Mumbaiscope !!!

RockFish

2013-04-13T06:15:00.001+05:30

When someone comes up with a name like RockFish for a company I get intrigued.

Probably the proprietor likes rock music and fish. A potent combination by all means. Maybe he's a bong. The name would appeal to bongs for sure ... After all they love their fish and bangla rock is the rage these days ! Singing rabindrasangeet with a touch of rock seems to be the in thing ... Go check out the movie "bong connection". The rock version of "pagla hawa" is hilarious. But then a bong proprietor in the middle of mid-west is unlikely ... So maybe we have a Phish fan here who chose to dissect the band in the interest of his company. Then maybe its someone who is a piscean rocker who decided one fine day to branch out into more mundane material pursuits ...

So many possibilities and they say "what's in a name" ???

Midnight snack @ Aromas

2013-04-06T00:45:00.001+05:30

A nice little cafe in hiranandani with a warm and welcoming ambience. Often come here for a late night snack. They serve a refreshing ice tea which is actually freshly brewed and not the instant powder stuff served in your run of the mill cafes ...

For bites check out their pizzas, chicken peri peri which we had today :-), bruschettas. The desserts are awesome ... We had the carrot and walnut brownie with icecream today !!!

Gotta work off the extra calories tomorrow ...

Kambakht Bilkul Aurat

2013-03-30T17:59:00.000+05:30

3 stories by Ismat Chughtai directed by Naseeruddin Shah !!! This is a followup to the hugely successful Ismat Aapa Ke Naam ...

Sent on my BlackBerry® from Vodafone

Jet Airways HongKong to Mumbai

2013-03-30T14:53:00.000+05:30

This is a post inspired by an old friend, an intrepid jetsetter who has this unique hobby of collecting pictures of airline meals from his flights !!! So on a recent flight decided to do so myself ... Jet Airways serves good stuff :-)

Sent on my BlackBerry® from Vodafone

Weekend Drive to Kelwa Beach

2013-03-30T13:09:00.000+05:30

Kelwa Beach is about a 100km drive from Mumbai up the western express highway and then a left after Vasai ...

Quite a scenic drive once you get off the highway meandering through mini hillocks and creeks.

There's the Kelwa beach resort right next to the beach where you can hang out, have lunch and of course spend time at the beach.

The other attraction is the ShitlaDevi temple nearby where legend has it that Sita spent time with Luv Kush while on exile from Ayodhya !!!

Sent on my BlackBerry® from Vodafone

Cricket on Zebra Crossing

2013-03-30T01:20:00.001+05:30

Zebra crossing transformed to a makeshift cricket pitch while pedestrians cautiously avoid it and walk past on the road ... Life goes on in perfect harmony !!!

Midnight snack @ Rhythm Beatle Powai

2012-03-25T19:42:00.001+05:30

Rhythm the 24/7 coffee shop @ Hotel Beatle Powai serves a huge club sandwich ... ideal for a midnight snack for 2 !!!
This is our latest gourmet discovery in Powai !!!

Graduation ceremony @ Pawar Public School

2012-03-25T19:34:00.001+05:30

Till recently I thought graduation ceremonies were held only after completing college !!!

That was till we got an invitation to attend Deep's graduation ceremony as he moves from KG to grade1 !!!

Sachin's century

2012-03-17T09:52:00.001+05:30

Took this picture to capture the moment when Sachin finally got his 100th international ton !!!

Momentous achievement indeed and unlikely to be surpassed.

Tweet from @ShashiTharoor

2012-03-02T20:39:00.001+05:30

@ShashiTharoor: The lamp-lighting ceremony that precedes most conferences in Kerala (this one of ophthalmologists): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c2b7u9BkRA

Sunset from Murud Beach

2012-02-11T19:48:00.001+05:30

The sun seems to be dissolving into the Janjira Fort ...

View from Janjira Fort

2012-02-11T19:41:00.001+05:30

360 degrees of pristine seascapes from the highest point @ Janjira fort ...
Reflection of the sun transforms the sea into shimmering silk. The inadequate Blackberry camera does no justice to the awesome sight.

Almost at Janjira

2012-02-11T15:58:00.001+05:30

Awesome view of the island and the fort !!!

Cottage on Alibag Road

2012-02-11T11:47:00.001+05:30

Taking a break at a village roadside tea stall ... Just behind it there's this pink cottage ... quaint and peaceful !!!

Breakfast stop @ McD near Panvel

2012-02-11T09:11:00.001+05:30

A quick breakfast of chicken sandwiches and pancakes ...

Headed out of Mumbai for the weekend !!!

2012-02-11T07:45:00.001+05:30

First stop before hitting the highway ...

Jimmy Boy and Bade Mian

2012-02-08T02:19:00.002+05:30

Two culinary institutions of Mumbai visited on the same Saturday sometime last year ...

Jimmy Boy : Entered and noticed Raju Hirani sitting at a corner table relishing some mutton dhansak. We ordered the lagan nu bhonu (inr 600) which is a typical Parsi wedding meal ... Came with patrani machchi, dhansak, other dishes and ended with lagan nu custard. Good for 2 unless you are very hungry. Awesome lip-smacking food ... Will be back for more !!!

We'd parked the car at the Horniman Circle bang opposite :

Bade Mian : We only knew of the Bade Mian on the lane behind the Taj ... This one is decidedly more upmarket ... Has airconditioning for godssake :-) learnt that this is a branch of the original BM. After lunch at JB we'd spent a couple hours browsing @ Jehangir Art Gallery and were getting a bit hungry ... So asked for a plate of Chicken malai kebaabs (inr 150) ... Nice !!!

Frugal Innovation is the driver for UID - Nilekani

2012-02-08T01:41:00.003+05:30

On the front page of Eco Times today ...

Frugal Innovation is the new mantra !!!

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.