One more trip to Bangalore

 

One more trip to Bangalore

 This time the trip to Bangalore was made without much preparation. Earlier, when I was the South India Head of Krishi Jagran, the practice was to reach Bangalore in the morning, conduct meetings and return in the evening. Therefore, I can’t say I am familiar with the city. The only different memory is seeing the flower show at Lalbagh with my scientist friend Gopalakrishnan.

Chennai-Bangalore journey was on Jansathabdi. Seats in the middle of the bogie, relatively less passengers, good food made the trip a nice one. Granddaughter Padma thoroughly enjoyed it. We boarded at 5:30 PM and reached Bangalore at 10:30 PM. Stayed at Radisson. The atmosphere, the surroundings and the room paved the way for a good night's sleep. Breakfast was a tasty entertainment. We left there in the afternoon and shifted to Nalapad International. The truth is that even a kid could feel the transition from deluxe to economy. Padmavati did not like the place very much. We checked in and then came out for a walk. We reached Race Course Road, where some agitation was happening.  The police were also seen removing the protesters. A sight that occurs in most capitals of India. We took an auto rickshaw to Cubbon Park.

 

    During the British period, the park was made in   hundred acres of land and named Cubbon park .Now there are three hundred acres of land. Here more than six thousand trees provide fresh air to the city and a peaceful environment for the city dwellers. The park was started in 1870 by Sir John Maid, who was the Commissioner of Mysore. Chief Engineer Major General Richard Sangi developed the park and named it Maid's Park. It later became Cubbon Park. In 1927, the park was renamed as Sri Chamarajendra Park as part of the Silver Jubilee of the reign of King of Mysore Sri Krishna raja Wodeyar. The park is now managed by the Department of Horticulture.

 

  We first went to the Government Museum. It is not a very good museum but like other places there are artifacts like swords and shields, archeological evidences etc. Various paintings including Thanjavur painting could be seen there. Venkatappa Art Gallery is also nearby. We spent about two hours there. By then Asha joined us after the official events. We walked around the beautiful park. Then we ate at the Konark restaurant in the nearby Kanteerava Sports Complex. The less crowded hotel provided a tasty lunch. It was a quiet place there we spent more than an hour. Later we went to Lalbagh. The surroundings of Cubbon Park were beautiful and we began to love the city. But with the trip to Lalbagh, that opinion has changed. The traffic was unbearable. We walked around Lalbagh for some time. Lalbagh Botanical Garden has a history of two hundred years. The glasshouse was established in 1890. That is where the flower show started. This park was started in 1760 by Hyder Ali and completed by Tipu Sultan. The 240-acre park features a lake, over 3,000-year-old rock, and a variety of trees and flowers. It was raining when we reached the glass house. We were forced to stay there for some time. When the rain subsided, we returned to the hotel. We really suffocated with the traffic. After reaching the hotel on Crescent Road, we rested for a while and came out. The city was still busy. Most of the shops are open. It was past nine o'clock. After a purchase at Bhairava Silk Palace, we had dinner at  South Indian Ruchi. South Indian food was over, and hence had a North Indian meal. We have to go to White Field in the morning. We were tired after a hectic day, so we fell asleep quickly.