Durga puja the biggest festival of Bengalis and probably of eastern India. Hopefully this year the number of Durga puja pandel will increase further and the festival becoming more glittering. For the year 2011 lets check where we can go to see Durga puja in Bangalore.

1. Bengalee Association Durga Puja Gaytri Vihar, Palace grounds (near Mekhri circle)

Official website: http://www.bengaleeassociation.org

2. Jayamahal Sarbojanin Durga puja Organized by Jayamahal Ladies Club

3. RT Nagar Durga Puja Organized by RT Nagar Sarbajanin Durga Puja Samiti Patel’s Inn

Venue : VINAYAK MANDIR (1ST Floor),
Opp. F.M. Silk/Odyssy
(Beside R. T. Nagar Post Office)
R. T. Nagar Main Road
Website: http://www.rtnagardurgapuja.org/

4. Sarjapur Durga Puja Organized by Sarjapur Outer Ring Road Bengalee Association Total Mall, Outer Ring Road

Website: http://www.sorrba.org/durga-puja-2011

5. Socio-Cultural Association Indiranagar, Defence Colony Playground, 6th Main, between Indiranagar 100ft Rd and 80 ft Rd.

5. Sarathi Forum, Koramangala, Munureddy Kalayan Mantap, 80 ft Rd, 6th Block, Koramangala

6. Probashi Association, Malleswaram Canara Union Hall 8th Main, 13th Cross, Malleshwaram

6. South Bangalore Cultural Association, J.P.Nagar Puja, opp.to Bannerghata Road Shopper’s Stop.

7. Whitefield Cultural Association, Chetan Building Besides Whitefield police station, close to Nilgiris.

8. Antaranga Bengali Cultural Association, Sanjay Nagar puja. Its Sanay Nagar Main Rd through Ganganahalli, close to Food World.

9. Banaswadi Bengali Cultural Union, Sitaram Kalan Mantap, Banaswadi Main Road, Near Uttam Sagar

10. Murugeshpalya (Air Force) Wind Tunnel Road

11. Air Force Command Hospital, Near Ulsoor

12. Munekolal Marathahalli Durga Puja. Near Marathahalli Bridge.

13. Kagadaspura Durga Puja, 29th Cross, Janajeeva Nest, near SCT College

14. Mangala Kalyana Mantapa. 80 ft Road (opp. Ganesha Temple) 8th Block. Koramangala. Bangalore. 560095

15. Bengali in Bangalore
Aicoboo Residents Welfare Association Ground
Opp to Udupi garden (BTM) behind Bharat Petroleum Pump
Btm Layout 2nd Stage
Bangalore – 560076.
Website: http://bengaliinbangalore.org/durga-puja-2011

Check an account of my visit to Bengalee Association Durga Puja at Palace grounds in 2010.

For last two weeks I am noticing that Bangalore Metro is making numerous trail runs through out the reach 1 that is Byapannahalli depot to Chinnaswamy stadium. The public inauguration was on card for quite sometime. Ex Karnataka CM Yedurappa declared that Namma Metro will run on Ugadi (April 4th) this year which never happened. But I think as of now, Namma Metro will run only upto MG road as there seems to be no station for cricket stadium. These days you can see the pink shaded coaches of Namma Metro running regularly. I see that MG road, Ulsoor, CMH road, Swami Vivekananda road (old Madras road) stations along with the main depot at Byapannahalli is almost complete. All I see now the finishing touches to be done and office furnitures to be set in. But further work still remains. KH Muniyappa, Union minister of state for railways who also hails from Karnataka said that Bangalore Metro has got all clearences and it is ready for public run by the month end of September. But the Commissioner of Rail Safety (CRS) has asked BMRCL to make some changes and re-apply for permission. However, the Railway board has already approved the start of Namma Metro of Bangalore. This just shows lack of co-ordination between the various government agencies and the general public suffers due to the restrictions put for Namma Metro.

There is a talk that BMRCL will try to get prime minister Manmohan Singh to inaugurate Bangalore Metro. But there is still no clarity on that. Given the state of the work I dont think that Bangalore Metro train will have public run in September. Also, our politicians look for some big or auspicious day for inaugurations. So my hunch is that the inauguration for Bangalore Metro will take place in October and on the day of Dashera or Vijaya Dashami.

But you will encounter the real picture of Bangalore metro only after its inauguration. The toilets have not be installed only on select stations and not all. They will be pay and use. No sitting facility either. Furthermore you will be fined if you overstay at the station.

On fares – you will have to shell out more. Ordinary BMTC bus ticket cost from CMH road to MG road is Rs 8. Wheres on Namma Metro from CMH road (Indiranagar) to MG road you will to pay Rs 12. So they have kept fare of Metro at 1.5 times to the BMTC ordinary bus fare. However if you have Varshik (annual fare card) you will have to pay Rs 10.20 for the same distance. They will also offer smart cards and tokens for the purpose of tickets. Their fare scheme seems to be ok but short distance travel will be little costly. As minimum fare is of Rs 10 (one station to next station).

Bangalore Namma Metro’s toll-free helpline number – 1800 425 12345

What is La Tomatina Festival?

La Tomatina is a festival that is held in the Valencian town of Buñol, Spain – in which participants throw tomatoes at each other. It is held the last Wednesday in August, during the week of festivities of Buñol.

Origin of La Tomatina:

In 1945, during a parade of gigantes y cabezudos, young men who wanted to participate in the event staged a brawl. Since there was a vegetable stand nearby, they picked up tomatoes and used them as weapons. The police had to intervene to break up the fight, and forced those responsible to pay the damages incurred.

The following year the young people repeated the fight, only this time they brought their own tomatoes from home. They were again dispersed by the police. After repeating this in subsequent years, the party was, albeit unofficially, established.

Many other cities have replicated this festival like Colombian town of Sutamarchán since 2004, Costa Rica the town of San José de Trojas, City of Reno, Nevada in the United States etc. India the idea to held a tomato festival might have come from the song Ik Junoon from the movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara which recreated the the La Tomatina festival for that song.

Source: Wikipedia

La Tomatina website for Spain: http://www.latomatina.org/

The first La Tomatina festival in India is taking place in Bangalore.

Date: 18th September, 2011
Time: 11 am onwards
Venue: palace Grounds, Bangalore

Cost:

Student – Rs. 899(Under Graduates)
Single – Rs. 1199(Free Complimentary Drink)
Couple – Rs. 1999(Free Complimentary Drink Each)

To buy tickets online click here.

It will feature ran dance, tomato flush in a swimming pool among other things featuring best DJs like DJ Ivan in the country.

La Tomatina Bangalore website: http://latomatina.co.in/

The prospectus/brochure and application form for this program is available at SMART, 3 Curley Street, Langford Town, Bangalore – 25 at Rs 500/- The payment for the same can be made by cash or cheque or wire transfer. For those of you who do not live in Bangalore, please add Rs 150 for courier and handling charges. Cheques should be made in favour of Studio for Movement Arts and Therapies Trust.

The wire transfer details are as below
Studio for Movement Arts and Therapies Trust.
HDFC Bank
Rtgs HDFC 0000523
SB A/C No 05231450000092
Once they receive the payment, they will send you the prospectus + application form within a week

Do note the last date for the submission of application forms is 15Sep11 and the interviews will be conducted in the last week of Sep11.

Given below is a brief introduction of this program.

Facilitated by Tripura Kashyap & Brinda Jacob, the workshop explores theories and practice of teaching dance to children & young adults. Models of Dance-in-education, Innovative techniques of teaching dance, Movement Games & Dance activities, Designing lesson plans & Enhancing facilitation skills will be included.

This workshop is being organized by On 8 Dance Company, for registration call 98865-36392 / 99002-16095 or mail info@on8.in

Both workshops are open to Teachers (of Dance, Music, Drama, Visual Art & Academic subjects), Performers, Choreographers, Social workers, Counselors, therapists & Special Educators.

Visit tripurakashyap.blogspot.com /Google search Brinda Jacob

Bangalore Auto Show which started as an automobile exhibition in 2009 is an annual feature now. This time the auto show took place from 25 – 28 August, 2011 at Palace ground. This time the show was sponsored by Times Group. I visited on the last day. Don’t think of this exhibition as a conventional one like Delhi Auto Show or Geneva Auto show. Here you will see cars and bikes which typically see on road or you have already seen them. The only thing which stand out in this show is the super bike section. In 2009 they had Hayabusa and Honda. This time they had BMW.

I visited there on the last day of the exhibition. Ticket cost were Rs 100 per person which also includes a style biking show by Ghost Ryderz. The style biking was quite good in terms of a local event. I have already seen Chris Pfeiffer performing in Bangalore who was then the world stunt biking champion and he was flawless. Lets get back to the auto show. They were stand for Honda which exhibited cars like Jazz, city, Civic. Toyota exhibited Altis, Prius (Hybrid car) etc. Ford had suv Endevour, Figo etc. There were others like Nissan, Yamaha, redesigner Motormind, Maruti Suzuki, BMW super bikes etc. The advantage was you can check various vehicles under one roof and the disadvantage was it was too crowded.

Food stalls were available and parking too at Rs 10 for two wheelers.

To view the complete set of Pictures visit, TravelingBeats Photo Gallery.

Kidwai Institute of Oncology is one of the 18 regional centers of cancer treatment in India. So how this institute is associated with Kidwai and who is he/she? Lets find out in the history.

It is named after rafi Ahmed Kidwai. When he was the governor of the then Bombay province, he donated 20 acres of land on Hosur road (now called Dr. M.H Marigowda road) and Rs 1 lakh for Radiotherapy equipment. Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology started on 26th June 1973 with bed strength of 50. But now it has 429 beds. The institute was given autonomous status in 1980. The cost of treatment and drugs here is considerably less. It receives aid from the government.

Kidwai was a native of present day Uttar Pradesh. He was born on 18/02/1894 in Masauli village of Barabanki district. He took part in Khilafat movement and then worked as private secretary to the Nehru family. He was the food and agriculture minister after the first general election of 1952 in the Jawaharlal Nehru government.

Address and contact info:

Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology
Dr. M.H Marigowda Road,
Bangalore – 560029, Karnataka , India
Phone: 091-080-26094000 , Fax: 091-080-6560723,
E-mail:kidwai@kar.nic.in

Website: http://kidwai.kar.nic.in

With traffic jams, pollution etc peaking up proactive citizens have taken to cycling. This saves petrol, reduces pollution and green house gases and ultimately keeps you fit through exercise. One of such proactive citizen is Prabhakar Rao who founded Go Green Cycling Club. It urges to cycle to office, for short distances among others. Through his initiative two 5 star hotels in Bangalore Leela Palace and The Oberoi offers cyclist a stand to park their cycles if you visit these two hotels.

Website: http://www.gogreengocycling.org/

Pork dishes of Coorg are signature food which you will not typically find at other places. I have been to Coorg twice and tried Chilly pork, akki roti and pork gravy. I tried finding if these amazing dishes are available in Bangalore. But no luck. However, I heard a new restaurant in Koramangala has opened door who promises to serve such dishes. So let me quickly share the name and address:

Name: Coor@Koramangala

Address: #62, 1st Floor, 1st Main, 7th Block, Koramangala, Bangalore
Ph: 080 – 40991191

Pork dishes served: Pork pepper fry, Pork masala along with akki roti

Cost – Around Rs 300
Note: No alcohol served

Hypercity is a mall which has debuted in the mall arena of Bangalore. Hypercity is a part of K. Raheja group which also runs Shoppers Stop and Crossword. Hypercity already has branches in Malad, Vashi, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Amritsar, Thane and Bhopal. Recently Hypercity opened their door in Bangalore in January 2011 at Kundanahalli near Whitefield.

Address:

Hypercity
Embassy Paragon, Ground Floor,
Nr. Kundalahalli Gate, ITPL road,
Near Brooke Field,
Bangalore – 560 037
Toll Free Number – 1800-209-7172

Store Timings:
Weekdays: 10 am – 10 pm

I heard from an employee there that they are going to open one more store at Bannerghatta road soon. I recently visited Hypercity at Kundanahalli. It is quite spacious and offers huge range of products. Ample parking space is available in the basement and your parking fees will be reimbursed if you purchase more than Rs 200. The ground floor at Hypercity mainly has vegetable and eatables at the front side followed by grocery etc. There is a nice spirit shop called Drops – Total Spirit. The first floor offers furniture, apparels, electronic items, shoes, cycles, exercising items, dolls etc. Apparel prices are good and it has a very good collection of sun glasses. Apart from that all other prices are either equivalent or more than their competition.

Website: http://www.hypercityindia.com/

Now Kundanahalli has two malls, the other being Cosmos mall. There is also another mall called Forum Value mall in Whitefield.

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