Travel: A VISIT TO ISKCON TEMPLE, BENGALURU

ISKCON Temple, Bangalore

We had dinner at Ullas Restaurant and returned to our guesthouse at around 10.30 pm. By around 10.45 pm I was fast asleep until I was woken up by the twitter of birds at about 4.45 am. It’s been a long time since I had slept like a log. The bird song was quite loud and refreshing and I could not go back to sleep.

The Entrance to the Iskcon Temple, the only picture that I clicked

I lazed around for a bit, got up at 6.30, had a bath and left for Iskcon Temple by 7.30 am. For the past few years I have not woken up before 7.30 am on a given day - unless I was at Oneness University for classes. There, we wake up at 3.30 am to get ready for classes that begin at 5 am.

Click Here to see original pictures and write up about Iskcon Temple @ Chowpatty, Mumbai.

Prahlada Narasimhar

I did not wait for Vini as she was keener on talking a walk in the surrounding gardens. I walked for about 15 minutes before I got an auto-rickshaw. I reached the temple and just managed to click the picture of the entrance. I was totally disappointed to find that after that point, using a camera was not allowed.

Venkatramana Govinda!

You need to climb a number of stairs to get to the Iskcon Temple at Bangalore – probably around 150-200. There are three main sanctorums, each one housed within a gopuram (tower) in the typical style to South India.

After leaving my footwear and camera at the counter, I walked the stairs to reach the first sanctorum. This was of Prahlada Narasimhar. Narasimhar is the fourth avatar of Lord Mahavishnu and He appeared from a pillar that was struck with a mace by Hriranyakashipu who was Prahlada’s father.

Sri Radha Krishna

The Deity was beautifully decorated with a lot of gold ornaments and flowers. The lack of crowd was a big plus while I could pray very peacefully for a few minutes.

After climbing some more steps, I reached the second sanctorum. This was my favourite – that of Tirupati Balaji. I wouldn’t have tired even if I had remained there for the whole day. Venkatramana Govinda was a smaller replica of the same God at Tirupati. The temple was so calm and I was quite unaware of the few other people who came and went until a guard came and told me to go on. I just moved a few inches away and stood again for a few minutes until I realised I did not have much of a choice and walked out.

Lords Nitai & Gauranga

Some more steps and I finally reached the main sanctorum housing Lord Krishna & Goddess Radha in the middle flanked by the sanctorum of Lord Krishna and Lord Balarama on our right and Lords Nitai & Gauranga to our left. This is the main Iskcon Temple with a shrine for Srimad Prabhupada – Founder of Iskcon Movement – on the left side.

Lord Krishna & Lord Balarama

Placed in a large square hall, there’s a narrow line that takes you forward in front of the sanctorum. Luckily, the crowd was not much – at least it did not look that much as the area was spacious; there were about 200-250 people strewn around – and I could pray to my heart’s content. I moved to the centre of the hall to do my namaskarams before leaving.

Srimad Prabhupada

From there on, you find a number of shopping outlets – all run by Iskcon. There were spiritual books and CDs in many languages. Then there were a variety of sweets and cakes sold as Prasad. You walk down a few steps and find idols and dolls of Lord Krishna, Radha, Lord Rama, Meerabhai, Hanuman and the like – all for sale. Then, there were the restaurants. The variety of items sold was mindboggling. At one point, there was a man distributing Pongal as prasadham. I had that, washed at one of the many washbasins around the area, bought breakfast from one of the three restaurants further down, picked up my slippers and camera and left with a feeling of a well spent morning.

All the rest of the pictures besides the one at the entrance are thanks to http://indianreligioustemple.blogspot.in/. How they could get these pictures are a mystery! But I am glad. Thank you!

Film Review: MAN OF STEEL

Henry Cavill definitely looks the part of MAN OF STEEL

Cast: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Antje Traue, Ayelet Zurer, Christopher Meloni, Russell Crowe
Director: Zack Snyder

Viggy and I had been planning to see this movie since its release. We finally managed to catch it a couple of days ago at Imax.

THE STORY

Krypton is a planet outside the solar system. The core of the planet has become unstable and it might blast at any moment. The ruling council is keen to vacate the planet while General Zod (Michael Shannon) and his supporters want to continue there. Jor-El (Russell Crowe) is a scientist. With his wife’s help, he sends his newborn son Kal in a space capsule all the way to earth. The baby’s cells have been infused with the genetic codex of the Kryptonian race. Zod murders Jor, is captured and banished to Phantom Zone.

When Krypton explodes after some time, Zod and his supporters are freed. They are keen to lay their hands on the genetic codex of Krypton and set up base on a new planet. When they find out that Kal-El is on earth, the General and his men decide that Earth is where they want to be. But that would mean the destruction of all human beings. Will that be possible?

MY PERCEPTION

The movie is very different from the earlier Superman films starring Christopher Reeves. Those were fun films with Superman being just a superhero who goes around helping people in trouble.

Christopher Reeves as Superman

Man of Steel is way more serious. The first half is all about Kal being born on Krypton. His parents, especially his mother, are extremely upset sending their newborn so far away to earth. As the child grows up as Clark Kent, he has a tough time adjusting to the earthly way of life. He is so different from the other children and is not able to understand his own super powers. He feels alien – pun intended – and curbs his instincts on his adopted father’s (Kevin Costner) advice. Clark (Henry Cavill) is a young man when he finally gets to know the truth about his birth.

The scenes with spaceships travelling back and forth and the rest have been very well made and the 3D visuals are just wonderful so far.

In the second half, General Zod comes to earth along with his men to extract the genetic codex from Kal-El aka Clark. Things turn extremely violent from this point. There is only fighting, destruction and more. The Kryptonians begin to terraform the earth smashing the skyscrapers in their way. The rest of the film is about Clark, now called Superman, destroying General Zod and his people before they wipe out humanity.

This half is totally violent and was rather sickening, especially for me as I had gone to the film expecting something in the lines of the earlier Superman movies.

Henry Cavill as Superman is a perfect choice. He’s handsome, well-muscled and plays his part very well. Amy Adams as Lois Lane has also done an excellent job as a newspaper reporter. While the rest of the cast have all performed well, it is Michael Shannon who takes the cake. As General Zod, he makes for a fantastic villain and a vicious one at that.

VERDICT: If you are fond of superhero movies, then this one is a must watch. But do be prepared for the extreme violence in the second half.

RATING: *** ½

*Silly
**Shaky
***Smart
****Snazzy
*****Super

Food Review: ULLAS REFRESHMENTS @ MG Road, Bengaluru

Vini on the verge of checking the menu

Vignesh visits Bangalore at least 2-3 times in a year as his music gigs happen in the city. He recommended Ullas Refreshments pretty highly and Vini and I were determined to have one of our meals there. That’s how we landed up for dinner at Ullas Refreshments after the visit to Lal Bagh.

The half-eaten rava masala dosa with its accompaniments

The restaurant is open from 9.30 am in the morning till they take last orders at 9.30 pm. We managed to get there famished at around 9 pm.

The huge rava idli garnished with dill

The waiters could speak Hindi comfortably as neither of us knew one word of Kannada, the official language of Bengaluru.

The not-so-tasty dahi vada

We ordered Onion Rava Masala Dosa. It came with regular coconut chutney, a red chutney with garlic, super delicious sambar typical of South India, a masala gravy distinctive to Karnataka (highly recommended by the waiter and it was yummy) and the usual potato masala. The dosa was cooked evenly to perfection. Many-a-time, we find that the dosas are well fried on one end while rather soft on another. This one was so evenly made that we enjoyed every morsel. As you can see from the picture, we both were so hungry that we grabbed the dosa the moment it was served and I remembered to take the photo only after it was half gone.

Yours truly awaiting my order

The Rava Idly we ordered was huge. They served one piece instead of the usual two. But it was equal to three idlis that one makes at home. While it was tasty with the accompanying chutney and sambar, I was kind of disappointed with the dill that came along as garnish. It took away from the flavour.

Dill - the greens with a special flavour.
I don't like it 

Then came the Dahi Vada that we asked for. This was also a single piece and I was glad it was so. It was not the kind of dish that I had expected to eat in South India. It came with sweet dahi and was pretty mediocre.

As Viggy had mentioned, we should have stuck to having only dosas. The restaurant is renowned for that and the Rava Masala Dosa that we had was proof enough.

Well, now you know the best thing to order at Ullas Refreshments when you visit Bengaluru! Believe me, the restaurant is most definitely worth a visit for the dosa experience.

Film Review: RAANJHANAA

While he lacks in the looks department, Dhanush more than compensates with his acting skills

Cast: Dhanush, Sonam Kapoor, Abhay Deol, Swara Baskar, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub
Director: Aanand L. Rai

THE STORY

Kundan (Dhanush) is the son of a Tamil priest who serves at a temple in Benaras. Zoya (Sonam Kapoor) is a rich Muslim girl living with her parents in the same place. He falls in love with her the very first time he sees her. They both are in school but that does not stop Kundan from pursuing Zoya. Soon, she is convinced that she loves him too. When her parents find out, they send her away to another city to complete her studies. It’s eight years before Zoya returns to Benaras. Kundan can’t wait to get back together with the love of his life. But will Zoya feel the same way?

MY PERCEPTION

The film is set in a colourful Benaras amidst Holi and other celebrations. The music by AR Rahman is awesome as usual. Dhanush and Sonam’s song and dance sequences fit in quite well with the story line.

While he lacks in the looks department, Dhanush more than compensates with his acting skills. While Kamal Hassan, Rajinikanth and many others have tried their stints in Bollywood, Dhanush’s entry is made special by the role he has chosen to do. He is a Tamilian in the film and hence has made a sensible choice. I believe he has spoken all his dialogues in Hindi. It’s pretty amazing that his accent is not too bad either. Kudos Dhanush!

Sonam Kapoor has also done very well as Zoya. She looks cute as a high school girl and eight years later, a lovely woman. Only I was not too fond of her character in the movie.

Abhay Deol breezes through the few odd scenes that he takes part in – nothing to write home about.

A special mention has to be made of Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub as Kundan’s friend Murari and Swara Baskar as Bindiya, the woman who is crazily in love with Kundan. They both absolutely added value to the film.

While the film begins with a bang, it tends to drag in the second half. The film runs for about 2 hrs and 20 minutes but I still found it a tide too long. I wonder when the directors and editors will stop dragging a film to death. It would have been better with crisper editing, especially the second half. It appeared as if the director had set off in a direction and then did not know how to take it further.

VERDICT: You can see it once for Dhanush’s acting skills if nothing else

RATING: ***Smart

*Silly
**Shaky
***Smart
****Snazzy
*****Super

eBook Review: FACEBOOK PYAR By Arti Arlene Martyris

Prateek lives and studies in Patna. An only child, he is very close to his mother who is constantly beaten up by his father. Gunjan lives about 1500 km away in Hyderabad. Belonging to a Christian family, she lives with her mother and school-going sister. Her father had left them long ago for another woman.

The two of them come in touch with each other on Facebook. Over many chat sessions of sharing their family histories and many other things, they fall in love. Enter James – Gunjan’s childhood sweetheart. Will the long-distant relationship with Prateek stand a chance against James’ proximity?

A cutesy love story that is very much contemporary. I fell in love with the title and that’s what made me buy the book.

Arti has penned a romance between two strangers who meet on the social media network, how they go on to trust each other and fall in love. It makes for a fun read and will surely appeal to all the college students. At the end, the author got me a mite worried whether Gunjan will ever get together with the man of her dreams. Good work Arti Arlene Martyris!

The cover illustration by Upasana Govindarajan is very appealing.

Click Here to buy your copy of FACEBOOK PYAR by Arti Arlene Martyris on Indireads  

Travel: A VISIT TO LAL BAGH, BENGALURU

Kempegowda Tower on top right. This is Peninsula Gneiss rock

After some hot tea served by the caretaker at the guesthouse, Vini and I took a rickshaw to Lal Bagh, the famous gardens that I had visited when I was a small kid. The weather was simply amazing – so cool whatever time of the day. In fact, it was quite cold in the night. Can you believe that in the middle of June? I just loved it.

There was a riot of colours in the form of Bougainvillea at the entrance to Lal Bagh

The rickshaw ride took us via a golf course and Cubbon Park before we finally reached the botanical gardens. It’s a wonder that Bengaluru has so many green spaces. The Karnataka Forest Department takes care of maintaining all the gardens in the city and I must say that they have done a superb job.

Vini and Yours Truly

Wikipedia says: Lal Bagh or Lal Bagh Botanical Gardens, meaning The Red Garden in English, is a well known botanical garden in southern Bangalore, India. The garden was originally commissioned by Hyder Ali, the ruler of Mysore, and later finished by his son Tipu Sultan. It has a famous glass house which hosts an annual flower show. Lal Bagh houses India's largest collection of tropical plants, has an aquarium and a lake, and is one of the main tourist attractions in Bangalore.

A view in reverse - yonder is the entrance to the park

We walked over one small section of Lal Bagh. The garden is set in 240 acres of land, said a map. There was a mound of rock with some roughly cut steps. We climbed over it and walked around before getting off. I found it quite scary but fun as well. Then we walked around the garden for about an hour and a half. It was so calm, quiet and oh, so green! A feast for the whole system!

Click here to know more about the rock which is called Peninsular Gneiss.

The adorable Pomeranian puppy

We met a Pomeranian puppy that had come for a walk with the owners. She was adorable and we stopped to play with her for a few minutes.

Vini with the little pup

There was the glass house on the right of our path, only it was too dark and we could neither see it properly nor take photos. In fact, it was already twilight when we reached there. Just about 15 minutes before we got out of another gate, a small snake crossed our path. It was about a foot long and quite thin. I am not too familiar with the species and don’t have a clue of what type it was, but it was an experience. I am not sure who wanted to get away faster, the snake or us. It slithered away into the greenery without stopping to say ‘hello’.

The next time I visit Lal Bagh, I hope not to miss the rose garden if nothing else.

Travel: A TRIP TO THE GARDEN CITY

RMV II Stage, Bengaluru

Vini needed to go to Bengaluru on official work. She asked me whether I would like to go there for a couple of days too. I jumped at the chance. I look a National AC bus on Thursday last and set out on what turned out to be an 18-hour journey. We were supposed to reach in 16 hours or less. I got off the next day around 2 pm and with another passenger’s help got an auto rickshaw to arrive at RMV II Stage. The guest house was on the third floor and was extremely comfortable. Better yet, the whole area was surrounded by greenery. I hear from a lot of people who are familiar with Bangalore that the city is not as green as it used to be. Well, I was visiting after 22 years and I thought it was absolutely beautiful. The view from the bedroom window was simply gorgeous.

Andhra Meals at Mayuri Restaurant, ISRO Road, Bengaluru

Luckily for us, it was just Vini and me at the 3-bedroom flat. I had a bath and immediately took another rickshaw to get myself some lunch. I had to travel quite a way before I managed to find Mayuri Restaurant. I had enquired with a couple of people to find typical Karnataka food. This restaurant served Andhra meals. I did not argue as I was too hungry and hogged. The food was cold. When I told the waiter that, he immediately removed my plate and served on another one – with a fresh plantain leaf. The second time round, the food was piping hot. There were two sabzis, a chutney, hot tandoor roti, sambar, rasam, curd, chaas, papad and rice – unlimited and priced at Rs. 73. The food was not too bad either.

The lane below the building we stayed at

Once I was well fuelled, I began my adventure in the city. I had barely 24 hours there and I meant to make full use of it.

At the guesthouse