Year End cloud patterns

The Bay is swirling thanks to recurrent spinning of wind over the sea. There has been multiple lows and cyclones striking the east coast and consequently keeping the skies busy. There has been rarely any clear day in Bengaluru day since May. Even while writing this post, its cloudy and chilling outside. The twirls system not only pushes moisture inland but also blows cold winds from North towards its path of spinning. This is creating unbearable chill weather over city and thus keeping us indoors. The atmosphere is gloomy with light rains and cold winds pushing inland freezing the city to new heights. The December has already seen record chills with mercury dipping close to single digit measurement. It was 12 degrees couple of days back. The repeated gloomy + cold currents have made sure that health issues remain prolonged for months unfortunately :-(. The temperature is expected to increase from next week as per MET forecasts. Hope that materializes.

Meanwhile, it was gloomy till 3PM and sun blazed post that. It was tender sunlight that shone on the city mildly. Or was it cold winds dwarfing intensity of Sun? It was pleasant to walk under such sunshine which is not harmful for exterior part of the body. Also constant gloomy weather makes the city people to plead for Sunlight nowadays. Sun has been rare sight from November. Hopefully, we have full blown winter with clear skies and morning fog from New Year onwards.

Feels like city is wearing hat of clouds!

The evening weather was cold as mentioned but cloud pattern was interesting. At the western horizon, it was all clear with Sun radiating without obstacles. The eastern horizon had canvas of clouds spread in unique fashion. They were not rain bearing clouds though but creating interesting patterns. The western horizon seemed to be detached from eastern horizon by complete giving up on clouds :-). This prompted me to capture couple of shots from the show. Hope this interests you too!

Its been months since rudderless clouds have been floating over city skies. They make you tuck inside blanket and stay lethargic. As the system moves inlands, we are restrained to indoors. Cursing sunshine has become boon in cold days and that how irony life is!

Here are some November scenes!

Scenic drive from Mallalli falls to Ballupete

I wrote about tranquil scenes along Madikeri-Bhagamandala route here. There are many such wonders all along the coorg itinerary. Unfortunately, there was limited time for impromptu stoppages. The mallalli falls which we visited during our concluding day had wondrous scenes enroute. Again limited time restrained our stoppages. On our way back to Bengaluru after rejoicing the exuberance of falls, the trail views couldn't be resisted. My better half captured few irresistible scenes.

On the way, we stumbled on many rainy areas like Hethur, Shanthalli, Mallikarjuna which receives torrential rains during monsoon. Surprisingly they were sunny during our journey since it was break monsoon. Here is the picture from Mallikarjuna rain gauge. Hopefully the gauge has maximum  capacity to cater the rainy days of monsoon. Unfortunately we couldn't visit the historical Mallikarjuna temple due to time restrictions. Also there was no mobile signal available for many kilometers. We had to take help from locals to navigate towards Bengaluru

As we moved away from mountains, the plains too had serene landscapes. This large waterbody attracted us. Looks like backwaters of Hemavathy or local lake? The large landscape was worth the stoppage.

Post Ballupete, it was plain highway and nothing drool of capture. It was hot too since rains were absconding

Mesmerizing views between Madikeri and Bhagamandala

This is why I love break monsoon season immensely. The rains are not much heavier to disturb our nature gazing and vegetation is not arid to send us to boredom. The nature is perfect during this term. The intermittent rains do not cause obstacle while interplay of clouds sun exposes beauty of region. The other advantage is the multiple layer of beauty in single scene. 

Surprisingly the rain pounded Bhagamandala was soaked in sun with high humidity. The Sun blazing over fields in western ghats is rare sight during monsoon season!  It was sweltering at elevation of 900m. The perspiration was unpleasant surprise here. My better half took picture of Bhagandeshwara temple while I paused car for a while over flyover. The newly constructed flyover has helped commuters to bypass the floods that obstruct the Bhagamandala-Talakaveri connectivity every year during monsoon season. The rivers swell and raise over the road stalling traffic for long hours. Thankfully flyover has helped commuters to large extent.

We headed directly to Talakaveri first since the entry is restricted post 5pm.

Below is one example where paddy fields in foreground, areca plantation in middle and far off Western Ghats. Such splendid combination. This was during our return journey during evening hours and the golden light was perfectly placed on the verdant nature. The break monsoon helps farmers to prepare for next level of cultivation. The paddy saplings are planted and roots become stronger before next batch of rains start. The Bhagamandala region receives 6000mm annually and hence without break monsoon it's impossible to explore the beauty with bombarding rains.

Gandhi Bazaar walk, disappointment and rants of taxpayer

We wanted to try different restaurant for Wifey birthday preferably vegetarian buffet. We had inquired previous day. The hotel staff that there is no table booking and its walk-in. Also confirmed that lunch  would prolong till 3:30PM.

The day started with frustration as google maps showed unusual route for certain distance which was clogged with non moving traffic. Finally this route merged with main route. I am still not learning as not to turn on maps for known routes. Perhaps this event was pre-cursor to annoying day

Unfortunately, we were disappointment as we reached the restaurant. The hotel stopped taking admissions from 1:30PM itself which is just 1:30hrs post starting lunch service. The restaurant supposed to be open till 4but they wrapped up by 1:30. May be overcrowding? We were at 1:30PM and there was still 2:30hrs of gap. Poor management I felt.

We had no choice than choosing the neighboring Dwarakamaayi restaurant which was another painful story. Dwarakamaayi cost was high but poor quality food. Lot of things we couldn't eat. Service is good but poor food. Bamboo biriyani is not worth the hype and price. Rabdi and crispy corn were good. Better try only roti curry. I felt Roti ghar would have been better choice than all these hypes if there was better seating arrangement. Difficult to stand and eat with kids.

Vidyarthi Bhavan was as usual crowded for no reasons. We have already lost interest in this place.

Smart city work resulted in wider footpath but narrow one-way road. Difficult to manage on this road.

Despite all blabbering, this place is ideal to enjoy the legacy of old Bengaluru. Gandhi-Bazaar is one such area where the aura of old Bengaluru can be enjoyed.

Flowers are always fresh here!

And the freshness also has dark side. The leftover ones. This guy also seemed to enjoy the afternoon nap over the modern footpath.  Also half of the footpath occupied by street vendors. The smart work was dumped with debris of vegetable and flower vendors.

How the legacy and modernity blends! Jalandhar street is also somewhere near TRENDS showroom. Due to disinterest, I did not catch both restaurant pictures.

The beautiful work is completely shrouded by overparked vehicle and overbooked street stalls. India is not worth squandering tax money on such superficial, worthless projects. Rather provide relief to tax payers. This is what frustrates honest tax payers when income tax department baits by sending notices on trivial FD interests. 

MLCP is being constructed in heart of Gandhibazaar which is good news. There is hardly any parking space currently here.

The best part was greenery of this place. Hardly any sunlight peeps through the canopy! The other best part is legacy of old Bengaluru. Perhaps, authorities should have promoted this street as heritage attraction than spoiling money in modernization projects.

We headed back to home toiling through the infamous Bengaluru traffic. Difficult to manage amidst BMTCs and Autos. We should have taken metro service instead. Now we know how lucky are residents staying near metro stations.

Final picture as why modernization doesn't fit here. Street cart serving breakfast and meals literally litters the clean ground. Problem is not people but politicos who use such people as votebanks than uplifting them. No one wants their progress to keep political agenda eternal.

The auto menace is always going to live in Bengaluru. The driver even though had gap in front refused to move further. He did not heed to my honk to move forward rather stared at me. I too stopped honk after first attempt. Who will fight with morons. The problem with autorickshaw drivers is we need to provide them way even if it involves breaking rules like jumping signal. They roar and infuse street fighting if you do not let them way even when there is no way. On other side, they drive in snails place in middle of road looking for passengers and don't let traffic to pass smoothly. Persistent honks only triggers monsters inside them than allowing smooth flow of traffic.

See that gap! Such gaps will make us wait for additional turn of signal.

Back home with terrible traffic. Dwarakamayi is strict NO from now onwards and is black-listed already by wifey. The stomach bloated pretty badly. The evening walk of 30mins helped us to reduce the bloat to some extent. But the effect of bloating remained till next day evening.

The clouds of Bengaluru during monsoon gives lethargic look. No Sun from long days. Hope it rains healthily in catchment areas this year