Bangalore Photowalk 5.0

For the fifth edition of Bangalore photowalk Karthik was planning to include a place brimming with people, flowers and puja items during festival season. But just before the plan was about to materialize Karthik moved out of Bangalore transferring the responsibility to me. Last thursday, I was just having a hi-bye chat with Karthik(in Gurgoan), the discussion switched to photowalks and I realized that coming Sunday was last Sunday of August. On the fly, I made a route in Google maps with starting point as Bull Temple and ending point as Gandhibazaar circle. After getting nod from Karthik, I posted about the walk in bangalore metblogs and also sent a mail to members of Bangalore photowalk e-group. The main agenda of the walk was to capture festive spirit at Gandhibazaar market. The other significance of the route was that we included a place(Bull Temple) with a historical story(Read the story at The Bull and the Bugle). I added more value to the agenda by proposing to end the walk by having masala dosas at Vidyarthi Bhavan.

Inspite of very short notice, I got mails from around 15 people confirming their participation and on Sunday morning eight people turned up. First we visited bull temple, and after offering prayers we moved on to adjacent Bugle Rock park. The park turned to be a treat for photo enthusiasts. The large number of bats suspending from branches of tree canopy was a distinct subject to shoot. Sandeep(Gokhale) decided to stay in park itself getting knowledge transfer from Mallikarjun and rest of us continued the walk. Before coming out of the park, we took photos of memorials of Dr. DVG and Jnanapeeta awardees.

The walk continued in roads of Basavanagudi, first on police station road and then on DVG road. Within no time we reached Gandhibazaar market. There we took snaps of Ganesha idols on sale, shops dedicated for puja items and of course flowers. After a few minutes we decided to enter Vidyarthi bhavan concluding the photowalk officially. In Vidyarthi Bhavan, it more than 15 minutes for getting a place to sit, but it is worth the wait because nowhere else one can taste thick and crispy masala dosas(Read more at Masala Dosa-Vidyarthi Bhavan).

Thanks to Tom and his aunt, Vasuki Rao, Sandeep Gokhale, Mallikarjun, Sam, Chippu, Siddharth for participating in the photowalk. Looking forward to conduct next photowalk with more participants on board. There have been a few suggestion to conduct a very early morning photowalk in Kalasipalya and a late evening walk in commercial street. Have to work on that by discussing with previous participants in the e-group.

Raveesh one of my blogger buddy asked my what's the point in having so many photowalks. Well, it's a monthly event I feel there is no overdose and doesn't matter with the inherent benefits.

• To meet new like minded people and learn new things related to photography. I am sure that in fifth photowalk Sandeep(Gokhale) would have benefitted a lot by spending time with Mallikarjun. Personally, in last few walks I have got sufficient info about various models, brands of camera and lenses. It's a valuable info for a person looking forward to buy a SLR in few months.
• No time constraint: When we are on a visit to a place in Bangalore with our friends/family there will be conflict of interest with respect to amount of time spent on a particular place. One can't really concentrate on taking correct photographs. In photowalks there are no compulsions. If you wanna stay at a place for longer time, no one will force you to move on from a place.
• License to shoot: The beauty of urban photography is the inclusion of people in the frame. If a photographer is alone, usually he/she will be concious to take out his camera in public place. But the self-consciousness can be easily annulled when a person is in a big group. And above all there will a implicit license to shoot whatever is happening on the road.
• Low brow eat-out: There are many famous low brow eat-outs in Bangalore. The idea of ending the walk at a low brow eat-out has been well received by participants. Generally these places will be crowded and based on personal experience I feel going with family or friends to the place is not desirable. But in photowalks you will have company of like minded people and can discuss interesting stuffs while waiting for the turn.

Breaking the jinx:
This is not exactly related to Photowalk. But the fifth photowalk has enabled to break my one of the longest jinx i.e. getting inside the Bull Temple. Staying just five minutes walk from the temple, I have never been inside! So many times I have walked in front of the temple but due time constraint the visit never materialized. There are many similar jinx w.r.t places in Bangalore. Looking forward to break them and also to share the same here.