Waiting at Peddar Road

I was waiting at the bus stop at Pedder road and I could not avoid looking at this great structure that looks like a match boxes, aligned one on the top of another....

 

If you see the height of the entire building, on regular building it could be up to 60 floors, but since the height of each floor is higher than the regular, the building has only 27 floors and it can be seen from a great distance.

Soon the sky line of pedder road is likely to change. So many buildings clustered togather and new building redeveloped each year, the biggest problem in this area is the traffic jam. 

Mumbai carried out a study on traffic in the area which found that 94,000 vehicles used the route everyday at that time. The same study also found that the average number of cars owned by a family living in Pedder Road is 2.3

Mumbai’s roads are choking really fast. Datar thinks he has the solution. “Traffic Demand Management (TDM) is an idea whose time has come,” he says.

I wouldn’t drive on this route during peak hours, it drives me crazy……wish there was some alternate route…….

Lavasa Women's Drive..350 cars participated from Mumbai...

on 27th February 2011, when I reached the venue, I discovered that there was very large crowd of women who, like me, cared for a special cause to spread the cancer awareness and all were to ready to drive for 5 hours to reach a new planned city of Lavasa..

I woke up early (which is quite rare) to be at Bandra reclamation grounds that was bustling with positive energies. There were 350 cars participating in the Rally. Every car had a message to share. It was all about saving the girl child and promoting women empowerment.

Read more about this event on my other blog......when I whisper behind a canvased veil.

Women's Drive will resonate from Mumbai to Lavasa

When I go for a drive with a man, family will say ‘Enjoy the ride’, but when I go for a drive with women, they will say ‘Be careful’

Why? huh?

I have heard many rude comments on woman drivers made by sulky men who cannot accept the fact that women are equally good and talented

And there is another breed of community who believes in women’s abilities and has been organizing ‘Lavasa Women’s drive’.

Every year, about 350 cars start from Mumbai and culminate at Lavasa. This is the third year and each year it seems to get bigger and bigger event.

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This year, fun filled event will be held on 27th February 2011. The Women’s drive will flag off from Bandra at 7am and end in Lavasa, where the participants will enjoy music, games and celebrity performance.

And now comes the exciting part, that although I cannot drive a car, nor know any participant with whom I can tag along…but lucky that I am.........guess what?...er... I am invited as a guest and I will be happy to blog about it

So…watch this space……..wink* wink*

Women in Mumbai travel dangerously

Talk of equality between woman and man? Well …both travel dangerously in Mumbai

What does it matter if its ladies first class or ladies second class?

Mumbai women are brave; they go to work travelling dangerously, with their bodies protruding out of the train and unfortunatedly unlucky one crash against the pole or lose their grip.

Thats life in Mumbai for you!!

Will our Mumbai trains ever have doors that shut when the train is in motion?

IdliSambar on a bicycle

During my last trip in Spain, I met one Spanish lady who said, “People of Mumbai are very contented, and I know the secret of their happiness, I saw people eating all the time, everywhere there is food...so if their tummy is full, they have tolerance to accept all the other discomfort.”

She was so very right.

The beauty of Mumbai is that the food in affordable and suits every palate. You only pay for ambience.

When you are in Mumbai, you will find street food everywhere and you might not miss this steaming hot Idli, Vada Samber being sold on a bicycle.

This hawker comes into my lane at 10am to 3pm everyday getting the limited supply of batter for making idlis, one container contains cooked lentil curry, and other container contains coconut chutney which is balanced on either side of his seat. There is steamer with the stove, bound to his cycle on the rear seat.

On the days, when I am too lazy to cook, I go downstairs and order a plate of this idli sambar. He serves four idlis, and four vadas, (all the size of tiny bangles that would fit an infant) covered with spoonful of lentil Sambar and a spoonful of coconut chutney. The hot idlis melts in the mouth immediately as soon as I roll my tongue and the pungent taste of sambar and chutney explodes with the fiery flavor which makes me want one more spoonful. With each plate costing just INR10, this is the cheapest breakfast I can have. Sometimes, I cook Chinese vegetables and just buy steamed idlis and they make a perfect combination.

Chinese vegetables with steamed idlis. Howzat?.

Yum??

Street Art cheers the crowd at Kalaghoda

Hello, I saw you at Kalaghoda festival, you were clicking picture of street art down the Rampart row, I was doing the same...

for those of you who have not yet experienced this ...do go, its 9 days event and there are many more interesting things happening there, all the details of the events can be found on Mumbai ready reckoner. go with bacchas and elders too..there is something for everybody.....

KalaGhoda Festival in Mumbai....Ready???

Yeah I plead guilty!

I have been too busy lately and have found not much time to update my blog. So sorry, but hey thanks for visiting, although I don’t know who is visiting me but just happy that you are there reading my rant….

leave your foot prints sometimes on my post na…. I only recieve spam comments and am forced to delete it. :((

But a great event is lined up in the month of February and I felt I must update…our favorite Kalaghoda festival is round the corner,..keep your walking shoes polished cause you will be needing them from febraury 5th to February 13th, a nine days event of thrills and drills.

Although the festival is more than 10 years old, in the initial years it was more by visual art crowd, but it became more popular when focus of festival changed and literature, theatre, culture and different types of art were added to this festival.

I attended my first festival in 2008 and had zimbly loved it. There were lots of workshops, film shows, art. culture, exhibitions, NGO art n craft stalls and ofcourse lots of food. I had enjoyed every moment and had blogged almost everyday during the month of February 2008 on my blog, my diaries can be found here at my blog on Ranting and Raving

Last year, I attended the Kala Ghoda festival and blogged about my day attending different stalls and later in the evening attending the panel discussion on food. It was quite enlightening and had collected lots of ideas.


This year too I wish to attend it but might not be able to attend all the days because of my other commitment..But, you don’t miss it….have fun….

The programs for the events will soon appear on their site…watch out for the programs….

And if you still don't know the venue have a look at this map,

Image Source