Commercial Street - Bangalore

[Manfred M]

Commercial Street is the main shopping street in downtown Bangalore, India. In the USA it would probably be called "Main Street" in the United States and the High Street in the UK.

Bangalore has a population of around 8 million and is the " High Tech" capital of India. Notice anything you might not see at home?

[george013]

Commercial Street is the main shopping street in downtown Bangalore, India. In the USA it would probably be called "Main Street" in the United States and the High Street in the UK.

Bangalore has a population of around 8 million and is the " High Tech" capital of India. Notice anything you might not see at home?

Even Bata is present there.
I wonder what that cow will eat and drink.
Nice image, besides the cow the overwhelming billboards and the electrical wires all over the place.
Personal I would have wait a second to make this picture. The woman and her kids would have passed the cow leaving that cow more isolated.

George

[Manfred M]

Even Bata is present there.
I wonder what that cow will eat and drink.
Nice image, besides the cow the overwhelming billboards and the electrical wires all over the place.
Personal I would have wait a second to make this picture. The woman and her kids would have passed the cow leaving that cow more isolated.

George

George - I agree it would have been nice, but this is India and things are just happening all the time. I was thinking of that recent picture of orderly Europeans crossing the street in a recent posting of yours.

I'm shooting from a street with two-way traffic and there is a lane of traffic between me and the cow, so I had to wait for gaps in the traffic to take shots. Right after I took the shot, the cow turned into the street I was standing on.

These two shots should give you an idea of some of the action...

[Donald]

Wonderful set of images. They capture and convey every sense of the place. Viewing them takes you there. Just wonderful.

I would disagree with George and his suggestion that the first one would have been strengthened by the people not being present as they are. That, I suggest, is one of the key strengths. I don't think you'd want the cow to be isolated. It is the fact that is is there with and amongst people and that people go about their business round the cow, that makes it what it is - a wonderful street scene in India.

[george013]

Manfred,
I see what your problem was. The first one is the best for me.
I still wonder how that cow came there. It's an asphalted environment with nothing to eat and drink. I don't believe she wanted go shopping.

Donald,
People and any other things in the picture should be there. It's just a difference of one moment in the compo. Hard to realize that at that specific moment, but good to mention when one analyses the picture. I do that always, also with my own.

George

[Mike Buckley]

Great series! The second one works slightly better for me because of the display of the cow among the cars.

[Manfred M]

Great series! The second one works slightly better for me because of the display of the cow among the cars.

Note - the cars dodge the cow. They do that for pedestrians too.

Rules of the road; there don't seem to be any, so far as I can figure out. Car horns work very well. So do the brakes....

[Wavelength]

Where ever you go in India, you will see cows loitering in the city, nothing to mention about villages...i think this is related to Indian myths and Lord Krishna, the famous Indian deity, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, the middle one of the Trinity(Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva). Lord Krishna was a cow-boy and cow is thought of as vehicle of Krishna.In North India even non vegetarians refrain from using beef.... Even in households cow is treated with respect.....you will see Hindus touching cow and placing that hand on forehead as a mask* of respect.....Indian mind is very complex, i must say

* mark

[Shadowman]

Every country has a commercial district with interesting names, in Rio De Janeiro it's called California Street, at least in the downtown district. Nicely captured street scene, is this particular capture showing the main street or a side street?

[Manfred M]

Every country has a commercial district with interesting names, in Rio De Janeiro it's called California Street, at least in the downtown district. Nicely captured street scene, is this particular capture showing the main street or a side street?

The camera is pointing down the main street.

[mknittle]

Where ever you go in India, you will see cows loitering in the city, nothing to mention about villages...i think this is related to Indian myths and Lord Krishna, the famous Indian deity, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, the middle one of the Trinity(Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva). Lord Krishna was a cow-boy and cow is thought of as vehicle of Krishna.In North India even non vegetarians refrain from using beef.... Even in households cow is treated with respect.....you will see Hindus touching cow and placing that hand on forehead as a mask of respect.....Indian mind is very complex, i must say

Thank you Nandakumar, For your commentary I find it interesting. Maybe som day I will get a chance to go to India

[IzzieK]

I don't know what to say...this is a very nice lesson in travelling -- you seem to have a grasp of the culture here, that I seemed to forget that some Asian cultures have different ways of dealing with this kind situation. We all know how in India, a cow is a revealed animal, but in the streets freely is another coin to be seen. The kind of traffic condition you described I had seen before...even when I was living in San Diego when going to the Asian supermarket there...people just crossed the road.

[ST1]

Commercial Street is the main shopping street in downtown Bangalore, India. In the USA it would probably be called "Main Street" in the United States and the High Street in the UK.

Bangalore has a population of around 8 million and is the " High Tech" capital of India. Notice anything you might not see at home?

...............................

There's no yellow lines to prevent parking

What an insight to differing countries/cultures, thanks for sharing

[NorthernFocus]

...Notice anything you might not see at home?...

Are you referring to the power lines that don't meet code? Or the B/W moose?

[Wavelength]

He might have straight away meant at the cow i think....nothing puzzling

[Manfred M]

Are you referring to the power lines that don't meet code? Or the B/W moose?

I suspect code is viewed more as a suggestion than anything too prescriptive. Kind of like the "rules of the road" are.

[Dave A]

So who owns the cow? I know they walk freely but holy cow

Dave

[Manfred M]

So who owns the cow? I know they walk freely but holy cow

Dave

I understand that the cows are privately owned and are collected at night and are taken home. I understand that the cows are marked to confirm ownership.

[george013]

I understand that the cows are privately owned and are collected at night and are taken home. I understand that the cows are marked to confirm ownership.

This one has a halter around her neck.
Another thing surprised me, it looks like a Dutch milk cow. When googling for "india cow" most of the cows I see are different.
I still don't know what they are doing on that asphalt.

George

[Manfred M]

I still don't know what they are doing on that asphalt.

They are wandering around. There are patches of grass and other places for the cows to forage all over the city, as well as the being sources of water. There are cow droppings all over the place, so even right downtown you do have to watch where you are stepping, otherwise you might have to clean up your shoes.