Commercial cab drivers are said to be protesting in and around few parts of the city and preventing the employee cabs of different companies from commuting to various places as per schedule.

It is said that as a part of the benefits, the cab drivers are not eligible for accident benefits which they think is an important aspect considering the amount of accidents that transpires.
There ware some disturbance reported earlier in the morning though the situation seems to be under control.

Undoubtedly, this is the right time for the auto drivers to make some extra money. Isn’t it? However, car pooling should be a good thought.

Not sure if this strike is going to continue for some more days. Any idea?
Is there some other reason for the strike?

So I’ve been going for Bharat Thakur’s yoga classes for a few months now and it’s made quite a difference to my health. I’ve increased my flexibility and stamina over this time. A lot of people also lose weight through the exercises. Mine though has been less significant (mainly because I like my meals too much!).

Anyway, though Bharat Thakur doesn’t personally come and teach you (sadly :-) the instructors are pretty good. Right now, JP Nagar, Koramangala and Indiranagar are some of the areas where the classes are being held.

If you want to come for a trial class, the timings are:
Morning: 6.00-7.00, 7.00 to 8.00
Evening: 6.00-7.00, 7.00 to 8.00

These are the batches at Koramangala. The other venues might have different timings.

You can also get one trial class, but do be prepared to sweat it out because the exercises are slightly improvised and are faster paced than the other yoga schools. So you might find the class slightly more strenous, but in the long run it’s a good way to burn your calories and get fit!

To come in for a trial class, call Ramshad: 9480336648 (preferably not during the class hours but before or after).

After months of dithering without a government, the results are out - we will now finally have one! I heard fire-crackers on the way back home in the evening and I realised it was probably someone celebrating the victory of their party.

So the BJP have won in Karnataka and the finally tally is:
BJP: 110, Cong: 80, JD-S: 28, Others: 6

BJP is now 2 short of 113 - the magic figure required for a simple majority - does not seem like a difficult task.

So now, the first Bharatiya Janata Party government in the south will be sworn-in on May 28 and B S Yeddyurappa will take oath as chief minister.

So what’s in store for Karnataka? I guess we will all have to watch over the next few months!
`

If you get into ‘Blue Bell Sweets’ located at Unity building JC Road, don’t miss trying ‘Turkish Halwa’..
The name may sound a little weird but the taste is awesome.

This is how it looks but hey don’t go by the color of it.

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Having been interested in calligraphy, I decided to visit the Ethos Art Gallery that has come up in Jayanagar, and look at the work of Poosapati Parameshwar Raju, a calligraphic artist from Hyderabad.

Calligraphy has a long association with Islam and is less often practiced in the Hindu idiom. But Parameshwar has done a fine job of it, demonstrating a skilled command over the use of his nibs and pens.

There were several works on display, mostly done in red ink, and they have been chosen from eight series, starting from mythology, with thems such as Ganesh, Shiva, Narasimha, Om and so on.

The vowels of the Devanagari script are also treated in a variety of designs and forms:

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All of our regular Bangalore Metblogs readers must have noticed the makeover that the site has gone through. Well, some of us authors are also still finding our way around the new site so it might take a while longer before you see a few of us!

You might have also noticed that you need to now login to post a comment. We value your comments so make sure you create your login ID - the process is immediate and simple. It’s a one time process only and hardly takes any time. You can use any login name but your email ID needs to be genuine.

So go on - get started now!

Here’s a delightful scene I snapped last Saturday in Lalbagh:

Are those women picnicking in the park? (Couldn’t see if there was food inside the circle.) Do they have a more serious agenda? What could have brought so many of them to the park, so early in the morning, away from their households? I preferred not to go up and ask, and leave explanations to my imagination…

Here’s to women everywhere. I don’t say we are always the angels that all those internet forwards talk about; we are human, we have our vices and failings, too…but in general, it’s a sisterhood that I am proud to belong to, and here’s wishing for the day when each woman will be able to realize her full potential…..when gender will not be an issue worth discussing, and we don’t have to have a special Women’s Day, because every day will be one.

Big bucks make news always. Be it when MBAs get it as salaries, or a company acquires another or like in the recent case of how much our cricketers stand to earn from the newly launched IPL. So IPL made all the news & became a topic of discussion with friends over tea & with colleagues over lunch. But to me as a Metblogs blogger, IPL just made blogging about cricket on Metblogs a possibility. I am sure you will agree that there is not much written here about Cricket, the sport that most of us feverishly follow in this country. The only reason for it is because there is nothing very Bangalore specific about it. Its just a game. But now that we have a Bangalore team (supposedly to be called Royal Challengers) in the IPL, the urge to write on it is high.
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It was late afternoon when me and my friend hit Lalbagh on Saturday evening. Much of the crowd had already arrived, and having arrived from the east side entrance, we were greeted with the Bonsai exhibits. Have very little idea about this art of miniaturizing trees and plants and cannot but think that this was the eastern man’s way of making plants in the same size that the God made him: Cut them down to size, literally. The bonsai plants are for sale, and it was very hard resisting the idea of not buying one myself. Finally, the idea that I might kill the plant with my haphazard ways worked in my favor.

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We wanted to try out a restaurant serving Oriental cuisine, exclusive of Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi cooking, and decided to try out Tai Tai Restaurant, on M G Road:

We did go on a Tuesday (8th of January), but were rather surprised to find the place deserted except for one table in the upper outdoor area. However, perhaps we were early, and perhaps Tuesday is not a popular day for eating out!

The decor was very warm, uncluttered and inviting, and made good use of the triangular space under the eaves of the EGK building:

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