Remembering Miss Lingoleela

For those of you who might not know Miss.Lingoleela.....was the character played by the Radio Jockey Priya Ganapathy on Radio City 91.1FM in Bangalore...It was the good old college days and we used to be hooked to the different shows on this FM, this was a snippet 'The daily kannada ward by Miss.lingoleela' where she teaches the audience the kannada slang, as she put it, her task was to educate the peepols about the lochales language. She was SSLC passed but currently unemplaaayed. A new word was taught every day…. though this was for the outsiders to get a taste of the slanguage, it amused a lot of us kannadigas and was a perfect coffee time chit chat.

Words like bombaat, sakkathu, jinkchak,ghoostlu, kireek, bejaan and many more became a part of our day-to-day conversation....some known, some new. A sentence was also framed in the show which showed the usage of the word...Perfect!!! You even know the context in which it could be used!!! There were mixed responses in the audience.....some totally loved her, some disliked the misuse of the language...but the show went on.. I don't have an idea of how many such daily words were taught….. but it went on for months or may be a year!

Someone has  had put up a list of a few words and the meanings on this page which I think thought was hilarious….. Take a look and laugh out!
- Lesson learnt to have a local copy of web pages you like and not bank on the links. 

The Girl Can't Help It!

My usual routine on Saturday mornings is a walk along the Church street market to get fresh vegetables, and essentials for the week ahead. It has always been nice to stroll along open markets with people trying to sell fancy footwear, discounted clothes, varieties of cheese, chocolates, oils, pungent perfumes, colourfully laid out vegetables & fruits, grand though economical carpets, day-to-day stuff like cleaning liquids to shower gels to bin liners to tissues. One can also pick plants & flowers from these street shops or any other decorative items for the living room. There is a complete buzz about this place as you can see vendors calling out for
passers-by to pick the big deals they have to offer...for those whose taste buds go active on the smell of food can have a bite at the burritos & kebab stall.

The street would routinely turn into a pedestrian zone and one can see the vendors coming in vans, carts to build their make-shift shop for the day. Then, they would meticulously lay out their goods for display and start their day. The steps are reversed at pack-up time..... Imagine doing this everyday - I would not be successful even for a week. Kudos!!! to these guys who do it day in and day out.


Another important characteristic of this place are the antique shops here selling furniture, mirrors, clocks, vases, jewellery, clothes, rugs, carpets, decorative items and so on... The Alfie's Antique market is a world of its own. One of the shops which really caught my eyes was the store called 'The Girl Can't Help it' - wow! What a name and it stood for what it had….. there were hats, dresses, footwear, glasses, jewellery all from ages long ago....I couldn't relate to any of the clothes there but well... it took me back in time…...it definitely gives you the idea of the
styles that existed and a piece of the glamour world back then....

All this put together..... Starting from shopping for essentials, for day-to-day living, to the fancy side of things like antiques...it shows direct proportionality about the girl, the lady, the woman who really can't help it!!! - can't help but shop!!!!

Winter Wonderland

Winter was here...the month of December is for many reasons the best month during the winter, it's festive with Christmas around the corner, the New Year's would soon follow, lots of holidays, celebrations everywhere, gifts, decorations, partying, less work and all things nice. On the other hand January is the most dreaded month - all celebrations over, no more holidays, festivals for a long long time....Just as we wait for January to get over, the weather reports say that the Winter progresses into February and we just start the countdown of 6-7 weeks of winter remaining....

On the night of Feb 2nd and the early hours of Feb 3rd it was a complete Whiteout. UK experienced the heaviest snowfall in 18years; it was my first major one…. There was 15cms of Snow settled -clean and white.... all around us. It gave us all a playground of a different kind, everyone forgot of the ongoing economic crisis, about work, about all tensions.... and played like kids...
Having listened to the song from the past few months - it was indeed 'Walking in a Winter Wonderland'....
Take a peek at some of the shots I could capture….

National Gallery @ Trafalgar Square


The garden in our Courtyard


Streets of London


The Big Ben as seen from Trafalgar Square


Icing Sugar on the Houses of Parliament & Big Ben

Turkish Delight

We planned for a holiday and I was asked where I would have liked to go….The first thing that came to my mind was - let's go home to India. But, well, that was not possible and was not the idea of having a holiday at that point. So, here were the options to check on, Firstly, it had to be a place which was warmer than it is in London, it had to be a place not as far as India, preferably a place which we both have not seen, a place which each of us at some point thought of as a place to go to, not a place which would create a hole in the pocket....there were other factors too - are we going to get leave from work, will it fall in our budget, do the dates fit in well and so on.... after all this thought process, we finally concluded on the place and it sounded like there couldn't have been a better option considering all the above.... it had to be Istanbul.
Many asked us - why Istanbul ( of all the places) ... but we went on....

One of the oldest cities on earth, it has a huge history.... was called Byzantium, Constantinople and now Istanbul. The city is set to have built on 7 hills with the Marmara Sea on one side, the golden Horn on the other and the Bosphorours River to the north - the city is magnificently situated around the union of these three main water bodies. The land and water complement each other - and this makes the city one of a kind.

We stayed on the European side - near Eminomu- this was the old city....The Blue mosque and the Aya Sophia stood admiring each other’s glory, the view from the Galata tower was breathtaking , the typical Bird eye view of the city....the cruise ride on the bosphorous was amazing... the Bosphorous bridge shouts out as the conduit between Asia and Europe....The hustle bustle of the cafes on the Galata bridge is unforgettable, the Grand Bazaar is unique and proves that it is indeed world's biggest indoor market, the colorful spices of the Egyptian/Spice Market holds you back and the blue choppy waters makes you visit again!

Few illustrations here…...


Aya Sofia


Blue Mosque as seen from Aya Sofia


Spice Market - Turkish Delight, Spices, Teas


Inside the Grand Bazaar


Panoramic View from Galata Tower


From the Galata Tower - see the Asian side of Turkey


The Old City as seen from the new



A Pretzel Cart- you can see them everywhere


A view of the Galata Tower & The new City

A lazy afternoon at Regent's Park

One of the positive things about living in Central London is it's proximity to some of the very well known attractions of the world. The place steeps in History and one can notice the architecture, the design of ages long ago.

Apart from the many buildings, the palaces, the riverside, cathedrals, the city boasts of having almost 30% (not sure of the exact percentage) of green spaces.
One of the Royal Parks - the Regent's Park is just about a 10minute walk from home and on a sunny afternoon one weekend, I decided to stroll along with my camera and capture a few shots of the boating lake, the greenery around, the relaxed lifestyle of the people here - see them on.

Coffee Shop

I am trying hard not to write another post about coffee....well, I just go weak when I see coffee...now, the inspiration behind blogging this one after such a long time is a small coffee shop that I am now at.
Life, work has been taking me to places that I never dreamed of, had never heard of, had never known its existence...strange are the ways of life. Never had I thought that I would be sitting here in a small coffee shop in the small town of Newport in South Wales overlooking the town market, some hills, a church, the train station hearing occasional chugging of trains...yes.. all this in one view. Isn't that wonderful?
Well....one side of it is the place, the other is the coffee..what else would you like in a chill weather than a hot cup of coffee on a comfortable couch and free wi-fi!!! God! I couldn't have asked for more to start writing this blog.
Well....there are some nice things in life....but one cant get everything....somehow my thoughts now go towards the people I am really fond of,my close near and dear ones...I am really missing you all....Nothing seems complete without the company of your close ones...isn't it??
Well....you cannot see two faces of the coin at one go! So....need to just see the brighter side of things...
Well.. good ol' fellow bloggers....if you happen to read this, you must be thinking...'what a pathetic attempt' as a come back...well.. i know I know.. I need to get back to some serious blogging....will not be too long this time :)

The Nilgiris Mountain Railway

It's been long since I have written a blog, infact written anything at all. To get rid of the feeling of being annoyed with myself about not updating, here's my attempt to get back to something I loved doing- Blogging!!!!

Last November, I had been to Ooty. It was a desperate effort to make a journey to some place near/far and get away from the basic routine. Ooty is a hot favourite for most Bangaloreans as it is the nearest hill station to the city. So, without thinking twice, I proceeded with my plan. The only thing, I looked forward was to do something different this time around, at Ooty.

Keeping this in mind, I headed to take one of the most coveted journeys in the Indian terrain.....to take a train journey from Ooty to Coonoor...to travel by the "Nilgiris Mountain Railway". The ‘Nilgiris toy train’ connects Ooty to mettupalayam, a town at the foot of the Nilgiris.

It's an awesome experience. I got to enjoy some breathtaking sceneries, it's a ride in the clouds with fresh air surrounding you.

















































The train paces only at about 10kms an hour, passing through tunnels, bridges, tea plantations, the nilgiris trees, small towns....it's a scene which you wouldn't forget for years to come.




























I would say, it's worth going on this tour-a very different experience, very refreshing feeling. Next time, I would like to take the complete tour. Check out more -