Phnom Penh and Bangalore – A Tale of Two Cities

A view of Phnom PenhI was visiting Phnom Penh, Cambodia, last week and stayed in the city for four days. Everyday, I was surprised how much this city resembled Bangalore–the city of my residence–in many ways. Back home, I decided it is worth making a list of things that I found very similar in both the cities. They are not necessarily nice things, but similar, nevertheless. Here they are.

1. Tree lined avenues. Both cities have many tree lined avenues, and there has been an attempt to continue the tradition. Bangalore was once famous for its trees which are slowly getting the axe, thanks to growing traffic and subsequent widening of roads. Nevertheless, you can still see saplings on both sides of the road in new localities and new roads. Thankfully, the trees in Phnom Penh continue to stand tall. But they are seen more in numbers in older areas near the Royal Palace and closer to the river. I have seen saplings planted along the road in some newer parts as well. In both cities, trees also frequently dominate the footpaths and force the pedestrians into the road.

2. A traffic dominated by two-wheelers, and chaos. Two wheelers make up for a significant part of the traffic on the roads in Phnom Penh as well as Bangalore. As in Bangalore, drivers and riders of Phnom Penh strongly believe that road rules are meant for other people. The best way to cross a road is to continuously watch out in all directions. Never make the mistake of believing that traffic in certain direction sticks to certain side of the road (left in Bangalore, right in Phnom Penh). Bangalore’s traffic these days is increasingly seeing more four wheelers, but not so much in Phnom Penh. Another dominating feature of Bangalore is the auto-rickshaws, whereas remorks (tuk-tuk) takes that position in Phnom Penh. Whatever constitutes the traffic on either cities, you are assured of chaos.


Categories: photos

Savandurga Near Bangalore

In the last few days, I have been making a conscious attempt to return to making landscape images. I hadn’t been shooting landscapes for a very long time, and it became evident in an outing last week when I made my first image with complete disregard to many sacrosanct concepts of photographing landscapes. I was quick to realize and recover, and determined to work on shooting more landscapes. In the process, there was much homework done, places scouted, frames envisioned and multiple visits made around Bangalore. Here is an image — in fact the only frame made so far — in the process.

Savandurga near Bangalore


Categories: bangalore, photos

Manchanabele Dam near Bangalore

It had been a while since I have photographed landscapes. I have spent a lot of time photographing landscapes in the past, and was keen to get back to doing it. A few of us headed out this morning and our destination was Manchanabele Dam, just outside Bangalore. We did not expect to see or shoot much, as these are cloudy monsoon days that may not always offer the best possible lighting. Here is what we saw.

Manchanabele Dam near Bangalore