Pune Mandai and sketchers

It is so good to see all the greens against the morning sunlight. Had been to the main market (Mandai) in Pune at the crack of dawn.

The indoor stalls were also well lit, but trying to keep the source of light out of the frame was tricky.

What a treat for the eyes with aubergines (brinjal) of different shapes and colours.

It was also a day for the members of The Urban Sketchers (Pune) to capture the place with their painting and sketching, to show the colonial impact on Pune.

Some of them did a wonderful job of capturing the place on canvas.

One of them was using an ipad to do his paintings. He said he has downloaded a software to do it. Mayshir (in the comment below) says it is an iPad Air and the software is SketchPro by Tayasui.

When I looked through the view finder my first reaction was “the space ship is landing to beam up the vegetable vendors”

My favorite vegetables, Cauliflower and Cabbage. When ever I see them in the market, I am reminded of wifey’s instructions “Don’t buy cauliflower, there are already two in the fridge”

Catching up with the latest news while waiting for customers.

This lady’s saree goes well with the carrots and the jalopies

Here is a lady dip dying the earthen pots to convert them to black colour. I wonder what it is used for. - - (PS 12th Jan) Reproducing the comment given by Satish Deshpande given below : Hi Joe, nice trip to Mandai. This is harvesting season for many things. Sugarcane, green peas, plum (Bher) Gram (chana), rice...... There is a custom of offering these pots filled with all such things among married ladies, especially newly married, on the occasion of Makar Sankranti. That is where the pots are used. - Satish Deshpande

It is the orange season and most of the fruit stalls have a heap of oranges.

Talking of season, it is also the season of the green peas. The best time to buy fresh ones, peel them and stock in the freezer.

I didn’t see anyone sketching this boy with the bell. I had written about him in an earlier blog about the story of the bell.

The boy’s statue was installed after the tragedy in 1993 when 38 school kids lost their lives when their bus was hit by a train at an unmanned level crossing at Phursungi. Initially the boy used to ring the bell every hour, but now it is non functional but the bell and the statue still stands. Have made a short video combining both the vegetable vendors and the Urban Sketchers in action. While clicking the pictures outside Mandai, saw a bunch of cyclists zipping past. Couldn’t resist a quick pan shot of one of them.

Back home by 10.30 (without the cauliflower) - -

Sunlight and vegetables

Nothing like seeing the morning sunlight filtering in through the green foliage when you are having your morning cup of tea. 

This is the first time that we are trying the Red Cabbage in our garden.  They are blooming well along with the normal cabbage.  We may have to wait another 3 months to pluck them.  

We found that these Grow Bags are better than normal conventional pots and it is cost effective too.

The Radish too are coming up well and it is about time to pluck them for our next salad. I wonder why they are always peeping out of the soil. 

It may take another day or two for the lettuce leaves to join the radish in the salad 

Daily morning I see one or two of these yellow flowers fully bloomed waiting for the bees. They fall off by evening. These flowers are from the sponge gourd creeper.. 

The decorative flowers are managing to hold on in one corner.

Looks like the green chillies are going to be surplus this year too. Last year there was continuous growth for six months. 

But what has got me really excited is the sight of these bunch of flowers that has come up on our Vanilla creeper. Its flowered after a gap of 2 years. 

Five years ago I had written in detail about the flowering cycle and the artificial pollination that one has to do for the Vanilla.

In a bunch, one or two flowers bloom in a day. They have to be artificially pollinated before noon. The ideal time is 9 to 10 am (they slowly close up as the sun gets hotter) If the flowers are successfully pollinated, they dry up but hold on to the stem. These stem (stalk) behind the flower grow thicker and ultimately becomes the Vanilla pods. In my attempt to pollinate, I see about 30% success this year. It requires patience and practice.  

The regular tomatoes are coming up well with the perfect round shape, but the cherry tomatoes are a peculiar variety. Never seen these oval shaped ones before. 

The mint leaves have got its perfect green sheen. I always put in a mint leaf along with a blade of lemon grass (cut into small pieces) in my morning tea.  Apart from its medicinal benefits, the aroma is very pleasing.  

A twig of the mint went into the decoration of the flan that we had yesterday.