nightlifemumbai

- by Deepa Krishnan It's not often that you get to spend the day with the governor of the Reserve Bank! So here's a quick look at my day, with Radhika Puri and Raghuram Rajan. What a totally fabulous couple. And such lovely, old-fashioned good manners. I really should learn from them. I met them at 8:45 am, and we talked non-stop until 2:00 p.m. Quite a feat, even for a super-talkative person like me!  We started with a visit to Castella de Aguada, the old Portuguese fort, where I explained about all the kingdoms who fought for control of trade on the western coast. There are multiple forts around the bay (Mahim Fort, Bandra Fort, Worli Fort). Clear evidence of the strategic importance of this area. We saw lovely views of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. Driving past Mount Mary, we stopped to see the prayer candles. They are so uniquely Bandra! If you want to have your wishes fulfilled, all you need to do is pray to the Mother of the mount and light a candle. There are wax fig...

- by Deepa Krishnan I wrote earlier about how the food scene in BKC is changing, with more options coming up. Recently I went to The Capital, and was happy to see a very smart-looking Theobroma there. A nice option for a weekday breakfast. Or a quick stop with friends over the weekend. They have a soup and salad offering on all weekdays; which is popular with people working in BKC. There's a Lunch Box for Rs 250, which is also delivered to offices. And of course, there's all the usual stuff - breads, lavash, muffins, tarts etc. I took home their olive tapenade, which was good. The dining scene in BKC is improving day by day. Lots of new options have come up in The Capital itself. The Good Wife and Cafe Sabrosa are around 5-6 months old; both are stylish places where the 'finance types' from BKC hang out in the evenings. This photo below is from The Good Wife: a typical BKC weeknight, people relaxing over drinks after the working day. The Capital building also has a Star...

- By Deepa Krishnan I enjoy walking through Bandra, because I am always surprised by something new. I don't mean new cafes or shops. It's all the new street art that's everywhere (ever since the St+ART Festival that happened in November last year). It changes my experience of Bandra each time I go there. Take this wall in Ranwar Village, for example. I don't remember seeing anything when I went there some months ago. Then all of a sudden, on a walk last week, I turned a corner, and there it was. A woman in black and white, adding drama to the wall. I found out later that this artwork is by Luis Gomez de Teran from Venezuela. He called this artwork "Veronica". That's the name of the lane where this wall is located, by the way. Sort of bringing the lane to life, giving it a dark, smoky, interesting personality :) :) I'm not sure what exactly Ms. Veronica is holding in her hand. Can you figure it out? And check out the cat at the bottom! Near the turni...

- By Deepa Krishnan The pleasures of wandering through Bandra are many. Bollywood Art Project's Madhubala is one of them. It brings all of Madhubala's vivacity to Chapel Road! Earlier there was only the Anarkali painting, with Madhubala and Pradeep Kumar. But a year ago, the good folks at BAP added a solo Madhubala . I had posted earlier, their iconic Deewar one with Amitabh Bacchan: it is on the road going downhill towards Bandstand from Mehboob Studio. And here is the Rajesh Khanna one - capturing all the charm that made him Bollywood's first ever superstar. There is also an Amrish Puri (Mogambo) in Khar, but I have not seen it. BAP is planning a tribute to Yash Chopra also. May their tribe increase! More information here: Bollywood Art Project

- By Deepa Krishnan I've been wanting to photograph Bandra Station ever since its restoration some 5-6 years ago. I finally got a chance to go there last week. It is by far, the city's prettiest railway station.  No, it is not grand, like the Victoria Terminus, but in my eyes it is very beautiful. The woodwork and tiles add enormous charm, don't they? Plans for this station were finalised in the UK, and the building was erected by BBC&I in 1864. Finally in 1869, the train service (which ran only upto Mahim) was extended upto Bandra, paving the way for more people to settle in this suburb. By 1881, Bandra had 15,000 residents, of which half were Hindu, 30% were Christian and 15% Muslim. There were also Parsis, Jews and Armenians. Apart from the attractive Mangalore tile roofing and carved wooden eaves, this station has cast-iron pillars (you can see them in this photo). Remember my previous article about Watsons Hotel? The Watsons were shipping their cast-iron pillars t...

- By Deepa Krishnan London may have the Gherkin, but Mumbai has the Beer Can :) Or maybe it's a Wine Barrel? Check out the photo below and decide: In case you didn't already know, this is the ONGC Green Building being built in Bandra Kurla Complex. I have been watching this building come up, little by little, for the last 2 years (I can see it from my 14th floor balcony in Sion). I even talked about this building in my interview for Mint. Finally last week I went to BKC and clicked a close-up photo; then I decided to read up about the building. Apparently, the Beer Can is designed to be "Green, Energy-efficient and Intelligent". This is a CDM Project - meaning that the energy conservation measures in this project will help ONGC generate Certified Emission Reduction units which may be traded in emissions trading schemes. This kind of project needs to be independently audited. A Japanese company called JACO CDM did the audit, and I managed to get the audit report cop...

- By Deepa Krishnan I had a Bollywood day today. Saw a movie-shoot with Nana Patekar who (gasp) took off his shirt. OK, OK, there was a vest underneath but still, it was very much a case of dhakdhakheart . I am *not* old enough to be impervious to such stuff! Mercifully, I decided not to make a fool of myself and ask for a photograph.  Also, there were Anil Kapoor and Paresh Rawal. And a whole host of younger actors whose names I *am* too old to be familiar with. It was fun seeing the sets and the wardrobe guys and all the hard work that goes into the shoot. The scene they were filming was a party, into which Anil Kapoor swaggers in. Then he has a face-off with Nana Patekar. I loved all the glam girls and guys and how they sweated under the sun, but all smartened up miraculously when the director yelled Aaaaaction!! I especially loved how they made fake alcohol and filled it into cocktail and wine glasses. I also saw lots of sets. Like this one, of a courtroom, with a lawyer argui...

- By Deepa Krishnan The old Portuguese fort in Bandra is one of Mumbai's favourite hangouts in the rain.   There's a fantastic breeze, with great views of the Arabian sea and the Worli Sea-link. Families, college kids, lovers, everyone comes here to hang out in the evenings. Naturally, the bhelwalla does brisk business. Seen from the top of the fort, the tad palms and the sea remind you of Mumbai's original landscape, as it existed before Bandra developed and grew into what it is today. In the 1640s, the Portuguese built a fort here, called Castella de Aguada - the Castle of Water. The fort is still there, and it has unbroken views of the Sea Link which is behind it. Further down the road, you can see folks hanging out near Shah Rukh Khan's Mannat. There's a little garden here, nice for spending time with friends, plus the added bonus of a possible star sighting. The cafe nearby has windows with sea views. Along the Bandstand promenade, there are lots of people walk...