May 16 – 17 – A Busy Weekend After All

When I last wrote about May 16th, it was with the impression that our night was going to be a bit dull due to the rain. As it would turn out… that was not the case at all and I had a great time!

 

I headed down to the lobby around six in the evening anticipating the news that we wouldn’t be going shopping. It was still raining (more like drizzling now) and the city was very wet. In Bangalore, rains cause trash that has piled around the streets and building (I think I’ve talked about this before) into the gutters, which then in turn causes the streets to flood. What would otherwise be a thirty minute drive can take over two hours avoiding flooding, other cars, and people walking their motorcycles through a foot or more of water.

 

I met my coworkers, however, and the driver was already here to pick us up and drive us to a shopping district… so it looked like we were going, rain or not! We all piled in, and headed out to “MG Road” (Mahatma Gandhi Road). We started out driving through MG Road, and then to “city market”, which I think was one of the busiest streets I have seen anywhere in the world. Traffic wasn’t bad, but there was a stream of people on both sides that flooded the street much like the water I just discussed. They would flow into traffic, stop full lanes as the moved past each other. Imagine New York sidewalks in commuting hours if the sidewalks were one person wide and a two-lane street in the middle. Our driver asked us if we wanted to shop there, and to some degree I think it would have been fun, but that is also just too many people, too many variables, and we would stick out like a sore thumb. We elected to go back to MG Road, and hit some local stores.

 

We visited a McDonalds as our first stop (which wasn’t my choice!), and while some of the others ate I did sample the french fries, which apparently are the same all over the world. We quickly finished there and walked along to find a local shop. The others had yet to be in the shops and experience the sales pressure they have here, and were quite surprised. To get rid of the salesman, they kept saying things like “well, I don’t have that kind of cash right now” and “I’ll come back later again and get…”, and after we left the first store I suggested that they get accustomed to being rude here. Anything that can be argued, whether it’s that you don’t have the money, that you don’t want to buy it, or that you’d never use it, will be argued tooth and nail here. It’s better not to let the shopkeeper lead the conversation and instead just say “no” and ignore them. It’s worked for me very well! In addition, I suggested they never pay more than 50% of whatever the tag price is… because you can barter for everything here and it worked out extremely well in the second shop I went to. I hadn’t done this the first time, and while I felt I got a good deal the local guys at the office helped me with this same bit of advice. My second day of shopping went much better, and I got a few things that I hope make it back to the US in one piece!

 

From there, we continued shopping in a few local stores and a few brand-name stores you would recognize (one guy wanted to look at Puma shoes, they have store here!). There is also a Starbucks there, but I didn’t get the chance to go just yet. I’m hoping to do that later this week, perhaps that is my McDonalds!

 

We ended up in one last enclosed mall area, which was basically a food court in the center with shops all along the walls, and while three of us were shopping my coworker Joe and I stood in the mall area just taking in the scenery. I mentioned to Joe that I saw a local get stopped by the police on his way into the mall. He simply handed them 200 rupees and they let him continue in. We were trying to decide if he was caught doing something, or if it was a pay-off to ignore what was happening in the mall that night, and it didn’t take long to find out which one. The local started following us immediately standing pretty close behind us. At the time, I think I was the only one who noticed, but I kept turning around and pointedly looking at him, and he would avoid my gaze and suddenly be interested in something nearby. We would enter a shop, and he would wait in the seating area in the middle, and then when we would move, so would he.

 

By the last shop, he’d realized I was watching him as much as the reverse was true, and he hung back and then disappeared. While Joe and I stood alone outside the store (still inside the mall area), he returned with five other guys, all who walked directly toward our group, started discussing between themselves, and stood about four feet away from us blocking the hallway. After about two or three minutes, they stopped talking and walked back towards the entrance of the mall.

 

For a moment, I thought I was just being paranoid, until Joe leaned over to me and said “You know… I think those guys were sizing us up.” Joe didn’t even know the original guy had been a part of the group! I told him I was pretty sure he was right, and it was probably time to go. We suggested the same to the others and we walked out of the mall just as the two police officers who were also in the mall (or supposed to be in the mall) left right in front of us. We didn’t see the group on the way out, and honestly this is the first time I’ve felt unsafe in Bangalore and perhaps Joe and I just made a mountain out of a molehill, but it felt like we had narrowly avoided a run-in of some kind. Back on the street it was busy, nearly 9:30 PM, and we decided it was time to head back to the hotel.

 

Once we got back, we made dinner plans (for Joe and I who didn’t eat at McDonalds) and headed up to Shiro. I’ll have to see if I have any pictures of the inside, I don’t think I do and will get some! Shiro is a Japanese restaurant here that has sushi. I’d been there once before with Brian and we sat outside. This time, due to the ongoing rain, we sat inside and enjoyed the three-story ceiling and 40-foot statues that poured water into the fountains behind our table. It really is a fantastic restaurant. They even had dim sum, which I happily enjoyed! We all had fun that night, and were looking forward to the next day when we had a trip scheduled to go sightseeing in Bangalore.

 

The next morning, we left around 9:00 and headed to the Lalbagh Botanical Gardens. Our driver went with us, and soon we had another unwanted guide that nobody had hired. Well, actually I thought the others in the group had hired him, and truthfully they hadn’t told him “no” so he just sort of went along with us before demanding 750 rupees per person at the end. We bartered him down to 500 each, but our driver said he still probably just went home after that… it was more money than he would usually get in a full day. Regardless, though, the botanical gardens were amazing and it was fun to walk around. They had all sorts of trees and plants, and because it’s an open-air park as well, many of the citizens of India come to the park to play, take pictures, wedding photos, etc., and we were able to get a glimpse of what life looks like on Sunday for many families in and around Bangalore.

 

 

 

 

After the gardens, we went to Bull Temple, which was on a sightseeing list I had come across. It is a holy place, and as we started to head up to the temple we realized no one else was wearing shoes. It turns out it is customary to climb the steps to the temple in your bare feet (socks are okay), and shoes are forbidden in the temple. To the strong objection of one of our coworkers, I lead the group to the “shoe location” (I have no idea if it has an official name) and we left our shoes with all the others. For a fee, the man at the door watches those who come and go and ensures they get the right shoes. Realistically, there is no way this would work, there are just too many people and too many shoes… but all of our shoes were still there when we get back and I can look forward to the same in the Taj Mahal this coming weekend, so I wasn’t too concerned. They would either be there… or they wouldn’t!

 

After heading up the steps to the temple, we followed the line in the “in” section on the left, and got in line to receive a blessing. In the center of the temple was a very large, stone bull. You enter the temple, make a circle around the bull clockwise, and then exit by the same path. The bull is protected by a raised threshold that you step over to enter the temple. Once you step in, They offer to dot your forehead with red, a symbol of the blessing you receive for entering the temple. I declined it, though one of my coworkers did allow him to do so. I think I would have, but it was such a hot day I think the sweat would have interfered with the process! It was quite an experience, though, and it was very interesting to visit.

 

 

 

From Bull Temple, we left for Tipu palace, a mostly wooden structure with amazing arches. For locals, a fee of 5 rupees was charged while for foreigners the fee was 100 rupees. One of my coworkers is of India descent and grew up here, and thought he could get us a cheaper rate if we avoid the ticket counter, and he just buys four tickets. Well… we made it in the gate, and actually began taking some pictures, before the security guards were escorting him back out of the palace.

 

Tipu Palace

 

I’ll take a moment here to say that it’s not really a “palace” as you are probably imagining. It’s about the size of two basketball courts put together and is fully open in the middle all the way through on the top level. Somehow, this made it feel even smaller. The architecture was beautiful, though, and I’m really glad that we went.

My coworker, as it turned out, was able to argue that he had asked for four tickets and they hadn’t told him or asked him anything… so this was their fault. He ended up paying the difference in ticket price, and then was permitted to join us again inside. This was probably not the smartest idea ever… but at least we all got a good story! From then on, we decided we’d just pay whatever was on the sign!

 

 

 

 

Leaving Tipu, we had one more stop before three of my coworkers headed to a cricket match, and that was Bangalore Palace. I can actually see Bangalore Palace from my window at the hotel, and had been very interested to learn more about it. As it ended up, we didn’t really have time for the audio tour but our driver had some knowledge and told us it was the house of one of the last Maharajas of Bangalore, who passed away about six months ago. They have since made it a museum (this conversion was apparently going on even before his death) and it was odd to see a mixture of old and new.

 

 

 

At the same time, the palace was breathtaking and we got some great opportunities for pictures of both people and the palace. It was very elegant, yet some parts of it were definitely showing their age. I think that’s fair to say of all the places we visited. Upkeep has never been the top priority of any place I’ve been in Bangalore and it is my understanding that this is common in most of India. The nice part of the places we visited today was that there was at least no trash around the grounds, typically you’ll see piles… they kept it all very nice, even if the buildings were still showing their age to some degree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And with that… it’s getting to be time for bed again. I’ve got to switch back to a night shift here and start work tonight into tomorrow morning. I’m back on the shift I like more!