Bengaluru Insider's Tour Part 2: Produce & Flower Market, Street Scenes

A point of pride for Indian cooks is using only the freshest ingredients that are purchased that day. Our local guide in Mumbai told us that she hires someone to shop and chop all of her veggies and then she does the cooking when she gets home. Our guide, Deema, takes us around the sights in the KR (Krishnarajendra Market) Market or City Market, where we saw incredible with piles of vegetables and fruit. Another part was the largest flower market in southern India that was pure eye candy.

He is selling Betel Nut leaves (when not on the phone) that are filled and chewed after a meal for digestion. We had some and won't repeat it.

Strolling one of the exterior market streets.

"Flossie" was one of the healthier looking cows that we saw.

This fellow was cat napping. 

Calling attention to their produce.

A lot of purchases are carried on heads.

They have very strong necks.

The "basket heads," as I called them, were men who were available to hire to carry purchases for shoppers.

The basket heads were all men; the majority of shoppers were women.

The KR flower market is considered to be one of the largest in Asia. The colors were enchanting.

There are a couple of basket heads in the upper right.

 

Right after I took this, the guy grinned and flashed a peace sign.

The traffic flow is magical. There are very few rules with the exception being that a horn must be honked 1-2 times when warning a pedestrian, car, motorcycle, truck, cow, etc. that you are passing. It appears that most of the time, passing is allowed. People don't speed up to prevent the pass - a behavior unknown in the US.

Did you see the cow cart, too?

This is a "funeral car." It is going the opposite way down a one-way street. Deema said that it is because of the heat and the body decaying, so they have to get to the cemetery as quickly as possible.

From decaying bodies to lunch, which was included on the tour at a traditional and popular Bangaluru restaurant, Vidyarthi Bhavan, which has been in operation since 1943. Along with a roomful of people, we sat on benches waiting for a turn at a table. Apparently, it was a busy day and they opened another dining room. We followed the barefoot waiter, down some stairs, up some stairs and around a corner and down some more stairs. We were given the metal plates and more barefoot waiters came around and dipped dabs of food on our plate along with the pictured dosa. The plate above is about half full. It was all good and all was vegetarian. The meal ended with one of the filled betel leaves fastened with a clove. Deema told us to put the whole thing in, chew and swallow the mess. We didn't enjoy it and kept picking betel leaf bits out of our teeth. But this is what we came to India for!