Nostalgic for a whiff of old Bangalore – authentic cuisine, those laid-back times, colonial ambiance, flowers and trees, and open courtyards? Here is a list of restaurants that will bring back memories of the past…

Airlines Hotel: Once a chic drive-in that catered to the trendy crowd with cars, this restaurant still has a nice garden with trees and serves good South Indian snacks.

India Coffee House: For a dose of old world charm on MG Road, a good cup of coffee, eggs and toast and the dosas.

Indiana Fast Food: Indies used to be the cool hangout for all high school and college kids growing up in Bangalore. Go there for their fantastic Jumbo Burgers and The Most Heavenly Mayo in the World!

La Casa: Formerly one of the hippest restaurant in the South of the city, this pastas, bakes, french fries and gobi manchurian restaurant plays rock and roll music in the background while regulars chill out with a mug of beer.

Koshys Parade Cafe: Bygone era ambiance, coffee, appams, stew, fish biryani - not to forget the intellectual crowd.

MTR: How can this not be on the list? An old institution known for its cleanliness, long queues, very authentic South Indian vegetarian food. Dosas, rava idlis, uppitu and coffee, all served with a liberal dose of ghee.

The Raj Pavilion: Modelled after the glass house in Lalbagh, the Sunday brunch with live music, champagne and flowers is a true Raj experience.

Lake View Milk Bar: Frothy milkshakes, yummy sundaes and nice sandwiches in a simple, old world setting, perfect for a late night dessert.

The Only Place: Excellent steaks, chequered tablecloths and old waiters seem to make regulars out of some Bangaloreans.

Do you have more?

Walking in the park one evening, I was horrified to see a 15-year old nanny with a six month old baby on her lap, sitting on a swing and rocking wildly. Panic set in when the girl slipped from the swing and the baby hit its head on the plank. Thankfully, it did not appear to be bad – no blood or bruises. Surprisingly, the baby’s mother was a few feet away.

How do you choose the right nanny or baby sitter for your child? For starters, I would say that the nanny should be at least 22 years old. If you can feel overwhelmed taking care of your child the entire day, do you think that someone who is 10 to 15 years younger than you can do even a decent job of it. Besides, it is illegal to employ someone who is younger than fourteen.

Try to get someone who has had experience managing children or has children of their own. Experience counts and the person is probably more likely to know how to handle your child. Try to get references if possible.

Before you leave your child with the nanny alone for the first time, make sure that you spend a week or ten days observing them. Is she patient when the child throws a tantrum? How does she handle the situation when the child is crying? Is she able to set reasonable behaviour boundaries and rules? At the same time, does she allow the child to explore and is not too over cautious?

Do surprise checks – return home unexpectedly, ask a friend or relative to visit the park when the nanny and child are there to make sure that everything is under control.

Treat the nanny well. After all, it is your child that she is taking care of. Be candid regarding your expectations and priorities as well as behaviour you are unlikely to tolerate.

Lastly, don’t be an over-anxious parent but at the same time, trust your instincts.

If its one of those times in life when you are feeling down and nothing seems to be going your way, here are some things you can do to make yourself feel better.

Get some exercise – Go for a jog or a walk. Spend some time outdoors in your garden or in the park.

Eat three healthy meals a day – Nothing is worse than skipping meals when you are feeling low. Make sure you eat leafy vegetables and dairy products. Avoid caffeine (it can make you feel jittery), alcohol and highly sugared or salted foods.

Spend time doing things that you enjoy - Soothe your nerves and loose yourself in your favourite music, catch the latest blockbuster, read the books you love, play the guitar.

Sleep well – Go to bed at your usual time and get up as usual. Don’t stay up too late or sleep in too much.

Play with a child or a pet – You will have fun before you know it.

Take a warm bath – Relax those tense muscles, lather up some aromatherapy bath gel and enjoy.

Get a massage – Fantastic!

Splurge on a sundae – Go to Corner House and have the Death by Chocolate. Yes, high in sugar, but works. An exception to the second tip.

Talk to a friend – Sharing helps.

Simplify – Keep your life simple. If you don’t have to do something, don’t do it.

Mom – A good cry on mom’s shoulder will help. Really!

Here is a neat recipe for scones. Traditionally served with English tea, this triangular or circular shaped treat is eaten with a plumb mound of butter, clotted cream and strawberry jam. Enjoy!

Ingredients: (for 12 scones)

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons butter

2 well-beaten eggs

½ cup cream

Preheat oven to 220 C. Lightly butter a cookie sheet or an aluminium foil. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Then, add the butter and slowly with your fingers, work in the butter to make a coarse mixture. Add the eggs and cream and stir until blended. Put the mixture into a lightly floured board or your granite counter and knead for about a minute. Roll the dough with a rolling pin to about ¾ inch thick. Cut into triangles or circles. Place on the cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

Growing up on a steady diet on Enid Blyton books like many other kids in 1980s India, my first insight into non-Indian food was through the eyes of Noddy, Secret Seven and the Five Find-outers. You have to remember how things were at that time - international cuisine consisted of a handful of Chinese restaurants and occasional English breakfasts. But Blyton’s characters opened a door to exotic foods such as potted meat sandwiches, kippers and blancmange!!

My initiation into this world began with Noddy and his favourite goggleberry muffins, and then moved on to the Wishing Chair series with treacle, marzipan and raspberry tarts. On summer days, at my grandparents’ house in steamy Chennai, I could imagine the warmth from a cup of hot cocoa in the Secret Sevens meeting place while they nibbled on chocolate biscuits. Not cream biscuits – but real chocolate coated cookies! Next was an obsession with circus stories like Mr.Galliano’s Circus – of cooking around a campfire, juicy sausages, peaches and cream.

Then, the Famous Five with their wonderful picnics in Kirrin Island amongst primroses with baskets filled with thick ham sandwiches, strawberries and ginger beer took over for a while with close competition from Fatty and Bets and the other Five Findouters who snacked on hot, buttery scones and clotted cream in the village tea shop owned by the kind, matronly lady.

As I became older, it was boarding school girl series time – Malory Towers and St. Clare’s – Darrell Rivers, lacrosse, midnight feasts with tinned pineapples and sardines. My cousins and I tried to imitate them and stocked food, crawled out of bed in the night and pretended we were nibbling kippers while eating krackjack. Other favourites include the farm series, like Six Cousins at Mistletoe Farm – where spoilt city children have to go stay in a relative’s farm and where they learn to appreciate all things wholesome, including ripe blackberries, homemade meatloaf and fresh milk.

I am reasonably sure that my interest in food, on some level at least, originates from Blyton’s wonderful stories. I now know what kippers (it is a kind of fish that is salted and smoked) and blancmange (a pudding made with milk and cornflour and flavored with almond) are, but I am pretty sure that if I start reading her books now, I will be as mesmerized as I was when I was eight.

Set in a beautiful old bungalow in a charming and quite residential part of Jayanagar, Active Canvas is as much about experiencing art in the right surroundings as learning it. Founded by two sisters, Raksha and Divya, this project with its tag line of art=fun, is funded, very interestingly, by Nadathur Holdings.

Active Canvas has whole lot of courses – long-term, as well short-term courses that are perfect for the summer, for everyone from ages 3 to 82. They offer courses in drawing, sketching, painting, theater, dance, fitness, pottery, clay, music, language, craft and photography. In addition, there are also special courses such as parent-toddler clay classes, couples only classes and senior citizen classes. An interesting fact about their art, clay and pottery classes is that they provide all the materials for the course and so you are spared the trouble of hunting for canvases and what-not in crowded Avenue Road.

The bungalow, with its gleaming red oxide floors and old-fashioned windows which allow natural light to filter in, is divided into five studios. Yellow barn, the dance studio with its lovely wooden floors and mirrored wall looks perfect for kid’s ballet lessons. The ceramic studio, Olam, is situated in the first floor of the house, is light-drenched and engaging with its huge windows, electric potter’s wheels and clays.

Active Canvas is truly meant to bring out the artist in you! So go on, tap into your creativity or your child’s, and take those guitar classes, terracotta lessons or paper making courses.

Active Canvas is located at 343, 10th A Main, 3rd Cross,1st Block, Jayanagar, Bangalore 560 011, ph: 41609122 or 99801-29768. You can send them email at info@activcanvas.in.

For a list of their summer courses, click here.

Purists may tut-tut, shrug their shoulders and long for authenticity, but personally, I love fresh innovations that are a result of mixtures and amalgamations. Which brings us to chaat in Bangalore – and how it has evolved and adjusted to reflect the Bengalooru culture. No, no – I am not talking about badly-made, wannabe North-Indian chaat that you get in some places. I am talking about those street vendors who have innovated and adapted the chaat, taken tips from the local Karnataka version churmuri, come up with versions that marry the basic North Indian techniques with innovative and sweet and spicy local add-ons. Come on, don’t snigger, how do you think fusion cuisine evolves?

For instance, in many of the street stalls, you get something called the nippattu bhel. The nippattu is a flat fried snack made with rice flour, maida and besan spiced with hing, peanuts and curry leaves. The nippatu bhel substitutes the puri with nippattu. Some versions also have kodbale, a spiral fried salty treat, much like the murukku or chakli.

Or try the ompudi masala. Ompudi is also a fried snack made from besan and rice flour and is different from sev since it contains a dash of the herb oma (ajwain) or thyme (and you thought thyme was restricted to Simon & Garfunkel lyrics!).

Some local versions of bhel puri also have kadlebele or Bengal gram dal. The dal is soaked in water and then roasted to get a crispy flavour. Sometimes, special bhels also have what is locally called congress (!!!) or kadlekai – which is basically a spiced variety of peanuts.

So go on, be adventurous and enjoy some fusion food at the local street corners. My recommendation is New Sagar Customer Stall, run by the cheerful Elumalai who has been doing this for the last sixteen years in Jayanagar 4^th Block. The enterprising guy even takes catering orders!

Its World Cup time – and if you are the kind that wants to head out with a bunch of friends and watch the matches (or at least part of it – Cinderella must have lived in Bangalore!) over some beer and appetizers, here is a list of places you could go to:

*Until closing – i.e. not after 11:30 pm!

Now that summer vacation is almost here, here is an ideal outing for the under-8 category - the Butterfly Park at Bannerghatta National Park.

The Butterfly Park is located at one corner of the national park. Trees and shrubs line the path which has interesting signage on either side with information on butterflies. The path leads to a huge, transparent dome housing the butterflies. The dome itself is quite remarkable, with a controlled environment inside. A tropical garden grows inside with bright, colourful flowers; there is a pond with a bridge and even a waterfall – quite a perfect setting for butterflies.

We saw lots of different types of butterflies and my daughter was completely fascinated to see them eat (there are holders with sticky food, and many butterflies cluster around these areas). We spent a good amount of time looking at the fish in the pond (that’s kids for you – we go to the Butterfly Park – but spend most of the time admiring the fish). The dome leads into a museum that exhibits larvae, lifecycle of caterpillars, moths, butterflies and so on. The eggs and cocoon were appropriately gawked and ooh-ahhed at by my daughter!! An audio-visual room that screens an English presentation leads to the exit.

The Butterfly Park is located on Bannerghatta road, approximately 20-30 minutes from IIM-B. Plan to spend 1-2 hours in the park. Eatables are not allowed inside – so we snacked in the car after we were done. The park timings are 9 am to 5 pm – presentations start from 10 am. Tickets are priced Rs.10 for kids over 5 and Rs.20 for adults. You pay extra for taking a camera (I think it was Rs.30 or so) or a camcorder (Rs.100 approximately).

Overall, a fun trip for a kid. If you have a pre-schooler, make sure you read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle before you take them to visit the Butterfly Park.

If you a parent, or have to baby-sit a kid, here’s a fun activity that my friend Eric told me about, that can occupy a 3 to 6 year old for about an hour, or if you are really lucky, for longer than that!

Ingredients required:

• Cornflour (the stuff that is used for thickening gravies)
• Water

Add some cornflour from the packet into a large bowl. Add an equal amount of water to it. Stir the cornflour in very slowly. Then, add a little more water until you have something that looks like a slightly thick liquid. Stir slowly again.

If you take a spoon and very slowly put it in and raise it off, it should pour off slowly like a thick liquid. If it’s too watery, add more cornflour.

The idea is to make something that is not really a solid or a liquid (it is called a non-newtonian fluid). When force is applied, it is a solid. When no force is applied, it is a liquid.

As an example, once you have made this thing, ask your kid to punch it hard with the fist. It will not splash, it will feel like you hit a solid object! But you can pour it out like a liquid.

If you hit it with a spoon, the spoon will bounce off. But if you put the spoon in slowly, it will go in as if it is going in a liquid.

You can roll it into a ball in your hand (constantly applying pressure) and then when you stop rolling, it will melt.

Most importantly, it can be cleaned up easily by just adding more water until it becomes a liquid.

Here’s a video of someone walking across a pool full of this stuff!