mumbai 36

If you’re a seasoned developer that enjoys working with data, have good front-end skills, and are challenged by impossible deadlines, please drop me a note. I’d love to work with you at Gramener Mumbai. LinkedIn

Guy Kawasaki on Mumbai via Kaps @ DesiPundit

I had declared 30th May 2005 as my longest day. Air India proved me wrong. My longest day was 18 Feb 2006. I didn’t plan to fly Air India to Chennai in the first place. British Airways had more convenient timings and a similar fare. But I clicked on the wrong button, and didn’t realise until a few days before the flight that I was on the Air India, and that the flight left at 8:45am. ...

Over my last few years as a consultant, I’ve seen many interesting ways in which markets have emerged where they shouldn’t have, creating havoc in pricing and scarcity. Fixed prices fluctuate, free goods acquire a value, and non-tradeable goods are traded. I’ll share a few of these examples over the next few weeks. Once, a fan manufacturer asked us, We did an analysis and found that our wholesalers’ margins fluctuate. How could that happen, when we are fixing their buying and selling prices? ...

Pictures from the Mumbai Blogger’s meet with Aadisht, Altaf, Amit, Anand, Arnab, Nandan, Ravikiran, Saket, Sameer, Yazad, Zainab, and myself. Comments S Anand 15 Apr 2005 5:33 am: More photos from Sameer

Mumbai Navigator from IITB tells you how to get from one place to another in Mumbai, using the local bus and train services. Also has maps. (Here’s the old Mumbai Navigator.) Alphonso has the full Mumbai local train timetables as pictures. If you’re looking for street maps, Google Maps has a pretty good street map of Mumbai. But it’s not as good as MapMyIndia, which gives you the driving route from Nariman Point to Bandra for instance.

The Mumbai Bloggers’ Meet photos are online. Comments Mumbai Man 3 Dec 2006 10:57 pm: try this http://mumbainews.wordpress.com/2006/08/30/local-trains-time-table/

The next Mumbai Blogger’s Meet is on May 4th.

Water problems at Chennai. And Mumbai. And Ahmedabad. And Andhra. The rest of the world will, too, in a short while.

Amrita has mirrored pictures of the Mumbai Bloggers’ Meet. Since she has no bandwidth restrictions, please visit that site.

Photos from the Mumbai Bloggers’ Meet.

A dozen IIMB junta got together at Hotel Pritam, Mumbai.

Under the staircase of Bandra station lies a two-storeyed apartment. Dupleix layout, single room. East-facing, with elevated entrance. It’s 8:00am. The man on the ladder is a boot polish-walla. He’s picking up his box, getting ready for work, while his colleague watches. Their families is still asleep in the single room. And in the room, along with them, is a rather cramped storage space. I wonder how many live in such conditions. Of course, it’s much better than the slums around Mahim. Still, it looks like a rather difficult life. ...

Fame has its ironical twists. I was searching in google for someone who could deliver movie tickets on the phone at Bandra. The irony is that my site landed up on top. P.S: The title is sarcastic. I DO NOT deliver tickets. I’m a consultant, not a ticket distributor. So please don’t try to book your tickets in the comments section below!

No, I haven’t stopped updating because I wanted my Google entry to be on top for a long time. It’s just that the web is boring, and my life has become interesting otherwise. Read more in Mumbai. I’m in Delhi these days, so I hope to add a Delhi chapter as well.

I was waiting for Vandana and Prashasti at ticket counter of the Andheri (E) station. Mumbai is extremely warm these days, so I went in search of a fan to stand under. I found one, but the place under it was occupied. By a dog. Now, I have to describe this dog. It looked like on of the normal mongrels. Not too discoloured or anything. Looked pretty young. And it was lying on its back. Yeah, sure, dogs aren’t supposed to do that, but this one did it pretty well. In the middle of its sleep, it woke up, and tried scratching itself. Poor thing must’ve felt itchy all over, so it ended up trying to bite its paw several times over, and not always succeeding. ...

12:05 Churchgate Hmm, maybe it’s not just the London and Tokyo trains you can set your watch by. On the way back from my trip to Ullas Nagar, I was sitting at the Bandra station waiting for the 12:05 to Churchgate. (That’s 12:05AM – as in the middle of the night.) The train was late, and I was enjoying the last of my plum cakes on the platform. Two old people clad in khadi strutted in, and looked at the display. It said “12:05 C”. The older one said, “Heck, we’ve missed the train. Let’s go to the next platform.” ...

I was traveling from VT to Ullas Nagar to buy furniture. Since it’s an hour-and-half, I had taken a printout of an article on Scenario Planning to read. Being the gripping reading that it was, I’d fallen asleep on page 4, when I feel a gentle tap on my shoulder. “Excuse me, are you reading this?” Since I was asleep, I clearly wasn’t. But I looked at him, just to make sure he hadn’t mistaken it for a newspaper or something. He had a moustache, was wearing a blue shirt, and didn’t looked like the type who could mistake Scenario Planning with the latest political gossip. ...

I work at a fun place (search for “Having fun in India” on Google).

I was pretty surprised that this guy wanted to go to the “richest” college in Mumbai. But by the time he asked if they were co-ed, I figured I had to get off quickly… root_node: M 26 BLR. root_node: Well, M 26 Mumbai, actually. kushnoodh: ok wanna chat with male root_node: Hi! kushnoodh: tell me wann chat or ? root_node: Sure, why not? Where are you from? root_node: Of course. I mean, where in PK? kushnoodh: fsd kushnoodh: u knoqw this place root_node: Heard of it, of course. But don’t know much. root_node: You a student? kushnoodh: yes i m coming to india for study kushnoodh: bombay root_node: Oh, that’s good! Where to? kushnoodh: i m coming to bombay but now i need some information about college kushnoodh: can u help me root_node: Which college are you coming to? kushnoodh: plzz tell me the best college name of bombay root_node: Boy, that’s a tough one…. what do you want to study? kushnoodh: i passed my matric in 1996 and now i want to continue my study 11th root_node: Oh… VJTI is a pretty good college. root_node: So is Wilson college. root_node: Ruparel college is probably the most famous, though. kushnoodh: can u tellme the richest college name root_node: Uh… no clue actually! kushnoodh: ok root_node: In terms of reputation, these three colleges are pretty good. kushnoodh: im these colleges hostel facility root_node: I’m not sure… but getting accomodation in Mumbai is not a problem at all. kushnoodh: and tellme the fee and hostel charges kushnoodh: guess root_node: Frankly, I’m new to Bombay, and have never studied here, so I haven’t a clue. root_node: But if you’re looking for an estimate. root_node: My guess would be it’s in the order of root_node: a lakh a year, excluding accomodation. kushnoodh: ok thanks and no admission problem for muslims root_node: None that I know if. kushnoodh: i mean is any admission problem for mmuslims root_node: Usually, no. root_node: There’s no quota or anything. kushnoodh: ok kushnoodh: nice root_node: Best of luck with your application, Habib! kushnoodh: tell me if i come to bombay and wanna stay there then can i get room on rent root_node: Oh yeah, sure. They’re easily available. Rents vary from 2,000 to 10,000 per month. kushnoodh: its is so castly kushnoodh: any low one root_node: It would be pretty far away, then. kushnoodh: ok root_node: I’ve got to chat with another friend, Habib. See you around, then. Bye! kushnoodh: tell me in these colleges total co education plz tell me and ui will not disturb u plz root_node: Sure. They’re all co-ed! kushnoodh: have a nice chat ok see u bybeybeyeyeb sweet friend root_node: Bye! Best of luck! kushnoodh: ok so nice of u man i like u very much because ur very good man kushnoodh: have a good day nice meeting and chatting with u ok ybeybebeyb

I give up. I’ve been to too many places, like Leopold Cafe, Tavern, Library Bar, Liquid Lounge, Roti, Not Just Jazz by the Bay, Buddy’s, The Ghetto Pub, Crosswords, Groove, Asiatic, Hanging Gardens, some Chinese restaurant at The Leela (which is the best Chinese food I’ve had), etc. And I don’t have the time to write reviews! Maybe I’ll take it up later.

Vishnu and I tried out Indian Summer, opposite to Gaylord. It looked like one of those ‘classier’ places, so I wasn’t expecting the meal to be any good. The variety was impressive though, so sticking to my policy of ordering dishes I never had, we tried Shahi shorba (soup), methi tikki and simla mirch besan ke sath, with makai roti and reshmi paratha. For Rs. 550. I recommend every single dish – especially the soup. The service was good, too, and I’d rate it as excellent, except for the fact that the waiter walked up to us and asked us if we’d ordered Shahi Shorba. True to my form, I stared at him cluelessly, looked around, and said, “Who me?” ...

This morning, for the first time, I saw what the waves crash over the rocks on Marine Drive. I did see some spray on Friday as we were walking along Marine Drive, but nothing like this. It was raining, and torrentially. The previous evening, my umbrella broke. I was walking out of office, which is directly in front of the sea. The breeze blows towards office. There’s no way for the wind to go except through the door. So when I walked out of the door and opened my umbrella, the breeze inverted it, and broke a couple of the rods. It’s still usable, but won’t stand another strong wind. ...

After having been stood up on a dinner engagement, Amitabh and I walked from Regal to Food Inn, which looked fine from outside. We decided to have dinner in the AC section upstairs. I didn’t notice anything, until Amitabh wondered: “Anand, why is it that there’s no one in this whole place except us?” Well, there were, actually. 4 waiters, all standing with their backs to the same wall, with a tray in the hands, equidistant from each other. Looked like those thugs in movies who’d move away from the wall at the villain’s orders, and say, “Yes Boss!” Our hypothesis was that the place was run by the Mumbai mafia, and was the meeting point for the shady deals in the city. ...

Amitabh, Shyam and myself finally managed to see “Someone Like You” at Sterling. I arrived a bit early, at 10PM, and the show began at 10:45PM. The wait was well worth it, because it seemed to me that the who’s who of Mumbai fashion were parading about the theatre. Not that I recognised anybody, but then, not that I would recognise anybody anyway. We got corner seats, unfortunately, with the AC directly above us. The three of us sat huddled in the corner, trying to warm ourselves. Fortunately, the movie proved a hilarious piece.

Dikshit and I had a 12" Spectacular Spinach ‘Over The Edge’ pizza (Over The Edge means that the pizza is thin and the topping is thick right till the edge. The pizza has spinach, mushrooms and jalapeno peppers) and a fettucini with pesto sauce at the Pizzeria. Fettucini is the flat pasta, as opposed to macaroni (which looks like sliced tyres) or spaghetti (noodles). I had pesto sauce at London a couple of times, and loved the taste. At Rs. 400, the bill was a little high. But we had a beautiful view, sitting at the Pizzeria, of Marine Drive. It started raining as we were there, which at Marine Drive is a sight to watch as well.

Saurabh and I had Pav Bhaji and Bhel Puri at Vittal. The place was a pretty small outfit, like the Kamaths or the Sagars. But the dishes were among the best that I’ve ever had. Not expensive – we finished at Rs. 75 between us, including an extra pav bun. Then we watched Miss Congeniality at New Excelsior. The theatre didn’t have a balcony, which is pretty surprising, but it appeared larger than Regal. The movie was produced by and stars Sandra Bullock as an FBI agent in a beauty pageant. Extremely funny, and without any message, thankfully.

Sumit & I had dinner at Dosa Diner. I was fairly absorbed in a discussion relating entropy, evolution and free will, hence did not pay much attention to the place or the menu. But what remains fresh in my mind is the long green tunnel you walk through to get to the place. It used to be a discotheque earlier, and the tunnel had been painted black completely. At least its brighter now, but green is almost as discotheque as black if you ask me. But then, at least I don’t wear black nailpolish (as opposed to green ;-) ...

I missed seeing Someone Like You at Sterling. The show was to start at 10:45PM. At 10:30PM, four of us were deciding on a go/no-go for Rs.200 in black. We figured, having come all this way, may as well go for it, and hunted for the chap. Not to be found. In the meantime, there’s another offer for Rs. 250. We spend a while over it. Finally, yes, it’s probably worth it. We go hunt for him again. The guy says wait, and wanders around trying to buy tickets. That’s crazy! But we waited. By which time it was 10:45, and the market rates rose to Rs. 300, and only two tickets were available. ...

Having spent several hours at office, Amitabh and I walked down to the Regal Cinema Hall to watch “The Emperor’s New Groove”. Given that it was a saturday afternoon, and a Disney movie, we were expecting only to see a family crowd, and weren’t disappointed. Tickets, as always in Mumbai, were a bit more expensive than we were used to. Rs. 60 and Rs. 80. We took the Rs. 60, and discovered that there was no difference between the two. Well, there was, but not much. ...

Amitabh, Xavier and I, after considerable deliberation on the choice of tonight’s restaurant, ended up at Gaylord, again in the Churchgate area. We sat at one of the tables near the entrance, informed a (relatively young, clean shaven) waiter that we’d like a seat inside ASAP, and we’d have drinks in the meantime. Just to be on the safe side, Xavier confirmed with him that it was OK if we got a seat in-between our drinks and we could take the drinks inside. After a few rounds of explanation, he seemed to get the point, and nodded. But the explanation must have done him more harm than good, because he forgot to make our reservation. ...

Kamdar’s Just Around The Corner is, in fact, just around the corner opposite Churchgate. It’s supposed to be Raveena Tandon’s favourite hangout, so hopes ran high. Rajesh and I walked in, sat down, and started discussing the the hope that the man in a white chef hat sitting at the adjacent table would come over. After a few minutes, we figured that Just around the corner is a self-service restaurant, and the man in the chef’s hat at the adjacent table was a guest. So we got up, walked down the food aisle through the exit gate. (The manager gave us a dirty look, but I’m hoping it was because he was jealous we were thin enough to squeeze through.) There were soups, salads, pastries, sandwiches, and burgers. Except for the salads, the items were 75% non-veg. But the variety was fairly good, despite that. A bit on the expensive side, with sandwiches at Rs. 80, salads (a side order) at Rs. 70, and my apple pie at Rs. 45. But the ambience was nice, so were the people around. There were just 3 or 4 groups dining, while the place could seat several more. ...

I’d been to the Samrat restaurant (near Eros theatre) with Vinod. A bright and clean place, serving Gujarati cuisine. Having decided to try only new items, We picked corn bhel and fried baby corn for starters, and makai nu shakh with reshmi paratha and rumali roti for the main course. Makai nu shakh is “cream corn, cooked in milk with coconut, coriander and green chillis”. It tasted rather like Au gratin, and rather nice, in my opinion. Corn bhel was excellent – just bhel, except corn was used instead of puffed rice. Figuring there was too much corn on the plate, we had onion rings (instead of fried baby corn) which taste the same pretty much everywhere, I suppose. ...

Mumbai dabbawallahs have been given a 6-sigma rating. I might start ordering dabbas online for dinner.

I have joined the Boston Consulting Group at Mumbai.

I’m looking for accomodation in Mumbai through realestatemumbai.com. Anyone with PG acco or a flat to rent around Nariman Point? (Note added on 31 May 2001: Don’t bother – I found a place.)