The Bombay Balchão walk with author, Jane Borges and Swapbook in Mumbai

Walking around in Mumbai, especially in the older parts of the city, is like walking through a treasure trove of the city’s history. In some instances, these treasures are hidden, just waiting to be unearthed. But in many cases they are in plain sight and all you need to do is pay attention. I love exploring my own maximum city and whenever I am not traveling and have the time, I join a group or some friends to walk around some of Mumbai’s old neighbourhoods. On one such weekend I joined a group of friends from Swapbook and author, Jane Borges, as she took us on a quick tour of the various locations featured in her recently released book, Bombay Balchão – talking about the old Christian neighborhoods of South Mumbai, their history, culture and the people.

Dabul, an old Christian neighbourhood of South Mumbai, Maharashtra

A Quick Weekend Trip – River Rafting in the Kundalika River in Kolad, Maharashtra

Any mention of river rafting instantly conjures images of a raft on the waters of the mighty river Ganga in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand. And for as long as I can remember I have wanted to go for this amazing adventure sport. But for one reason or another my rafting plans have never materialized.  I closely missed another rafting opportunity in May this year but then quite by chance, I figured that river rafting is done on the Kundalika river in Kolad, Maharashtra. There are quite a few other activities on offer too, but the most famous one is river rafting and A & I decided to go check this out.

Driving to Kolad, Maharashtra, India

Best Travel Moments from 2014 (The Year of many Firsts’)

Bidding goodbye to any year is never without mixed feelings. On one hand there is an excitement about planning for the new year anticipating new possibilities and potential opportunities. While on the other, there is a sadness like bidding goodbye to a good friend (time!), who has been a constant companion through the year, seen us through life’s ups and its downs, taken us to new shores, helped us grow another bit and discover that one other aspect about ourselves which we didn’t expect to find.

Clouds in water, Shudu Lake, Potatso National Park, Shangri-La, China

Street art, murals and graffiti in Dharavi, Mumbai

Anyone who has ever heard of Dharavi knows that its famous for being one of the largest slums in the world and the place to go for slum tours (for tourists!). But since November this year it has added another feather to its cap – its very own street art and graffiti. For this project, 20 internationally renowned street artists from all over the world (with different art styles and techniques) came together along with the St+Art Foundation and brought street art to select areas in Mumbai – mainly Bandra and Dharavi.

One of my favorite murals by Gomez

Photographing my way through Chor Bazaar (Thieves Market) in Mumbai

Mumbai has some interesting and unique nooks & corners, one of them being our local Chor Bazaar. “Chor” in Hindi means “thieves” and “Bazaar” means a “market”, hence literally translated “Chor Bazaar” means “Thieves Market”. Per Wikipedia this market is one of the largest flea markets in India and has a fascinating history. Apparently this market was originally called Shor Bazaar, meaning “noisy market”, but with British mispronunciation “shor” became “chor” and the name stuck. Eventually stolen goods started finding their way here and hence this market started living upto its name. These days Chor Bazaar is famous for all kinds of antique / vintage products and other interesting things ranging from clocks, all kinds of instruments, furniture, glassware, brassware, lamps, ceramics, Bollywood posters, ceramics, coins, miniature cars, etc etc. Basically its possible to find anything here from cute to bizarre to the regular. 🙂

All kinds of knick knacks

A walk down the heritage lane in Mumbai

As part of my “Mumbai Local” series, I am always on a look-out for Mumbai’s hidden nooks and corners, often the non-touristy parts of the city which we as residents either take for granted or don’t notice while going about our everyday lives. Recently I came across Raconteur Walks, a group of Mumbai enthusiasts who organize theme based walking tours around Mumbai and show people a new side of this city, that we call home.

The iconic VT Station, Mumbai

Our Irani Cafe Walk has been featured in DNA Downtown Edition today

I am on cloud 9 today and extremely excited to share with you all, that our Irani Cafe walk (which many of you may have followed on Facebook and Twitter on November 17) has been featured in today’s DNA Mumbai Downtown Edition, in an article titled “Old World Charm and Irani Cafes”.

The Article

With Foodpanda – Delicious Food is just a click away

Foodpanda

Food 🙂  Mere mention of this word and there is a smile on my face and thoughts of tasty food on my mind. Hence it’s no surprise when I say that I am a total foodie and love my eating out time, especially for lunch. But sadly I work in a part of Mumbai where for some reason there is a serious dearth of eating options. And during one such frustrating search for neighborhood food options, I found an interesting website called Foodpanda.

Foodpanda is an online food ordering website that you can visit and order food and beverages in a few simple steps. Once you visit their website all you need to do type in your city, then your area and then a subarea – and lo and behold it shows you numerous options from where you can order. The website has tie-ups with all major restaurants in the city and across cuisines too. It also shows the online menu of the restaurant and the minimum order that needs to be placed for delivery.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Good Morning – with Parrots

This week’s weekly photo challenge requires us to post a photo that could be anything that says “Good Morning”. I am sharing a small part of my morning that starts with the beautiful rays of the run streaming through my windows and the sound of parrots and crows all around.

Rays of the sun

Photo Essay – The Making of the Ganpati Idols

Presently, the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi is being celebrated in full swing in many parts of India. During this festival idols of Lord Ganesha are brought home or to common community pandals, worshipped for 1.5 – 10 days (depending on the number of days that anyone has decided to keep them) and then, amidst major fanfare, immersed in the sea. Ganpatis are everywhere at this moment in houses, streets, colonies, temples, and you hear the artis and music whenever you pass one.

But have you ever wondered how they are made? I always did and this year I decided to visit some Ganpati workshops and understand the entire process. I loved this entire workshop walk as I saw so many idols (in all shapes, sizes, colors) in a single place, that it was just mind boggling. I saw idols in the form of Krishna, Shiva, Hanuman, RK Laxman’s common man, sitting on a bird, on a swing, etc etc. It was like being in a Ganpati candy store 🙂

Ganpati with a peacock feather background