Joolz Jewels: Catching up!

Seems that when we go on a road trip for a weekend and then work 50+ hours the weeks before and after that, it takes a bit to recover and wake up my "muse" who seems to need more sleep than I do ;) Plus, I think I reached a point where I needed to stop, what with the work, and the travel, and the hospital stay, and the high BP, and meeting so many people, and going to so many places, and the work, and the hard bed, and my roommate whom I've been just a little too close to for 6 weeks now, and the power outages, and the work.. get my drift? ;) Plus, I was up to HERE with technical issues with my laptop and it's a good thing I can fix them myself, but geez, add that to the list of things to do, and I needed a day off. Just so happened, when I was at the peak of my frustration my friend Maneesh from MN calls me, and he's here in Bangalore with the family and would like to get together with me for a day, so would I like to go to the zoo? Sure, why not!!So I take a PTO day, and a well-deserved one, at that!

We, meaning Maneesh, his wife, 4-yr old son and his mother headed out to lunch, then to the park. I didn't know this until I got back and really read about the place, but we went to Banerghatta National Park which is a wildlife reserve in a beautiful, hilly, forest area just 22km outside of Bangalore. It specializes in rescuing circus animals and then providing a place where the lions and tigers and bears (oh my!) can live out their lives in peace. We did see lions and both white and orange tigers, and black bears that have white snouts here in India, unlike the full black bears in N. America. These guys are lots smaller, too. I have excellent pictures!

But about these pictures. When we arrived for the "safari" where they take us through the preserves in a bus, the bus was quite full. Maneesh told them we'd wait for the next bus, but no, they said they'd fit us in. We piled in and I was given the very front seat next to the driver, right in front of the window. The windows were covered with grates, but there were cutouts that offered great picture taking windows. The assistant to the driver sat on the hump between the driver and me and let me know very clearly that they don't ALLOW people to sit in the seat I was in, that this was a big favor to me to allow me that seat. Message heard. Could it have anything at all to do with the fact that I'm the only one with white skin on this bus? Naahhh.. And we start moving along, and he's making small talk with me, and animals come into view. He wordlessly asks to take my camera and take pics, and I let him. He took many great photos, 60+ very close up, very clear, he's practiced at that and I knew I'd be tipping him well. We see all the animals, he answers my questions about ant hills that are 3-4 feet tall and other hills that were left by elephants that weren't quite that tall ;) and after about an hour in that hot, close, full of humanity bus, we near the end and he asks me for a tip. Right there.. he lost a point. I gave him what I thought was more than a nice tip of 150 rs and he wants more, cuz he shares with the driver. Lost more points, but I gave him another 100 rs. Still he's not satisfied, and wants 500. Uh, no. Not gonna happen. I'm torn here, cuz I know he took some great pics for me and gave me lots of undivided attention, but I didn't ask him to, nor did we agree on any price. and a "tip" is to be freely given, not coerced. So, sorry, buddy but no way. Oh.. he's not happy. His pretty eyes that were so accomodating before now have daggers coming out of them. Oh screw you, Mr. and I stood my ground. And paid no attention to the catty remark he made to the driver.
As we are disembarking from the bus, he is courteously helping all the passengers down. As I leave, he glares and does not offer me his hand. At that point, I'm ready to demand my money back.. but, that would have caused a row and I and the people I am with don't need the hassle. But, ...asshole. Very bad blight on that part of that trip for me. I find out from Maneesh that the tickets for all 5 of us and the fee for the camera were less than 500 rs, and the 250 I gave him was way more than enough. jerk.
Anyhoo, we head on back to Maneesh's home where dinner is being prepared, and I get to meet his brother and sister-in-law, and his father and just hang out in a nice apartment and hang out in the kitchen with the women a little, and look at photo albums and just spend a nice rest of the day.
And, I did end up with some great photos ;) Bannerghatta Photos

And... since someone has been giving me grief about needing to post some photos, just some day to day ones, here ya go.

This is just some of the signs we see on the way to work, pointing to the various IT industries in IT-ville, actually ITPL or ITPB as it's now known, which stands for International Tech Park, Bangalore. I'd post some of the actual building, but security won't allow. We pass through a gate with armed and unarmed guards which no one gets through without displaying the correct credentials, and then all vehicles go through a bomb/explosives check, and then into the building where we then have to swipe the badge to get in the door to the floor we work on. Security is like that getting into hotels, and some shopping malls, too. At first it unnerved me, now it seems like just a thing. With all the terror warnings and bomb threats that occur all over the world, this just seems like a logical precaution and a worthwhile inconvenience.

This is the Sri Sathya Sai General Hospital, opened in 1977 which provides complex surgeries, food and medicines free of cos to the poor. The hospital has treated over 2 million patients. And it's incredibly beautiful.