Hesaraghatta, Nrityagram Dance Academy and Bangalore Sailing Club

One Saturday we went to Hesaraghatta village, 30 Km, NW of Bangalore.

First we visited the Nrityagram Dance Academy, which is a dance school teaching Indian Classical dance.   They allow visitors in to tour the dance school, and its pretty, rural village layout.   Our timing was really lucky, as three dancers were practising Odissi dancing, which is the traditional dance from Orissa state.   Their practise session was an incredible performance, and it was lovely to watch it in the open air.  We lived in Budapest for two years, before moving to Bangalore, and saw many fantastic ballets there in the Opera House.   I would rate this Odissi dancing experience right up there with those brilliant ballets.

When the dancers finished, the apprentice dancer bowed and kissed the feet of her seniors, who had been instructing her.   It seems in India that there is huge respect shown towards certain teachers, - in my yoga class we all bow to the teacher, and the others call him "Sir" (I do not yet call him Sir, though I think he is wonderful, just don't like addressing anyone as Sir.....).

When the dancing had finished, we wandered around the gardens, and saw some bullock ploughing.

Had a reason to be very grateful to the creators of Riverdance, the Irish dancing show.  We got into conversation with an Indian couple who told us they were fans of Irish dancing, because they had seen Riverdance.  It is great that one show has created such a positive image of Irish dancing worldwide.


After Nrityagram, we went to look for the old Bangalore Sailing club. 

We had read on another blog that Hesaraghatta Lake was the site of the old Bangalore Sailing club, and there was an old clubhouse there.   The lake was almost completely dry, the only water being two or three animal watering holes.   It was difficult to imagine how this had ever been a full lake.
  

In the distance we saw a small building at the edge of the 'lake', and had a lovely walk for about 1.5 Km along a dyke towards it.   Yes, this was the old clubhouse of Bangalore Sailing Club, which has seen much better days.  
The building is quite decayed, with holes in ceilings, broken windows etc, but because the prize boards are still up on the walls, the fireplaces are intact, and there are some tables in the room, there was a strange atmospher.   You could almost imagine everyone turning up again for the Saturday race....



You can see in this Helmsmans trophy prize board that the first recorded prize was 1938, and there were bi-annual competitions every year, until the last race in 1981.  The entry for 1982 is "Lake dry".  

We still have not worked out why the lake dried so much.   A pity for Bangalore Sailing club, as judging by their clubhouse and boat sheds, it must have been a very active sailing centre at one stage.

Next time I am sailing on Dublin Bay, and moaning about the rain or wind, I must remember to be grateful for the fact that we have water.

Some July Snippets

• Accommodation:  Spent remainder of July in the Fortune Hotel, Cunningham Crescent Road.    Very nice hotel, restaurant staff especially were so lovely.
• Having a driver: We have a driver allocated to us, for 6 days per week, and we were lucky and got Sakti.  Seemed very strange at first, though now I have got very used to sitting in the back of the car and being driven everywhere.   On my first day, I walked towards the car in the hotel car park, and Sakti scolded me for this.  Apparently I have to wait in the hotel porch, and he will drive to me......    My husband also got a surprise, as when he signed off for the day, and was getting out of the car, he noticed that Sakti had disappeared.  When he got out he realised that Sakti had rushed out of the car to open the door for him.
• While it is great to have easy transport, it cannot be good for people (e.g. politicians!!!) to be driven around and treated so well year after year, as it removes you from reality a bit too much.
• Estate Agents: We spent a week viewing apartments, with 2 different estate agents.  One classic estate agent speak was when I asked about a hole in the garden, (I wasn't sure if it was a rat or snake hole).  The agent advised "It is a rodent hole madam, it will be covered up".   Hmmm, that would have confused Mr Rat for about 5 minutes.  We didn't take that apartment.
• Cultural stuff: Attended a concert by the Bangalore School of Music.  It was great, wonderful earnest musicians, with an arrogant but comical conductor.   They played European pieces, the Funeral March by Edvard Grieg was particularly beautiful.   One of the sponsors gave a speech where he recommended that all Indian children should learn at least one musical instrument, and said that in China all children can play an instrument by the age of 3.  The comparison was a bit surprising, though it probably would be a good idea for all children to play an instrument.   As this was our first Indian musical we were surprised by the length of time given to announcing the credits, as all people involved in the production were named and applauded.   This takes some time...                                                                                             We also attended a Monty Pyton Spamalot production in the Chowdiah Memorial Hall.  It was brilliant, very well performed, and very funny.   I was impressed by the accents, as the Indian actors had the regional english, and french accents mimicked precisely.   The Chowdiah Memorial Hall is dedicated to the memory of a violin player, and shaped like a violin, (e.g. ticket office is in the scroll, the auditorium is in the main body).
• Excursions outside BGL: We went to the Nandi Hills for one day.  Was great, mainly cause we were getting outside the city, and seeing the countryside, which in India is always a kaleidoscope of colour and happenings.  Strolled around for hours, and sat looking at bird life.  Had our photograph taken about a million times, as lots of people wanted their photos taken with us.   They were really polite when asking, and even though there were crowds in some of the shots, the guys were always careful with me to not encroach on personal space.   My husband was surprised one time to find that one guy has held his hand for the photo (Indian men often walk around holding hands, as they are generally a warm friendly casual lot).