Mumbai
Sushma Reddy welcomes you to the sultry coast of to the city that never
sleeps, the city that dares to be more than just a port by the bay.
The only way to know Mumbai is to sweet talk her into revealing herself.
To talk to her over a cup of coffee, to drink to her at the bar and to
dance with her into the wee hours of the morning. Come, explore Mumbai
- the city of dreams.
Amchi Mumbai
When Mumbaikar’s talk of Mumbai they think of gracious Colaba in
South Mumbai and playful Juhu, the suburb 16 km south of Colaba –
the two hubs that define the city’s charm and character. The best
way to explore the two is to take a walk around Colaba area and then hop
into a taxi for Juhu.
Colaba: Start your journey at the Gateway of
India, stroll along Taj Mahal Hotel (built with
its back to the sea and then subsequently over the years renovated to
include entrance from the sea front) visit the galleries and museums (particularly
the Jehangir Art Gallery and the National Gallery
of Modern Art). Then from the nearby concrete jungle of Nariman
Point head towards Malabar Hill along the Marine Drive, the world’s
second seafront (after Miami in United States) studded with 1920s art
deco buildings. To the left you’ll find the Haji Mastaan
Dargah and at its end, the crowded and jovial Chowpatty
Beach. If you’d like to take a guided tour of Colaba check
with NGMA which organises walking tours - a mixed bag of art, music, drama,
film, poetry, tea and snacks.
Juhu: The always crowded Juhu most often associated with
the rich and famous actors, directors and producers who’ve built
or acquired seafront bungalows since 1950s, is a beehive that’s
best avoided, unless you’d like to savour some of the street food
here. The view of the sea from here is best had from the nearby Mumbai’s
first 5 star hotel, Sun-n-Sand or the spiffy Holiday
Inn, where you are always likely to bump into a star or two.
Links to info:
Jehangir Art Gallery
Opposite Elphinstone College
MG Road
Tel: 022-22048212
Open Mon-Sat, 11 a.m.- 7 p.m.
National Gallery of Modern Art
Opposite Regal Cinema
MG Road
Tel: 022–22881969
Open Mon-Sat, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
Taj Mahal Hotel
Appolo Bunder
Mumbai – 400 001
Tel: 022-56653366
Website: http://www.tajhotels.com
Sun-n-Sand
39, Juhu Beach, Mumbai - 400 049
Tel:022-56938888/26201011
Website: http://www.sunnsandhotel.com
Holiday Inn
Balraj Sahani Marg
Juhu Beach
Mumbai 400049
Tel: 022-56934444
Website: http://www.holidayinnbombay.com
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For a Few Rupees less
Mumbai is where you can get almost anything for a price. If you are looking
for a traditional good luck charm buy a clay figurine of Ganesha (the
Elephant God) from any of the potters dotting the city. If something off
beat is more your style, call up Zyros Zend and get yourself a fortune
cookie! Yes, in Mumbai you can buy anything. His most sought after cookie
is the one which costing Rs 101 comes with a ring and the message “Your
life is going to change forever in next few seconds”. Many have
used it to propose to their partners.
If you like a good read take a walk along the footpaths of the Fort
area or Churchgate where you’ll find an
array of books to choose from. If it’s the rip offs of branded clothes
that you are looking for try Nakhuda Market of Mohammad
Ali Road, Linking Road in Bandra and of course, Fashion
Street between Marine Lines and Churchgate. By the way, Asia’s
largest slum, Dharavi is the place to pick up the best
leather buys in the city.
But the most charming and exciting experience for most travelers coming
into town is the Thieves Market or the Chor Bazar. Well,
it started as a thieves market but is today more or less an antique treasurehouse.
Not all of it however, is as authentic as the sellers would like you to
believe. Some of the shops accept credit cards but most don’t. From
an old Russian Leica camera to ornate doors sourced from Rajasthan to
carpets and bric-a-brac, it’s a haven for shopoholics.
Links to info:
Zyros Zend
Fortune Cookie India
300, Cowasji Hormasji Street
Marine Lines
Tel: 022-22035586
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Over a cup of coffee
Chocolate muffins and hot cup of steaming coffee followed by an evening
of riveting performance is more than anybody looking for a bite of culture
in Mumbai can ask for. All this and more can be had at the famous Prithvi
Theatres, started as a traveling theatre by the scion of Kapoor
family, Prithvi Raj Kapoor. Revived from near ruin by his granddaughter
Sanjana Kapoor, Prithvi is a one place that’ll assure a glimpse
of the literary and cultivated Mumbaikar. If film not theatre is more
your scene, check the Mocha Film Club, which keeps a
date with international cinema every Monday. To confirm what’s playing
call a day in advance as the decision is made at the last minute.
Another true blue Amchi Mumbai experience you can’t do without is
the Mumbai Derby held at the Mahalakshmi Race Course
on the first Sunday of February with all the traditional English trimmings
– hats, gloves, cucumber sandwiches and yes, scones. Though the
racing season starts in February it’s the Derby that attracts the
rich and beautiful. The 5th of February McDowell sponsored Derby this
year saw bandana-clad Feroz Khan, actor Arbaz Khan, liquor baron Vijay
Mallaya and hot sensation Mallika Sherawat who as this year’s chief
guest arrived to the venue in a helicopter!
Links to info:
Prithvi Theatre
Janki Kutir
Juhu Church Road
Mumbai 400049
Tel: 022-2614 9546, 2618 3568
Website: http://www.prithvitheatre.org
For more information on horse racing in India check out
the following website: http://www.indiarace.com
Mocha
Near Holy Family Hospital
Hill Road, Bandra
Tel: 022-26433098
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Dancing feet
Want to shake a leg? There is no place like Mumbai where dancing feet
lead to films or international stage. Ask Ayesha Dharkar who trained with
Tusha Dallas’ School of Classical Ballet and Western Dance.
Dallas who trained at the London’s Royal Academy of Dance in the
1960s, started one of oldest schools in the city and counts among its
alumni India’s best-known new age dancer Astad Deboo and more lately,
the beautiful Perizaad Zorabian. But no one is probably more popular and
well-known in India then Shyamak Davar whose Davar Dance Academy
took off where ballet and Bollywood matkas and jhatkas left off. Head
there for jazz, hip-hop, rock-n-roll, Afro jazz and salsa classes.
If Davar’s academy is too passé for you, try the latest
sensation in Amchi Mumbai, Sandip Soparkar’s Ballroom Studio
where together with his partner, Kitu Gidwani you can learn to
shake your booty in the rumba, samba, cha cha cha, jive and paso doble
dance styles. Soparkar, like many other trained dancers is also a choreographer
who has earned his stripes with the films, The Rising and Kyo Ho Gaya
Na. Incidentally, Sparkar’s studio is the only one in India to receive
exclusive rights to send entries to two famous international dance festivals
– Dance Grand Prix Italia and the Prague Festival in the Latin American
ballroom category. So hey, put on those dancing shoes, who knows a two-month
course could mean a whole new career in life!
Links to info:
Dallas’ School of Classical Ballet and Western Dance
41, Casa Garnde
Little Gibbs Road
Malabar Hill
Tel: 022-23676534
Sandip Soparkar’s Balroom Studio
St Andrew’s College
Off Hailey Road
Bandra
Tel: 9819361074
Or
Sandip Soparkar’s Balroom Studio
New Era School
Near Tejpal Auditorium
Gowalia Tank
Kemp’s Corner
Tel: 9819361074
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At the bar
One of the most frequented and popular restro bars in town Olive
Bar and Kitchen in the up market Pali Hill is where the successful
Mumbaikars and out of town who’s who meet over drinks and Italian
delicacies such as quail or roasted Guinee fowl. This is where Mumbai’s
leading jazz man Louis Banks can also be found entertaining guests with
traditional sounds of jazz and blues. If you are into jazz you could also
try the stylish Not Just Jazz by the Bay and the Starters
& More that organise gigs with well-known jazz musicians
from around the world including India.
Mumbai, the bastion of Bollywood beat can be experienced in its pumping,
foot stomping and arm waving best at Enigma discotheque
which by all accounts charges the highest cover charge per couple (Rs
1,500). Truly speaking however, Bandra’s basement club Poison
(with an emerald staircase!) is where the real action, the real Bollywood
glitterati drop in on special days – when it is out of bounds for
junta. This where you’ll find Esha Deol, Zayed Khan, Gauri Khan
and Priti Zinta et al let their hair down.
The best nightspots, however, are the former mills in the Parl-Worli suburbs
that have come alive to the sound of music. Check out Velocity
here one of the biggest discos in the country where you can listen to
almost any kind of music and even watch a mujra!
Links to info:
Call to confirm what’s playing when.
Olive Bar and Kitchen
Pali Hill Tourist Hotel
14, Union Park
Kher (West)
Tel: 022-26058228
Not Just Jazz by the Bay
Soona Mahal
143 Marine Drive
near the Ambassador Hotel
Tel: 022-22851876
Starters & More
Cambata Building (Eros Theatre)
Churchgate
Near Oval Maidan
Tel: 022-56315871
Enigma
JW Marriot Hotel
Juhu Tara Road
Tel: 022-56933000
(open Wednesdays-Fridays)
Velocity
Film Centre, 2nd Floor,
Near Cross Roads,
Tardeo, Haji Ali
Tel: 022-23514343
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