An Itinerant Trainer

I am basically an itinerant rainer going wherever I am called teaching whatever I know to people who desire to know. My peregrinations have once again brought me to the Garden City.

Banglore is cool and pleasant. It is once again the Air Conditioned city I remember it to be except that, in those days the AC effect began even as early as July.

Here is a nice quote about learning and knowledge sent by my friend Lalitha a Bangalorean herself:

“For the one who knows to be able to teach the one who knows not, first the one who knows must know that he or she does not know all things; second, the one who knows not must know that he or she is not ignorant of everything. Without this dialectical understanding of knowledge and ignorance, it is impossible, in a progressive, democratic outlook, for the one who knows to teach the one who knows not.” Paulo Friere – in Pedagogy of Hope

Bangalore

I am now in Bangalore. The weather's definitely chilly and the wind's a bit nippy. I took this photo near Ambedkar Bhavan in Basant Nagar.

Bengaluru is Cool Again!

23.07.2010

The sharp chillness in the air hit me fully on the face as I got down from the Bangalore Mail at the City Station, Bengaluru. This is signature weather of the Garden City this early morning biting cold that makes the teeth chatter and numbs the body and mind. I am here to conduct aa programme on Cost Control and Cost Reduction Techniques.

Bangalore Weather

19.05.2010

The weather at Bangalore today is definitely cooler and cloudy. The oppressive heat which made one sweat and suffocate yesterday has now become the usual cool weather of Bangalore with occasional showers and wind. This is too early in the year for rain at Bangalore. Rain sets in around June here. Maybe it is a fall out of the Cyclone in TN which, I am told is sending extraordinary rainfall to Chennai! Well…don’t we need any rain that we can get?

Playing Cricket

18.05.2010

I am in Bangalore for handling sessions at the ICAI Chapter here. In the evening on my way back from Basant Nagar, my Autorikshastopped at a signal. I was hemmed in by vehicles on all sides which made the already warm weather pretty hot. I was casually looking around when on my immediate left, I saw a group of boys playing cricket in an open space beyond a crumbling wall. They were using the wide trunk of tall tree as their stumps. The pleasant peaceful game in that sylvan surrounding amidst the traffic noise, sounds, heat, dust and tension of the city caught my fancy. So I immediately snapped it from my auto!

Bengaluru is Becoming Hot!

I am now in Bengaluru for conducting a corporate training workshop. I usually love these sojourns to Bengaluru mainly for the salubrious weather of the Garden City. But Bengaluru today presents a dismal picture. The sub beats down mercilessly on the roads, now almost denuded of any tree cover. But for the public parks, where, mercifully, the trees flourish, the rest of Bengaluru seems naked without those giant trees.

One reason, of course, is the need for wider roads to handle the traffic flow that is expanding geometrically. The huge bridge coming up over M.G. Road above the Brigade-M.G.Road crossing and further down is the ultimate eyesore. M.G. Road will never be the same for me again. I still remember, with pleasure, the leisurely and fun filled walks I’ve had in the evenings on this busy road.

The sharp chillness that is always in the air in Bengaluru is gone to be replaced by a sticky heat that tires you down. This coupled with the grime and dust from the incessant traffic emissions is recipe for ecological damage of a once wonderful city.

The Four Gates of Lalbagh

18.07.2009.

I was in Bangalore on a training assignment.

In the evening I went for a stroll in Lal Bagh. I was accompanied by my friend from

long ago. She had suggested that I come to

the West Gate to meet her. We walked together in companionable conversation discussing our mutual interests: a love for nature, poetry and good literature. While I am also interested in social issues, our views differ on this. She prefers activism and direct action in supporting the down trodden, while I prefer an approach that would enable people to become self sufficient and proactive.

As you must be aware Lal Bagh has four Gates:

The Main Gate which attracts most tourists.

The Double Road Gate which leads to a small hillock and thereafter the mai

n gardens. This is equally popular. The other two gates are less popular but offer natural attractions that are worth a look.

The West Gate, which gives access to the

small curved lake that is home to numerous birds. There are ducks, cormorants, pond herons and kingfishers.

The pathway that runs round the lake is a regular space for both Bangalore Walkers as well as Lovers. The Elephant grass thickets around the lake and a natural dyke raising in the landscape effectively conceal this lake and hence most “tourists” do not venture beyond the “main attraction”—The Glass House.

My friend mentioned a visit to the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary near Delhi when she saw people driving straight down the reserve to see a rare Australian bird and then make a bee line for the exit without pausing to enjoy the othe sights. It appeared as if they wore blinkers and were totally oblivious to the other equally interesting birds that my friend and her group saw as they cycled down the reserve park.

We quit Lal Bagh when it was almost dark through The Siddhapur Gate. This is a desolate and barren areaof the park least frequented by visitors both local and tourists possibly because this gate gives access to slums and othe lower income areas. But the peace and tranquility of the park is best enjoyed here where there is more opportunity to listen to the “Voice of Nature.”