blogsJam : Mumbai Life

I came across this beautiful poem on Mumbai at my social network at facebook. It is written by Leena Elizabeth and she writes….MUMBAIWith myriad, multi hued facesMumbai.City of a thousand epithets,City of dreamsCity that never sleeps……..City of contrastsGlittering, glitzy, glamorousSlum .. read full article »

Did you know that if you plan to come back by bus on the same day, you can buy a return ticket for just Rs20?The other day, I was making a trip to Navi Mumbai, and my co-passenger informed me about this new facility. I am not a regular traveller and hardly ever use a pubic transport; therefore .. read full article »

A big chuck of city’s college students opting to work in BPOs and call centers, life for them runs according to American timing in Indian soil. In an attempt to reach out to people who work in the BPO sector, Fame Cinemas, Malad, has started 7.30 am shows from this Friday. These early shows .. read full article »

The words “second opinion” is synonymous with doctors. People will always tell you get a second opinion about major illnesses related to heart, brain, kidneys and whatnot. However that does not come into play for “everyday” illnesses like cold, flu, malaria, etc. But from this report in .. read full article »

Most of the busy roads in Mumbai have pedestrians and traffic struggling for space. In Mumbai, traffic does not wait for pedestrians to cross the road, nor the pedestrian wait for light to change to green and so we see pedestrians and traffic in busy streets moving at the same pace.During Kala .. read full article »

Restaurant : Kebabs n KurriesLocation : ITC Grand Central, ParelMeal : DinnerIndia has a few major hotel chains and ITC is the most Indian of the chains with specialist restaurants doing Asian, South Indian, North Indian cuisine. Kebabs n Kurries at ITC Parel is one of my favorite restaurants .. read full article »

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Everyone has a fav bar or place to drink up, ours is Geoffreys at the Marine Plaza on Marine Drive. The place is built like a traditional English pub except for the music (though its usually good but too loud)There is plenty of atmosphere and the place has its regulars, you will it gets a lot of .. read full article »

Posting has dropped as I'm constrained badly for time. I hope to be back soon. Much is happening in the city, most of it bad. read full article »

Check out….Friday 18th July 2008Around Town Japanese photo exhibitionSee images from half a century ago from the land of the rising sun. Free entry.Department of German, Ranade Bhavan, Mumbai University, Kalina. Contact the Japanese Consulate in Mumbai (2493-4610).Music9am-5.30pm Gandhi’s .. read full article »

Rest : Shanghai ClubLoc : ITC, Grand Central, ParelMeal : LunchChinese in India is a separate cuisine by itself. The taste is livelier, tangier, spicier then traditional Chinese. If you go to a restaurant like Royal China which is more on the authentic side chances are you will be pretty .. read full article »

Rest : Don GiovanniLoc : 4th Floor, Atria Mall, WorliMeal : dinnerDon Giovanni has been a big name in Italian dining but has been relegated to the suburban crowd along with Little Italy. Now DG brings its Italian fare to South Bombay and has to put up with out snobbish review of the place.After .. read full article »

Costa Coffee is a london based coffee chain which is fairly wide spread in the South Asian region, their New Delhi outlet is the largest of any of the ones they have. Their sole outlet in Bombay is in Andheri, which i spotted while driving back from a meeting. The place itself is okay, a .. read full article »

6.24pm Khar Road - Santacruz6.24pm Bandra - Khar Road6.25pm Platform 1, Jogeshwari6.26pm Platform 3, Mahim6.29pm Mira Road - Bhayandar6.30pm Matunga Road - Mahim Junction6.35pm Platform 4, Borivali(Source)11 minutes7 blasts186 dead544 seriously injured312 suffered minor injuries(Source)Among .. read full article »

Overseas, you can hear the honking of the car only when people are happy, especially during wedding processions or on New Year’s Eve.But in Mumbai, you can hear the honking for unnecessary reason. They will horn if the traffic is slow, they will horn if they see an animal crossing the road .. read full article »

Rest: Papa Pancho Da DhabaLoc : Bandra, opposite Golds GymMeal : DinnerPapa Pancho used to serve fabulous punjabi food but then the quality sort of faded away over time. While in the area we decided to give them a shot again and see how things have progressed since our last visit.The place .. read full article »

See anything interesting? Look closer. The funniest part is that this is the second one that I spotted within 20 minutes. I thought the earlier one was a mistake but two? Am I missing something? read full article »

Apparently Bollywood has taken Karan Johar’s K3G movie caption “Its all abt loving your family” a tad bit seriously. And as a result every one wants to launch their brothers, sisters, kids, nieces, nephews, uncles, aunties and who all. So last Friday we has 2 new comers whose movies were .. read full article »

One of my favorite desserts is a simple New York style cheesecake. Simple it maybe but it is not easy to find as most people seem to prefer the blueberry, mango variants but very few do it traditional style. Moshe's is one of the places that does. The other one is a pretty mean chocolate mousse .. read full article »

….but our city’s name pops up in unexpected places and situations across globe……..Source;epaper.hindusthantimes.com read full article »

Rest: Sammy SosaLocation : Andheri, OshiwaraMeal : Late LunchSammy Sosa, is the only Mexican restaurant in the city at present, the place has a young vibe and they ambiance is comfy and kitschy with Mexican movie posters on the ceiling etc. The menu is fairly expansive and they cover a lot of .. read full article »

Mumbai will soon get two ‘Food streets’ at Girgaum and Juhu Chowpatty, where food will be prepared and sold in a clean environment. The ministry will organise training programmes for the vendors to maintain high level of hygiene, quality, and hospitality in every food street. Apart from the .. read full article »

Most of my guests come to Mumbai for shopping and we are mostly visiting malls but when we are too tired of shopping then next best thing to do is lunching or sight seeing…..it all depends on my guests.....This week-end my guests wanted to visit ISKON at Juhu. Better known as Hare Rama Hare .. read full article »

so much so that poeple was scared once again of 26th July..that dreadful day...this was the pics taken on 1st July taken by those people who braved the rains and reported to work.....Thank you Anita Bhutani for sharing your pictures..... read full article »

Rest : Golden StarMeal : DinnerLocation : Charni Road, near Hinduja CollegeMy kid brother and i have been trying to get to Golden Star for a very long time, it finally happened for us last night. The place itself has no ambiance to speak of and is not the largest of spaces. However Thali is all .. read full article »

I came across a great article (do not know the online source). It speaks about what Bombay was in the 1960’s. A lot of what is written I have heard about from my parents and grandparents. Bombay then was a less chaotic city than it is today. Bombay & The Swinging Sixties by STANLEY PINTO, An .. read full article »

"Live with it" whenever it rains heavily and the city gets clogged, people get stranded, and city comes to a standstill......But then what else can we do? Huh? When it rains in Mumbai, nobody is willing to take the responsibility….whom should we blame? Will the guilty please stand up?BMC who .. read full article »

Rest: Indigo DeliLoc : Between Regal Cinema & Taj PalaceMeal : LunchIndigo Deli is one of the more popular south Bombay eateries, new york style in its ambiance. They have plenty of variety in the menu more so than any deli i have ever been to.We ended up there for a late lunch celebrating a .. read full article »

So i came home to find that there was an impromptu party for 8 happening at home and we needed a quick fix meal for everyone. With a lot of cajoling we decided to call Dominos for pizza. Now Dominos is not my fav pizza place, nor is it my second fav (Papa Johns or no pizza i say) however the one .. read full article »

If you would like to go for plays….there are some interesting plays in the city….30 Days in SeptemberMahesh Dattani’s intense and gripping tale of love and betrayal that explores the brutal severance of the unbreakable bond between adult and child. A mother discovers the truth about her .. read full article »

Are the things that are sold in Mumbai really cheap? Or is the spending power of an Indian citizen high? If you walk down any street of Mumbai, you are sure to find people with a shopping bag. Everybody is buying; some of them have bags from expensive stores while some have thin polythene .. read full article »

Rest: Da Vinci'sLoc : Pali Naka , Bandra West.Meal : DinnerDaVinci's is a small Italian eatery based out of Bandra, i ended up there after a suburban work meeting. The place itself is like a small Brooklyn based eatery designed on a budget. The decor is a mish mash and though it is not hard on .. read full article »

And guess where? In Dubai! Yes in Dubai!A conference of chartered accountants in Dubai this week, which heard presentations on topics like wealth structuring crisis, India's cost competitiveness, Middle East equity markets and commodities cycle, was perked up by a presentation on Mumbai's .. read full article »

The NYTimes has a long running feature called “36 Hours In….” where they feature different cities every week. This week its our very own Mumbai IT’S the Jazz Age again in Mumbai. The populous metropolis is bursting with stock-market money, a shimmering art scene has a growing global .. read full article »

I didn't expect so many comments on my earlier post. And since most of these are detailed comments, it makes better sense if I post my replies here.Prakash: Thanks for the comment, I agree with most of the points you mentioned.Realty Rider: My post isn't about Mumbai's potential. And none of .. read full article »

On the first week of June, Mumbai welcomed the monsoon of 2008. I watched it arrive, alone…which is probably the best way, with the rain. The skies heralded the season of water. And then I watched the drops paint the sidewalk a shiny, sheeny gloss of life. (more…) read full article »

Rest : Moti MahalLocation : CR2, Nariman PointMeal : DinnerWe finished watching Sarkar Raj and headed to Moti Mahal for a post movie dinner (the movie was weak if you must know and it was the wifes choice, she wanted to see how Aishwarya looked in the film. Speaks volumes for our .. read full article »

Yes our GenX channel MTV did get a taste of their own medicine this Monday. The protest by some Sikhs was against a poster for the On The Job show, which allegedly portrayed a member of their community in an offensive manner. MTV was promoting the show with the tagline ‘Jobs your parents .. read full article »

I must have been dozing during my bus trips and had not noticed this before, but yesterday, when I traveling by bus after a gap of four months on this route, I was surprised to see 1.3 km long skywalk, a bright yellow iron bridge extending all the way from Bandra Suburban station to Kala Nagar .. read full article »

You walk down any street in Mumbai city; you are likely to see the construction of some kind. Many of the old building have been razed for redevelopment and you can see the Mumbai sky line changing every day. There are too many constructions everywhere and the prices of these new flats that are .. read full article »

"Many top city builders in dire straits" reads todays TOI front page. Ironically, page 3 carries a full page ad from DB Realty for the tallest building in the suburbs (Rs9,200/psf delivery in 2010). I don’t think Mumbai’s real estate price are crashing anytime soon. Here's why:1. No Supply .. read full article »

umbrellas.gif Its raining cats and dogs and yes its all mucky and wet. But trust me there are a zillion things which you can enjoy this monsoon. So mumbaikars here are a few things you can enjoy during the rains: Set the alarm one hour earlier than usual. When it rings, slam it shut and go .. read full article »

Tamnak Thai as the name suggests is the Thai restaurant at Dadar, a lot of people who drive to the suburbs via Shivaji Park will be familiar with the location of the place.The space is not very large and is decorated in the late 1980's idea of fine dining. Reminiscent of my disastrous visit to .. read full article »

It has been one week since I returned to Mumbai after my two months trip to West Africa and Middle East. I was expecting to catch up with the back log of my work that has piled up during these two months but the Mumbai rains have imprisoned me in my house. It has been raining since last five .. read full article »

Is this over-reacting or being prudent? In a detailed travel advisory Monday to Americans visiting the city during the ongoing monsoons, the consulate said that there is heavy possibility of flooding, especially on 13 days. The dates, which the Americans are supposed to watch out for and .. read full article »

Rest: Moshe'sLoc: Cuffe ParadeMeal : DinnerMoshe's is one of my favorite restaurants and i get out over there fair few times a month. They have recently changed the menu, a little more international and eclectic with a lean on the middle eastern.There is a strong accent on the health aspect as .. read full article »

Rest : Hornby's PavilionLoc : ITC, Grand CentralMeal : Breakfast BrunchI am a sucker for a good breakfast, lots of juices, plenty of options is just the way i like to get my morning started.Hornby's Pavilion(previous reviews here, here and here) has one of the best breakfast buffets of any .. read full article »

Rest : FlamboyanteMeal : DinnerLoc: World Trade Centre, Cuffe ParadeCom : The 5 boys & the Frau.Flamboyante continues on strongly as one of the few stand alone dining options in Cuffe Parade. The ambiance keeps on changing and they seem to be prepared for the rainy season with some serious .. read full article »

If you like to watch a play, there are some interesting plays performed during the month of June in Mumbai.Check it out…….The "Wedding Album", Girish Karnad’s contemporary new play, explores the traditional Indian Wedding in a globalized, technologically advanced India .at Prithvi Theatre .. read full article »

Right from my childhood at 233 Khetwadi Main Road in South Mumbai to this moment, Irani Cafes have been a part and parcel (takeaway?) of my life. At least three of them from those good ol’ days are extant just a five- minute walk away from my childhood home which unfortunately is extinct. The .. read full article »