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India Travel / Airports / Airport News / BLR / → All Tags

Growing Pains Travel: New Airport, New Problems

After much delay, Bangalore's new international airport is set to open this Saturday. But while air traffic controllers have been busy training, the local government has been strangled by its own red tape, says The New York Times, leaving the city horrendously unprepared to deal with all the new traffic.

The roads and rail links that promised to connect the new hub--which is 21 miles outside of town--have yet to materialize. Even now, crews are scrambling to finish road-widening efforts, the Times reports. Meanwhile air traffic at the old HAL airport in the heart of Bangalore (also known as Bengaluru) has doubled in the past two years. With that airport slated to close and the population booming, India's "Silicon Valley" is looking to be more car-choked than ever.

We took a look at the shuttle schedule on the BLR Web site, which lists nine routes that seem to connect the airport to the city pretty well. Of course the routes won't matter if the roadways are so clogged that nobody wants to ride them. A small local air carrier is looking to capitalize on the situation by running a commuter helicopter service to the airport for $100 per ride. Sounds familiar!

Related Stories:
· Bengaluru International Airport [Official Site]
· An Indian Airport Hurries to Make First Flight [NYT]
· Bangalore Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: photoyogi]

Food Porn / Food / Travel Tips / → All Tags

Eating in India: Pani Puri

Pani Puris belong to the immense group called chaats, savory snacks that are usually spiced with a mix that includes cumin, dried mango powder, chili powder, and other exciting ingredients.  If you think that snacking was somehow cooked up by the Pringles or Hershey company, then you've got another thing coming -- Indians are dedicated snackers, especially when late afternoon or early evening is here and dinner still seems a long way off.


Pani Puris got my attention at first just because they look so cool -- a bit like an opened-up, crisp soup dumpling. The exoskeleton is formed from fried globes of dough, the puri. After you get handed a plate and fork, the chaatwallah (snackseller) picks up a golfball-sized puri, sticks his thumb in it to make a hole, and then fills the "bowl" up with ladles of tangy liquids. There will also be some mint in there, some chickpeas, and some potato and onion. The exact fillings vary by seller and by region, but one common taste is that of tamarind pulp, making the mess sweet and tangy.

But back to the puri in front of you. The thin little puff can't handle the immensity of goodness within. Its walls are starting to give way -- stick the whole thing in your mouth, try not to dribble on your chin. Spoon up some the liquid you missed, and now it's time for another.

After you finish one or two, the seller will plop another few on your plate. In theory, you could keep this up until you exploded -- it would be a messy end, but far from untasty. As usual with street food, bring small bills and change -- a plate of them goes for about 10 rupees.

Image from Culiblog

Television / Indian Pop Culture / → All Tags

India Update: What's on the Tube?

It's impossible to overlook the ads here. For one thing, they're always louder than the shows themselves. During HBO's or AXN's frequent movie broadcasts, the ads come in randomly, at times that have nothing to do with the action or the plot. If the ads wait until a scene has ended or when someone's finished being killed, then that's purely by coincidence. That's OK, though, since many of the ads hold your attention more than the movies.

Most of the ads are in a mix of English and Hindi. One ad, for a new kind of noodles, ends with the happy slogan "Taste bhi. Health bhi" ("Both taste and health"). The less English there is, the more carefree and entertaining the ads often seem. One of the more riveting ones showed a woman hanging onto a rope over a cliff. Gloating over her was a big evil dude  -- going by his big handlebar mustache and other accessories, it was probably the demon king Ravana. As far as I can tell, the lady in peril got out of her predicament by distracting Ravana with a delicious Cadbury candy bar (only 5 rupees! And they're very good).

The English-language ads are rarely as fun as this. They are slicker, though. A major proportion of them are for cell phones, especially the models that cost the equivalent of $200 and up -- not exactly pocket change. Scooters are also very popular subjects -- one ad, for a brand that can evidently only be operated by a cheeky woman, uses a song that asks a little plaintively, "Why should boys have all the fun?" I don't know, but I do know that no guy is ever going to come within 100 meters of that thing.

And then there are the saturation-level ads for Café Chino, Pepsi's mashup of coffee and cola. The scene takes place in the sort of office in which attractive workers can easily dirty-dance with each other. After the semi-sexy guy in the ad is done tussling with the gorgeous Bollywood stars Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, he ends up tamed and covered with lipstick kisses. The ad is annoying in the way that most successful commercials are the world over. I just wish I could get the damn song out of my head.

Travel Tips / Nightlife / → All Tags

Bangalore = Silicon Valley, or Some Junk

Bangalore suddenly seems hot, or at least hottish, and not just because some of us are there right now and inclined to believe the hype. The NYT and Wallpaper both ran guides to Bangalore in recent days. The Times article's concern is to pass on the hangouts of the IT folks and other rich people, and also to make it clear that some parts of town bring to mind Silicon Valley, Rodeo Drive, and/or South Beach. This is all completely true, as far as it goes. Wallpaper goes to the designy places too, but it also has room for the city market, the beautiful parks, and restaurants that don't look as if they were designed for the pages of Wallpaper. They also manage to visit a palace and temple or two -- a good idea, no? Our advice is to use the Times to get a club name or two, and use Wallpaper to get ideas about everything else but hotels (those listings are necessarily skimpy). Later this week, we'll give you a few more places that seem like must-sees.

Image of the Leela Palace hotel

Related Stories:
·   Nightlife in Bangalore [NYT]
·   Bangalore City Guide [Wallpaper]