While achieving minor fame on the side, I was able to check out some of Bangalore's sights with various relations (and get some more "Back the Bid" photos). Meeting up with a cousin, we went for dinner to "UB City" - a mini-Manhattan in the heart of Bangalore built by Vijay Mallya - owner of United Breweries (of "Kingfisher" fame)/tycoon/India's answer to Richard Branson - on the site of an old UB brewery.
It is like stepping into another continent. One minute you're driving down a half-built road inhabited by half-brained drivers driving half-smashed cars in what is best described as "classical" India - the next minute you're in the plushest New York city centre shopping complex with clean crisp multi-story parking, classy restaurants and outdoor piazzas and ultra-modern glass towers surrounding you - the tallest of which is a model of the Empire State Building. You've gotta take your hats of to Mallya - the guy's his own self-proclaimed brand ambassador - he doesn't need celebrities to endorse the Kingfisher brand when he's living the dream himself. For example, a few years back for his 50th birthday, he hosted a mammoth party in his bungalow in Goa. As you do, it was decided that a fly-by of Kingfisher Airlines' latest Airbus fleet should be organised, so a few phone calls were made and Goa airspace was closed for half an hour while 10 jet airliners cruised around Panaji. In India, great wealth always equals great power...
Roaming around with my uncle during the day(s), we also managed to check out some of the city's historical eating establishments, including Koshy's on St. Mark's Road - around since 1940 and caterers to HM Queen Elizabeth and the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; and Mavalli Tiffin Rooms - a quality thali joint on Lalbagh Road that represents the home of the MTR brand, now known internationally for various powdered spices, coffee, and various other pre-packaged bits and bobs. A quick Google search suggests they've even done well enough to have their own Wikipedia page!
Just down the road from MTR is one of Bangalore's landmark sights - the Lalbagh Botanical Gardens. The self-styled "Lung of the City" is a huge park right in the middle of town that features - as you would expect from a Botanical Garden - all sorts of plantlife from pretty much every climate across the world. It is always nice to be able to wander around an area that, despite being slap bang in the middle of one of Asia's busiest cities, has the peace and tranquility of the middle of the ocean - the cooling breeze lifting off the park's lake combined with the swathes of shade provided by towering canopies of tropical trees transport you to a whole new place - open space, clean air, quiet... it's all so anti-Bangalore!While Lalbagh Gardens was a spectacular showcase for the flora of the region, a Sunday afternoon safari trip to Bannerghatta National Park very much ticked to fauna box. After shifting residence from one cousin's place to another on Friday night, we went on a big family trip - about an hour and a half's drive to the south of the city. The place must be about 1000+ acres, and is divided into various reserve enclosures for different animals. In a manner somewhat similar to Jurassic Park, you hop on board a safari bus and head off into the wilderness. Every so often you reach a gateway that opens up into another gate - a sort of double door mechanism to stop any of the big cats/bears escaping and going on a rampage - but within the gates you are treated to groundhogs and bison; bears; lions; tigers; and white tigers, in enclosures 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively.
As I say, the enclosures are huge - once you're inside it is very much like you're out in the open savanna, and the bus driver uses his experience to spot various animals at a distance where possible. But occasionally, as anyone who's been on a safari will know, you're lucky enough to catch one up close an personal... and the thrill of my life came as we were approaching the exit gate of the final enclosure.
Kotching on the floor by the gate sat not one, not two, but three tigers. Two white, one red; both looking straight at our bus as it approached. It's worth pointing out that these vehicles are massively re-enforced around the window and engine regions, but you can't help feeling the adrenaline flow as you pull up literally 2 metres away from these three bad boys - sitting, flexing their colossal thigh muscles and generally looking like they owned the joint. The red one in particular had the sort of "I'm the Boss" look of unadulterated power that is blatantly thinking, "I could absolutely munch these guys". There are some killer photos, and they will appear very soon (they're uploaded on the computer, so they actually will be there soon!).
The final chapter of Bangalore before the morning's train journey to Mangalore was a stop at Fanoo's, another famous haunt at Johnson Market. It is no exaggeration to say I've eaten my fair share of kebabs of all varieties in my time, and I was fast arriving at the conclusion that kebabs of the seekh variety obtained perfection at a nondescript restaurant on Drummond Street (near Euston Station in London). However, sitting in the back seat of my cousin's car with his younger son* on my lap, I had a gastronomic revelation on a par with sliced bread. This seekh kebab was perfection wrapped in paper. Apparently the one I had was a "jumbo" size - I could have devoured about 5 on the spot. If rumours of a larger, "mumbo-jumbo" variety are true, my next trip to Bangalore could well be fast-tracked...
* My cousin's younger son - Kevin, 9 - provided an interesting repost to my views on Wayne Rooney. While his elder brother Brian has made use of the wisdom provided by his extra years and supports Manchester United, Kevin has - for some unfathomable reason - decided to support Chelski...
DR: "Wayne Rooney is the best footballer in the Premiership... he's pretty much God's Gift to football"
KF: "Wayne Rooney is a multi-coloured gorilla. And you're also a multi-coloured gorilla.".
The Oxford Union awaits...
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