mangalore around 9am.

And so, it was quite appropriate that our trip concluded in Kanya Kumari—we simply could not go any farther south. It began with a stop in the mountains, to the highest tea factory in the world, and even viewing the highest point in South India; it ended with our feet in the confluence of three major bodies of water at one of the lowest points in India.

They call Kerala "God’s Own Country" and after our trip, we realized why. It truly is beautiful and has so much to offer. The people are friendly, the food is delicious, and the views are unrivaled. It will always remain a serene memory ingrained in our hearts and minds.
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This town is located on the southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent, approximately 250km south of Alapuzha. It is located in Tamil nadu. It takes a looooong time to get here, but is well worth the trip. It makes a great final destination for any…Read More

This town is located on the southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent, approximately 250km south of Alapuzha. It is located in Tamil nadu. It takes a looooong time to get here, but is well worth the trip. It makes a great final destination for any vacation!

There are not as many white tourists as Thekkady or Alapuzha, most of the people tend to be Indian. Follow the crowds down to the shore, and stand in the water where the Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal, and Arabian Sea all meet.

Street vendors are numerous, more so than at the other tourist spots, and will hassle you to no end, so if you’re not interested in what they’re selling just walk away and don’t even look at them . The second you make eye contact with them, they’ll come over to you, and won’t leave you alone for the next 10 minutes.

Kunya Kumari Temple is located off of the main street, you can’t miss it. It is a very old, historic Hindu temple and always has masses of people going in and out. It is quite an experience. Men must remove their shirt before entering.

The Gandhi Memorial is also a nice site. It features highlights of Ghandi’s visit to Kunya Kumari decades ago. There is no admission fee.

Another main attraction is Vivekananda Rock and Thiruwaluwar Statue, which is accessible by ferry boat. Tickets are available for sale, and include admission to both sites. Boats depart the shore every hour or so to go to Vivekananda rock, which is a 5-minute boat ride. From there, boats leave sporadically, going to the Thiruwaluwar Statue (a 2-minute boat ride from Vivekananda rock), and then back to shore. There are great attractions, with lots of history behind them. Memorials on each island pay homage to their respective subject.

Sunrise and sunset are also among the notable sites of this small town. Due to the fact that you are right at sea level, and on the tip of the continent, you can see perfectly as the sun rises to the east and sets to the west. Many hotels allow you to go up to their roof deck to view sunrise/sunset. It was overcast when we went to the roof early in the morning to catch a glimpse of the sunrise, so we didn’t get an ideal view, but it was still amazing. You have a great view of the entire town, including, the Gandhi memorial, and the Vivekananda Rock/Thiruwaluwar Statue.

We weren’t there for this, but if you plan the trip on a full moon night (or close to the full moon), you can even watch the sun set in the west while simultaneously getting a catch of the moon rising in the east. Sounds spectacular!
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This town is located approximately 100km south of Munnar, and was our next stop. It is very popular among European tourists; the majority are German, Italian, French, and British. The main attraction is Periyar Wild Life Reserve.The most popular part of the reserve is the…Read More

This town is located approximately 100km south of Munnar, and was our next stop. It is very popular among European tourists; the majority are German, Italian, French, and British. The main attraction is Periyar Wild Life Reserve.

The most popular part of the reserve is the 2-hour boat ride along the lake that offers views of many different animals. **Note: Your best chances of seeing an elephant or tiger are early in the morning. The first morning boat is a must! In January, this is 7am, but times vary by season. On the single-decker boat and double-decker boat, the top level is the best. On the double-decker boat, the bottom level is slightly cheaper, but some views are partially restricted depending on where you sit on the boat. Pay a little more and sit on the top deck. Wild boar, black monkey (larger than typical monkey, more like an ape), elk, gazelle, and tropical lizards are all commonly seen. Elephants and tigers are more rare. The most ideal situation is a clear, dry day, and catch the first boat (6 or 7am). If it is the summer time or a time of drought, you will be more likely to see elephants (and other wildlife) come to the lake for water (as opposed to the rainy season).

Thekkady is also famous for Aurvedic massages. These have been featured in Lonely Planet Guide Books and are very popular, so you will have to sign up for an appointment in advance. They are usually available seven days a week. Ask at the main desk of your hotel, and they will give you details. The rates are Rs500 for full body massage (not including head massage), Rs600 for full body including head, and Rs700 for full body and head and a more expensive oil. The massage lasts about 60 minutes, followed by a relaxing 15-minute steam bath. The whole thing is extremely soothing and well worth the price, which equates to about $15 US for the full body massage with head massage, which is also the most popular choice.

Not a bad destination for animal watching and affordable ayurvedic relaxation!!
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Bangalore was always known to me for its eating joints all over the places and since i had not travlled much, i could go out only to a couple of places. However, this time, i found time and decided to check 'The food street' (Can…Read More

Bangalore was always known to me for its eating joints all over the places and since i had not travlled much, i could go out only to a couple of places. However, this time, i found time and decided to check 'The food street' (Can you believe it, one complete street only for food?)
All those people who enjoy the palates, if you happen to go to Bangalore, just do not miss this place. Just ask anyone on the street and they will guide you to the location!
The food street is a lane which has small shops on either side working furiously to satisfy the growling stomachs that assemble there every evening after 7 PM. You have to eat standing and will have to move from one stall to the other. (It helps, since you can pass that off as an exercise and end up eating more!)
Eating there is such a pleasure, since you can see them making the food in front of you and they serve it pipping hot (just imagine in the cold of Bangalore winter!).
Polis (Sweet rotis made of dal and jaggery, with cocunut stuffing) are a hot favorite. Polis are beaten into flat round shapes with just the hand by placing the dough inbetween two plastic papers greased with ghee. Then they are put on a frying pan and 'toasted' till they turn crisp golden brown. Once done, they are greased with huge helpings of ghee, folded into a triangle and served hot in disposable plates! Yummy, the mouth waters even before the poli reaches its destination! Strongly recommended for those with a sweet tooth.
This is to be followed with 'Thuppa Idlis' (Ghee Idlis), prepared in the shop next door. The idlis are steamed'rice pancakes'. The idlis that are made are exceptionally soft and are topped with ghee. One plate has four pieces and is served with two varities of chutney and sambar.
You then hop on to the 'Benne Dosa' (Butter Dosa) stall that is a few feet away. As with idlis, the dosas are served steaming hot. The main attraction is the way the ghee is added to the dosa when it is being prepared..it resembles a gardner watering a plant! The guy just makes a small hole in a 2 ltr pack and presses out a jet of ghee onto the dosa being made on the pan.
The masala variant is sprinkled with chilly powder and mashed potatoes...with chutneys and sambar accompanying the hot brown dosas! The masala variant is a must have. You also have set dosa (six small dosa...to make you feel that you have eaten less!) that is a fast moving item.
Intersperced with the South Indian dishes, the Chinese and the North Indian dishes also jostle for space. Gobi Machurian (A seemingly oriental marriage of the Indian and the Chinese) is a hot favorite amongst the visitors.
Similarly, lovers of Chaat (North Indian Fast Food) will have a wonderful time, with many stalls dishing out spicy and tasty varities.
A really different preparation that i loved was the variation adopted to make the simple corn (American and Baby) a mouth watering item. The corn is grilled over coal (ingeniously using a small portable fan to stoke the flames), chopped into small pieces, lime is added along with other 'masala items' and served in humble newspaper cups with a small spoon. The corn could never have tasted more heavenly.
Choice of desserts are aplenty, but my favorites being the Kulfi and the 'Gulkand'.
On the face of it, it seems it is a providence that the people of Bangalore have been blessed with a very active tongue that appreciates good food and to help them in their pursuit of good food, all the good cooks make their way to this city and more specifically to the 'Food street'!    Close

This town is located on the west coast, approximately 100km south and west of Thekkady. Its main attraction is taking a houseboat along the Kerala backwaters. Just like Thekkady, it is very popular among European tourists. The boarding time is in the morning, at about…Read More

This town is located on the west coast, approximately 100km south and west of Thekkady. Its main attraction is taking a houseboat along the Kerala backwaters. Just like Thekkady, it is very popular among European tourists. The boarding time is in the morning, at about 10 or 11am, and the boat leaves the dock and drifts down the serene backwaters, with fascinating views of surrounding villages. Communities here live on narrow strips of marsh land, surrounded on all sides by water.

There are many great photo opportunities! The boat stops for lunch (provided on the boat), tea/coffee, and a snack, are provided as well. The boat docks at around 8pm, followed by dinner (again, on the boat). All meals provide the choice of Indian or Western food. When the boat leaves the next morning, breakfast is provided, and returns to the dock at 10am. The meals are excellent, Indian cuisine is recommended (fresh and tasty vegetable preparations, shallow fried fish, idli sambar, etc.). Western breakfast option is usually an egg omelet.

Downsides: Lots of mosquito's, so don’t forget to put the net around your bed before you sleep, or you will get eaten alive! Also, there are some cockroaches on the boat and they climb up the walls. But, overall, the boats are very clean. Prices range depending on air-conditioning or no air-conditioning. From November-March, air-conditioning is not necessary. A two-bedroom boat (queen bed in each room,) is approximately Rs. 10,000 for the one day excursion, about Rs. 30,000 and if you want air conditioning.

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Approximately 100km east of Erunakalam/Kochi, this is a lovely hill station town, nestled in the southern reaches of the western ghats. High in the mountains, it makes a great getaway location. It is most easily accessible by Jeep/SUV. The mountain roads are narrow and winding,…Read More

Approximately 100km east of Erunakalam/Kochi, this is a lovely hill station town, nestled in the southern reaches of the western ghats. High in the mountains, it makes a great getaway location.

It is most easily accessible by Jeep/SUV. The mountain roads are narrow and winding, so taking a bus is not advisable, and taking riksha is absolutely dangerous! Once there, resorts and hotels are numerous, and they span all price ranges.

Club Mahindra is a top of the line, five-star resort. Cost for one bedroom with a queen bed and pull-out sofa bed is Rs. 5000 per night. This place was very family-friendly—they had a game room with table tennis, caram, billiards, and other activities. Nightly family events included, bingo and bonfires. Their food is of average quality, and pricey, about Rs. 200 for each dinner/lunch dish. Standard Indian vegetarian and non-vegetarian is available. A meal plan is available as well, most people opt for buffet (on the meal plan). The rooms, however, are equipped with full kitchens and there is a small, quaint grocery store with supplies located nearby.

**Note: you must be a member and pay annual dues to stay there.**

A tour of the Kolukumalai Tea Factory is a must!! Only accessible by jeep, which must be hired the day of the trip (or one day prior). You can sign up for the tour at your hotel/resort (pay per person), but there are private jeep drivers who wait outside the hotels every morning, and their rates are a fraction of what the hotels charge for their tour. The hotel also offers numerous other full-day and half-day trips.

**Note: The ride up the mountain is very steep and bumpy, not advisable for the elderly, or anyone with a bad back!**

The tea factory is at 8,500 feet above sea level. Informal tours of the actual tea factory are provided, where you can see the process of cutting the tea leaves off the plant, bringing them into the factory, sifting them through machines, crushing them, packaging them, etc. Green, Darjeeling, and many other varieties are available. The factory still operates in the same way as it did when it was first established by the British in the 1800s.

**Late afternoon tours are not advisable because it will be dark during the return trip down the mountain, the jeep driver may not be able to see very well.**

All in all, a very lovely mountain hill station stop.

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I was on a 16-day trip to 10 cities in India. One of my students, Saad, who lived in Bangalore, was to help me get a sherwani. By the way, a sherwani is a formal suit of clothing used for special occasions. Well, first…Read More

I was on a 16-day trip to 10 cities in India. One of my students, Saad, who lived in Bangalore, was to help me get a sherwani. By the way, a sherwani is a formal suit of clothing used for special occasions.

Well, first we went to his personal tailor to have my measurements taken. I figured that we'd pick out the material there and have the thing made in a couple days. But no, we had to go to ANOTHER tailor to select the material. That turned out to be a MAJOR undertaking, because Saad was never satisfied with the quality of the 57 varieties of black material. So we began looking for a ready-made sherwani. In the third shop, I found an absolutely beautiful suit - all black with gold embroidery from the neck to the hem. It fit perfectly. The only problem was that the embroidery was slightly warped. The thing just would lie in alignment. The shop couldn't fix it, either. Sigh! It was beautiful.

So, we were on to the fourth shop. This whole thing was adding up to about 3 hours by now. We headed to old Bangalore through these narrow alleyways amid throngs of people out for the evening.

We were so far off the beaten path, I must have been the first white guy to show up since the British blew town (1947). In this little shop, which I could never find again in a million years, I came upon my perfect sherwani, the Holy Grail of wedding clothes if you will. It was exactly what I had in mind and fit as though it were tailor-made. The shop keeper threw in a two pairs of pajama pants, one white and one black. The moojlies, or shoes, I tried on set the whole outfit off. The whole outfit came to about $185.

I've worn it to a few occasions, including the Sri Lankan wedding, and it has never failed to be a hit.

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The first thing that strikes you when you land in India is that English is spoken a little differently here. It used to be that the Queen's English was spoken, but now we are in the midst of a transition and are quickly replacing that…Read More

The first thing that strikes you when you land in India is that English is spoken a little differently here. It used to be that the Queen's English was spoken, but now we are in the midst of a transition and are quickly replacing that with American English, especially the slang terms like dude, no sweat, etc.

However, while this subterranean transformation is taking place, what is clearly evident when you go to India is that the flavor of the English has a distinct regional flavor.

Some call it Inglish, Hinglish (Hindi and English), or Tinglish (Tamil and English)? Call it what you want, but there is a definite style, slant, and flavor to the English language spoken in India.

"What is your good name please?" is perhaps one of the first sentences you might have heard when you landed in India.

There is a definite stamp of regional vernacular on the English language, and you can hear it from a mile away. (For example, down south, I have heard, "No mention," when I have thanked somebody.)

And then, there is the bureaucratic influence. For instance, it is very common to say, "For this query, who is the concerned person I have to contact?" The inevitable reply is, "The concerned person is so and so."

"Revert back" is another interesting phase that is used all the time. For example, "Can you ask him to revert back to me?"

Here is a snippet from a letter that my husband got the other day:

"Kindly find herewith documents referring to the xyz... on which we would need your signature, blah blah blah... Thanking you in anticipation, Yours Truly..."

Reverting back to the regional influence on English: People in Bangalore have their own version like this, "Can we get one by three cutting?" when you order your coffee. Translated, it means to split one order of coffee into three orders (you only pay for one order of coffee).

Folks in Bombay have their own nuanced version of the English language.

"He is in FY right now."

For the life of me, I did not know what FY stood for, and my brain was busy trying to decode the acronym when the person added, "First Year in College."

Then there is the ubiquitous TP that everyone has heard about... Time Pass. For example, I am writing this blog for TP.

This one takes the cake--Restobar... 2 cents for guessing this one. That is right, you got it! It is a combination of the words restaurant and bar. And here I thought it meant restroom with a bar. My logic went this way... since good restrooms are hard to come by in India, the bar was advertising the fact in a very public way!! Plus, I had just watched Shah Rukh Khan (a famous Hindi actor or a Bollywood superstar, as some would describe him) on a CNN special where he declared that the philanthropic work that he wants to do is build restrooms for women only. Guess, SRK's (as he is referred to by everybody---this love for acronmyn will be the topic of discussion in another blog...). His comment was still ringing in my ears when I came across this wonderful verbal concoction called Restobar.

But the word that gets my goat is, "No problem." No problem is to me like a blackbox---garbage in, garbage out---I am never going to know how the phrase is going to be interpreted. Does this mean that things will be taken care of, or does it mean that they have heard me and will figure out how to resolve it? "No problem" reminds me of the Japanese "Hai", or "Yes." I never thought that I would have cultural problems interepreting English in a country that I grew up in and spent my formative years in. But like everything else, changes take place, and lanugage also grows in an organic way.

There are many wonderful turn of phrases and words that I hear everyday that make my day.

Keep your ears open for those wonderful turn of phrases, and instead of frowning and shaking your head in annoyance, look at it from a different angle, and you will appreciate the creative turns of phrase. Who knows--some of these phrases may bringing a smile to your face.

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Bangalore is one of my favorite cities I have visited since I was a kid. In the past 25 years, I have seen the city morph from a laid-back place to a hi-tech place. Like Silicon Valley in the U.S., which was once full of…Read More

Bangalore is one of my favorite cities I have visited since I was a kid. In the past 25 years, I have seen the city morph from a laid-back place to a hi-tech place. Like Silicon Valley in the U.S., which was once full of orchards, Bangalore too was and is known for its gardens and farmhouses that have sprung up outside the city limits.

I have been a regular visitor to Bangalore for the past 3 years and am constantly surprised by the changes that continue to take place.

The first change is at the airport, which is a far more friendly one, and you are bound to get a rose from one of the sari-clad young women with compliments from Kemps Corner, a children's clothing store. Do not be surprised if you see some innovative advertisement, especially when you are waiting for your luggage to arrive. I was taken aback when I saw a sign for "Airtel" (a mobile company) on the carousel. It certainly attracted a fair amount of attention from the tired passengers.

The second change was when we tried to get out of the airport. My dad warned me that sometimes it might take a half-hour to just get to the main road. This is especially true during the morning and evening rush hours. Make sure that you check with the person who is driving you about the traffic situation. If you want a quick cup of coffe or a bite to eat, the Leela Palace is a couple of blocks away and is an oasis of calm in the humdrum of the noise. Be prepared for the noise pollution and the constant tooting and honking of the car horns.

If you are looking for accommodation, please make sure you make your hotel bookings ahead of time. The hotels are always booked, and you might not get the best rate. Make sure to ask them if they have any specials and if they can give you a better rate than the rack rate. Bangalore also has some nice service apartments that are fully furnished and come equipped with a fridge and microwave. (Do a Google search on Service Apartments in Bangalore). One of the apartments is located close to MG Road, and a couple are in the Koramanagala area.

What I have discovered is that, unlike other major Indian cities, Bangalore is a smaller city but is rapidly growing outwards. The growth of the city has been fuelled by the IT and Biotechnology sectors, just like the San Francisco Bay area.

Driving round Bangalore, I discovered that the older parts of the city, like Malleshwaram and Busvangudi, are overshadowed by new areas like Koramangala, Indra Nagar, and Banerghatta. Most of the IT-related action takes place in the eastern part of town, where Koramangala, Indra Nagar, Ring Road, and Whitefield are located.

I was amazed at the rapidity with which the Intel Campus was completed on Ring Road and how other campuses are springing up on the same road.

Whitefield is home to the IT park that reminds me of Oracle... they are tall glass structures that gleam in the strong sunlight. These buildings hum with activity 24/7, and you can see hordes of young IT and BPO workers working round the clock. I visited a couple of the offices and was impressed with the security and the upbeat mood within these offices.

The new buzzword is BPO. Most young people are working either for a BPO or a medical transcription company. Consequently, Bangalore has witnessed a huge influx of people from other parts of India. It was one of these young BPO workers that Tom Friedman from the New York Times chronicled for a CNN TV program. If you can lay your hands on a tape of the program, do watch it, since Friedman has captured how the BPO sector is changing the social and economic network in Bangalore.

If I look through my sepia-tinted memories of Bangalore from 20 years ago, I am unable to recognize the changes and am amazed at the way these changes are taking place. I find it hard to reconcile the old Bangalore with its tree-laden roads, where you drove at a lazy pace and dined at the Brindavan Hotel or had a plum cake at Koshys or a quick bite of sweet at KC Dey's. This could be one of the reasons why the city has been able to handle the rapid growith since the infrastructure is not geared to meet the new demands created on its roads, water supply and housing.

I discovered that the happening place for IT folks is the Leela Palace Hotel. I feel right at home here when we go in for a bite to eat. The talk invariably revolves around IT and technology, and you are bound to spot someone you vaguely recognize.

In spite of all the changes, I still enjoy my time in Bangalore, either exploring a new nook or street or simply hanging out with family and friends, eating out at one of the many restaurants that dot the city.

If you happen to visit Bangalore, it might be worth your while to visit Mysore and see the Mysore Palace.

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