Bird’s eye view of Bangalore

Last weekend, I probably went through the worst of it (I hope). Fell horribly sick. And then got depressed, since I hate being sick. I think after the initial excitement it suddenly dawned on me that I was in a new place. It’s not a nice feeling to be sick and alone. I called up all my friends on Sunday (from Kanyakumari to Delhi, I don’t have friends further up north!) and made Reliance a really happy phone company. By Monday morning, I was back to my cheery self again!

After a really busy week (and therefore no posts, besides absence of home Internet connection), I was really glad about my company’s five day working week.

On Saturday, I finally got a bird’s eye view of Bangalore city.

After hearing lots about it, I made it to Ebony at the Barton Centre, 13 floors off the ground. The weather was lovely; it was drizzling intermittently. After cajoling the waiters, my host for the afternoon, Arun, got us a seat in the shaded section. I have been a fan of Arun’s photographs for a while so I got a chance to chew his brains about how to become a better photographer (in other words, how to take more photographs of objects and life forms, other than my cat!). He let me muck around with his nice camera and I took some shots, which I am hoping will turn out well.

Arun informed me that usually he gets 3-4 good shots in a roll. And he’s happy. Hah! I’m usually thrilled with around 30 of my 36 pictures, thus proving what am amateur I still am :-/.

At one point, I actually got up on the ledge to get a good view of the Vidhan Soudha and the manager came running up to me, sporting a rather distressed look. I did manage to get a shot. And convince him that I was not about to commit suicide. At least not yet!

Arun had warned me that the food was not usually very good at these heights. But we were lucky. Maybe, they knew I was coming! After a nice buffet lunch, we went across to Crosswords, where I picked up a book (Married Woman, by Manju Kapoor) and a movie (Chocolat). I was looking for Pico Iyer’s latest book, but they hadn’t got it yet.

In the evening, I had a dinner invitation where I met a really nice couple and their adorable two year old daughter. I was introduced to them via email by a school friend in New York, who orchestrated the whole thing. Actually, a few concerned friends have given me contacts in Bangalore (feeling sorry for me!). And though I’ve chatted with a few people, it’s been mainly on the phone and remained in the ‘let’s catch up’ state but hasn’t progressed any further.

Ganesh, however, actually organized for me to come across to his place. He’d also invited another couple. Some people have a knack of putting you completing at ease and that was the case with Ganesh and his lovely wife. So it turned out to be a really chilled out evening. We went out for dinner to a place called Herbs and Spices, somewhere in Whitefield. The place is a dishy bungalow converted into a restaurant with open air seating around the garden.

A perfect place to knock back a nice daiquiri and enjoy the serene surroundings. The only sad part was that they don’t serve liquor, so if you have a weakness for them, especially after the long drive to get there, this place ain’t for you!

We ordered continental, which is obviously not their forte. Because, all I got in my very exotic chicken dish was a lump of mashed potatoes, a few slices of carrot and two really small pieces of chicken. If I wasn’t already full with tortilla chips and tartare sauce I had earlier, I would have been really annoyed. There were absolutely no herbs in my dish, and I’m hoping they’re more generous with their spices.

Got home at 2.00 am and slept through Sunday morning till 10 am, belatedly realizing I had missed my morning yoga class. Chilled out at home. Spent quality time with the cat. Also realized I am beginning to sound like those old women who spend a lot of time talking to their cats. Which I probably am 🙂

Contemplated going to Jayanagar to do some shopping but with the rains and all (and the prospect of encountering another unfriendly rick driver), the plan was abandoned. I decided to enjoy the nice breeze and Chocolat instead. Not a bad choice after all.