Beware of pick pockets

"I can't believe it's over

I watched the whole thing fall

And I never saw the writing that was on the wall

If I'd only knew

The days were slipping past

That the good things never last"

I was to meet Bataki at Barrista's on M.G.Road. Already 20 minutes behind scheduled time, I make my way from Shivaji Nagar; which also has a bus depot, towards M.G. Road and walk the same road that i would take to get back home. I reach Barrista only to find that Bataki is at Cafe Matteo, which is located next to NASA; a Pub, opposite Heera Panna, in the lane right opposite KFC which is on Brigade Road. Its quite, peaceful and away from the human traffic off the main street, with a dim ambiance which makes you wanna come back again with time on your hands. So after having a cheese croissant and a cappuchino, we walk our way back to Shivaji Nagar, executing the design on the first street off M.G.Road. It was almost 9.30 and not expecting to catch a direct bus home so I decide to go via Majestic.

Buses are less frequent after 10 and my bus had not yet arrived. Finally, it did arrive and it was like a 3 in 1 sandwich with people hanging out of it like lettuce in a hamburger, with more trying to make their way through because no one wants to pay 50% more to rickshaw wallahs. I am of the same opinion. So I am at the main doors' edge and not wanting to be crushed by the driver controlled collapsible doors, i push myself inside. A few more people have still managed to push in after me. It was crowded enough to remind me of the Mumbai locals during peak hours.

When in a crowded place, it is our self responsibility to take care of our belongings. I had everything in sight except for my wallet, which i was sure of was in the back pocket of my jeans. So being a responsible person I reach for my wallet to keep it in the bag. But my wallet moves without me touching it.

Now, my wallet is such that it cannot be removed from the pocket without brushing the ass. It is a big, fat, black leathered wallet, which contains more ID and visiting cards than money. It is stuffed, like the bus, with tickets, membership and ID cards and some cash in the middle sleeve, a few '5' OCB markers in the behind sleeve, more membership and ATM cards in the front, below which are visting cards pressing against my collection of coins from around the world. The wallet has a push button locker which has to be stretched hard to lock it. It is super heavy for someone unlike me to travel with it and if thrown at, may cause serious damage.

"What the fuck!!" , exclaimed the sub-conscious me, realizing the misplacement of my wallet. I snap back to see a man in the yellow-black striped shirt at the egde of the door, slip the wallet in his upper pocket and jump off the moving bus. And all of this happened within 2 seconds.

"AAAYYYYEEEEE...!!!!", I shout running after him, breaking through the single row of people standing towards the edge. I follow him through the maze of buses parked in the drive-way before the exit, trying not to loose sight of him.

"AAAYYYEEEEE.... CHORR!!!" I shout again attraction more attention of the few people at the depot. The man, heavily built and a swift runner ran towards the main exit, the exit from where the buses move out from the depot.

He was 2 buses away from me and I technically take a shorter route, hoping to intersect him after the bus ahead of us. A group of people, gathered behind, shout for me. I stop in my tracks and loose track of the wallet snatcher. He was gone, nowhere to be seen.

I feared the worst. I had a helpless feeling that I had lost my wallet and its precious contents and I could do nothing about it. Expecting the worst, i head back to group of people only to find that my wallet was lying on the road with all of its content spread out, like a alu-mutter sandwich run over by a speeding cycle.

By the look of it, nothing seemed to be stolen, just that I had to position the contents back in place. I was relieved to find my wallet back!!

All of this takes place in less than 20 seconds, which caused the adrenal medulla in my brain to over secrete catecholamine, causing heavy breathing and blurry vision. Bringing myself back to normality and checking the contents of the wallet, I catch the next bus home, this time keeping the wallet in my bag. Images flash through the projector in my brain, replaying the event again and again and also portraying the sequence of irrelevant events of the incident.

The aftermath of the event was that it left me paranoid android about my wallet and had strained my hamstring for the following 3 days, not allowing me to even brisk walk or for that matter cross a divider, which made me realize that I either had to start my morning jog or be extra cautious while commuting.

The former is essential and latter is important.

Lal Bagh and the Basket Ball Diaries via Majestic...

"The grass was greener
The light was brighter
With friends surrounded
The nights of wonder

Looking beyond the embers of bridges glowing behind us
To a glimpse of how green it was on the other side
Steps taken forwards but sleepwalking back again
Dragged by the force of some inner tide"

Feeling guilty bout not waking the previous morning to photograph Lal Bagh at dusk, i decide to go on a photography spree in the evening. So its just me and my SLR for the evening and we have one of the most beautiful moments capturing Lal Bagh at dusk. Lal Bagh is a botanical garden located a bit towards the south on the central axis of Bengaluru. The garden was completed by Tipu Sultan;son of Hyder Ali-who commissioned the building of this garden and Spread over 235 acres it has the finest species of trees, some which are over hundred years old and over 1000 species of flora. All except for school children and the differently abled pay Rs 10/- for entry into a different world; completely cut-off from the bustling traffic, devoid of pollution, the constant mechanical over flow of noise and human mass; within the city itself. I unleash my beast to capture some beautiful moments of nature at sunset in this amazing natural set-up. The garden is maintained to a level which makes u feel that your entry fee is well spent. Well paved footpaths winding through the woods and around the lake, common gathering spaces with many granite benches makes u wanna sit. And sit i do; after walking on a trail through a semi-forest; off the main track where joggers and walkers where cruising along. It is a high way for them. I browse the frames that i have captured and suddenly i hear classical music being played. Not from the music player of the person sitting next to me but a remote sound, being played live. I walk in the direction of the sound and reach the place; which is called the 'band stand', which has a circular plinth with a roof and open on all sides for the audience to see. In axis with the 'band stand' is the 'glass house'. Modelled on London's Crystal Palace, it is the main attraction of Lal Bagh. The sun is bout to set and the lights inside the glass house are pretty dim to appreciate the building at this time of the evening. But as the evening progresses the house glows to a bright golden yellow color which appears and is amazing against the dark blue dusky sky with a tinge of purple and strips of orange running through with profile of trees which your eyes cannot escape. The chroma of light coming from within only enlightens the periphery of the house; erasing the ground line which merges with the trees and becomes one; giving a sense of it floating. Inside is a huge exhibition space; supported by slender steel columns having decorative floral brackets;which currently is holding an exhibition of Orange's, and does hold many other floral exhibitions throughout the year. Its 7 in the evening, which is about closing time for the 1sq.km garden. I entered the garden from the West gate and decide to exit from the Main(north) gate which is eventually closer. Just before main gate, there is a huge map of the garden, labelled with the 'to-be-seen' areas of the park. So mapping the route i walked on till now, i find out that i have not even covered a quarter of the entire garden, which tempts me to come again the next time around and visit a different area altogether. I exit and walk a couple hundred metres to Minerva Circle, hoping to catch a bus going to Majestic as soon as possible.
Majestic (a.k.a Kempegowda Bus Stand)is one of the main bus stands in Bengaluru, located just off centre, directly opposite the Bengaluru Railway Station. I wanted to reach by 7.30, which is the peak time when all the buses around the city come storming through a one-way leading to the depot having about 6 to 8 platforms with about 25 stops and another one-way exit only for the buses on the opposite end. Near the 1st platform is the admin block and a few shops selling books and fresh fruit juices lined with the main entrance of the bus stand for pedestrians. Every platform has a ticket counter and some stall to serve you milk an milk products. So wanting to capture the flow of buses into the depot i reach the foot-bridge over the main road; which is accessed by a three-way ramp provided at each platform; which allows a good view of the context around the bus stand. There is a good measure of wind blowing through the night to make you wanna keep your sweat-shirt on. It amazes me every time i come to Majestic to see the number of buses that enter the depot in a given time. So getting back to my objective of capturing this image, i unleash the beast again, only to capture one of the better multiple exposure snaps till now. Conscious at first to click, i get used to people watching and asking me about what i am up to. But the outcome of the frames captured was more than wt i expected. So i click and i click and click trying to capture time in a single frame not realizing how much time went by in that process. So after about i don't know how many quarters of an hour, i am approached by a man in a khakhee uniform; who looked more like the neighbour who stops u from playing loud music; and he tells me, in his broken English and the typical south Indian accent, that i am not allowed to click around here. I say, " I am tourist. Why not allowed.? Should I take permission.?". "No. No permission. No photography" is what he replies, not wanting to hear any kind of explanation and directs me to leave. And leave i do, taking the ramp towards the main road lined with prostitutes, ready to do business for the night, along its edge. All in all I had a good time capturing these two areas. And hoping to capture more the next morning, during the basket-ball session with friends at the Kanteerava stadium, i head back home calling it a day.
Its my third Sunday here and i decide to meet up Lambu(a.k.a Vijay), Amit (a.k.a Amit Pande), Madhu(a.k.a Madhusudhan) and Bataki(a.k.a Harsh Panchal) for a game of ball at the Kanteerava Stadium located within the context of Chinnaswami Stadium and Corporation Circle which is a 5 minute walk from the main gate. Sree Kanteerava Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium and is currently used mostly for football matches but also includes two outdoor basketball courts and one indoor court where several international matches have been played, Taekwondo, rock climbing, a running track, a football field and a volleyball court. It is Bangalore's main sports stadium and several national level teams hold their training sessions here. But all this, a few years before was a lake. So I reach before time followed by Madhu followed by Lambu and Jesus, but Bataki never followed, cos he never got up that morning. Being Sunday, the courts are packed with teenagers, undergoing training, to take their shots and lay-ups one after the other practising a trick or two before the 1,2, jump and basket. We bounce the ball around a bit and wait till the practice gets over, having a coffee session in between located across the road. By the time we return a match is being played in the front court between girls and boys who come to practice over there. The second court, which was previously occupied by the girls now playing the match, is now empty and being by occupied by players of higher calibre. Knowing i wont be given a chance to play this time around, i unleash my beast again for the third time within 20 hours,again, only to capture many of my better frames in the category of sports and portraits. More than the pictures, i am amazed by the game. Everything about basket-ball is so cool. So damn cool..!!!! The outfit, accessories, shoes, the game play, the way u pass, the way u shoot. The court may seem small to you but It requires immense stamina to play a full 4 quarter game. It demands a high level of skill and control over the ball to dodge through your opponent. The entire game is based on BLUFF. Its all in the eye. Your judgment and agility should be strong enough to give you that split second to ;slip through the defense or your marker; or just give you enough space and time to shoot a perfect basket. Its not everybodys game. Only skill is not enough, u need passion to play this game. And talking about passion, basket-ball and foot-ball are the only two sports that i consider passionate. And the reasons for it have just been stated. I am not disappointed about not getting a chance to play, but indulge myself in observing and capturing the beauty of the game itself; which was more than what i asked for on a Sunday morning; which doesn't mean that i wouldn't want to play the next time around.


(for more pictures please click on the following link - http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=187679&id=540255015)