Maiden visit to Central Tiffin Room (CTR), Malleshwaram

Heard lot about the CTR restaurant from social media and relatives, its taste, uniqueness of Masala Dosay and filter coffee. This is one of the highly rated restaurants of Bangalore where getting seat even normal day expects standing in queue beforehand. I do not know if its hype or realistic but today I had an opportunity to savor the delicacies here at Malleshwaram.

We had few engagements at Malleshwaram and time consuming one. The humdrum finally ended at 9PM and I was especially famished after long break from lunch. We unanimously decided to conclude our day at CTR.

The restaurant would be closing at 9:30PM. It was 8:30PM which means there was sufficient room left to enjoy the dosays. The rush was nominal perhaps due to closing hours. We comfortably found seats without wait time and ordered Goli Baje and Masala dose.

The Goli Baje was tasty with coconut scattered inside. The bite of coconut which few people love and other hate :-D. The chutney quality was good but not special. The golibaje was fatty but bit oily. Still not the original golibaje of coastal Karnataka where we can feel the tinge of sourness from curd.

The next item was much awaited Benne Masale Dosay. The first cut revealed too much greasy on hand. The quantity of palya was average but good in taste. The dosay batter seems to have been mixed with maida since we felt the fluffiness. Overall I was disappointed and all the hypes I found worthless. 

The best part was filter coffee! The coffee was strong and excellent. That offset the disappointment we had so far.

Unfortunately, digital payments are not honored. Despite the digital age, the establishment only accepts cash even today!

To conclude, not that exciting dosay which I was anticipating. Almost matches with Vidyarthi Bhavan. We prepare better than this at home (sorry for being smug) and also eat 4 numbers. Having just one number in hotel filled up our tummy instantly which may be due to soda as ingredient. My feedback does not resonate with  the general public opinion. Blog is personal opinion based on the items had and not to tarnish establishment . Since there is always a large crowd outside, I believe majority of them do enamor dosay and golibaje here!

PROS

• Quick delivery of items
• Antique ambiance
• Filter Coffee is excellent

CONS

• Greasy dosay which overly sticks to palm (personal opinion)
• Golibaje is average
• Crowded place.
• No digital payment
• Parking is big issue if you plan visit in four wheeler

If you ask me when will visit next, I would say never on my own! If there are sponsors, I will consider :-)

Photo Blog - Breakdown

East Bangalore is flooded with water tankers thanks to uncontrolled borewells and deficit rains. Most of the borewells in our area have dried up and water scarcity is reaching peak during peak monsoon season. While the tanker lobby is milking humongous money, their sources are also depleting. God knows what will be situation during next summer.

On the way back from Milk parlor, I found this tractor tanker stuck in middle of road. Most probably the vehicle broke down. No sign of driver and no sign of water drain. Poor boy stood like an obstructive orphan taking blames all around for halting traffic though not its fault. The water scarcity seems to have stressed these wagons but without maintenance and thus breaking them down randomly. Hope the owner rectifies the poor guy and clears up the road blocker. More than that, hope for better rains and pause these tanker loads for better ground water

The water crisis as expected has reached pathetic state. People are urging authorities to declare work-from-home for couple of months till monsoon outsets. However, I am sure government will not honor the difficulties of people. The current government is neither interested in solving issue nor want people to find alternate solution. Its just minting money via real estate and let people suffer. Thanks to citizens of Karnataka we have full commissioned government torturing people and appeasing minorities.

ಅಜ್ಞಾನಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಬೆಲೆ ಹೆಚ್ಚು!

ಅನಿವಾರ್ಯ ಕಾರಣಗಳಿಂದಾಗಿ ಮನೆ ಬದಲಾಯಿಸುವ ಪರಿಸ್ಥಿತಿ ಬಂದೊದಗಿತು. ಮೊದಲೇ ಎಲ್ಲವೂ ಯೋಜನೆ ಹಾಕಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದೆವು. ಹಾಗೂ ಹೀಗೂ ಸುತ್ತಾಡಿ ಕೊನೆಗೆ ನಮಗೆ ತೃಪ್ತಿಯಾಗುವಂತಹ ಮನೆ ಸೆಟ್ ಆಯಿತು. ಶಿಫ್ಟ್ ಕೂಡಾ ಆಯಿತು, ಎಲ್ಲವನ್ನೂ ಒಪ್ಪ ಮಾಡಿಯೂ ಆಯಿತು ಮಡದಿಯ ಸಾಧನೆಯಿಂದ. ಕೊನೆಗೆ ಕಾಮನ್ ಸ್ನಾನದ ಮನೆಯ ಗೀಸರ್ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಮಾಲಕರನ್ನು ಸಂಪರ್ಕಿಸಿದಾಗ ಅವರು ಹಳೆಯ ಬಾಡಿಗೆಯವರೊಂದಿಗೆ ವಿಚಾರಿಸಿದರು. ಕಾಯಿಲ್ ಈಗಷ್ಟೆ ಹೊಸದಾಗಿ ಹಾಕಿಸಿದ್ದಂತೆ. ರಿಪೇರಿ ಮಾಡಿದವನು ಊರಿಗೆ ತೆರಳಿದ್ದನಂತೆ ಒಂದು ವಾರ ಬಿಟ್ಟು ಬರುವನೆಂದು ಮಾಲಕರಿಗೆ ತಿಳಿಸಿದನಂತೆ. 

ವಾರದ ಬಳಿಕ ಬಂದ electrician ಪುಣ್ಯಾತ್ಮ. ಬರುವಾಗಲೇ ಗಾಂಭೀರ್ಯ. ಅವನ ಮುಖದಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ತಳಮಳ ಕಾಣಿಸುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ಒಮ್ಮೆಲೇ ಬಹಳ ಮಾತಾಡಲು ಶುರು ಮಾಡಿದ. ಮಡದಿಗೆ ಆವಾಗಲೇ ತಿಳಿದಿದ್ದು ಇವನು ಯಾವನೋ ಠಪೋರಿ ಎಂದು. ಯಾವಾಗಲೂ ವಟ ವಟ ಒದರುವ ಮಹಿಳೆಯರಿಗೆ ಅದೆಲ್ಲ ಬೇಗನೆ ತಿಳಿಯುತ್ತದೆ ಬಿಡಿ! "ಇಲ್ಲ ಸಾರ್ ನೀವು ಅರ್ಧ ಘಂಟೆ ಬಿಡಬೇಕು ಆವಾಗಲೇ ತಿಳಿಯೋದು ಎಷ್ಟು ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿದೆ ಅಂತಾ!" ಯಾವೇ ಸೀಮೆ ಕಾಯಿಲ್ ಹಾಕಿದಾನೋ ದೇವರೇ ಬಲ್ಲ. ಅರ್ಧ ಘಂಟೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಓಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಇಟ್ಟ ನೀರೂ ಕೂಡ ಕುದಿದು ಆವಿಯಾಗಲು ಪ್ರಾರಂಭವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಇದೆಂತಾ ಸೀಮೆ ಕಾಯಿಲ್ ಹಾಕಿದ್ದಾನೋ ದೇವರೇ ಬಲ್ಲ. ನೀರು ಕೂಡಾ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪವೇ ಬಿಸಿ ಆಗಿತ್ತು. "ಅಲ್ಲ ಸಾರ್ ಒಂದು ವಾರ ಯೂಸ್ ಮಾಡಿಲ್ಲ ಅಂತೀರಾ ಆದರು ಯಾಕೆ ನೀರು ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಬಿಸಿ ಇದೆ?" ಎಂದಾಗ ನಮಗೂ ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯ ಆಯಿತು "ಯಾರಿಗೊತ್ತು ನಮಗೇನು ತಿಳಿದಿದೆ. ನಾವು ಬಂದು ಕೂಡಾ ೧೦ ದಿನ ಆಯಿತು ಅಷ್ಟೇ!" ಎಂದು ಮಾರುತ್ತರ ನೀಡಿದೆವು.

ಮೇಲ್ನೋಟಕ್ಕ ಅವನ ತಪ್ಪಿಗೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಮೇಲೆ ಗೂಬೆ ಕೂರಿಸಲು ಹೊರಟ್ಟಿದ್ದ ಅನ್ಸುತ್ತೆ.  ಆನ್ ಮಾಡಿ ೩೦ ನಿಮಿಷ ಆಯಿತು, ನೀರು ಮಾತ್ರ ಉಗುರು ಬೆಚ್ಚಗೆ ಮಾತ್ರ ಬರುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ಆವಾಗಲೇ ಗೊತ್ತಾಗಿದ್ದು ಇವ ಗೋಲ್-ಮಾಲ್ ಎಲೆಕ್ಟ್ರಿಷಿಯನ್ ಅಂತಾ. "ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಸರಿಯಾಗಿಯೇ ಬರ್ತಾ ಇದೆ ಅಲ್ವಾ ಸರ್ " ಅಂತಾ ಹಗಲು ದರೋಡೆ ರೀತಿ ನಮಗೆ ಸಮಜಾಯಿಷಿ ನೀಡುತ್ತಾನೆ. "ಎಲ್ಲಿ ಆಗಿದೆ ಹೇಳಿ. ಇದ್ರಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ನಾನ ಮಾಡಿದ್ರೆ ಮರುದಿನ ಜ್ವರ ಬರೋದು ಗ್ಯಾರಂಟಿ" ಎಂದು ಅವನಿಗೆ ಮಾರುತ್ತರ ನೀಡಿದೆವು. 

ಅವನು ಮಾಡಿರೋದು ಹಾಳು ಕೆಲಸ ಅಥವಾ ಅವನಿಗೆ ಕೆಲಸವೇ ತಿಳಿದಿಲ್ಲ ಅನ್ನೋದನ್ನ ಮರೆಮಾಚಲು ಪ್ರಯತ್ನಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದ. ಸ್ಕ್ರೂ ಏನೋ ಆಚೀಚೆ ಮಾಡಿದ. ಏನೂ ಪ್ರಯೋಜನ ಆಗಲಿಲ್ಲ. ನೀರು ಮಾತ್ರ cool ಆಗೇ ಇತ್ತು! ಅವನಿಗೆ ಏನು ಮಾಡಲೂ ತೋಚಲಿಲ್ಲ.

ನನಗೆ ಅಫೀಸ್ ಕೆಲಸ ಇದ್ದರಿಂದ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ರೂಮ್ ಕಡೆಗೆ ಹೋದೆ. ೧೦ ನಿಮಿಷದಲ್ಲಿ ವಾಪಸ್ ಬಂದಾಗ ಅವನ ಉತ್ತರ ಕೇಳಿ ತಲೆನೋವು ಬಂತು. "ಸರ್ ನಿಮ್ಮ UPS ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡಿರುವವನು ಫೇಸ್ ಬದಲಿಸಿದ್ದಾನೆ ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ ಕರೆಕ್ಟ್ ಹೀಟ್ ಆಗ್ತಾ ಇಲ್ಲ ನೋಡಿ. ಈಗ ಆಫ್ ಆಯಿತು ಇಂಡಿಕೇಟರ್". ಎಲ್ಲೋ ಅವನೇ ವೈರ್ ಬಿಚ್ಚಿ ಆಫ್ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದಂತೆ ಇತ್ತು. "ಇನ್ನು ಸರಿ ಹೋಗುತ್ತೆ ಬಿಡಿ ಅಂತಾ ಪಾರ್ಟಿ ಕೆಲಸ ಮುಗಿಸಿ ಹೋರಾಡಲು ಅಣಿಯಾಗಿದ್ದ!"

"ಸರಿ ಬಿಡಿ ನಾನು UPS ಅವನಿಗೆ ಫೋನ್ ಮಾಡುತ್ತೇನೆ ಈಗಲೇ" ಅಂದಾಗ ಪಾರ್ಟಿ electricianಗೆ ಧಕ್ ಅಂದಿರಬೇಕು. "ಅದೇನು ಆಗಲ್ಲ ಸರ್ ಬಿಡಿ" ಎಂದಾಗ ನಮ್ಮ ಸಂಶಯ ಇಮ್ಮಡಿಯಾಯಿತು. ಪೂರ್ತಿ ಮನೆಯ ವಿದ್ಯುತ್ ಉಪಕರಣಗಳು ಸರಿ ಇದೆ. ಇವನ ಗೀಸರ್ ಮಾತ್ರ ಬೇರೇನೇ ಫೇಸ್ ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುವುದೋ ಅಥವಾ ಅವನು ಹೇಳುವ ಫೇಸ್ ಮಾತ್ರ ಕೇಳುತ್ತೋ ಎಂಬ ನಗೆ ಚಟಾಕಿ ಹರಿಯಿತು.

ಕೊನೆಗೆ ಪಾರ್ಟಿ ಹೊರಟನು. ಗೀಸರ್ ಹೋಗಿದೆ ಅಂತಾ ತೀರ್ಮಾನ ಮಾಡಿದೆವು. ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಹೊತ್ತಿನ ಬಳಿಕ ಸ್ವಿಚ್ ಬಂದ್ ಆಗಿದ್ದರೂ ಗೀಸರ್ ಉರಿಯುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ತಕ್ಷಣವೇ ಗೀಸರ್ ಪ್ಲಗ್ ತೆಗೆದೆವು. ಅಂದರೆ ವಾರಪೂರ್ತಿ ಗೀಸರ್ ಉರಿಯುತ್ತಿತ್ತೇ!!!! ದೇವನೇ ಬಲ್ಲ! ಬಿಟ್ಟಿ ಭಾಗ್ಯಗಳಿಟ್ಟುಕೊಂಡು ಅಧಿಕಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದ ಪ್ರಸ್ತುತ ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ಕರೆಂಟ್ ದರ ಏರಿಕೆಯ ಶಾಕ್ ಇಟ್ಟುಕೊಂಡು ಗೀಸರ್ ದಿನ ಪೂರ್ತಿ ಉರಿದರೆ ದೇವರೇ ಬಲ್ಲ ಬಿಲ್ ಎಷ್ಟು ಬರಬಹುದೆಂದು!!  ಪುಣ್ಯಾತ್ಮ ಇಲೆಕ್ಟ್ರೀಷಿಯನ್ ಗೆ ಫೋನ್ ಹಚ್ಚಿದರೆ "ಸರ್ ಅದೇ ಹೇಳಿದ್ದು ನಾನು. ಏನೋ ಸ್ವಿಚ್ ಸ್ಪ್ರಿಂಗ್ ಪ್ರಾಬ್ಲೆಮ್ ಇದೆ ಅನ್ಸುತ್ತೆ" ಅಂತಾ ಹೇಳಿ ಮತ್ತೆ ಜಾರಿಕೊಂಡನು. ದೊಡ್ಡ ಫ್ರಾಡ್ ಇವ ಎಂಬುದು ಯಾರಿಗಾದರೂ ಗೊತ್ತಾಗುತ್ತದೆ ಬಿಡಿ. ಇವನ ಅಜ್ಞಾನದ ಪರಾಕಾಷ್ಠೆ ನಮಗೆ ದಟ್ಟವಾಯಿತು. ಪಾರ್ಟಿಗೆ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡಲೇ ಬರುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಎಲ್ಲವು ಮಾತಲ್ಲೇ ಶಾಕ್ ಬರಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದನು ಅಷ್ಟೇ! ಇನ್ನು ದೊಡ್ಡ ಮಟ್ಟದ ಕೆಲಸ ಇವನು ಮಾಡಿದರೆ ಆ ಮನೆ ಭಸ್ಮ ಆಗುವುದರಲ್ಲಿ ಸಂಶಯವೇ ಇಲ್ಲ!

ಮಾಲಕರನ್ನು ಒಪ್ಪಿಸಿ ಹೊಸ ಗೀಸರ್ ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಂಡೆವು. ಹೊಸ ಗೀಸರನ್ನು ಪ್ರತಿಷ್ಠಾಪಿಸಲು ಇಂಜಿನಿಯರ್ ಕೂಡಾ. ಬಂದಿದ್ದು ಆಯಿತು. ಅವನನ್ನು ವಿಚಾರಿಸಿದಾಗ "ಫೇಸ್, ಕನೆಕ್ಷನ್ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಸರಿ ಇದೆ ಸರ್. ಇಲ್ಲಅಂದ್ರೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಗೀಸರ್ ಸ್ಟಾರ್ಟ್ ಆಗೋದೇ ಇಲ್ಲಾ" ಅನ್ನೋದೇ! ಗೀಸರ್ ಅವನು ಹೇಳಿದಂತೆ ಸಧ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಆದರೂ ನಮಗೆ ಒಳಗಿನ ತಳಮಳ. ನೋಡೋಣ ಗೀಸರ್ ಬಂದ್ ಆದಮೇಲೆನೂ ಉರಿಯುತ್ತಾ ಅಂತಾ. ಉರಿಯುತ್ತಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ! ಇರಲಿ ಗೀಸರ್ ಬಂದ್ ಮಾಡಿದ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಹೊತ್ತಿನ ಬಳಿಕ  ನೀರು ತಣ್ಣಗಾಗುತ್ತಾ ಅಂತಾ ಮತ್ತೆ ಮತ್ತೆ ಚೆಕ್ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದೆವು. ಎಲ್ಲವೂ ಸರಿ ಇದ್ದರೂ ಅಜ್ಞಾನಿ electrician ಮಾತುಗಳಿಗೆ ಮರುಳಾದೆವು ಅನ್ನಿಸುತ್ತೆ. ಅವನದೆಲ್ಲವೂ ಬೋಗಸ್ ಇದ್ದರೂ ನಾವು ವಿಧಿ ಇಲ್ಲದೆ ಹೊಸ ಗೀಸರ್ ಬಂದಾಗ ಕಂಫ್ಯೂಸ್ ಆಗಿದ್ದೆವು! ಯಾಕೋ ಈ ಅಜ್ಞಾನಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಬೆಲೆ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಕಲಿಯುಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಅನ್ನಿಸುತ್ತೆ. ಅದರಲ್ಲೂ ಇತಿಹಾಸ ತಿರುಚುವ ಅಜ್ಞಾನಿಗಳಿಗೆ ನಮ್ಮ ದೇಶದಲ್ಲೇನೋ ಕಡಿಮೆ ಇಲ್ಲ ಬಿಡಿ. ಇಂತಹ ಪೇಯ್ಡ್ ಅಜ್ಞಾನಿಗಳಿಗೆ ನಾವು ತುಂಬಾ ಪ್ರಚಾರ ಕೊಡುತ್ತೇವೆ ಅನ್ನಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. 

Awaiting Thunderstorm season!

The spring seems to be harsh this year in Bengaluru city with aggravating water issue and extreme heat. The tanker mafia is exploiting the situation by quoting astronomical rates for tiny load. The outset of early summer has multiplied the demands of tender coconut water, ice creams and other summer equivalents. The coconut water has recorded new high in terms of rate and expected to increase further. The fans in our house as well revolving with full speed. People are desperately waiting for summer thunderstorm to begin which relieves the water shortage temporarily. The thunderstorms also decrease the electricity consumption.

The thunderstorm apart from healing the wounds of city also heals the souls of photographer. The heavy clouds from elevated buildings are awesome sight to watch and photograph. Also the timelapse reveals the dance of clouds and storm formation. The moving distant rain shafts is another amusement. However, sticking to indoors is ideal when thunder gets intense and rains start pouring! City people are eagerly waiting for thunderstorms to bless the baked city and heal the water problems. There is prediction from weather department of thunderstorms hitting city by end of March. Hope this materializes. The following pictures were taken during last year thunderstorm season. The clouds were near to the apartment terrace. I felt as if I can touch them with hand. The mobile camera could easily capture their details!

These are the scenes we are eagerly awaiting to watch from indoors. The roar of thunder and striking rains of home windows and rhythm of pelting rains. When it pours, the rain water drapes the glass with tiny streams sliding towards the ground. The droplets trickling down the glass doors is another scene to rejoice post rains. 

Here is another video capture from last year!

Hope to see rainy scenes soon! There was hint of thunderstorms couple of weeks. It rained at isolated places but not exceeding 10mm. Some parts of city witnessed light rains but our area saw only cloud cover.

Excited Sky!

February 15th 2024,

Today myself and kids had brief winding up in apartment terrace. We usually do that everyday. While I enjoy walking and beholding sunset, kids engage in random activities whichever conjures up in their mind. I always wish to be like them keep calm and let storm pass but fail miserably.

Weather has been weird nowadays thanks to cloud presence. Uninteresting cirrus clouds warm up the city and surface cold winds desperately try to save the esteem of winter by blowing heavily over city. That has been so far in Bengaluru city. We are foreseeing early and harsh summer with water crisis already reaching peak!

Post the lousy sundown, the cirrus clouds slowly began fading away. Night promised to be less warmer than previous days. Before the sunlight could completely diminish, the glow on cirrus clouds gradually energized and thus illuminating the bland sky. The charismatic atmosphere tempted me to capture few shots which looked excited for few minutes during twilight! The excited sky is always excitement to shooters like us!

The scene subsequent early morning was no different. After short early morning workout, The dawn was competing with earlier twilight! The east sky now too turned vivacious with help of cirrus clouds again! The chilly morning indicated that cold winds have won the battle today! Here are early morning glimpses

Rainshafts!

Summer is full of pumped up skies. The high humidity and still winds generate powerful thunderstorms during evening hours over the city. While their presence is scary, at the same time they help to thaw the climate and replenish water table. Before the thunderstorms brew, the massive nimbus cloud formation is stunning for weather enthusiasts like me. The heavy clouds with evening Sun create majestic art in the sky. Beholding such a site is unwinding for people like me who stay in cities.

The other aspect of thunderstorm is distant rain shafts. One of advantage of staying in relatively high raise apartment is to witness such dramas over sky. Hopefully we get opportunities to witness the distant pouring this year as well. Following pictures were captured last year during thunderstorm season. The apartment last floor helped me to capture full length rain shaft which passed quickly from east to west. Hope you enjoy them!

This one is zoomed-in version covering the entire frame with dropping rain!

Clear Days

Past 3 months have been busy skies over Bengaluru city with Sun holidaying frequently. Thanks to clouds all round, the Sun has been rare sight. This weather gave rise to infectious disease pushing people to beg for early Sun comeback. The moistures less clouds partnered with city pollutants that deteriorated city AQI. Rainfall would have bettered AQI but cloud seemed to have no interest to precipitate in our region. There was relief on intermittent days with clear weather blessing us. This provided me opportunity to shoot the actual winter season. Here are some of the shots from apartment terrace

The reddish Sun is common sight during winter which are well enjoyed nearby seashore or river bank. I had to just contend this scene from apartment terrace with digital zoom!

Warm clouds

Bengaluru is embracing weird weather pattern this winter with interleaved Summer/Winter like condition. The weather swiftly turns warm out of blue one fine morning. The reason seems to be these warm clouds floating in the skies of city. This oscillating weather manifesting infectious disease among city dwellers. Few suffer from allergies as well. The sale of grapes and watermelons is already seeing an uptick.

The beautiful part of the warm clouds is seen during evening hours when Sun gazes through the window of clouds spreading rays of joy for photographers. Perhaps I capture these moments on every occasion the crepuscular formation materializes. This occasion is no different. The only disadvantage of capturing them in phone is we don't get lower aperture to block the radiating Sun towards sensor.

The flirt between clouds and Sun seems like blushing the Sky. It feels like Sky is in romantic mood even though ground seems to be warm. Perhaps the ground is jealous and hot about its inability to participate in show!

Here is timelapse captured after lengthy break!