An evening in Bangalore

Weekends can get a little too boring at times. It was to kill boredom that I decided to go and watch the flower show at Lalbagh. I thought of taking some pictures of all the exotic flowers on display and took my camera along. But the place was so hopelessly crowded that I hardly got a chance to get close to any flowers. Every time I was almost there, somebody would push or pull and I had no choice but to get out of the line. I don't have super steady hands, and I found it really difficult to get a decent picture at full zoom, without camera shake. So I decided to look elsewhere for subjects.

Everyone was so busy capturing the flowers that no one noticed all the people who were taking the pictures. It was fun to see so many people huddling around the flowers, twisting and turning in all kinds of impossible angles, to get a clear shot. So, while the crowd was after the flowers, I started clicking the crowd. As I approached one of the stalls that sells orchids and plant seeds, I noticed this little girl who was running around with her older siblings. She looked like a fairy, in a golden gown among the flowers and flower pots. I couldn't help clicking some pictures of her, but there wasn't a moment she stood still. She was having a jolly good time playing amidst all the flowers. The only picture I could manage showed her in some pensive mood, with an eerie feeling written all over her face. It wasn't at all representative of the mood she was in then. Though shaken, I liked the picture a lot and it now serves as the screen saver on my comp.

I waited a long time around the flower stalls to get a clear picture of this fairy child, but she was soon gone. People were already looking at me with suspicion as I was lingering around the area with my camera. I called it quits and walked towards the lake. There were some turquoise-blue colored birds on the other side of the lake, among the tall grass by the water. I jumped the fence and got in as close as possible through the rocks, to get a good glimpse of these beauties, but they too soon retreated to the comfort of the thick bushes. The sun was doing its last lap by this time and slowly disappeared behind the treeline. The palm trees around the lake cast a nice reflection in the water and the orange hue of the horizon gave the park a dramatic look. It was a beautiful evening.

Can't blame the people who throng the gardens and parks on a weekend; this is the only whiff of fresh air and sight of greenery they get to see in an otherwise monotonous life in the concrete jungle. For the kids, this is a rare opportunity to run a few hundred yards without hitting a concrete wall or running into an automobile. Is it me whining again? As the crowd was getting thinner, I quickly took a few shots of the flowers and was on my way back home.