Bandra Has New Cultural Center at NAMCC

 Growing up in Bandra, I have seen many changes over the years. Be it Bandstand, Carter road or Sea Link, each time I saw some progress, I felt pride in this sense of belonging to this part of the suburb.

This week Bandra was once again in news. The star studded launch of Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre was the talk of the town. Social media was flooded with picture and videos of every event in detail. Tht of course, aroused my curiosity and I decided to give a dekho. 

I arrived at Jio World centre, which is the home to country's largest convention centre, retail and hospitality outlet. Took a buggy ride from the entrance toward NAMCC  passing through the corridors of large artistic murals, sparkling floors and some craft souvenir stores selling Indian arti-facts.

 

I got off when a saw a large fountain of Joy beyond large glass window

I was told that the musical fountain of joy operated during evening hours from 7pm to 7:30pm and it was free for all.

On the left, the stair led to three performing art spaces. The majestic 2000-seat Grand theatre, the technologically advanced 250-seat studio theatre and dynamic 125-seat cube.

The Grand theatre is designed to host for epic musicals and larger than life theatricals. The  Studio and Cube theatres are for range of intimate and immersive experiences in music, dance, drama and other multi-genre performances.

I walked pass the Grand theatre to large corridor that led to art house, a four storey dedicated visual arts space built as per global museum standard. The exhibits spread over four levels explores the multiplicity of India through works of 11 esteemed and emerging contemporary artists and western artists influenced by India

I took lift to 3rd floor and the girl at the entrance led me inside a large room that had large paintings, some photographs and art installations. I was given the insight of what the each item in the room was about. Shanti Bai, an artist from a tribal community in Bastar, Chhattisgarh and her resilient journey was exhibited on this floor. Most of the Shantibai work, both sculptures and drawings, is propounded by the festival processions and other celebrations along every mundane activity in the village.

Children under 7, senior citizens and fashion and art school students could enter this space free of charge.

I was enjoying the ambience, the friendliness of people who were quite helpful and of course the sculptures, paintings and installations that made this place so attractive.

I wanted to explore more, but this time, I made a short visit..will visit again with another friend and will book a ticket to catch some performance next time.

Food Trail In South Mumbai

Ten years ago I made a trip to Bohri Mohalla lane in South Mumbai  and the memory is still fresh of the food I ate on that day. It was late evening and we walked for over three hours, trying all the delicious food, and it was a great gastronomic delight

Every city has their own signature dishes to show off, but one must know what to have and where to find it. That is why it is important to follow a food trail with experts, who can guide you through the narrow lanes to taste the street food and learn the history of the culinary journey.. Anybody who visits Mumbai, must make time to visit Bohri Mohala to enjoy the authentic street food.

Of course, things have changed since pandemic and people are now afraid to try any street food. But there are many guides who conduct these food tours and observe all the precautions required for their safety.

They disinfect the tabletops, use sanitisers, organise separate cutlery and serve individual portions for every guest. 

The things have really changed over the years, but not the food. 

The food tastes the same like it has since many years, the recipes have passed down from one generation to another and have made this place legendary in their own right. They are innovative and simply delicious.

Go alone or go with friends, or take a guided tours, but what I would recommend is to try some really authentic street food.

At Kabab corner, you could enjoy the freshly roasted meat on skewers.

Few steps ahead, you could stop by Channawallah to enjoy the  non-veg chana chaat, he mixes channa with potatoes, liver, kidney, tamarind and dry masala. It is a dish to die for, specially if u are hard core non-vegetarian.

Have you tried biryani that has no rice? 

Well Patrani Biryani is just that.yes..no rice...

Another dish you must try are Chicken rolls fried on tava

You could also have Tava kidney

And Liver masala

Still hungry? 

Walk down and you are likely to see a stall with various pots. You may sit down to eat in not so fancy tables, but who cares? Food is what you like. Right?

Meat is doused in a mix of daal Harisas, which were bubbling for more than 6 hours. He plates with sensuous marrow and meat and serves it with the fresh roti taken out from tandoor, folded twice to maintain its crispness.

There are many more street vendors selling different items, fruits, ice creams, or drinks but the guide will take you to selected-few whom he knows you could trust.

Are you drooling? No? Then read no further, you are not a foodie, or maybe... you must be vegetarians.  

But if you are Interested?

 Send me your Watsapp number. I will connect you to a trusted guides for food tours around Mumbai.

Capturing Mumbai Through My Lens

During the pandemic, an event ‘Jashn e Dastan e Mumbai' was organised online on 18th, 19th and 20th of December2020 by Mumbai Research Centre with the aim of bringing all Mumbaikars close together through stories, history, art, food, culture and architecture of Mumbai.

There were many contests held during that event on various topics. One of the contests that caught my attention was on capturing the city of Mumbai in photographs with captions on it.

I am not a professional photographer but I love to capture the life of Mumbai behind my mobile lens. Most of my pictures are taken during my rides in public transport or when I go for my casual walks.

Some of the pictures that I sent for the competition

1.     Walkers Paradise at Flora Fountains

 

2.     Sunset at Sealink

 

3.     Nobody needs seat belts while snoozing in Mumbai

 

4.     Families live comfortably under Ghatkopar expressway

 

5.     Heritage sites restored at narrow Bandra by-lanes

 

6.     Only at Dadar foot bridge, there is systematic flow of human traffic

 

7.     Eye sore for some- ornaments of colourful vibrant clothes left for drying in the sun

 

8.     Bandra traffic moves at snail’s pace at Bandra express Highway

 

9.     Street dwellers of Mumbai

 

10.  At Chembur traffic light, only a statue will wait at red signal.

 

11.  Life of contrast – View from Metro between Andheri and Ghatkopar

 

12.  No buyer. Candy Floss by seashore during Covid times at Bandstand Bandra

I had participated but had completely forgotten about it until last week, I got a surprise.

The winners were announced this month

One of my photographs bagged a 2 runner up! My photograph no 7

The beauty of my photograph is seen only when you zoom in to see those colorful clothes against the dull building.

This building always catches my attention during my ride to Navi Mumbai from Bandra. And now that it brought me an award, I have reason to smile.

I am grateful to the organising committee of Aine e Mumbai and Niyogi Books for sending me a beautiful book on ‘Ladakh-A wanderer’s spectacle’ by Naburan Bhattacharya.

It’s a real treasure of beautiful photographs and impeccable writings.

Much appreciated.

Jashn e Dastaan e Mumbai 2020

In this times of Pandemic, our life might have taken few turns and twist to adjust to the new normal that we are living in today, but our creative mind has explored the new horizons of learning experiences. 

We have finally realised that there is nothing much we need in order to live comfortably. We just need a roof over our head, food to eat and a curious mind. Since we are computer savvy and have mastered the social media skills to keep us virtually active in the loop, then there is a large scope for learning from the comfort of our homes

If you are a true Mumbaikar, you will be greatly interested in the event ‘Jashn e Dastan e Mumbai ‘ that is to take place on online on18th 19th and 20th of December 2020.

This is the three day festival organised by ‘Mumbai Research Centre’ that aims to bring all Mumbaikars close together through stories, history, art, food, culture and architecture of Mumbai.

Over the three day celebrations, there will be virtual walks and quizzes.  In ‘Look up Mumbai’  you can have a unique heritage walk with Ramchandran Venkatesh through Fort precinct

In ‘Treasure Hunt’ you explore the funny, crazy and spooky stories of the city’s various suburbs.

There will be interesting panel discussions on various aspects of management & conservation of buildings and public spaces, a walk through the forgotten ‘Pyaus of Mumbai’, stories through Hindi film songs, photo walk through rivers of Bombay, live performance through narratives on Mumbai and puppet stories, and much more….

This event is also interactive where you can also share your own stories by sharing your memories of growing up in Mumbai, trivia about Mumbai local. You could win prizes by capturing the city in photographs with caption on it. There is special contest on haiku about Mumbai city. You can go for a ‘Masala Trail’ with Anjali Koli and share Mumbai’s long lost recipes.

Keep yourself entertained for 3 full days. Here is the program list.  You can buy the pass at Rs300- a day pass or Rs800 for all three days. You could also sponsor or donate for this event that will help towards conservation, digitisation and research projects of ‘Asiatic Society of Mumbai’

In the mean time, there are lots of Insta-live happening on Insta handle  AsiaticSocietyMumbai and at JashnMumbai. They have been engaging with the public through Instalive to learn about their essence of living in Mumbai, you are likely to get the glimpse of what this festival is about. They have covered many series on different aspects through lectures. You could follow their Zoom link at theindusscriptdemystified 

There is one instalive that I took a part too where I spoke about my Sindhi culture & food and the challenges of educating mentally challenged children in this busy metropolis. If that interests you, you could watch instalive of   @Instahaiga with @Pushpz.

 

Breakfast in Bandra

Everybody loves pastries and if you don’t have a great appetite for food, a small slice of pastry should suffice.

I stumbled upon this article on 7 Best Bakeries To Go in Mumbai and can rightly agree that these bakeries do serve the good breakfast during early mornings.

I have gone for breakfast trail with my foodie friend one early morning and I agree that Bandra does have a good selection of bakeries in town.

Three of the bakeries have been mentioned in the above article and I couldn’t agree less.

The American Express Bakery, The Hearsch Bakery and A1 b

Bakery do have lip smacking eats.

But there is one more that you must visit if you are in this side of the town.  Good Luck is the Persian restaurant that is just opposite Mehboob studio. You must try their pastries and also egg sandwiches and Maska poa. Also a good place to have Kheema poa for early breakfast.

I am going back there again…follow me if you can……….

Mumbai Shopping Festival 2018

Food truck was the main reason I wanted to go to Worli sea face. They would be parked only this week end closer to my house, next week they would be parked at Malad and then week after that at Powai.

My friend and I decided to go to Worli seaface and experience the Mumbai Festival. The ambience is very vibrant along the promenade, with food trucks on one side and stall selling various articles on the other side. A small stage, inserted between stalls has various performing artists.

There is a fair discount of over 50% on every article. There are artefacts, clothes, footwear, jewellery and many other knick knacks along the promenade. At one stall there was even a Karaoke singers. At the end of shopping lane there were tandem riders enjoying double seat bicycle rides.

Mumbai festival was inaugurated on 12^th January 2018 and will be in progress till 31^st January. Maharastra Government on lines of Dubai festival has organised twenty days Mumbai festival.

More about the festival here…

https://youtu.be/BVw7YQ7ZPow

-->

JM Financial Foundation Walkathon on Sunday,Feb 12

JM Financial Foundation is the philanthropic arm of JM Financial Group. The Foundation partners with grass-root level NGOs to implement programmes in various fields such as education, health and disaster relief. Every year, their employees, along with their friends and families as well as clients, actively participate and strive to put in maximum efforts to give back to society.

Picture source

Initiated in the year 2002, JM Financial Walkathon is a 6 km walk along the picturesque Marine Drive sea-front in Mumbai. The route of the Walkathon is along Marine Drive, from opposite NCPA Apartments, upto Mafatlal Bath, and then back to Nariman Point. JM Financial Walkathon aims to create a positive impact towards the lesser privileged communities; by supporting an array of social initiatives through their philanthropic arm viz. JM Financial Foundation.

picture source

If you are in South Mumbai this weekend and want to experience the positive vibes of the sea of people walking down the promenade, join them at 7:30am on 12^th February opposite NCPA apartments at Nariman point.

All those who are interested in joining may register online –Please visit www.jmfl.com