Blogs from Bangalore, Karnataka, India, Asia - page 19

SORRY ABOUT THE DELAY IN UPDATES . IT HAS BEEN A BREATHLESSLY BUSY 3 DAYS ! I WILL BE BETTER. ... read more

Went out for an amazing dinner with Ramki to Barbeque Nation. They have little bbq’s in the middle of the table where you get cook vegetables or meat (depending on your choice) and they gave us unlimited starters of Tikka/Fried Paneer. The main course was from the unlimited buffet which was amazing. A great way to try all the different curries at once (see pict). The deserts at this place were amazing too. There was treacle pudding type dish and unlimited ice cream!!! The next day I spent organising/posting back to uk things and went for one final meal to the Dahl and Roti café near Ramki’s flat. I took the night flight to Bangkok, which was supposed to be Indian Airlines but was replaced for a lovely Thai Airlines flight. Unfortunately I was sick on ... read more

We woke at 5am, the earliest so far. We had to get to Ramki's new flat to set up before the Hindu priests arrived. I dressed in my Sari and put some lovely jasmine in my hair. Ramki wore a special sheet outfit. The 4 priests arrived late but went straight to work setting up all the offerings and flowers in the middle of the room, think the picture is better than my description. They chanted, sang and prayed for about 1 hour. A relative of Ramki told me they were praying to the 9 different planets. Then the priests built a fire in the middle of the front room!! They obviously don't have fire alarms or health and safely in these flats. They continued chanting and praying for another hour. The smoke from the fire, ... read more

Janapada Loka (translates to Folk World), is located on Bangalore-Mysore highway on the outskirts of Ramanagara. It's a 15 acre area containing museum, photo gallery, demo village, lake and open-air amphitheater. The entrance tickets are priced Rs. 10 and the photography permit inside the museum costs Rs. 100. The garden is well maintained with lots of flowering plants and bamboo trees as a result of which there is a healthy fauna presence inside. I was told that every second and last Sundays of all months will have folklore performance and the place is closed on Tuesdays. img={http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_NGgVlvoN6PA/Sg5_d1wClzI/AAAAAAAAEp4/CU3enIXskC4/s1600-h/IMG_9322.jpg} center It's a good idea to start visiting the area from Lokamatha Mandira, the museum which has got a great collection of various materials used by the villagers in their routine - cradles, measures, ladles, ves... read more

So Day 1 of the volunteering. In the morning we were given breakfast cooked by the very kind granny and then taken to Dr.Victors posh college where he worked. We sat around waiting for instructions for about 2hours then were invited into one of his classes to interact with the ridiculously wealthy uni-students where i was asked if i was married by everyone i spoke to.We then went back to the house for some plain rice and bean curry ( the most bland curry i have had in india so far). Dr Victor was still at the college so we had to wait for him to get back. At 1630 he finally turned up, i was fuming angry as i still hadn't done a minutes volunteering and was paying almost 1000rs a day ( hostel 100rs ... read more