When the Building Came Alive

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Kasturi Dhama Apartments — the play area where many evenings came alive. The lights would go out without warning. For a brief second, the entire building would fall silent. Then, from somewhere in Kasturi Dhama Apartments, a chorus would erupt. “Yayyy!” It is difficult to imagine children celebrating a power failure today. But in the Bangalore of the nineties and early 2000s, a power cut did not always feel like an inconvenience. Especially in the late evenings, it felt like permission. Permission to stop whatever we were doing, leave the darkness inside our homes, and step into the building outside. Before Kasturi Dhama became home, we had moved through a few different parts of Bangalore. My family had begun in Srirampuram and Vyalikaval before gradually cementing ourselves in Malleswaram for the next few decades. My earliest memory is of living in a vatara —a Kannada word loosely used for a building or a cluster of homes—on 15th Cross, near Karur Vy...
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Diwali wishes!

My last year's India trip definitely does not feel like a year ago. I had planned my trip in such a way that it coincided with Diwali, and it was well and truly worth it. Here goes some pictures from Diwali 2008 (all pictures taken in Malleswaram, Bangalore) and of course, wishing everyone a very happy Diwali 2009.






Diwali is the festival of lights. No wonder, you see the "Akashdeep" hanging out in abundance!












Flowers are overpriced during festivals, but who cares!












The little fella won't have a tough time selling his earthen ware. Earthen lamps, a common sight during any Indian festival, and during Diwali, you just have to see it to believe it












A neat line of bikes; all are sure shopping in Malleswaram 8th cross











Not very surprising to see the crowded 8th cross street!














The shopping spree continues indefinitely for the next few days










Almost anything and everything available in this little shop













The night is buzzing with activity with the firecrackers lighting up the city in style












A watchful little boy trying his luck with the "Bijli"

Comments

  1. ShubhikaOctober 10, 2009 at 6:18 AM

    So what are your plans for this Diwali?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Praveen KrishnanOctober 10, 2009 at 9:43 AM

    Nothing as of yet, Diwali is landing on a weekday as such!

    ReplyDelete
  3. ShubhikaOctober 11, 2009 at 8:45 AM

    nope its on saturday

    ReplyDelete
  4. KaminiOctober 14, 2009 at 2:19 PM

    These pictures made me feel so homesick!
    Happy Deepavali to you and your family.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Praveen KrishnanOctober 14, 2009 at 6:50 PM

    Thanks a lot Kamini and happy Diwali to you too!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Prashant PrabhuMarch 27, 2016 at 6:25 AM

    All that remains now is Nostalgia of world gone back...I miss the old Bangalore...

    ReplyDelete

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