This Bangalore Weekend Shoots on July 8 plan was an open one. They’re actually quite good fun since we just decide the route and then wherever someone finds something interesting – we stop and shoot!

We decided to go on the Nandi Hills route, and possibly visit the hillock called Skandangiri. There was also the cemetery that was featured in a local paper in Sultanpet. So off we went.

We got off to an early start at 530 am in the morning but managed to miss the rest of the gang. When people say “we’ll meet at Mekhri Circle”, we should remember that it’s not a circle so there can be several points before and after the intersection one can meet. As a result, we were sitting by the pavement counting chicken and sheep, while the rest of the gang met under the “underpass” and zoomed past!

Anyway, we managed to catch one of them on the phone and found out they were already 10 kms away. We set off on the highway and caught up with the gang of about 8 at Devanahalli bus stop.

From there we drove towards Nandi Hills and at the T-junction, took a right to the village of Sultanpet.

The cemetery was rather small and more important in terms of history. There wasn’t much to photograph there. But what we found were a few potters at work. They were working in a old ramshackle building and with the early morning light, everything looked really interesting.

We watched them at work for a while and then wandered around to the area where they store their pots (another old building nearby) and discovered lots of interesting nooks and corners. So all of us had something or the other catching our interest. One of the gang members even managed to go down some rickety steps into a well!

I had a nice time watching the potters at work. I find the whole process of pot-making rather fascinating. I think a hour or so quickly passed by while we were all busy around this place.

After that we re-grouped and then decided to move on the next place – a temple a little further ahead. All of us landed up at the small temple and found some interesting rocks nearby and decided to climb them instead. So some of us (a few had height fear) went atop and did some candid photography and had some fun taking group shots there.

From there, except for one who left as he had to reach town early, we proceeded towards Nandi Hills for breakfast. Most people weren’t keen on trekking in the afternoon sun to the other hillock we had earlier planned to climb. Since I’d already visited Nandi Hills a few times, I was more interested in the food. And I wanted Maggi – it tastes better in Nandi Hills for some strange reason!

We found a restaurant there who served us not only Maggi noodles, but also bread omlettes, dosas, chai and coffee. It was time to leave as it was already afternoon. A few others remained to do some photography around the Nandi Hills area. We were back in the city by 3 pm.

The album: Potters @ Sultanpet and Nandi Hills