Day 195 | July 15 2007 | Laundry shop

A road side laundry shop, nothing flashy, not even electricity. Just a kerosene lamp during the evening, and a good old coal iron for pressing the clothes. Its cheap too.. 2Rs for a shirt, and 3 for a pair of pants. The best part is the faint smell of burning coal, and the crisp cotton clothes.

Day 187 | July 07 2007 | City Market Bus Stop - Organised Chaos

Chaos? No, its just a normal day at the the City Market bus stop, Bangalore city. Its 7.30Pm, and the people want to get home soon after a hard days of work. Wondering how the huge buses will manage to get out? Its no big deal.. this happens 365 days a year.. and this happens Only In India!

Day 159 | June 8 2007 | American Chopper

Its always like a festival on weekends at Forum Mall in Koramangala Bangalore. Some activity is always going on. This weekend, a Wrangler promo was going on. An American Chopper bike was on display, and the main crowd puller. Strangely enough, the girl-crowd was hardly interested. But then.. aren't bikes supposed to be boyz toys?

Day 142 | May 22 2007 | Kangan..

Its fun to dress up in Indian traditional/ethnic clothes, which now a days can only be occasional. The occasion today.. family dinner at a friends home.

Thats my wife's 'Kangan' or bangle made from hard wax or 'lakh' as its locally called, decorated with tiny jewels and stones. The red cloth in the background is one of my favorite embroidered Kurta.

Day 137 | May 17 2007 | Common cold, No cure yet!

I recently read that there is still no cure for the common cold. Then what do all these 'cold' medicines available off the shelf do? I guess they only provide comfort to the patient and generate revenue for the pharma companies. But, the Indian government (National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has recently put in price regulations on a lot of drugs, bringing them to the common mans reach. Perhaps India might be the only developed country where most medicines are still available without a proper prescription, and chemist shops are as treated as daily or retail essentials.... India shining!

Thats a close up of the meds prescribed to be by the doc. Now thats a lot of meds right..

Day 135 | May 15 2007 | Candle in the wind..

The lights were out this evening, so out came the candles. Fooling around with the camera I was looking to make a good desktop wallpaper. And this one came out pretty well. Thats the candle in the wind, a song dedicated by Elton John to late Princes Diana.

Day 134 | May 14 2007 | Auto Rickshaw (negative)

Was at a friends place for dinner and his son has a lot of toys. This is an auto rickshaw from his collection. Nothing unique about this, but just experimenting with negatives and high ISO noise photos.

Day 125 | May 05 2007 | Begging while the world passes by..

An old man, bent and sick, begging in front of a apparel shop, while the world chooses to look away, and avoid guilt. Thats life for us, but thats a hard days work for a beggar.

Day 121 | May 01 2007 | Pune @ Night

Thats the view of Kothrud, Asia's fastest growing suburb in Pune city. Visible far away, is Pune's famous Chandani chowk area.

This was photographed from a 12th floor penthouse terrace. It was a warm night, and the visibility was very good, capturing the far away details.

Day 116 | April 26 2007 | Chandani Chowk - Pune

Thats the view of speeding vehicles on the highway below, from Pune's Chandani Chowk. Joining Kothrud, NDA road, Pirangut Industrial area and Aundh, Chandani Chowk is Pune's famous hangout night spot. A host to more than 20 joints, hotels and specialty restaurants with great food, service and exotic names like 'Up and Above', 'Khana Peena Jeena', its a place for a lot of late night action.

Day 113 | April 23 2007 | A Date with the Moon

Late at night, looking up at the sky, the moon was hidden behind a screen of fluffy clouds. To me, the two Ashoka trees are looking like rockets, ready fly me into space for a date with the moon.

Day 104 | April 14 2007 | Golden Sky

Waking up after a cat nap, I came out to stretch the balcony of my 2nd floor home. I was delighted to see this breathtaking golden sight. With a bird flying home, and another one just sitting, aint it beautiful?

Day 102 | April 12 2007 | Shades of a Lamp Shade

To say the truth, there was really nothing better to post today. This qualifies as the best shot of the day.. So here is a 'not so unique' lamp shade. Clicked this while exiting Friends, a fast food joint in Koramangala, after a late dinner.

Day 100 | April 10 2007 | Mindless Consumerism

Recently I was approached by a book cover designer. He needed suitable photos for a book on the subject 'Mindless Consumerism'. I was out with my camera looking for settings and moods which would suit the cover.

This one is out of that series, taken in Koramangala outside Cafe Coffee Day. It may not suit the topic, but the colours in this photo compeled me to post this.

Day 98 | April 8 2007 | Hard at work - Caricature artist

A famous Caricature artist busy at work inside a mall. He does posters for Rs.100, and they are pretty good.

Taken from the 1st floor, exactly above the artist, I think this is a good shot.

Day 97 | April 7 2007 | Bye Sun, good bye Earth !?!

What do you feel when you see such rampant pollution sources. Does it remind you of the final Sun set marching on its way? I can always recall the mad prophet from Tintin magazines, who carried plaques saying 'the end is near'.

Taken from the top of my terrace after a hot Bangalore afternoon, thats the Mico-Bosch factory in sight.

Day 95 | April 5 2007 | Brand Recall - Portable Ads

Are we there yet? I guess we are.. We are in a place where marketers are grabbing our attention. Its apparent by all such portable vans, with power backup, parked strategically in high volume places. They make sure that you pass by them and 'look' at them, and do recall the brand on your next shopping trip. Brand Recall!

Taken on the busy Koramangala main, while bicycling back home from my evening cycling sessions.

Day 93 | April 3 2007 | Thinking of what to buy?

Inside a mall, its always fun to window shop. I was outside Archies Gallery looking at the tiny decorative items in the display window; while a lady inside was checking out the jewelery. She was taking her sweet time to do that, while I got this candid shot.

Do women really decide on something. Is it, that if they choose something, they are sub-consciously accepting that there can be nothing better than that? Does that make them such slow shoppers, that it takes them forever? I guess its a buggy algorithm up there responsible for this trait, which makes the choosing so difficult.

Hoping that the lady readers take this lightly... :P

Day 88 | March 29 2007 | Commercial Street

This is a view of one of the lanes in Commercial Street, Bangalore's central shopping hub. Many lanes, lots of shops, and huge crowds. One can find branded stuff as well as the local varieties. This specific lane had lots of shoe stalls. Bargain hunting always works. You can easily get a pair of descent looking ladies footwear for as low as Rs.100.

I took this shot with the camera held higher up to get some depth and perspective of the environment.

Day 85 | March 26 2007 | The Art Of Living - A New Ray Of Hope

This is a beautiful sunset seen at The Art of Living - International Centre. Also called as Ved Vignan Mahavidyapeeth, it is 21Km away from Bangalore city on the Kanakapura-Udayapura Road. Founded by spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, this organisation has found runaway success in Indian and abroad.

The place is a must visit for spiritualists although I had been there mostly as a tourist. They promise a new and hopeful life the spiritual way. From what I have come to know they do not preach based on any specific religion; but the Hindu scriptures - The Bhagavad Gita forms a base to their way of life. The building, the surroundings and other infrastructure and amenities are impressive. Once there, the clean air and the natural calm sets in a very spiritual mood. Do visit if spirituality interests you, or just for the sake of fun.