Mysore Dasara Exhibition Memories

Dasara Exhibition at Mysore has always been quite famous but was certainly more charming in those times.  Let me share unforgettable memories from my childhood and with a little bit of history.  This is a longish post because the memories are many. Read further....

Cobblers, Tyre sandals

Cobblers are an integral part of our society, along with barbers, tailors, doctors and so on.  Some prefer to be called as 'shoemakers' instead of 'cobblers', the same way, barbers like to be called 'hair dressers' or tailors like to be called as 'dress makers', etc.  Why, even the 'housewife' is now wanting to be called a 'homemaker'!  Read more....

M.J.Srinivasa Iyengar - Veena Maestro

I remember MJS since the mid 1960s.  He used to come home and teach my aunt for about an hour.  It was in the room adjacent to the hall.  Two straw mats were spread on the floor on the day he was supposed to come - on alternate days if my memory serves me right.  He was given a certain monthly fee for his noble service.    
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Earliest memories of watching a movie

My earliest in my memory timeline of watching a film in a theatre dates back to the early 1960s. It was a matinee show.  The theatre was Ganesh Picture House.  The movie was Absent Minded Professor. (Read more..)

A magazine called Sport and Pastime

The Hindu is also probably the first to publish an exclusive magazine dedicated to sports. It started "Sport and Pastime" in 1947 under the leadership of S.K.Gurunathan...... (Read more..)

About Pencils

As young kids we yearned to get promoted from the slate and chalk (baLapa) level to the pencil and paper level.  The newer generation urban kids begin with the latter and they may not even be aware of the slate and baLapa though they know the blackboard in schools.  There used to be a 'slate baLapa' in the form of a pencil!  I used to write with ... Read more.....

Butterflies in my yard

Who does not want to stop and watch a colourful butterfly flutter by?  If you have a few flowering plants, shrubs and trees in your yard, the butterflies find them. It is for many reasons butterflies are great attractions to children and I grew up watching them in our yard, which hosted much greenery.  I still do.  Earlier we just watched them without observing much.  Read and see more images...

Toy Cars and Buses

Often, we young boys did not need a toy bus or a car to play the game of driving.  Just some running space was enough!  What a pleasure and feeling it was to 'drive' barefoot, making the most pleasant sound of the engine using the lips - 'brrrr brrrrrr'  and sometimes 'bbrrrooooom', when we sped!  While we had to make a horn, the engine had to 'stop'!  The 'vehicle' can be made to turn in sharp angles as well without changing gears.  When there was an opportunity to travel by..... Read more....

About Pencils

The pencil was one of the most fought for item among school-going brothers or sisters at home.  Everybody wanted the longer or new pencil.  When I used to visit my maternal grandparents' house, I used to get attracted to the shortened pencils of my uncle lying in the shelf with his books.  See more...

Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting - how I have done

I collect from a rooftop area of about  380 square feet into the sump through filters. Using that calcuator, I get about 65,000 - 70,000 litres per annum. A rough figure from wastage from 'first flush' deducted. The sump capacity is about 7000 litres.  We will be using municipal water supply usually but during the regular rainy season, I stop the supply and utilize rainwater which keeps topping up the sump. See more.....

Wild Elephants run amok in Mysore City!

Morning of June 8, 2011, the news about a few (wild) elephants which had entered the city was spreading like wildfire all over.  Our mobile phone received a call too. Those who had cable TV network were watching live coverage of the 'event'. The local TV cameraman was there to catch the action. See more....

Clocks and Watches

The clock has always been a curious object wherever it is.  I grew up admiring a few of them at home as they ticked and showed time, effortlessly. I also used to wonder how they worked and what made them tick.  When I was old enough I discovered it when I laid my hands on them.

(Read more... in three parts/posts)

Zoology Practical Dissection

I have always been one - not one in a million, but among millions! -  to nauseate and run miles at the sight of a cockroach, leave alone slap at it with a broom when they were sighted in our house in their nocturnal outings.  [Read more...]

Hotel Dasaprakash at Chennai to go

....... I had to read it with some curiosity because the great Hotel now stands for sale to give way to a multi-storey residential complex in a multi crore project.  My curiosity about this was because of its imprint in my memory from 27-4-1966 .... (read more.. )

Dasara Festival Doll Show

The festival of Dasara in our part of India is a very traditional one.  It is a time when all the toys and dolls go on show in our homes.  The festival usually comes in the end of September or early October. 

read on....

I happened to see a cyclist speed through. Suddenly I heard a man shouting ‘catch him’, sprinting towards me for help because he saw me 'on the blocks' of my scooter. By the time he could explain, gasping, the ‘cyclist’ had vanished in darkness (.....continue reading)

The typewriter

The one thing that fascinated me in his office was the typist who 'click-clacked' on the machine with some speed but with some pauses as he looked into the document beside him to decipher some words . Sometimes my grandfather would take me and others .... Read more...

The irrepressible "Congress groundnuts"

Pointing to the bottle, he would say "Give me 250 grams of this." There were other bottles containing whole nuts coated with salt and red chilli and spiced-puffed rice (mandakki puri and avalakki puri). This 'Congress' comes with the seed separated into its two halves and the recipe suited this. Read more...

The Tale Of Two Cities !!

I was in Baroda recently, I just couldnt help but notice how similar this city is to our very own Mysuru ! with so many connections it could just surprise you !!

The Mahrajas

Sayaji Rao Road, the main thoroughfare in Mysore is named after the Maharaja of Baroda, Sayaji Rao Gaekwad, The legendary Maharaja is said to have been adopted by the Royal family. The story goes that as a young boy he was asked by the queen as to why he was called to the Palace and the boy grandly announced with confidence , ‘I have come here to rule !!’

RMW Turns One !!!

Its Anniversary time at Royal Mysore Walks today !! Yeah you are right, I missed the Fools day by a day Anniversaries are always great, You are happy you are still together and more importantly its been the time you have spent together. Looking back at the same time a year back I recollect trying to run against time to get the route and the content of the Walks finalized, the website up and face the press at the release with a million last minute glitches and eventually present to the world, Royal Mysore Walks !! my Walking tour venture.