BDA (sounds like bidet) Complex and More Upscale Shopping Options

Soon after I arrived in Bangalore, I discovered an alternative to the trendy shopping malls that I shun in the U.S. The BDA (Bangalore Development Authority which “oversees the development of infrastructure, provision of development-related sites and services and the housing needs of underprivileged citizens”) has small shopping areas all over Bangalore. The one I go to is in Koramangala, near where we live. Our favorite driver calls the BDA Complex "Madam's Favorite Place!"
This is old-fashioned personalized shopping. If you need an envelope of a certain size, a young apprentice in the stationary store searches the back room, then brings several types to the counter for you to choose from. To have photo prints made, you go into a hot little hovel filled with computers and a technician goes over each image until you are completely satisfied. And the prices are incredibly cheap by our standards.






Both John and I got prescription glasses made overnight (at Shruti Optical,) his readers for $15 and my bifocals for $40. I priced a USB hub at a trendy place called EZone (picture young salesmen standing around watching Indian version MTV on really big screen TVs) at $40, and got it for less than $5 at a funky electronics store at BDA.
Every week, for under $2, I have a floral bouquet put together, wrapped in cellophane with a red bow attached, and bring it home to adorn, and perfume, our apartment. John got a haircut at BDA for $1.50 and, although with two computers we haven’t needed their services, a retinue of typists at typewriters is always available.

I find the aptly named Commercial Street, which most Bangaloreans love, to be far too chaotic, so my other Bangalore shopping passions are a bit more upscale. I love shops that sell slightly ethnic but somewhat westernized clothes. These are made of light Indian cottons (perfect for the climate here) in Indian tie-dye, block prints, and other traditional textile techniques. While expensive by Indian standards, I find the $12 to $15 a piece to be completely reasonable for the excellent quality.

Fab India is one such store (which can also be accessed on line at http://www.fabindia.com/) that not only sells clothes but items for the household as well. I was pleased to read that their mission is “to support the craft traditions of India by providing a market and thereby encourage and sustain rural employment.” They have retail outlets in all major cities of India, 86 at last count, in addition to some international stores.



Anokhi (http://www.anokhi.com/) seems to have shops in 13 Indian cities. Their designs and use of fabric are excellent. From their site: “the company is well known as an alternative role model for good business practices, and the ongoing revival of traditional textile skills.” They maintain a museum on hand printing in Jaipur, Rajasthan that looks great on their web site:
(http://www.anokhi.com/anokhi/anokhi-museum.html)
Anokhi is located in Bangalore in the Leela Palace Gallery where another one of my discoveries is housed. Hidesign (http://www.hidesignleathers.com/) has beautiful handbags for a small percentage of the price you would have to pay for the same quality bag in the U.S. I read recently in a NY Times article on Pondicherry, where the bags are manufactured, that the company is partially owned by LVMH, the parent company of Louis Vuitton.
Although this isn’t a plug for a particular establishment, if you are coming to India, I advise buying your books here rather than bringing them from home. Many current best sellers, some of which are only available in the U.S. in expensive hardback editions, are sold much cheaper as publications that can only be marketed in India. Since it is an English speaking country with an excellent educational and literary tradition and an emerging middle class, the range of literature sold in the many bookshops is astounding.
Finally, while not exactly a product, I advise going to the movies, especially if you are in Bangalore. The multiplex theaters are the nicest I have ever seen, and the system the most organized. You can buy tickets on line (in fact it is nearly a requirement if you are trying to attend a film on a weekend,) and specific seats are assigned. This comes at a cost however, nearly $10 for prime time weekend viewing. There are only a few English films, but you can always try one of these options: Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Telegu, or Malayalam.

That’s the extent of my Bangalore shopping tips except to say that you can get Indian cricketer shirts at KidsKemp on MG Road in all sizes, and can even get them personalized. I got John one for his birthday. Speaking of John’s birthday, we had a small party for him at a wonderful neighborhood Punjabi restaurant called Umerkot. Everything was terrific, even if they did spell John wrong on his cake!

Hanging Out in Historic Hyderabad

One recent Friday night, John and I took an overnight train to Hyderabad, the capital of the state of Andhra Pradesh. The plan was for John to spend weekend and for me to stay an extra four days, visiting friends who were raised there, and their families. We stayed at a local Brahmin-owned hotel where I happened to notice that one of the rules posted on the door was that no meat products were allowed in the rooms. I chuckled about it then, but a few days later returned from a day of sightseeing with half my uneaten lunch, and had to prove that it was “veg” (a paneer, aka cheese, and vegetable kabob wrapped in a rhoti, or Indian flatbread) before they would stash it in the kitchen refrigerator.



With a population of ten million people, Hyderabad is one of India’s biggest cities and is plagued with the same infrastructure issues we are accustomed to in Bangalore. Like Bangalore, it is a center for IT companies (called Cyberabad) most of which are located outside the city center in an area called Hi-Tec City. The difference is that Hyderabad has a much richer cultural history than Bangalore, with some outstanding monuments, which had drawn us there.

Our first stop was the Charminar, its four graceful minarets making it the building most identified with the city. Muhammad Quli Qutab Shah, the fifth sultan of the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golconda from which they fled water shortages, built the Charminar in 1591. The sultan modeled the well-planned city of Hyderabad on the city of Esfahan in Persia. (The enormous Golconda Fort eight kilometers away was the highlight of out trip, but more on that later.)

Near the Charminar in the historic Old City stand the Mecca Masjid (mosque,) the Charkaman (Four Arches,) and the Salar Jung Museum, all to the south of the River Musi. As impressive to me as the monuments were the twisting lanes and warrens that make up the bazaars.













The major products sold there are textiles (most of the vendors seemed to be primarily wholesalers who would also sell retail) and pearls. Pearls have in fact given Hyderabad one of its names: The City of Pearls. (The other name is the City of Nizams reflecting the dynasty that ruled Hyderabad from 1722 until Indian independence.)












We enjoyed the Salar Jung Museum that houses the largest one-man collection of antiques in the world. Salar Jung, a prime minister of the Nizam, amassed the eclectic collection. The work, which I wasn’t allowed to photograph, is diverse and includes art objects from the East and West. A small canteen-like cafeteria provided an economical lunch without to leave the building.
The next day we got a car and driver and set out for Golconda Fort, with its outermost wall’s circumference of about 7 kilometers, one of the most impressive monuments of its time that I have seen anywhere. Golconda was rebuilt for defense from invading Mughals from the north. Its builders designed a perfect acoustical system by which a hand clap sounded at the fort's main gates, the grand portico, could be heard at the top of the citadel, situated on a 300 foot (91 meter) high granite hill.

We found a small celebration going on at a Hindu temple tucked in the bowels of the fort. We spent most of an afternoon exploring the fort by day, and I returned a few days later for the impressive evening Sound and Light Show.










The tombs of the Qutb Shahi sultans lie about one kilometer north of Golconda's outer wall. These 82 structures are made of beautifully carved stonework, and surrounded by landscaped gardens. All but two kings of the dynasty are entombed there, plus relatives, dancers, singers, and doctors who served the kings.

After John left, my friends and I spent a day in an activity that was a complete departure from Hyderabad’s historic monuments: a visit to the Ramoji Film City, an integrated film studio cum theme park. Its nearly 3,000 acres earned a designation in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the largest film studio in the world. The shows, including a wild west stunt show, were professional, and the rides fun for the children I was with.










But the most interesting aspect was the bus tour through movie sets that represent locations throughout the world. These include a Japanese garden, artificial waterfalls, airport terminal, hospital, railway station, churches, mosques, temples, shopping plazas, palace interiors, chateaus, rural complexes, and urban dwellings. 80 films in several languages such as Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi and Bangali have been produced there in the twelve years of its existence.









Other attractions I enjoyed in Hyderabad:

1. The boat ride that takes visitors across the lake in Lumbini Park to see a large Buddha on a small island.

2. Birla Mandir: a Hindu temple made of white marble located on top of a hill overlooking the city.

3. Birla Planetarium with shows that unveil the mysteries of the cosmos and the origins of the universe, in various languages.