Where was I all this time?

It was the 11th of April, 2012. They arrived late in the evening. I'd been waiting for this day for a long time.

I had always taken great pride at Bangalore's calm and pleasant climate and never missed a chance to boast about it. Yet when my parents and brother came down to pay a visit on my birthday in April, it was really really hot. Minus the loo, it was no less than the scorching summer in the north. That wasn't a problem for me. I'm used to roaming around in the sun. But that gave ma a wonderful chance to pass innuendos about how perfect Bangalore's weather was as she was the one who had to stand my unending Bangalore-praises the most. Fair enough!

We reached the hotel pretty late and as soon as we were done with dinner my phone started buzzing and it didn't stop until almost dawn- birthday wishes for the birthday girl after all. 

Next day we started our Bangalore bhraman and our first stop was Lalbagh botanical garden. I realized that it was in the culture of the sultans who reigned parts of Karnataka to encourage gardening and plantation, which is really great because it runs down even now it seems. I'm sure that's the reason why Bangalore is still so green.

Glass house, Lalbagh garden. Ma was saying it was filled with all sorts of colorful flowers (I'm very bad with flower types and breeds) the last time she came some twenty years ago. The place had been cleared now. Bad!

I overheard some guide explaining to a group of tourist that these trees are very very old. I wasn't amazed at first. I mean what's there to be amazed about a natural thing that is old. But when I touched a tree a thought crossed my mind. A silly compelling thought. Somebody, more than a hundred years ago, might have been taking shade under this same damn tree. Who knows it might have been my own previous incarnation. Déjà vu !!

Before you say it, I know I'm stupid.

A temple over a rocky rise in Lalbagh garden.

Tipu palace opened my eyes to a totally different side of Bangalore, the historical side. It kind of made me wonder for a while if this was the same city I had been living for almost a year.

Those dark teak wooden pillars seemed to have been freshly painted and gave a stark contrast against those red walls making it all the more pleasing, aesthetically speaking. 

A rustic wall with intricate designs in Tipu palace.

From there we went to the Bull's eye temple and the museum and, probably because of the heat, were absolutely exhausted after it and headed to Forum to lunch with a cousin.

UB city. I used to think these are the only kind of amazing places that existed in Bangalore. Glad to know that I was wrong.

We had to wake up early the next day, Mysore being our destination. But on the way we stopped at a few other places of interest. Gumbaz, Srirangapatnam was our first stop. 

Gumbaz is the chamber where Tipu Sultan had been buried along with his parents.

This picture brings out the milieu around the place. Serene and calm.

Of course I had no clue what those inscriptions meant but Urdu is beautiful. Wish I could read it too.

As we started heading towards Mysore, the driver suggested we take a slight detour and visit the holy Sangam of the branches of river Cauvery. Totally worth it. While people were taking holy dip in the river I just touched the water and rubbed it in my head. Enough to wash away my petty li'l sins. 

The three musketeers making their way to Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple, Srirangapatnam. Yes, we were still at Srirangapatnam but the driver promised that after this and Chamundi Hills we weren't stopping anywhere else. He didn't want us to miss anything you see. Later of course we came to know the real reason for the delay. He had never been to Mysore. 

Stone carved pillars inside the temple. Awesome! 

Poised and elegant in her burkha at Dariya Daulat Bagh, Srirangapatnam. You heard it right. Srirangapatnam!

The Mysore Palace!!! Heard about it all my life and saw innumerable pictures of it in postcards. Finally seeing it for real was indeed surreal. The museum inside had amazing paintings and artifacts of that time. Of course we weren't allowed camera inside otherwise my blog would have been full of it.

Our last place of visit was the Vrinadavan garden. We waited and waited and waited for the fountains and lights to start until all our patience was over. We'd decided to leave but then our driver went missing. He wasn't even picking up the phone. Confused and worried we returned back inside and saw that the lights had started. A pretty sight it was. Good that we came back. And even the driver called after a while giving all lame excuses for not picking up the phone. Nevertheless, we went to Mysore and came back safe with a driver who had never been to the place. And yes, I did have a wonderful time with my family. 

Their last day was mostly dedicated to social visits and shopping. Slowly and steadily the thought started dawning in...They would be leaving the next day.... A little sad and glad (that they were still there) the day flew by fast. It wasn't long after they'd left early the next morning that I found myself holding back tears, missing them already, cursing my job for forcing me to stay away, wishing I could somehow go with them, not daring to take a look at these pictures and wondering when would be the next time I'd see their faces again. 

Not less than a month later I was back home. Tadaa!!!