I keep going back to this place and taking folks who visit because I love it….the people, flowers, house hold accouterments. The chaos and randomness is invigorating; the conversations I have with the vendors are always fun.
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The bonus is that I have never gone there and not taken at least one good photograph. What is starting to be funny now is that the same people ask me to take their photo time and again…and of course the flowers…..
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The visit to the Bangalore Palace was interesting….the exterior is stunning but basically the place is pretty run down – I guess it opened a few years ago to the public.
Some of the things on display (while I understand the historical reasons) were gastly – a huge tusker head, a set of elephant legs which were turned into stools and equally disturbing ….. tons of pictures of tiger hunts. These seem particularly out of place given the current numbers of tigers in India and the ongoing push to preserve/strengthen the population that is left.Another interesting tidbit….the amount of pictures of naked women in one particular part of the palace. Someone in the Wodeyar family (most probably Srikanta Datta) has/had a serious female bosom fetish.Sadly, as per usual here, foreigners pay a different fee (10x more) and it costs 500 INR (around 11 USD) to take pictures….to discourage photos perhaps?…..is it the elephant legs or the naked women…humm. I did manage to get this one picture of the exterior when the security guards were not looking….. -
Wow! What an amazing space in Bangalore…great art, lots of open spaces and plenty to learn – an very cool, eclectic hangout. While technically a school, they have a number of permanent galleries that have some great Indian masters as well as amazing folk art!
So, I went to pick up Karen and my new friend Lobat after a retreat they finished just outside of Bangalore.
After a small squabble involving some non existent samosas and the ensuing refund request denial, we took off to collect their baggage and tour the campus. The campus was gorgeous and thought I would share a few pictures of them. Of course, they had to goof in at least one…funny girls.Karen's visit provided another opportunity to explore the area around the capital building (Vidhana Soudha) in Bangalore. The weather was fantastic – sunny, with awesome cumulus clouds floating through the sky.
There were fruit and chaat vendors everywhere, feeding folks enjoying the day. The blossoms on the trees here have always taken my breath away but today they were amazing blanketing Cubbon Park in shades of pink, orange and yellow. Basically, a perfect day for taking a few pictures.Two absolutely fabulous folks got hitched while Dar and I were out of the country so sadly, we missed the ceremony. However, we were honored to attend the reception up in Gurgaon (suburb of New Delhi). It was a beautiful two days filled with a fantastic family, lots of laughs and great conversations!Here are a few images from the two days….



















































