4 april-lalbagh at long last

Happy Ugadi! This festival falls on a different day every year and marks the start of the New Year for people in the Deccan region of India (following the South Indian lunisolar calendar). It is celebrated with large family gatherings and lots of food, much like many other Indian festivals.

My extended family doesn't reside in Bangalore, so our Ugadi was quieter than most. Joanna and I decided it would be a good day to visit Lalbagh. A 240 acre botanical garden near the centre of Bengaluru, Lalbagh's construction was commissioned by Hyder Ali, ruler of Mysore, in 1760, and completed by his son Tipu Sultan. The park is an oasis from the hustle bustle of the city, and although today was decidedly on the 'hot' side of things, we thoroughly enjoyed walking around, people-watching and reading in the shade.

I have endless fond memories of Lalbagh, and it is my favourite place to be in Bangalore every time I visit. I remember feeding monkeys with my grandfather when I was younger, and I remember going to watch the deer in the deer park. All of those animals have since fled the premises (chased away by dogs and hyenas...) but the park still boasts an incredible display of horticulture. There is a topiary garden, with leafy bushes cut into meaningful shapes. I couldn't decide what most of them were supposed to be, but there was definitely some purpose behind their appearance.

We walked to the glass house, where flower shows are held twice yearly. During this time of the year it is just a bare lot under a glass covering, but still thought of as a Lalbagh monument.

Finally, we found a cool spot under a banyan tree, the national tree of India. Banyans are huge trees with long, dramatic root systems and thick veiny trunks.

They provide shade to tired travellers and soul-searching poets (according to the official description, not just my own cheesiness). We read, leaning against the roots for a while...

but things around us grew steadily noiser. Lounging against the next banyan tree was a group of boys playing tinny music from their cell phones. In front of us were two men who alternated between making kissing noises and snoring noises. A group of children in some sort of summer camp shrieked to our right. Needless to say, we were more than ready to get up and walk when Atul came to hang out.

We strolled around Lalbagh with Atul, and as usual, a Bangalore resident's perspective was interesting. Joanna and I had been commenting on how sweet all of the couples roaming Lalbagh were, all of the men and women with arms around each other, strolling down sunny boulevards. Atul offered a different explanation. He informed us that the people who hung out in Lalbagh were 'cheap village types', young kids who entered the park only to find a dark and quiet spot to engage in inappropriate physical intimacies. Cool modern kids hung out at hookah bars and coffee shops. Sad to say, I don't think Jowalla and I would be cool in Bengaluru. We loved the topiary garden, the glass house, rose garden (picture below) and even the out-of-season dried up lotus pond.

We found a row of mango trees and jackfruit trees (pictured below), and Atul tried unsuccessfully to pick some fruit. The lower branches had already been stripped of their fruit, and the remaining ones were out of reach.

Fruit is so good! We're barreling head-on into mango season and I can't wait.Speaking of fruit, trying to pick some made me crave fruit juice and Lalbagh was blisteringly hot by this time, so we exited the grounds to walk to the nearest Caffe Coffee Day (with Atul still in tow). Joanna and I got shakes, Atul took his leave for his aunt's house, and after cooling ourselves in the welcome air conditioning, we hailed a passing auto to head to JP Nagar.

The doctors Joanna works with had introduced her to their 19 year old daughter, who offered to take us to a handicrafts exhibition that day. She had suggested we meet her in JP Nagar (thus hailing the auto). We got out at the traffic signal by 15th cross, our designated meeting spot, but she was nowhere to be seen. To avoid the heat, we sat in the shade under the awning of the nearest Kwality Wall's (a sweet shop...not that you would know from the name).

The doctor's daughter drove up with her dad, who dropped us off at a playground that was filled with rows of shaded stalls. There were merchants from different parts of India selling cloths, shoes, jewelry and trinkets.

We browsed and browsed, but I was hesitant to buy. Finally, I stopped at a shoe stall where a Rajasthani vendor was selling handmade Jaipuri shoes.

So I bought a few pairs after haggling the price down (three pairs of handmade shoes for 15 dollars!). Joanna and I then took our leave to hail an auto home. I'd promised Nani that I would be home by 5 to book tickets for our trip to Goa.

Hailing an auto took a long long time but Joanna eventually chased one down for us! At home, making travel plans proved extremely stressful. Flights from Bangalore to Goa were expensive, and when I called a travel agent, the difficulties just multiplied. First, I asked to speak to someone in English or Hindi. To which he responded yes. For the rest of the conversation, I would speak in one of these two languages and he would insistently respond in Kannada. Which I don't speak. Another travel agent informed me of at least 10 additional charges on top of the 'base fare' including a share of the fuel cost of the plane, and a customer service charge. Ridiculous!

And now it's Tuesday morning and I'm about to start work, so good morning from India!