Bangalore aside: Breakfast is free, but pay for coffee

It is generally accepted that bed coffee is what one drinks soon after waking up and breakfast is the first meal of the day. If you drink only a cup of coffee and don’t eat anything with it, can it be considered a breakfast? This question acquired a legal dimension during my short visit to Bangalore on last Sunday-Monday.

Here is the lead up to that development. I caught the early morning Shadabthi from Chennai. In less than 4hours 30minutes the train was nearing Cantonment Station at Bangalore. Almost all the passengers got up and moved to the exits with their baggage. The train slowed down but kept going.

Protests by the passengers were of no use. Many including me had alighted at Cantonment from the Shadabthi on earlier trips. I can’t see any logic in this popular train not stopping at the station which is closer to the Central Business District and some of the older residential areas.

I phoned the driver who was waiting for me at Cantonment Station. He came over to the City Junction and took me to the Club where I was booked.

Considering the quality, the room was quite steeply priced. But as a consolation, all taxes and free breakfast were thrown in. Excellent chicken fried rice, (non-greasy and light) and watered down vodka for dinner, and early to bed.

Since I had to leave at 6AM I had asked Room Service to wake me up at 5AM with a cup of coffee. That was done and the coffee was good.

The problem started while settling the bill. I was charged for the bed coffee. The clerk explained that though breakfast was free bed coffee had to be paid for. I found that amusing and pursued the matter.

My argument was that I was confining my breakfast there to coffee and was abandoning whatever goodies they were serving for the first meal of the day. The other side came up with the counter that I could wait till breakfast service commenced and either take only coffee or eat the fare supplied as well.

The debate, which I felt was of great academic interest, could not be completed be cause of my rush. I paid Rs.5.50 for the coffee and left.

If you were the judge, what would be your verdict? Should I have paid or not?

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Also see

Kerala plantations: The bed tea ceremony that was

Nostalgia: The romance of India/Indian Coffee House

Some Clubs of India

Tulasi the Incomparable

Tulasi - the very name has sanctity about it. One doesn’t call it just ‘basil’ but Holy Basil. Ocimum Sanctum. It is a symbol of purity, divinity and health. Tulasi is believed to be the incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi and therefore incomparable. It is so much a part and parcel of Indian life and culture.

Visualize this scene. First rays of morning sun filtering through the trees around. A lady wearing damp clothes after bath stands in front of the tulasi plant in her house. It could be in the front, or in the nadumuttam (inner courtyard). Droplets of water drip down intermittently from her hair. She waters the plant, stands in front of it in prayer with folded hands and does pradishana (circling around).

A tulasi plant in the rain in an inner courtyard.

That is the routine of many an Indian woman before she gets immersed in the daily chores, pure in body and mind. Apart from the veneration part of it, spending time before tulasi is a healthy practice. Emissions from the plant are said to purify the air around it.

Skanda Purana says, "Just by touching Tulsidevi one's body becomes pure. By praying to her, all diseases practically become removed. If one waters her or makes her wet, the fear of Yamaraja (death personified) is destroyed.” (See http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Ocimum-tenuiflorum and similar sites.)

The medicinal values of Tulasi have been known and used in India for thousands of years. The claimed benefits are far too many to be listed here but one must mention that it is said to reduce blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Vastu also recognizes the importance of tulasi. The plant growing in the vicinity of a house is alleged to have highly positive influence.

I was surprised to learn that tulasi has religious significance in Christianity as well. It is said to have been found at Calvary where Jesus was crucified and near His tomb after the resurrection. Some Churches keep basil near the altar. It is also used in making Holy Water which is supposed to cleanse away sins and guard against evils.

Christians have two saints, father and son, named Basil. Tulasi has a prominent place in the Saint Basil’s Day celebrations.

The homeland of the tulasi is India, where it has been known from Vedic times. Later it spread to other countries. This Queen of Herbs is used for many culinary applications too.

Before concluding I must say this. My sister-in-law Rema (Mrs. Antony Tharakan) makes a delicious tulasi tea. It is a great drink first thing in the morning or just before bed time.

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Photos by me from Olavipe. Copyright reserved. Click on them to enlarge.

Also see

Divine Strokes

Amorphophallus, a medicinal plant with unique flower

Drunk on a wasted road

Almost two weeks have passed but the street scene that I saw keeps disturbing me on and off. On the evening of 13^th August, while returning from my dentist I stopped at a wine shop in Chennai to pick up a bottle. And there was this young man lying on the pavement near the steps of the outlet. People passed by avoiding him, not bothering one bit.

The youngster appeared to be around 25 years old. He was darkish, and surprisingly handsome. Chiseled features, well combed hair. Even the few days’ growth of beard looked well groomed. His clothes were not too dirty. He certainly was not the usual habitually drunken type.

The lad was blissfully asleep. It did not seem like a drunken stupor. There was a peaceful look on his face, as though he was having a pleasant dream. But certainly he would have consumed a large quantity of alcohol to be in that condition. Perhaps something else too, along with liquor.

What made him do that? A fight with parents? Somehow I felt that he was not married. Sudden loss of job? May be a broken love affair? Possibly he was dreaming of the girl involved. Was she beautiful? To him, she would have been, I suppose.

Whatever the problem was, it would still be there when he woke up, surely with a colossal hangover. Troubles that people face do not just go away. They have to be tackled, sorted out. Hopefully the youngster would have realized that when he became sober and pulled his life together again.

I watched him for a long time, wondering whether I should do something. I could have taken him to a hospital or contacted the police to handle the matter. May be there are social welfare organizations that would take care of cases like these but I was not aware of any.

I did nothing. Just went home.

Whenever I think of the incident, I feel a sense of guilt.

Should I have helped the boy? What do you think?

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Also see

Christmas spirit in Kerala

Madras Matters

A pineapple story, with photos

Plants with fruits.

A close up. The tender leaves at the base of the fruit are reddish. As the
fruit matures, they turn green and the florets will drop off.
The crown on the top of the fruit is used for propagation.

This, in the same field is a dwarf.

This is a garden variety.

A size comparison.

Photo credits: Top three – Rejo. Others by me.

Copyright reserved.

Click on photos to enlarge.

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Also see:

Papaya, the health fruit

Water lilies: here is a picture of nature's perfection, imperfection

Bangalore: Flying in, flying out

I landed at the Bangalore International Airport on Independence Day with a sense of anticipation. It was my first use of the new facility which is about 40km from the city’s Central Business District.

There had been attempts to delay the opening of the airport through protests and court case. The main objection by some sections was that the infrastructural development had not been completed and therefore transit between the city and the airport would be time consuming. The Governor and his Cabinet went ahead anyway and opened the airport.

I had not asked for a car to meet me on arrival. There is a bus from the airport to the city every 30 minutes. This service is run by the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) with a large fleet of A/C Volvos and non-A/C vehicles.

The bus bay is less than 100 meters from the terminal. Route maps painted on walls show a choice of 8 convenient routes. I selected Route 5 on a Volvo to get dropped near High Grounds Police Station. The trip took about 45 minutes and cost Rs.125.

(Incidentally, many Bangaloreans would remember the cute High Grounds Police Station building. Well, it is no longer there – demolished for widening the road as part of the inevitable infrastructural development. A pity, I must say.)

For return on Sunday, 17^th, I boarded a Volvo at JC Nagar at 3.30 P.M. for my 5.30 P.M. flight. The ticket cost Rs.155; the rate varies according to the destination/boarding point. But the time taken was, again, about 45 minutes.

You can book bus tickets on line and have them delivered to you. Also available is a unique Home Connect service. You can pre-arrange for a taxi to pick you up from or drop you at the chosen bus stop. (Log on to www.bmtcinfo.com or www.redbus.in)

Perhaps the reason for the short transit time was both the days I was traveling were holidays. When the widening of roads which is under way is completed, the transfer should be faster. And, certainly the congestion on the road could be reduced if more people switched to buses instead of own vehicles, and the ‘seeing off ceremony’ of relatives and friends accompanying a passenger to send him off is avoided.

Bangalore’s modern airport on 4,000 acres of land has the capacity to handle 11 million passengers annually. What impressed me most was that it has a fully equipped 24x7 medical center, which also provides a state-of-the-art cardiac care ambulance with qualified staff to transfer critical patients to major hospitals.

I noticed a couple of negative points too. The big traffic circles on the road connecting the airport to Highway 7, results in reducing speed and the sharp turns into and out of them are not passenger friendly. This could be easily remedied by having narrower oval or oblong traffic islands or by widening the entry and exit points of the circles.

Again, the boarding gates are on the first floor. The aerobridges are useless for smaller aircrafts. As a result, one has to walk down a flight of steps to board, carrying cabin baggage. Hopefully with the second runway and terminal that are planned, this apparently illogical arrangement would be avoided.

To sum up, Bangalore can be proud of its new International Airport. It is precisely what a fast-growing metropolis needs.

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Also see:

Nostalgia: Bangalore again

Nostalgia: The romance of India/Indian Coffee House

Hockey days in Bangalore

Gunboat Jack, a Bangalore hero of the past

Bangalore Memories: Cricket, hockey and the tragedy of Len Dial

The Bangalore that was, 60 years ago!

Bangalore: Of a club, a park and a Chief Secretary couple

Bangalore memories

Popularizing Raja Ravi Varma

The creations of Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906), the great Indian painter, are superb and very popular all over the world. (See Raja Ravi Varma: A Movie on the Royal Painter)

We recently picked up a set of his paintings in the deco art format from an art and craft fair in Chennai. They are set on treated wood and are quite true to the originals. The pieces can be either stood on tables or hung on walls.

According to the suppliers, ‘Deco-painting is a Greek art form which originated during the 17^th century.’ Anyway, deco-art was popular during the first half of the 20^th century.

What is now available in the market should make copies of Raja Ravi Varma masterpieces available to the common man. The 13x13 cm size we bought costs Rs.100 each. Bigger ones are available also.

My photographs of the pieces are rather poor quality, but nevertheless I am reproducing them below:

Click on images to enlarge.

HAPPY INDEPENDANCE DAY

WE,

the People of India shall overcome

the bigots, separatists, communalists, terrorists,

regionalists, sycophants, the corrupt, the self-serving,

external threats, the strife within

and march ahead hand in hand.

JAI HIND.