To kick start my nephew's summer vacation here, we decided to visit
Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological museum & Venkatappa Art Gallery at Kasturba Gandhi Road (approach it from Hudson Circle).
Driving anywhere in Bangalore is dead tiring. And that we were. First thing we did, well after a nearly half-an hour of parking struggle, was to grab a few chairs and gourge on sandwiches. Thankfully baby did not make a fuss about her meal. I was worried the sculpturers nearby would fire me for disturbing their creavitity etc. There was some kindof Art mela going on, with paintings on sale & artisits chipping away on stone.
About the parking adventure, well I casually turned left on the road to parking area, so did the cars beind me. And ofcourse there were cars ahead of me. Everyone moved ahead at the speed of 10. And soon it became evident, that there is no more space ahead & the only way out being the one we entered from. And since it was a narrow lane, everyone was stuck. There was no one at the entrance to stop more incoming cars. These kind of situations really need patience and with everyone in the same mess, patient is the only thing to be. So now it was first-gear-ahead-reverse-gear-back routine for everyone in order to make some space & fit in. I say forget trekking & mountaineering & all, driving & parking in Bangalore is lot more adventurous.
Basically I have this knack to begin every outing by being tired, and then going ahead from there. Anyway, so after all this, all I wanted to do was sit quitely. But not so my nephew, who was all charged up, that we had finally reached some destination. So he hopped around and explored the Lotus pond and then into the Art Gallery, and then came running back, screaming about "huge sitar in there".
We started with Antique Museum (History : check). And then moved to the Science Museum in the next building (Mechanics, Electronics, Biology: check check check).
One thing
really good about such places, I mean after discarding all artistic & scientific pretences away, something really practically good, is that you have someone or something else to entertain the kids. So while my main aim at every floor was to hunt for a free chair, my nephew had exciting time following the ball on the Energy loop, being a goalie in a virtual reality football, checking out floating balls & tornados and infinity well, and how all things mechanical & eletrical work.....
And then we moved to the Art gallery. The "huge sitar" was in Venkatappa section. This one some pretty watercolors of Ooty & other hill stations. Top floor had Hebbar works. Middle floor was some contemprary artist works. Good ones too. But absolutely no labels, no information, on-sale-no-sale, nothing. So basically it's a good way to enjoy good visuals without interference. (Drawing: check)
One thing I absolutely love about Bangalore, is that it's never hot for more than a few hours. So while the entire morning was all hot & humid, evening was cloudy and then light showers. Lovely chill. This is a good view from the Art Gallery, of the UB City Tower against the cloudy sky.
I think this must be the first Hindi movie I have seen, in which the eponymous character was not hero or heroine or sidekick, but ... someone else.
'Bheka' and 'Kaise Mujhe' were beautifully sung and wonderfully picturised. 'Gujarish' was rendered very well by Javed Ali and Sonu Nigam's humming was good too.
With the current affairs being what it is, the most proactive action I could take was to watch the movie "A Wednesday" ... damn I feel so guilty about sarcasm. About the recent Saturday blasts, my MIL believes in the Aamir theory. She is sure, no educated young people nowadays can ignore their family and indulge in things which will cause so much heartburn to so many families. After all, those affected are not from any single community. She is sure such people have been coerced with some fear. Back to the movie world, the good part is that these movies now show how we are standing up. Here the hero is no Sunny Doel; here they are the common people and they are getting back.
They say, we miss so much in city life. I still think 'growing', whether its vegetable, fruits or flowers is not our job.
Thankfully, my daughter has been listening to the clucking of chicken since she was a week old. Thanks to my Mom & Dad, even I got to see milk direct from the cows, freshly plucked coriander leaves, Palak & a whole lot of fruits & vegetables, straight from the garden.
This is my entry for CLICK - August, Citrus theme.
But now with the terror shadow everywhere, there is added exictment. I got a call from Dispatch to come over. Once there, they sent me off to entrance gate to collect my parcel. This was new ! Once there, after all signing & stuff, I got the packet. Now it was the company security's turn to check it up. And the thing beeped a lot ! So he gingerly opened it. We peeped in. Baby clothes & 2 long boxes. Which beeped. The dolls beeped, and they being Dolls, were definitely suspectable. But can anything fit inside Barbie dolls ? I don't think so. Few seconds of quiet decision making & I was off with my baby's gift from Aunty M :)
There is something about morning commute and radio. Wind in the hair. Gloomy cloudy sky even at 9am. Driving on a route with no signals, slowing only at speed-breakers. 
