09 November 2025
Its been literally buzzing sky in the city of Bengaluru with everyday cloud activity or rain. The winter was struggling to set in thanks to consistent disturbances over the ocean. The saga of clouds seemed everlasting. Even yesterday had sparse clouds gathering throughout the day and disappearing by evening. The people were feeling under the weather due to high variance in day and night temperature.
I had to pick up my bestie from bus-stand. While waiting for bus to arrive, this was scene I captured. The stray dog did not show any sign of winter yet. The curling up tightly is sign of intense winter. But this guy was peacefully sleeping at bus stop stretching its body freely. Perhaps its stout physique also helps provide additional warmth.
The remnant clouds of the day displayed artistic patterns.
Next day clear sky finally showed up today. The day finally arrived, the citizens desperately waiting for. It was cloudless SUNday with sun shining brightly over city without a speck of cloud. The delicate sun was palatable for sun-bathing even during noon time. The chilly breeze made sure not to aggravate the heat. Its been days since we observed squeaky clean skies. Felt like clouds have taken holiday on Sunday. Not sure if it's for while or just Sunday. The feverish weather turned pleasant early morning with chilly breeze buffeting city. If this pattern continues, the day too would turn colder as day progresses towards winter solstice. I stayed in terrace for a while absorbing some amount of Vitamin D.
During evening hours, we decided to take stroll in Kalkere lake. Since days are turning shorter in North Hemisphere, we started early around 4AM and reached lake. The civil works that began almost year back have clearly seen backseat with lethargic progress. The rugged path was difficult to negotiate and dusty too! Perhaps the reason for less crowd today. The well maintained lake promenade was turned into trash by local administration. The benches are strewed nearby and there is no place to sit. Absolute mockery of tax payers money. Freebies have hit hard and basic amenities are illusion now. As of now everlasting civil works have completely Sullied the lake. Milling around lake was one of major relaxation around city. But this time it was more of dodging debris. Hope civic authority would soon conclude the renovation work which was never needed. As more political parties, including pro-development ones, adopt socialist principles, real development is starting to look like a mirage.
There hasn't been much maintenance of lake itself. Mostly weeds are overpowering the area. The lake has relatively less water resource compared to previous years. The absence of concluding thunderstorm season may be was prime factor
The hazy city skyline was a testament to rapid urbanisation around lake
Despite the ordeals, the avian activity was the positive part of lake visit. couple of birdwatchers seen spotting the winter birds at lake walkway. I too spotted many of known birds. The lake was buzzing with enormous aquatic birds include pied kingfisher. Pied kingfisher was surprise find here. I had been desperately searching for pied kingfishers when camera was alive. Unfortunately, my camera is dead and I had to content with just eye watching. There were many instances when kingfisher took flight and aimed at the prey. The pied kingfishers were busy hunting and seems to have found the catch in couple of strikes. I was desperately missing my camera to capture their flight and strike shots. The light was also plenty and it would have been easy grab with 600mm lens. I was engrossed in bird watching for few minutes before moving on. The flight of pied kingfishers for fish catch was too tempting for a camera catch. Apart from kingfishers, there were ibis, ducks, grebie, pelicans, stilts, egrets, herons and many more were captivating to . At times, the brahminy kite was disturbing the peaceful bird flock on eater. Sometimes you need to enjoy and be content with available resources.
Few more shots from lake to conclude. The urban landscape is slowly invading nature. Cloud free day sustained for whole day. With greed of real estate taking over the lake contour coupled with brazen corrupt officials, I am afraid that lake would soon loose its charm.
This was captured near the parking area which is bit away from lake.The dangerously placed high tension transmission tower amidst the residential area highlights the level of corruption. The residents of the region do not allow parking nearby lake since it disturbs the sanity of area.
The bumpy walk force the body to expend more energy than usual. Since we did not consume any snacks in evening, wife and kids turned hungry. On way back, we spotted "Child Monk" ice cream shop but skeptical of visiting the new outlet. Wife craved for ice cream and we chose child monk to savor ice cream on cold day. After skimming through google reviews, we found the outlet had decent rating and ice cream was dairy based. I wouldn't choose if it was soya based. We tasted tiramisu and few scoops (tuty-fruity, dry-fruits and gulkhan). Honestly this was our maiden visit and it was not worth anymore. Google rating of 4.8 seemed overhyped or scripted. The cream seemed to be diluted and felt watery after consuming. Tiramisu was more of dominating chocolate brown cake more than ice cream. This would be our last visit for sure.
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