Life has changed -good or bad?

This made me think

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways , but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

A day at Lalbagh

Kempe Gowda

  Been in Bangalore for last 2 years and still haven’t seen the places for which people come from outside. My parents were here & we decided to visit  the local places. So we got ready to start our venture in Bangalore with Lalbagh--the famous Botanical garden. Bangalore is known to be the city of gardens &  it is said Lalbagh can be the pendant in the necklace of gardens.

The kids were soaring in excitement, vacation after a long time so what even if it was just for one day. Aanya didn’t understand much but in any case she was equally excited to see his brother in that form, though that’s another thing that he would be equally excited to go out even if it’s a nearby mall. Packed badminton rackets, cricket stuff etc. not to forget some munches & cold drinks. We parked our car got the tickets (very nominal-10 bucks per person only). We noticed a nursery in the very beginning  & decided the shopping part would be done on the way back.

The foundation of the garden was laid by Hyder Ali  in 1760 & was also known as ‘The fruit trees jungle. Starting from a 40 acre patch the gardens now sprawls across 240 acres & is every botanist’s & horticulturist’s delight. It has some 1854 species of plants & a tree fossil which is believed to be more than 20 million years old. Paddy & sugar varieties now grown in south India were first experimented over here.

In the starting is the Kempa Gowda’s tower on a rock mound. We all enjoyed the small tracking on the rocks. The rock mound dates back to 3000 million years. Then came the jewel of Lalbagh the centrestage for the famous flower shows that are held there annually-the glass house which was built in1890 at a cost of Rs75000.

There are lots of benches at short intervals. We would sit & take some chocolates & wafer breaks. My parents got exhausted after some time so they decided to wait for us on a bench, we went till the lake & then decided to move back. We had quite a walk, even my 2 year girl was so thrilled that she covered most of the part by herself. But my son still insisted with the picnic thing so we went back & laid down our mat, had some simmering hot coffee & biscuits to recharge our batteries. Though exhausted everyone gave in to my son’s orders & so we played badminton, cricket & of course all the time our photography session was full on-- u see we are a very camera friendly family, be it the 2 year old or the nana-nani(grand-parents) everyone is always ready with a pose for the camera. My son had maximum fun when his shuttlecock went up on the tree. My husband aimed the racket at it & it was up there as well to give company to the lonely shuttle resting there, so he aimed another one & this time both of them came down. People passing by specially stopped there to see & we all laughed till our stomachs ached.

Time to go back home, had great fun. The only regret on the way back home came when we remembered we had forgot to visit the nursery, but that’s O.k. there is always a next time.