Cubbon Park

I met up with Sam on Saturday and we went on the metro train to get to an area called Indi Nagara as his bike was parked there, and then he drove me to his friend's workplace to meet Santosh (sp?). We grabbed some lunch and Sam got out his laptop to make some arrangements for me to visit Ooty, but, unfortunately I was running extremely low cash by this point; I'm very poor at managing my money and didn't budget as well as I planned to. Oh well. I was happy to spend another week or so in Bangalore anyway as I was enjoying my time there.

After we finished lunch, he dropped me back off my hotel where I decided to downgrade in to a smaller and cheaper room for 300rs per night. There was no TV or en-suite toilet, or anyway to put my clothes; just a bed and a small table. This meant I had to share the wash room and toilet with other people but I didn't mind. At least the bed was comfortable and the room cosy. Now that I was saving a bit of money, I decided to venture out in to Guzzlers Inn that night to have a couple of beers. I went upstairs as there's a smoking area - indoors too! It felt good to once again be able to have a cigarette and a pint at a table. The atmosphere was generally good too; people were singing a long to the hard rock classics that was being played, whilst watching English football on the big screen. Just to reiterate what I said about this place last time: It felt just like any English pub. But you could smoke in this one!

The majority of the week I spent alone down Cubbon Park. Sam and Santosh had gone to Kerala for a couple of days you see. It's a massive green park with rock formations, botanic areas and plenty of seats and wide open space where people often sit and eat. I walked around the whole park one time to take some snaps of the place. But for the most part, I would often walk there to just relax and practice playing my ukulele or draw. Of course, this meant I drew attention to myself and would often get, usually, a small group of young lads requesting me to play them a song, or show them my drawing, or even ask me to draw them. For the most part I didn't mind getting pestered by people, but when I wanted to be just left alone for 30 minutes, it could get quite exasperating telling the umpteenth person to just leave me alone and stop taking pictures of me when I am not doing anything (coming from someone who often takes snaps of people myself, I know. But I prefer to be behind the camera a lot of the times and when I do take snaps of people, I ask them first or I take one stealthily)! 

So, it was a welcome lonely and somewhat relaxing few days I had. It's nice to just be surrounded by the tranquility of nature sometimes - especially in a busy and noisy city. 

Safari, Beef and beer!

After a long and adventurous week, the following day after my short time in Mysore, I used the morning to take some much needed rest. And to wash my clothes too; a menial task of using shampoo (a cheaper and lighter alternative of using washing detergent) and a bucket of water. Hey, it does the job.

Sam picked me up in the afternoon as we had planned to go on a safari which I was quite looking forward to as I had never been on one before. It was quite a long drive so we stopped to have ourselves some sugar cane juice. Once we arrived, we paid our tickets and waited for the transportation to come. I was expecting a jeep like the ones I have seen on television, but instead we had a minibus with cages attached to the windows that obscured our view somewhat, and also hindered me taking any good snaps. So it wasn't as enjoyable as I had anticipated. But I still managed to get some snaps of bears and white tigers - or rather an employee did for me as he had a better view than I! Afterwards, Sam dropped me off back at the lodge.

Sam came back to meet me in the evening and we went up to M.G road for a walk. He took me to a commercialised and a heavy populated area. Again, there were many western shops and restaurants. Eventually he took me to a restaurant called The Only Place. It's menu consists of a wide variety of western food including beef! As it turns out, there are plenty of Indian people who do eat beef. Sam told me that a lot of people in India no longer deem cows to be sacred and so are fine with eating them. I guess the people of these more modern areas of India really are letting go of old traditions.  A lot of Muslims like to eat it here anyway though. Although, you still won't find beef in the more rural towns and villages where people are still very traditional.

Seeing as beef is my favourite meat, I opted to try a cheese beef burger, and holy cow it was delicious! Genuinely one of the best burgers I have had in a while. And very cheap too! For the burger and chips only costed me 180rs; that's a couple of quid less than a Mcdonalds burger meal!

After the enjoyable meal, I told Sam I fancied a beer (it was a Friday night afterall), so we headed to a pub called Guzzlers Inn. The interior looks like very much like a British pub, so it felt good to sit in there and have a pint of strong lager, and to have had great company too. Sam is like my own chauffeur and my personal knowledgeable tour guide; but more than that, he is becoming a good friend whose friendship, kindness, generousity and company I shall always appreciate and cherish. It seems we have already come a long way from just being two strangers on a train. We only had had one drink in there before we decided to call it a night.

Indian Toilets and Mysore Palace

Not long after Sam left me at the train station, the train to take me to Bangalore Cantonment arrived. It was only about a 5 minute journey. That train station was crammed full of people! It was hard to navigate through the platforms, but I finally managed to find some space and just sat on the floor. I had to wait a couple of hours before my train finally showed up. It had gone midnight by this point and I was very tired.

I found my carriage OK and also my reserved seat/bed. I couldn't manage to sleep though despite feeling tired. I started reading a book I had purchased in Katpadi - Lolita, hoping that perhaps reading would make me drift off. It did a little, but I kept waking up. Time had soon flown and half asleep, I had consciously known that this stop would be the last stop - Mysore. At half 4 in the morning.

Out of all the days and time I had been in India, eating a variety of food from a variety of places, now I get a dodgy stomach. It was very dark and Mysore station was practically desolate (most people were probably asleep in a comfortable bed - the lucky enviable sods!), and I could not find a toilet. I decided to venture out of the station and luckily found a pay and use toilet just up the road. God knows what the money they obtain go towards, but it certainly doesn't go towards maintenance or cleanliness. Yep, I just found myself a dirty, horrid, shittiest of all shitters. But man I needed to go! I don't think I have mentioned Indian toilets before; it's a very different experience than using western toilets. Ha! And some Japanese friends of mine think UK toilets are primitive! In India, the toilet is practically a hole in the floor so you have to squat to go and once you're done, you don't wipe with a tissue, instead you have a tap and a jug; just think of a bidet, but replace a jet of water with your left hand. I can sense some faces grimacing with disgust. What was also revolting was that I couldn't help but think many a sex-depraved man had masturbated in there, due to the crude, nude and badly drawn depictations of women on the walls complete with writings, "Fuck my pussy" and, creepily "I love you, fuck me", with some numbers to dial. At least my stomach felt better after though!

After that horrid ordeal, I headed back to the station as it was still very dark and still very early. I bought myself a cup of coffee and just sat on a chair, bored, tired and just wanting time to hurry up. Once it got light outside, I ventured out in to the unknown with no idea to where I was going. I walked down a long a main road and saw Mysore Palace directed on a sign and thought I would try and follow the signs to it. The signs soon stopped but luckliy a traffic officer pointed me in the right direction, and I had to walk down a long, wide and desolate road (still early). Eventually I saw the palace on the horizon, and from then it was easy to get to. Of course, once I was at the gates, it was closed. Well, it was about half 7am. I asked a man if he knew what time it opened and he told me half 10. Great. More waiting around.

There is a small park right next to that entrance though, and so I went there to kill some time by drawing. And thinking of big warm beds. My perception of time was dragging, so after a couple of hours I decided to go for a walk and exlpore the vicinity. After walking around for some time, I headed back to the gate only to be told by a rickshaw driver that I was at the wrong gate. He offered to take me to the right side for 20rs. Wearily, I asked what the catch was ready to shout profanities at him. No catch he said, just 20rs and he will take me there. Huh? I thought. An actual reasonable auto driver stood right before me. Perhaps a pig flew somewhere. True to his word, he took me to the right gate for the price stated. He did offer to take me on a sightseeing tour of Mysore but I declined and he was fine with that. He gave me advice to be aware of people who will try and sell me things and rip me off, and told me a hindu word (I've forgotten it now), which is the English equivalent of telling someone to sod off.

I had to pay the tourist fee of 200rs to get in (locals pay, I think it is 70rs). I was quite blown away by the grand architecture of the place and walked around it to take some snaps. Eventually, I walked up to the shoe counter as people have to remove their footware when entering and proceeded to enter. There was some security measures upon entrance and one particular security officer was a corrupt one; you see, I had put my camera in my bag knowing that I'm not allowed to take snaps inside the palace, and the security officer had known the camera was in my bag so tried to intimidate me in to paying a bribe of 100rs for "allowing" me to go in with it. Angrily, I told him no. There was a bit of an argument between us and I soon rudely told him that I've already paid so I'm going in. As I walked off, he said, "No sir, no sir," but I ignored him. He didn't pursue me luckily.

This minor conflict really dampered my already grouchy mood, so I didn't take my time to marvel at the intricately detailed decor and furniture of which I wasn't allowed to take snaps off; what's with India and its photography prohibitions anyway? This place also made me think of the unfairness of wealth distribution; not even a kilometer up the road from this grand palace are some derelict buildings in which the poor reside in. Lovely isn't it? A palace nicely juxtapositioned with slum areas to rub it in the faces of the poor.

So I didn't get my moneys worth of the and soon rushed to pick up my shoes. Yet again, I get asked for more money, this time from the shoe counter guy. I think I was rude to him  as well. Street beggars I can understand asking for money, people employed, however, I can't. I'm not their employer and I do not owe them a living. As far as I'm concerned, people who do the bare minimum of what is required of their job role - which they already get paid for, do not deserve a tip (Yeah yeah, i'm a tight arsehole. But i'm an unemployed tight arsehole). I don't mind giving a tip to employees who unexpectedly go the extra mile and does something really helpful and kind, but this guy just gave me my shoes. That's it. It hardly warrants me giving him money for it, does it? Bah, he caught me in a bad mood!

Anyway, I took a long trek back to the train station, stopping for lunch on the way. Once again, I had to wait around a while for my train to come. I was relieved when it did to find that the carriage was practically empty, so I had a nice and peaceful journey back to Bangalore where Sam came and met me again.
He drove me to get dinner and gave me back my stuff he looked after. After eating, he took me back to Central Lodging where I stayed in the same room again. It was nice to finally lay in bed.

Planetarium and Musical Fountain

Sam had made some plans for me to go and visit places outside of Bangalore, so sometime late in the morning he drove me to Bangalore East railway station so that I could get a reserve ticket to Mysore; seeing as it was going to be an overnight journey, I had to make sure to get a seat in what's called a sleeper carriage. And it was going to be for this evening too. Luckily they had spaces left, so I handed over my passport photocopy (mandatory for tourists), a form which Sam already filled out for me and money (100 and something rupees). Sorted.

He dropped me off so I could grab some lunch and said he would come and pick me back up in the afternoon so we can go to the planetarium. I've never been to one before and since i'm intetested in space, I was looking forward to going. Sam came and got me and drove us the short distance to where it's located; we had only just arrived in time for the next showing!

For those that don't know what a planetarium is, it's a circular theatre where a large dome projector sits in the centre of it, projecting stars, planets and other imagery on to the ceiling simulating the night sky, constellations and, in our case, the solar system; a narrator will educate you on astromony as it's being shown too. It was a very enjoyable and educational 45 minutes. 

After the show was over, we visited a science park just outside it and grabbed ourselves a drink. We then crossed over the road where there was another park and where the musical fountain is located. It doesn't start until around 7pm so we killed some time wondering around the park; it's military or was military owned so there's some tanks and other armoured vehicles used for death and destruction which, as an anti-military person, I didn't care about at all.

Eventually we sat down on large concrete steps just opposite the musical fountain. The place slowly got a bit busy and even stray dogs (they're not racist here) came and layed on the steps. By time it got dark out, it finally started. It was mesmerising to watch the water jets synchronise with the lighting and music - which was local music so I didn't understand most of the lyrics. Was catchy none the less though! A load of school children seemed to enjpy it too as they clapped and sang a long to the music. I think it lasted for about half an hour, give or take, before the show was finally over. After an enjoyable evening, it was time to brace myself for the long journey to Mysore, which I must admit I was not looking forward to.

Sam offered to look after my ukulele and my rucksack while i'm in Mysore, so we picked them up from my hotel. We made a stop at KFC so I could have dinner before we heading to the station. He waited with me for a while but as my train didn't come till late, he eventually headed home telling me he would come and pick me up the following day.

Lalbagh Park and Technology Museum

The following morning of my arrival in Bangalore, Sam came and picked me up and we stopped at Cubbon park and went for a walk. He had bought me some breakfast - a veg puff and a cream roll, so I ate as I ventured off in to the unknown with my friend.
I saw an old disused steam train and plane and started taking pictures, not initially realising we were pretty much outside a technology museum. Sam, noticing my interest in old modes of transportation, suggested we go in the museum as there will be many more things to pictures of inside. So in we went for a mere 30 rupees.

It's a pretty big place in which as we advance through the floor levels, so does the technology advance too. So in the first room, being showcased were old steam engines through to our current ones; we could also interact with them slightly to see how they work. It's been nearly a decade since I left school so it's all interesting information that I've long forgotten about!

There are also rooms which showcase biological advancement, space exploration and rockets (my favourite topic) and also electricity and various inventions. It was enjoyable to to play around and interact with various stuff; I particularly liked the infra-red musical pipes in which I hovered my hand over pipes to play a note. After re-learning a lot of stuff, we headed to a nearby Mcdonalds for lunch. It was a first time trying Mcdonalds here and it went down well. Since they don't do beef, I opted for a chicken burger which was pretty nice. Afterwards, he dropped me off back at the hotel to rest for a couple of hours.

Sam came and picked me mid afternoon time, and drove me to Lalbagh park; what a beautiful place it is! They have a botanic garden with different variety of flowers (particularly roses though) of various different colours. I enjoyed taking many a good picture of them with my camera! We walked a long distance through the massive vivid greenery and forestry, stopping a couple of times to quench my thirst with some cool, freshly made grape juices. At one point, a young couple to be wed stopped me and wanted some pre-wedding photos with me playing my uke. I was happy to oblige them. In some decades to come, they will get out their wedding photos and there I shall be; forever a part of their marriage.

Eventually, we stopped by a big lake and admired the view for some time before climbing on top of a rock formation with a small shrine on it. There's a lovely view of some of the trees in the park against the backdrop of a modern city with big skyscrapers. Just as I was admiring and taking pictures of the view, a young photographer, also called Sam, confronted us and said if it was OK to take some pictures of me, as he likes to visit the park and take photos of interesting people. Once again, I was happy to oblige and posed and played my uke as he snapped away. He then told me he has a blog which he will put the photos on to and he also took my e-mail. He is actually a food photographer (he showed me some pretty good snaps of his work) and goes to the park to take pics as a hobby. We said our farewells and then me and Sam left. It really is a blissful place; I would love to take a lady there sometime for a romantic walk through the gardens.

We stopped by Lakeview Milk Bar again to grab some ice-cream. The next plan of action was to go and meet his friend Bindu. It was a fairly long drive through the city and we eventually stopped a Cafe Coffee Day where we waited for Bindu to arrive. Once she arrived, we got a table and some hot beverages (chai for me!). I had an interesting conversation with Bindu as she too is fond of travelling and has had quite the experience it seems; it's extraordinary how the few females I have spoken to here previously in India are all traditional girls who aren't allowed much independence, can't stray too far from home, don't seem to have many choices or say in things etc..., and then there I was, conversing with a city girl who has traveled far, works till late and enjoys a drink!  She also sings and invited me to a jamming session along with her friends on Saturday of which happily accepted.

Bindu soon had to go to work so Sam then drove me back to my hotel. It was a very informative, productive and enjoyable day! Only on day two in Bangalore and already I much prefer this city than Chennai!

Arrival in Bangalore

About two weeks ago I was on a train heading back to Chennai from Katpadi. Once the train got fairly close to Chennai, a young man called Sam started conversing with me. He told me that he lives in Bangalore, which I then told him that I plan to visit the city very soon. So we exchanged phone numbers and he told me to get in touch when I come to Bangalore. So the day before I left Chittoor, we spoke over the phone and he also messaged me train details and off I went to meet him.

Frustratingly, I just missed the Brindavan Express - a train that would have got me there in a few hours - thanks to the very long que at Katpadi Junction; typical that it would depart as soon as I get my ticket handed to me. But another train going to Bangalore arrived 5 minutes later so I hopped on that one and felt relieved to at least get a seat. I didn't feel relieved after a few hours though when it was becoming apparent that I had got on a slow passenger train. After 6 hours, many long stops and a sore arse, I finally made it. Although most of my day was now wasted!

Keeping to his word, Sam soon came to meet me at the station. Although we had only met in person for about 20 minutes, I felt happy to see his friendly face again. We got on his bike and he took me to get something to eat. He bought me a delicious paneer wrap and also a refreshing cool orange soda (who loves orange soda? I do). Next plan of action was to find me a reasonably priced accommodation; he drove me around parts of the city, giving tidbits of information about certain buildings and the city - quite the knowledgeable man! Traversing through the busy chaotic roads of the well lit city, I had noticed that this city was very modern and very western looking; shops, restaurants, pubs, bars, plazas and most of the people wearing trendy western clothes; it almost felt like I was in a city in England. Well, Sam did inform me that British people had built a lot of this city so it's not surprising really.

After some time, we found a hotel that is situated pretty much in the centre of everything - aptly named Central Lodging. It's not a bad place for 650 rupees a night. After I unloaded my stuff, Sam took me out for another ride. We eventually stopped off at Mahatma Gandhi Road and walked for a bit. Sam showed me where some shops and restaurants are - all nearby to my hotel, then asked me if I would like some ice cream as he knows a good place. I am never one to turn down ice cream and told him, in fact, that I had been craving it for some time! So off we went to an ice cream parlour called Lakeview Milk Bar.

I had myself a chocolate sundae and Sam was absolutely right in saying that place does really good ice cream! Sam, the ever so knowledgeable man, told me that a British man had originally opened it up in 1930, then handed it to 19 year old Indian lad some years later. I also got myself a banana milkshake and once I finished it, he dropped me off back at my hotel. He said he would come by in the morning and take me out for the day. And with that, after a long journey and a bloated stomach, I soon fell asleep.

Farewell Friends of Andhra Pradesh

Sunil asked me to come and stay in Chittoor for the weekend, and, since I had no plans to do anything in Vellore now, I thought sod it and left Katpadi a couple days earlier than planned to do so; the benefits of travelling independently.

So I checked out of the hotel and caught the bus to Chittoor bus stand where Sunil waited for me. As usual he got me a small cup of tea from a tea stall. He had some things he needed to quickly get done so I just sat and waited for him. I saw a shop opposite advertising toy guns and got lost in a train of thought: It is somewhat disturbing giving kids a chance to reenact violence and murder with toy gun, isn't it? What is bizarre is that they are not allowed to play violent video games or watch gory films, but they can pretend to kill eachother with toys - which I suppose could inadvertently lead to injury thinking about it. Now don't get me wrong, I don't think kids should be banned from imitating a solider in a war or whatever. I just saw this advert whilst sitting and sipping tea and thought the hypocrisy amusing is all.

Anyway, so I sat and thought about trivial shit waiting for Sunil to come back. Once he did, we set off to find a place to drink beer. He drove quite far from the town and stopped at a liqueur store and got me a bottle of Knock Out beer - aptly named seeing as it is 8%. We sat down by a table, chatted and I also had another beer called Kingfisher which is just as strong. I guess the people here in India don't do weak shit eh? I had about the equivalent of four pints before we set off back to Chittoor, feeling slightly tipsy of course.

Sunil took me along to a cricket game he and his friends played. As a non-sports person, frankly, I found my time at the playing field boring. I did try and keep myself entertained by playing my uke, but then people wouldn't leave me alone. Suffice to say people were more interested in me than their cricket match; can't say I blame them since cricket is so boring.

After about two hours of boredom, we finally left. We visited his aunties tailor shop and then drove to her house with her and her daughter to meet more of their family. They were very pleasant people. His aunt gave us some tasty milk ice-cream and told me about her time spent working in Saudi Arabia. She also showed me her daughters English school work which I must say is very good! She can spell and punctuate better than a lot of the illiterate people on my Facebook (ironic since a lot of them spout the old "you're in England so speak English" retort when being xenophobic pricks. They would do well to heed their own words!)and she's only 10 or 11 years old! After spending some time there conversing with his family, we headed off and I got booked in to the same hotel I stayed at last time I was in Chittoor. I had initially planned to attend Sunil's friend's function, but by time he came back to pick me up, unfortunately, I felt too tired and wanted to sleep instead. So he said he would come by in the morning and we would do something.

Sunil did indeed drop by in the morning (later than the time stated of course), but only to inform me that he was going to Tirupathi and wouldn't be back until the evening. So, left alone, I decided to go for a very long walk and explore Chittoor. I walked down some busy narrow streets where there were shops and stalls galore; street vendors trying to shift me their cheap wares, women selling a variety of fruits, and food stalls filling the air with a nice smell of different food being cooked. I also walked along a quieter main road where there were mountains in the backdrop, lakes and some temples. After some time, I decided to head back in to town and find myself a bar.

There was a bar just around the corner from my hotel, so I went in and got myself a big bottle of Knock Out. I stood alone for a little while when a friend of Sunil's came in - Vinoth(?). He said he had recognised me one time with Sunil, but I couldn't remember him; I have met many of his friends briefly, after all. He joined me for a drink and then more people started chatting with me.

A lady who worked as a glass collector/waitress took a liking to me and kept shaking my hand as she "wanted some of my white skin," as Vinoth put it; a lot of women in England think a more tanned skin is attractive and in India, a lot of women think a more pale complexion is attractive. Perhaps these women should swap countries! I recall Aruna saying to me that she wishes she had white skin as she feels ugly. Ugly?! I hate that there are people who feel that way about themselves. I think all skin colour is attractive and can't for the life of me understand why people obsess over how they look. Well, I suppose the media has a lot of input actually. In India, you'll see all beauty products being advertised by pale Indian women stating that other women can be beautiful too if they buy whatever miraculous product they are advertising - much like the brainwashing adverts in the UK then! So I just told this lady at the bar that the colour of our skin is not important; we are all beautiful and we are all equal. She's a damn hardworker and deserves respect too, so I kissed her hand and she smiled and done that head bop that Indian people do (it's common for people not familiar with this Indian gesture to mistaken them for nodding no, when actually they are agreeing).

We had another drink and shortly a clique of transgender females came in. They too took a liking to me and all wanted a picture taken with me. They were quite the laugh and livened the place up a bit but left after a short time. It was then that Vinoth wanted to take me to his village, so we got on his motorbike and rode off.

Once we got on to the quiet roads, he let me drive the bike. I've never driven a geared motorbike before but quickly got the hang of it and I loved it! I definitely want to get my own bike now sometime. It really is bliss driving one on the country roads. Eventually we stopped at a village I was familiar with; we were close to Malla Kunta so I thought I would use this opportunity to say a final farewell to Aruna. Sunil came and picked me up and we headed to his village.

It was good to see Aruna and her home one last time. I asked her how marriage life felt and she replied nothing has changed; she still lives at her parent's home and Sunil his. I then asked her if she was going to look for a job in the city (as she wanted to do), now that she didn't need to have her fathers permission, but she said Suman doesn't want her to. Well, I guess she will always have a leash around her neck, tied by Indian traditions and held tight by the man who supposedly loves her. I don't think much more was said. She told me to take care and be careful and I just said goodbye and hopped on the back of Vinoth's bike and, sadly, didn't look back.

Eventually we arrived at Vinoth's village. I was feeling a bit too melancholic to be chatty with anyone so called Sunil so he could take me back to Chittoor with him so I could have a drink. Once we arrived, he took me to a bar where we sat, ate and drunk for about an hour. He took me to my hotel and we said our goodbyes and I soon passed out. I will miss Sunil. Sure, it's hard to converse with him due to the language barrier, but he is a generous, kind and caring man. If you ever read this mate, you're a good man. Thank you.
And that was it. Sadly, it was time to leave familiar surroundings and my good friends. Next stop: Bangalore.