This is a photo taken recently on Sadar Patrappa Road (SP Road) near the Town Hall area. In the early eighties, I used to come here to buy L-angle sections, roofing material and water pumps for overhead tanks. Basically anything in construction hardware, at close-to-wholesale prices.

I now come here for computer hardware.

For starters, you can get the latest, latest configurations on assembled systems, at sensible prices. What’s more, your machine is up and running in 30 minutes or less – with all the peripherals that you could be looking for, in terms of printers, scanners, audio plugins and gizmos that might just get your computer to warm up your coffee.

I first noticed the trend to migrate into electronics in the seventies, when I went there to pick up those huge bulbous valves for my radio set. With the advent of the two-in-one and drastically priced “Dilli sets”, SP Road became a popular haunt for anybody looking for a good deal in electronics. But the shift to computer hardware was the biggest thing to happen here, largely enabled by the enterprise of second and third generation shop owners.

Another thing you can come here for is a great second-hand market for laptops* and systems, bought by the “kilo” by smart traders who pick up stuff from companies looking to upgrade on a large scale.

Believe me, this stretch is managed by young business gurus who could give you new business models on hardware retailing. And yes, they even give you bills with taxes deducted and prompt you to think legal on start-up software – which is also available.

Worth a dekko if you have the time.

Whip up your own cafe!

A unique workshop, tailored exclusively for those who have always wanted to run a cafe, an eatery or a specialty restaurant. Moderated by Madhu Menon of Shiok, the workshop will cover all aspects of what it takes to be a budding gourmet entrepreneur. A never before opprtunity to minimize all your risks before you actually start out. The course covers everything from cost analysis to crafting profitable menus.

Dates: 21st and 22nd Feb
Time: 11 AM to 6 PM
Course Fee: Rs.4500
Venue: Shiok
Website: www.ireboot.in
To register, call 9663857828
Venue: Shiok Restaurant, Indiranagar/Koramangala

Contact Mukta Darera on 98862 95353

or email your details to

mukta.darera@ireboot.in

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I found this site quite appealing..instead of cards and chocolates and jewellery…gift the person you love…flowers instead!

More details at here

The next Barcamp Bangalore, an interesting amalgam of events and communication, where everyone is a participant, is happening at IIM-B on the 13th and 14th September.

For details, visit

http://barcampbangalore.org/wiki/Main_Page

And if you want to know in detail what a Barcamp is, go to

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BarCamp

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Avighna exhibits an exclusive collection of Swarovsky crystal
jewellery by Kala Ramachandran and oil paintings of Lord Ganesha
avatars by Shankuntala Jain at

88 Sankhla House,3rd Main,
Vyalikaval, Bangalore 560003

The exhibition-cum-sale will be on the 23rd and 24th August 2008, from 10.30am to 8pm

For further information, contact Indira Sankhla at

avighna88@gmail.com

or on 6567 0035/ 99809 22328

Their website is

www.avighnacollections.com

Here’s my previous posting about Avighna, when Indira started her store:

http://bangalore.metblogs.com/2007/09/20/avighnaa-new-store-for-you/

Avighna has completed nearly a year of existence now, and is growing from strength to strength, as Indira and her team work hard to bring the best of home decor to the discerning patron of arts and crafts!

The thought of having to visit the Labor office was scary. I don’t know why but for some reason the idea was not exciting and I did it cos I couldn’t get someone else to do it. I imagined a crammed small office, with officers who would be very indifferent, touts pestering, and numerous visits to finish the task. And of course a big bribe to ensure the work gets done.

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While some prefer to buy new books, there are still many who prefer visiting the book lane ( avenue road) to these merchants / book sellers who encourage people to re-use and re-cycle ( circulate) the ‘used’ books for the needy, on a longer term this provides a great value not only to the user but the others as the cost of the books keeps coming down, a single copy is used by many thus is a noble cause for environment support too…

A wholesaler of local fries checkingout his cart customer early morning on his two wheeler, these cheap hot chips are munched along sipping the tea by local crowds …

Kalyan Varma is well-known in wildlife and photography circles in Bangalore. Having started as a software developer, he is now into wildlife and photography on a professional basis. Kalyan won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award in 2005, and has various other awards to his credit; in fact, he showed his photographs to the then President Dr Abdul Kalam, when he visited B R Hills.

Many of us look every day, at the calendar that is issued annually for the FOSS.in (Free and Open Source Software) event,
with Kalyan’s photographs. At the JLR office and JLR properties, too, one can find some of his photographs. His website is

www.kalyanvarma.net

By popular demand, he is conducting a photography workshop. Here’s the schedule:

Dates : May 10th and May 11th 2008 (Saturday and Sunday)
Location : Kormangala, Bangalore

A full-day classroom session on Day 1. A field outing on the morning
of Day 2 and classroom session for the rest of the day on the 2nd day.
Lunch is included on both the days.

For more details, here’s the link:

http://kalyanvarma.net/photography/workshop

Please contact

kalyan at rtns.org

to register for the workshop or if you need any more information.

Here are a couple of images of his: here

and

here

There you are. A kitchen-trolley retail point, with a sign that catches your eye and a presentable chap who explains product use in great detail. His sales pitch is pretty convincing and the bigger brands would learn a thing or two in terms of imparting product knowledge to salesmen.

In fact, his presentation has two modules. One for people who use toothpaste and another for those who use tooth powder. And look at the cost of bringing it to the market – all you need is one man, with a kitchen trolley and around 30 bottles of the magic potion. Hire 30 young men to comb the city and you’re done.

So, am I actually going to buy this thing and squirt it on my toothbrush? Looking at the sparkling smile the salesman gave me, this is one tough question to answer.
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