Mumbaiscope !!!

Round Up of some Mumbai Durga Pujas of 2011

2011-10-05T03:29:00.005+05:30

above : Vashi Durga Puja 2011

above : Poonam Nagar Durga Puja 2011

above : Kandivali Durga Puja 2011

above : Kandivali ( Thakur Village ) Durga Puja 2011

above : Powai Durga Puja 2011

Saptami schedule was Kandivali and Poonam Nagar and Vashi on Ashtami ...

Was at the Powai pandal both days for anjali & bhog !!!

This year the food stalls at all the pandals are serving lip-smacking stuff all bongs love - fish fry / rolls / cutlets / biryani / mishti doi ... awesome yumminess :-)

At least couple more pujas to be visited planned for Nabomi :

http://northbombaydurgapuja.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lokhandwala-Durga-PUJA/250686661640375

and possibly the ones in Navy Nagar and Ram Krishna Mandir on Bijoya Doshomi morning ...

Durga Puja Pandal @ Powai Mumbai 2011

2011-09-11T10:59:00.002+05:30

Got a sneak preview of the Durga Puja pandal under construction near my home ... this year the Puja venue has been shifted as the original ground has been converted to a bus stand ...

A smaller ground but lets hope the scale of the Puja is not compromised.

Looking forward to the week of 2nd October !!!

The Agneepath Coincidence !!!

2011-09-10T13:48:00.009+05:30

A remake of Agneepath is on the cards, to be released later this year ... got me reflecting that I'd not seen the orginal as yet ...

The late 80s / early 90s were not the best of times for the big B ... he had a string of flops ... Toofan, Krodh, Ajooba etc ... none of which I've ever seen either.

Movies from this period which fared better were Shahenshah ( Rishte me hum tumhare baap lagete hain ... ) and Hum ( Jumma chumma de de ... ) both of which I'd seen and of course Agneepath ( Vijay Dinanath Chauhan ... poora naam ... ) which had somehow eluded me over the years ... cant fathom why though !!!

Anyway decided to rent the DVD over the weekend and realized that Agneepath is such a treasure trove of Big-B dialogue gems !!! Had it realeased in the Bachchan heydays of mid 70s it could have potentially dethroned Deewar ( Mere paas XYZ hai ... tumhare paas kya hai ... ) for sheer dialogue recall if not Sholay !!!

( paused the movie to click this !!! )

While watching the movie I was casually checking for facebook updates and found an old friend (

Shashi don - who loves his single malts these days ) of mine half way across the world was also watching Agneepath at the same time ... some coincidence !!!

Thought I'd post our facebook chat text on my blog for posterity ... also whats a blog on Mumbai without a smattering of Bollywood !!!

the young foodie

2011-05-21T15:08:00.000+05:30

photo 1) restless wait for the food to arrive.
photo 2) relentless focus on gulping it all down !!!

jigsaw puzzle

2010-10-27T01:47:00.001+05:30

One of deep's favourite puzzles probably because of the animal theme -
tnx adi !!!

Anand : Serving Mumbai's best Vada Pav !!!

2010-10-17T19:23:00.006+05:30

Assembling a Vada Pav - Bun (pav ), Butter, Green Chutney, Masala powder, Potato patty ( vada ) takes less than 10 seconds ...

"Vada Pav" is the street food Mumbai survives on ... and "Anand Vada Pav" opposite Mithibhai College, near Narsee Monjee is definitely the best I've had.

Bombay Times official annual Vada Pao ranking gives it the runner's up position ... which is not bad considering there are over 5,000 Vada Pav street stalls in Mumbai !!!

There's even been an attempt to McDonaldize the humble Vada Pav with the launch of Jumbo King ... should be an interesting case study on how to sustain a business with razor thin margins competing with street vendors who have almost no overhead costs. While they may have scale ... their product lacks the necessary zing which titillates the taste buds ... street vendors like Anand know how to pack in that punch !!!

Durga Puja 2010 at Powai, Mumbai

2010-10-15T23:03:00.007+05:30

pic above : yummy fish fry with mustard sauce !!!!!

This might well be the last Durga Puja celebration at Hiranandani Powai. In its 5th year, this puja organized by Powai Bengali Association, has come a long way in terms of scale and popularity. Unfortunately the ground where the pujas are held has been earmarked for construction of a bus stand !!!

Cant think of any alternate grounds nearby to organize the puja at this scale. Having a relatively large ground also allows the setting up of an entertainment zone to showcase local amateur talent and import the pros from Kolkata ... bengali rock band Chandrabindu, Usha Uthup etc are artistes who perform here regaularly.

Finally there are the food stalls ... with all the goodies loved by bengalis ... mochar chop, fish fry, chiken roll, mutton kosha, luchi alur-dom and biriyani. Gobbled up quite a few fish fries with a dash of mustard myself today evening and looking forward to checking out more dishes tomorrow for dinner.

Hope to visit the Lokhandwala, Poonam Nagar, Santra Cruz pujas tomorrow ... lets see if can can squeeze in the Kandivli pujas ... unfortunately will have to give Shivaji Park, Vashi pujas the miss this year.

Downtown Skylines

2010-09-22T05:42:00.005+05:30

Left : Cincinnati, Right : Chicago
Was quite impressed by the dazzling Trump Tower & Hotel in downtown Chicago ... downtown Cincinnati is staid in comparison ...

Maruti Suzuki Ritz ZXi

2010-09-09T23:02:00.005+05:30

Just replaced my 10 year old Hyundai Santro with a Maruti Suzuki Ritz ZXi.

The Indian car market is so overcrowded with small hatchbacks that buyers are spoilt for choice - one can choose from Hyundai i10/i20/Santro, Nissan Micra, Volkswagen Polo, Fiat Punto, Ford Figo, Indica Vista, Skoda Fabia, Chevy Beat, about half a dozen offerings from Maruti Suzuki - Alto, AStar, WagonR, Swift and of course the Ritz.

So why select the Ritz ??? For me it was all about looking for the best cost - value equation. Thankfully the decision making process was made quite simple ... Maruti Suzuki made me the best exchange offer for my existing Hyundai Santro ... and the Ritz had additional discounts to boot. Finally within the Ritz versions ( LXi, VXi and ZXi ) the ZXi came bundled with all the safety features I wanted.

Ironically Hyundai simply refused to buy back my 10 year old Santro ... while Maruti Suzuki offered me INR60K + INR12K "Loyalty Bonus". I was wondering how I'd demonstrated loyalty to Maruti Suzuki by driving a Hyundai for years !!!

Maybe they should call it the "Loyalty Shift Bonus" ... anyway who cares.

Pind Baluchi @ Mumbai

2010-07-12T09:36:00.001+05:30

Bringing dhaba food from rustic upcountry punjab to plush upmarket malls ...

Lounging@clipper lounge mumbai airport

2010-06-22T23:38:00.000+05:30

Headed to manila ... Flight is delayed ... Waiting ...

sent from my windows mobile phone

Mumbai rains

2010-06-18T19:13:00.001+05:30

View from my car windshield ... Parked the car on the side of the road waiting for the rains to subside !!!

sent from my windows mobile phone

Shades of ochre

2010-02-14T19:57:00.001+05:30

3 idiots @ mumbai

2009-12-15T19:30:00.000+05:30

This autorickshaw driver has a sense of humour ... The caption reads " capacity - 3 idiots ".

Would be some marketing stunt for the upcoming release of 3 idiots if amir khan could get this done on all autos in mumbai ...

Pictures on the wall

2009-12-12T12:16:00.001+05:30

Attempt at "home improvement" ... put up a few pictures and paintings on the walls. On the left is a wood inlay handicraft piece we picked up from an art exhibition last month and on the right is a collage of Deep's pictures ...

Kandivali Durga Puja - Thakur Village Bangiya Pratisthan

2009-09-27T00:11:00.006+05:30

By far the best of the 3 Durga Pujas we checked out @ Kandivali ... This one is in Thakur Village on the right side of the Western Express highway as you approach Kandivali from Andheri.

Chandrabindu one of the more well known bengali rock bands was the attraction for the evening and we stayed on for a few numbers and also gorged on some neat egg-chicken rolls from the snack stalls.

However the rockstar of the evening was one of the committee members who was the stand-in master of ceremonies, though a stand-up comedian would be a more accurate description. Check out what he had to say while announcing the winners of the children's painting context which probably had been organized earlier in the day, "Abhi hum us bacchon ka naam bulayega jo bade hokar bada bada artist aur painter banega. Yeh bachcha sab humara bada dada se upohar lega. Hum aap logo ko anurodh karta hai ki jaise jaise mai bachcha ka naam bolega aap sab jor jor se taali dekar us bachcha ko protsahit karega !!! **" Needless to say the audience was in splits by then ...

**Loose translation for folks who dont know bong+hindi ( we need to have a name for this lingo ... just like "hinglish" is the unique combo of hindi+english ) ... unfortunately the humour is always lost in translation, "Now I will announce the names of the kids who will grow up to become famous artists and painters. The kids will collect their awards from our big brother ( refering to the president of the committee ). When I announce the names I request you to clap loudly to encourage the kids".

Powai Durga Puja 2009

2009-09-26T11:10:00.000+05:30

The Pandal near Hiranandani @ Powai is a replica of Konark Temple. Its a few hundred meters from our home so this is where we're offering pushpanjali and having the all important bhog.

Lots of options ( on the food front ) in the evenings ... in fact Bijoligrill, a well known Kolkata based caterer ( mom says they'd done the catering for her wedding ) has set up a counter here. Tried out the fish-fry the other night, priced at 100 bucks the price seemed a bit steep but it was really scrumptious ... planning to try out the biryani tonight. One of my rants has aways been the lack of authentic biryani in Mumbai ... lets see if Bijoligrill lives up to its reputation :-)

Chakala crossing choked

2009-09-23T19:53:00.000+05:30

With the mumbai metro WIP there's a perpetual traffic snarl at the chakala crossing ... Painful ...

From Russia with Love

2009-09-21T23:50:00.006+05:30

Moscow is a surprisingly beautiful city ( even beyond the Red Square ) with a distinctive architecture ... specially the skyscrapers commissioned by Stalin ... you see them and you know you are in Moscow.

Then there is the Moscow metro famous for its exquisite beauty ... apparently the communists created them as the underground "people's palaces" and did not spare any extravagance, quite in contrast with the spartan quarters they allocated to the people to live in.

Just returned from a business trip to Moscow ... managed to check out some of the major landmarks in the evenings ...

Getting ready for Durga Puja 09 at Powai !!!

2009-09-13T08:37:00.002+05:30

The Hiranandani Durga Puja is now a stone's throw from our new home and this is where we'll spend most of our time this year ... the pandal is getting ready ...

This year again we'll not be going to Kolkata for Durga Puja ... but this time both Baba & Ma are visiting ... and with the learnings from last year's pujas we should have a great time !!!

Hills on the right and the left ...

2009-09-10T08:12:00.000+05:30

Powai Hills ( above left ) in front of our apartment complex ... and there are these highrise apartment blocks on the other side.

Wonder which was the inspiration for the name of our apartment complex "Gundecha Hills" ... the natural ones or the man made concrete hills.

Morning walk @ Juhu Beach

2009-09-09T07:49:00.000+05:30

Early mornings are the best time to visit the Juhu Beach ... you have the beach almost to yourself and can contemplate the rolling waves and the changing times in peace ...

Surviving Mumbai Locals

2009-09-06T11:44:00.007+05:30

Morning crowd building up on Andheri station bridge, Vada-Pao stall on Platform2 Andheri, A relatively empty train on Platform3 Andheri, A local pulls up at Grant Road station

One needs to survive the Mumbai local trains in order to survive in Mumbai ...

Thankfully over the years my personal dependence on this most important of Mumbai's lifelines has gradually diminished ... but there was a time when I was one of the 6.6 million daily commuters !!! No other urban railway system in the world handles ( or is capable of handling ) such mind-boggling numbers.

In the peak hours, there are trains every 90 seconds, each packed with 6000+ people vs capacity of 1500. People spilling out of the doors and somehow hanging on with a toehold somewhere is common sight ... the chilling statistic here is that more than 3500 people die annually due to local train mishaps.

That was the gory part ... so what makes these locals indispensible ??? Mumbai is a linear city with the business district concentrated at the southern tip and suburbs mushrooming northwards. As a result traffic is primarily uni-directional ... in the morning there is a mad rush southwards and viceversa in the evenings. Roads are perennially clogged and the only way to get to work is on the local trains ...

So you get the drift ... you need to work to survive in Mumbai and to get to work you need the local trains :-)

I used the local train last week after ages as I had some work @ Napean Sea Road and had to get back to my Andheri office before lunch time for some urgent meetings ... the local train was the only way I could be sure I'd make it on time ... so I parked the car in the office and took the 8.20 Fast from Andheri to Grant Road ... and was back well in time for my meetings at noon !!!

Couple of tips here :

1) If you're new to Mumbai / have not mastered the art of boarding locals ... plan to take originating trains, if necessary travel for a few stations in the opposite direction ( at any point trains in the oppostite direction will be relatively empty ) to get to a station from where there are originating trains ... In Andheri there are always trains which go to Churchgate and start from Platform 2.

2) Buy a vada-pao from the platform vendors before boarding your train ... gives you instant energy and these are the yummiest vada-paos in Mumbai.

Bengali Sweets in Mumbai

2009-09-05T12:53:00.004+05:30

I dont think I have a "Sweet Tooth" as such but then you cant keep a bong away from his beloved ilish and mishti for long. After all we bongs live to eat ...

So when the urge to dig into a nolen gurer shondesh, kheer kodombo or mishti doi+rosogolla gets really strong ( and it happens about once in a couple months ) "Sweet Bengal" is where we head off to ... the only joint in Mumbai where you get authentic Bengali sweets.

There are quite a few branches ... the nearest to our home is the one @ 1st Floor Galleria Mall, Hiranandani - Powai and others on JP Road Andheri West, Napean Sea Road ( pictures above ), Inorbit Mall-Malad etc ... The quality and taste is consistently amazing and the ambience is pleasantly bengali with Jamini Roy prints, copies of Desh & Sananda for sale ... The salesmen are usually bongs themselves and once they make out you are bong will give you a nice toothy smile and start chatting in bong and urge you to have the extra mohan bhog or plate of rosomalai ...

Getting tempted to go and have some koraishutir kochuri and chhannar shingara today ...

Grihapravesh at Gundecha Hills

2009-08-05T00:45:00.000+05:30

"Griha+Pravesh" in Sanskrit translates to "House+Entry" ... rituals performed while entering a new home.

The sun, moon & stars ( and a bengali brahmin pundit seen in the pictures above ) had to be aligned in order to finalize the date of moving into our new home.

For the uninitiated, a Grihapravesh may be done only by a pundit on specific auspicious dates as per the Hindu almanac ... In the meantime the contract at our previous rented apartment was running out, the landlord was chasing us to vacate and obviously the new home had to be made ready to live in.

So you get the picture ... pulling off the Grihapravesh while tweaking all these constraints was no walk in the park ... and we did it on 29th June 2009 !!!