Monday, March 20, 2006

Oh yes.. a few good things about Mumbai

Shopping.. Me my friend and a Canadian colleague went around the streets of Colaba.. the Leather Market and the Book shops.. the Marine Drive and the Taj. Because we had this Canadian friend, the decorated elephant made of wood which usually costs 200 bucks costed Rs. 650.. from then on, when he sees something interesting, he tells that to us, and he goes and hides somewhere. We get him things cheaper.. Hmmp.

We went to the Prince of Wales museum.. Foreigners are charged Rs. 300 per ticket and Indians are charged Rs. 10. I was proud and safe to be an Indian. Duh ! We went through the museum and were delightfully bored instantly. We went into a art gallery there.. after few minutes of starting at the ambiguous art we said to each other "The Air conditioning is really very good here.."

Books.. I got some books really cheap here. I got a few of Paulo Coelho books (I need some spiritual uplift when Im emotionally broken).... 3 of them for 200 bucks.
Food.. I hate mumbai for the Sweet Sambar they make and the Enormous impotency to make good coffee. Lots of Family Restaurants and Bar. I still have no clue of this culture. Yesternight dinner, i saw a man with his family drinking hot drinks. He and his wife drinking while their kids are watching them. Is this a foolish culture, or Am i so immature to accept these things.. am not sure. I wish these things dont come to Chennai.. or are they already there ?

Traffic... whoops.. guys i gotta leave now..

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thats "Amchi Mumbai" for you..

Konjam time iruntha,Grant road -kamatipura pakkam poitu vaanga :-)

Anonymous said...

Enge ponalum sambar, coffee vida maateenga! Mumbai pona patata vada, bhel, chaat and chai-nnu veluthu vaanga venam!

Books and clothes are really great bargain there.

KRTY said...

prabhu, adappavimakka !!

aparna, indha pasanga Vadapaav saapte nalai kazhippanga.. namakku adhellam sarippattu varadhu.. hmm

Anonymous said...

I don't know the exact location, but somewhere close to CST, there's this whole street dedicated to books and you get rare treasures for dirt cheap! Yes, nowhere near Chennai, but Mumbai has its charms.

Anonymous said...

Coffee is a predominantly south indian(esp tamil) speciality. Its not just Mumbai but every other state outside S.Ind doesnt have a tradition of coffee. Mumbai tea tastes good though.

If you're keen on platform books, just go to Flora Fountain(now known as Hutatma Chowk). A landmark would be to get to Dadabhai Naoroji Road and scour all roads branching from there. You will find atleast 1 million books laid out, Sat/Sun eve from 3.30 is the ideal time and dont forget to take your stubborn-est bargaining skills with you.

Anonymous said...

For clothes, scour thru the TOI classifieds on Saturdays - chances are you might a Surat-based exporter offering a mega-sale of Silk Sarees or normal wear for a steal.

KRTY said...

krithika, yes.. No where near chennai. :)

the talkative man, You said it right.. Out of TN, coffee sucks. Hey, i got the books close to the Flora Fountain only.. thats an amazing chain store comprising books from Old aanandha vikatans to the Scandinavian Mythology..

KRTY said...

the talkative man, whats your name.. ?

Anonymous said...

am not sure. I wish these things dont come to Chennai.. or are they already there ?

Chennai ya?.idhu ellam madurai varaikum vandhachu.latesta oru hotella oru dosaiku oru beer kuduthu amarkalapaduthi irukanga.
family beer kudikaratha foto vera.enna solla.

Have you ever been to national hindu hotel(i hope the name is right) by tirunelveli people.There you get traditional tamil nattu sapadu.that hotel is in port area. just opp to CST i think.

Anonymous said...

Brings back memories of the great city!

If you go to Haaji ali mosque (near Mahalakshmi temple), please don't have juice at the shop by the main road.

About the food in Mumbai, the less said the better. 99% restaurants are owned by Udupis. The resr, by Shetty's. Not much of a choice, eh? The worst part is, not only is the S.Indian food unauthentic, the N.Indian food is equally unauthentic!

BTW, dance bar edhavadhu tharandhirukka????

Anonymous said...

Yah slowly u'll start njoin the crowded place n Culture! who asked u to try coffee and sambhar there....Try chaats...No other place can beat Mumbai Chaats :-))

Juhu beach and hot chaats.....Wow !

Takes me back to my good old times in Mumbai !!!!

Blogbugger said...

Many dance bars in Mumbai are still operating with live orchestra; and waitresses are

there to serve the food and drinks. Apart from these waitresses there are few more girls can bee seen standing or talking to

customers, these girls are the actual bar-girls who used to perform dance before the ban on dance bars.

Many of the girls are now entered into flesh-trade; there are several bars in

Mumbai where there are hotel rooms/lodges exactly

above the bar.
Here I have found a snap of such bar, click

here.
.

Trafficking is the major issue originated by such kind of

joints.
Girls are trafficked from Bangladesh, Kolkata, and from some parts of Delhi, and Rajasthan. Girls from poor family and easily accept the offer to work

in Mumbai and finally land up into the hands of these bars. Most of the times there is a middle-man; who eats almost all the money

earned by the girls in the beginning.


All this can be stopped if the Govt. can

remove ban on dance-bars and allow the dance performance.
This should be accompanied with some strict rules about the

time-limit, code of conduct, and some security to the bar-girls. All the girls working in such bars should undergo scanning to find

out all the possible causes of trafficking and the people responsible for it.