When the sky turned solid

While unhanging the dried clothes from terrace, I had this surprise. That was solid rainshaft well contrast with sky. Since I carry mobile on every terrace visit, I caught the scene wholeheartedly. Perhaps, there was intense shower on the path of rains-haft.

I quickly dropped the clothes off at home and returned to the terrace. By then, the rain shaft had become widespread, and the remnants had left behind patchy clouds that spoiled the contrast. The actual fall now shifted facing the hanging bridge. Overall, no rains overhead but cool breeze throughout the lifetime of rainshaft. I had cool images to capture at the end of day.

As rain shaft drifts forward, the contrast begins to decline. You don't feel rain-shaft anymore

These wouldn't be possible unless short shower interrupted us during lunch hours. The clothes were drenched for a while, delaying their removal until evening. The rest was a rainshaft story!

The next day too I witnessed a similar rain-shaft but far north instead of south. Again, no rain but only entertainment

Maiden visit to Udupi Shri Krishna Bhavan and Mysore Pak at Venkateshwara sweet meat stall

We had been to Chikpete to finalize the cards for kids threading ceremony. It was tough experience though. They have limited template for threading ceremony. We chose one of the card and went to designer shop. The card vendor is different and printing is owned by another vendor. We spent almost an hour or more bargaining and negotiating with printing vendor to match the card to our design.

Wife gruelled the vendor to match up to her expectation. The vendor too was non-cooperative which is normal in chikpete I heard. Despite having array of card shops, the vendors are adamant to stick to their template. They are not willing to budge from their standard design. Deviating from standard design will increase their work which they want to avoid. They charge GST on cards as well but provide individual UPI account instead of merchant account for payment. Quite doubtful if they file GST returns 🙂.

Along with vendor, I too got tired listening to their heated argument. Finally, both of them wrapped up on a well-integrated design. The count of cards, print was finalised. We did the full payment including GST. He said we would DUNZO the finished cards to our home. The carrier charges have to be paid by us though!

I would say, not worth spending time here. We had no options since travelling to native to print cards would be more expensive than in Bengaluru. The argument with vendor was tiresome but was worth since his design & content were extremely deviating. Moreover, the vendor wasn't very flexible, as if we were asking for the cards for free. We were even charged for the wastage and samples.

Chikpete card shops need lot of discussions and arguments to make it right. They are stubborn to retain their template. If you have cheaper option in native, that would be best choice. Wandering through chikpete would be tiring and dissastisfying due to vendor attitude

Tired after selecting and editing the invitation card for kid's threading ceremony, the famished soul was angst with deprived energy. The only evening option in Balepete was the iconic Shri Krishna Bhavan. It would be our maiden visit to this eatery.

On a calm Saturday evening, we entered the retro looking eatery with hope of finding satisfactory food. The dhoti wrapped servants transformed us to Bangalore of bygone days

We ordered Masala Dosay followed by Tea. While we adults ate one full plate, the kids had half plate each. The servant was kind enough to cut the dosay into equal half parts with extra plate and coconut chutney.

To my surprise, this was one of best dosay I had in Bengaluru so far. It beats the most crowded Vidyarthi Bhavan and CTR for sure in taste and quality. The Dosay was mildly crisp and soft. It was perfect combination of both qualities. There was nothing to complain about. The chutney was too good and less spice. The palya (masala) was equally matching the chutney's charisma. They prepare Masala Dosay only with Ghee which is plus point. The dosay was mildly smeared with ghee which means not overwhelming for both tongue and tummy. Other famous joints pour enormous amount of ghee/oil which is heavy to eat. The tea was good in taste and aroma. Kids had sweet badam milk drink as well.

To conclude the visit, we tucked into some badam halwa, a last-minute order. The badam halwa too was delicious. The original badam taste touched our tongue with moderate sweet. The badam halwa here is worth the buy.

The prices are on higher side unfortunately. Great taste and quality comes with price. The masala dosay was costing aroun 95 while badam halway at 60 per wrap. It is worth for occasional visit. There are plenty other variety of south indian eateries here. Heard their South India Meal which they serve for lunch is also worth the try. Perhaps, the narrow lanes of chickapete is the blocker for the restaurant to grow. Despite then, the crowd here wasn't tiny.

I wanted to have second bite of halwa but some part of stomach was reserved for relishing Mysore Pak at Venkateshwara Sweet meat stall, a few distance away from here.

Their signature Mysore Pak is one of the best in city. It is light on ghee and not overwhelmingly sweet. Good thing is they sell it in small quantities just to consume on spot. Alongside, I got lured towards Chole-Bhature which was too good as well. Since every member was nearly full, single Bhature was shared amongst four of us. Next time, I will definitely have it them full plate provided I don't get gravitated by Udupi Krishna Bhavan's dosay :-D.

The narrow lanes, overcrowding of chickpete doesn't place both eateries in a strategic location. Perhaps thats why we see lesser online influencers visiting this place. Parking here is menace even for bicycles. The traffic police frequently patrol the area which increases your chances of being fined for No Parking. But there is no dearth of visitors to both the places. People who shop in Chickpet often visit these places to satiate their famished appetites.

This was scene in Baiyappanahalli Metro station. A satellite model made of electronic scrap. Took me to college electronics lab with inductor, capacitor, resistors, chips and many more. That looked pretty artistic!

Final Note:

We had Masala Dosay on another day during our casual visit to Chikpete. But this time it was disappointing :-(. Not tasting same as our previous visit. Even though hungry, the dosay did not taste great. So, the taste is inconsistent from time to time and don't blame me if you didn't find it satisfactory. If you are lucky, you can taste the better bite during your visit! I captured the painting of Lord Krishna honouring his friend sudhama. It signifies the humbleness of Lord and loyalty in friendship

The Mysore pak at Venkateshwara sweet meat stall maintained same standard though. Its always the best in city for Mysore Pak I believe which comes at higher cost than other outlets. Instead of trying out Chole Bhature, we tried chocolate volcano sweet. This was chocolate dipped in rabdi? The sweet was too good once again with gentle sweetness. Just like the way I want :-). In fact, the balanced sweetness enriched with moderate ghee is what I like here alongside India Sweet House. Not too heavy on tongue or tummy!

When the Dining Table rejects Feasts and Serves Pills!

Its been an excruciating second half of July so far. The flu which infected entire family almost put our life to standstill. With high fever crossing 104 degrees, tasteless tongue, severe headaches, daily routine seemed grinding. Even I was infected with fever crossing 102 degrees. Never in my lifetime, I had such grueling fever. In fact, this is first time I developed fever since I attained maturity age. Not sure if it is because of reduced immunity or COVID has strengthened the virus affecting us. Especially kids had tough time with frequent wet clothes spread on forehead during entire night. Fortunately, the fever subsided in couple of days but fallout from ill-health lasted several days. The loss of appetite, the bitter tongue, the fatigue kept us lethargic. The kids slept almost throughout the day, and fortunately, the frequent school holidays meant they didn't have to use up many leave days. The hard days dont last long and ill-health is slowly fading away. I heard that many kids were affected by the flu, suggesting that it is pervasive during the flu season.

The dining table which served yummy eateries were now serving medicines. Sometimes medicines are overweighing the actual food. We fail to understand that food is actual medicine and one from medical is just a booster. Despite knowing the facts, we tend to consume medicines for quick healing. Some medicines deteriorate your appetite and thus worsening ill-health. This is problematic with kids and we force them to eat even though appetite is low. Quick healing is trend today despite the hard side effects.

Fast forward two weeks, festivities galore with the onset of Shravana Masa! Wifey prepared yummies for first festive of season which is Nagara Panchami, festival of serpent gods. Now the tummy is fully prepared to savour these delicacies. Even though there is trace of phlegm, the taste buds are fully restored. The festive cravings are back and fully recovered! Hopefully prolonged illness built strong immunity to sustain seasonal cold for at least 4months

Scenic Deviation!

We witnessed beautiful thunderstorm clouds just before Salem with hilly background. Never knew that the deviation would cut through the hills and join the main highway bypassing the pillar construction area. Even though we were skeptical, we decided drive through the route recommended by maps. The roads were good but the joyful part of nature florourished by thunderstorms. The cloud scenes were great, the nature was benign and greenery was all round. There was temptation to capture more but the twilight hours coupoled with urge to reach home early prompted us to drive non stop. My bestie captured many pictures in transit. Some of them came good but mostly blurred out due to motion and dull light. This lake was primary attraction and beautiful of all scenes. The dense forest was intimidating and attractive too! This stretch was worth from nature watching perspective but anxious also due to unknown stretch. Finally, we reached the main highway and yes it bypassed construction area.

Zooming through vibrant landscapes!

The cloud sparkled during twilight hours and worth capturing. The speed of car forbid us from capturing stable image. Hope to explore the stretch some day for sure!