Lalbagh The Lungs of Bengaluru

'If you haven't been to Lalbagh, you haven't been to Bengaluru', says Ghumakkad.

I have been to Bengaluru a number of times, the first visit being in 1971 for my SSB Interview for joining the Indian Navy. Since then, numerous visits to the growing megapolis have taken place. But one landmark which has retained its charm is Lalbagh aka Lalbagh Botanical Garden.

This morning, courtesy my nephew Ashwin, his wife Swati and their eight-year-old son Kabir, we spent an hour and a half in Lalbagh. Set up in 1870, the garden is the real lung of the city. Sharing few pictures shot during the walk.

Early morning bonding with an eight-year-old

Magical Sun rays.. 

Two is company, father and son

Giant girth, massive roots

You have to crane your neck to look up tall trees

Flowers at a roundabout

Wooden sculpture

Monsoon flowers

Kabir, eight-year-old, leads the way.

Walkways that belong to you!

As the Sun comes up

A walk around Lalbagh is incomplete without a bite at SLV in Banashankari. King size Idlis which are extremely soft and equally large size Vadas which are crisp and yummy are a delight. Eaten with only one type of coconut chutney, it is a real treat. Some more pictures follow.

Simple menu, large clientale!

The queue for billing..

Thank you the Bhatnagar family for making it happen.

So next time you are in Bengaluru, don't miss Lal Bagh and the Idlis at SLV.

Real joy of life.

Thanks for browsing.

Stay connected and do leave a comment.

   - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Swati/ Bengaluru/ 30th Aug 2026

#bengaluru #Lalbagh #BotanicalGarden #MorningWalk #LungsOfACity #fitness #health #SouthBangalore #ghumakkadharsh #ghumakkahb

Yoga Mat With A Bandage

Ever seen a yoga mat with a bandage?

Does it indicate a wounded  mat?

Or, is the user of the mat hurt?

Well, neither. Then what?

While Ghumakkad was doing the attender's duty in the hospital (Neeta was admitted for spinal surgery), there was no way of doing any exercise. Duty nurse couldn't help me with either the gym or a yoga mat. I then borrowed a yoga mat from my nephew living close by. However, the driver brought it without a strap to tie it after rolling back. Now what? I asked the nurse for a twine. The closest she could get was a roll of sterilised six-inch wide cotton bandage! So, there I was- folding the bandage and tying it around the yoga mat every morning after use. Much like dressing a wound every day!

The patient and the mat came back home. The picture below shows the mat in our verandah. Who knew that the patient, who was recovering well, would suddenly pass away exactly a month after this picture was taken? Well, God's ways. Readers may browse their tributes to Neeta in the earlier story 'We will miss you forever'.

As you may have made out, yoga has been Ghumakkad's favourite way to keep fit whether at home, while travelling or in the hospital. Sharing below some of our earlier stories related to yoga:

Grandpa Needs No Gym

How A Blind Dog Lets You Do Yoga

Yoga - India's Gift To The World

Golf And Yoga

Learn Yoga And Find The Right Life Partner

We end with a quote from Bhagwat Gita which says 'Yoga is a journey of the self through the self to the self'

It is all about finding peace in this chaotic world. Peace in your mind which controls you. Yoga is your life partner even when the other life partner passes away.

Thanks for browsing.

   -  Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ Secunderabad/ 17th Oct 2024

#yoga #mind #control #selfcontrol #peacewithin #chaos #yogamat #fitness #life #death #retainingfocus #lifegoeson #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh

You helped Ghumakkad cross 150,000

You made it happen! Each one of you- the readers of Ghumakkad's blog- did it. 

Ghumakkad crosses 150,000 page views. No big deal. Numbers don't matter. But the smiles on your faces, added happiness in your lives and sharing your insights with us-- all of this matters. It gives us joy in the journey of life. Milestones will come and go. But the journey continues. Journey of discovery and learning together.

From a mere picture travelogue started six years ago, your blog now has a broader canvas with 310 posts. Has Ghumakkad kept pace with change- the only constant in life? The answer is yes. We have added 'guest stories' during the past year. Links to some of the guest stories as well as other posts in 12 sections are given below:

• Guest Stories (Hiking in a stream by a 10-year old, Winning the hearts by an Army Officer, Encounter with a Tiger by Koushik Gopinath)
• Travel (Bhutan, Hampi-Saga in Stone, Belgaum, What's new in Goa, Kumbhalgarh-Pride of Mewar, Ranakpur-Marvel in Marble, Taj@Dawn, USA-Casinos, USA-Camping)
• Wildlife (Africa, Sloth Bear, Tigress of Tadoba, Birds of Ranganathittu)
• Environment (Port Blair Flora and fauna, Friendly Munias,Rescuing an injured Bat, Learning from Caterpillars)
• Joy of Giving (College alumni felicitate their gurus, Hand-me-ups from a grandson)
• Learning and teaching (Plants and Leadership, Bringing realism in the classroom, Startup Management, Learning from students, Life beyond an ECG)
• Picturesque Quotes (PQs) (Love All, Play to Learn, Be like a Duck, Love is...)
• Obituaries (Dr Abdul Kalam, Dr PM Bhargava, Elfo our dog)
• Reunions (Navy, College-BITS, Campus BITS Goa)
• Fitness (Guava's Power, Grandpa's Gym, Why Golf, Hiking, Scuba Diving at 65)
• Poems (Ansh enters the Teens, So what if I can not see, Our Little Princess is three)
• Books by Ghumakkad (BITS of Success) 

In today's world of analytics, Ghumakkad can't be left behind. Thanks to Google analytics, here are some stats on our growth, all time favourite stories, audience, access devices and technology.

Once again, our gratitude to each of you for taking us where we are today. So many of you are regular readers of our blog. We would have loved to mention names but the list would go into pages. Kindly accept this as personal acknowledgement of your continued support. If we have brought some cheer in your life, we have succeeded. We would welcome more contributions from readers worldwide. Guest stories are given due credit. Ghumakkad only provides the platform.

From 150,000 to 300,000 and beyond- we will keep climbing with your support. Stay connected.

Thanks for browsing,

    -  Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 16th October 2018

#150000pageviews #ghumakkadharsh @ghumakkadhb #travelblog #blogofindia #nature #wildlife #travel #photowalks

The 100,000 Mark

Time to say thanks again!
Before we could realise, Ghumakkad- your blog- has crossed the 100,000 page views mark! No big deal in cyber world. But big deal for us because we are non-political, non-religious, non-celebrity, non-commercial! We create happiness in readers' lives- or so they say!

Thanks for being the key part in this exciting journey of  discovery and learning! 'Learning together' is Ghumakkad's motto as evident from his logo.

What started as a travelogue-sharing platform five years ago, now has  a wider flavour. Reproducing the canvas of our blog from our 5th Anniversary post two months ago.
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We invite you to sample some of the stories spanning various aspects of our life. You may click to browse any of the posts hyper-linked in parenthesis:

• Travel (Bhutan-Thimpu and beyond, Munnar-Kerala, What's new in Goa, Changing face of Jaipur, USA-Casinos, USA-Camping)

• Wildlife (Africa- The Big Five, Tigress of Tadoba, Birds of Ranganathittu, Ranthambhor Tigers)

• Environment (Port Blair Flora and fauna, Friendly Munias,Rescuing an injured Bat, Learning from Caterpillars)

• Learning and teaching (Plants and Leadership, Bringing realism in the classroom, Social Entrepreneurship, Learning from students, Life beyond an ECG)

• Picturesque Quotes (PQs) (Rose petals and Life, Nature,Darkness, Patience)

• Obituaries (Dr Abdul Kalam, Kushwant Singh, Elfo our dog)

• Books by Ghumakkad (BITS of Success)

• Reunions (Navy, College-BITS, Campus BITS Goa)

• Fitness (Yoga and life partner, Grandpa's Gym, Why Golf,Hiking, Scuba Diving at 65)

• Poems (Ansh enters the Teens, So what if I can not see, Our Little Princess is three)

You can also search within the blog for any topic of your interest.

Once again we would like to thank each one of you for your continued support  and encouragement. Ghumakkad hopes to bring you more pictures, more stories and more insights into our life.

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Hope you enjoy the blog as much as we do creating the stories for you. Your feedback helps us improve. We close with Leigh Humt's classic quote on Nature (plase pardon Ghumakkad's obsession with Nature and its marvels!) in this PQ:

Once again, thanks for being part of this exciting journey of discovery and learning together.

       - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 25th July 2017