I had moved to Gurgaon, Haryana in the month of October 2008. I will be traveling to Bombay for some days starting 28th of January till the 1st of February – will be attending a friend’s wedding as well as working on the photo-shoot – will be photographing the South Bombay architecture in and around Colaba. Work and leisure. Glad to be visiting.

Now that’s what Mumbai’s about. I wish I was there to dunk down a couple of glasses of Old Monk with Coke – upper floor is where I spent most of my evenings. Love their Chicken Sandwich as well. And the Beef steak – Beef Chilly Fry. Both on the ground level.

Leopold Cafe on Orkut and a more Colaba Causeway oriented Leopolds Group on Facebook.

People have died. Human beings have died. I am sick of the news, the micro-blogging, the opinionated monologues and incessant negativism. Everyone who is anyone seems to have covered the ‘event’ with accurate news as well a rumors. There have been photographs from the brave Vinu and then the entire planet’s news channels and newspapers descended on Mumbai. Thanks Vinu and I’m sure this will reward you well. A part of me is envious that you did this and I was unable to. The other parts of me are glad I did not see it first hand.

I am thankful for the Indian Armed Forces – Army and Navy on the scene and the Air Force in the background – for being there. I feel for the officers who have not rested in the last 48 hours and counting.

I am sad. Leopold’s is a cafe I’ve hung out at hundreds of times when I lived in Mumbai. I am sad that I was not there to help. The only support I have been fortunate enough to have been allowed to lend [ and I'm sure he didn't need it ] was and is to a very close friend who is a Naval Officer, by texting him pretty much all night yesterday as he sailed, patrolling the Arabian Sea.

I am glad that the people I know in Mumbai, are safe. And I feel terrible for the people who lost their lives – people I did not know – their families, their friends – their lives. The pointlessness is overwhelming.

And I can do pretty much nothing about it.

I am moving from Bombay to Gurgaon [ from the state of Maharashtra to the state of Haryana in North India ]. Just completed the website dedicated to the apartment in question.

Briefly, it is 1,080 sq. ft. in area with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, one kitchen, one living plus dining room and one balcony. For photographs of the apartment and the housing society, please visit the I-805 website.

For finding out the price, please get in touch!

The event took place at Blue Frog at the Todi Mills Compound in Lower Parel, yesterday evening. Luke Kenny was the performer and lead singer.

I’m not much of a Doors fan but after last night, I will be reading up on Jim Morrison’s poetry. Luke Kenny is an awesome performer – although I miss his long hair.

The Band
Drums – Jai Row Kavi
Bass – Kenneth Rebello
Guitars – Pozy Dhar
Keys – Sanaya Ardeshir [ who is only 19 years old and she rocks! ]
Vox – Luke Kenny

Not really the marathon, but pre and post marathon – my side of the story – while people trained and ran the marathon. And some other photos – random. I’m updating after a long time.

Brunch at Barbeque Nation, Bandra.
The sweet-naans were super awesome. It’s a good experience – definitely try it out. Preferable with a big bunch of people accompanying you. Buffet style, grilled meat – with the grill in the middle of the table you’re sitting at.

Moharram in Mumbai : decorations at a friend’s place.

Mumbai Marathon preparation.
Setting up the stage.

Washing / Cleaning the roads.

Laser ads on Air-India building.

Marine Drive Promenade.

Night lights on Marine Drive.

Milestone [ rather a meterstone ] slab on the promenade. Never seen them before.

Traffic congestion : Saturday night and pre-marathon evening.

Girgaum Chowpatty corner buildings.

Coconut seller outside Crystal.

Mr. Dwarka Das Kapoor of Crystal. After I requested him for a photo and shot him, he started showing me newspaper clipping of himself and his restaurant. I’m in love with Crystal’s food and ambience – no matter whether it’s the mezzanine floor and sweltering. But yesterday’s dinner was a little disappointing. Except the Bhurta and the Rotis – the Aloo Gobi, the Chana Dal and Lauki and the Paneer Burji were just so so.

Asiatic Library – maybe I should plan something like a reading session where a bunch of people get together with their favorite books and read their favorite passages from them and then we discuss and get all philosophically soppy. Should be fun. The fact that the stairs are so well lit throughout the night it one very attractive proposition.

Reebok showroom, Colaba Causeway. There’s a 40% off sale going on there – it’s been on for quite sometime. On the opposite side of the road, even Benetton has a sale on and they were open till pretty late last night. The Reebok thingie was but Benetton was open and selling.

Bademiya : uhh. It took us 15 min to catch hold of someone to place on order [ just one roll ] – once placed it took the guy about three minutes to fulfil the order. There were a couple of customers who ordered takeaways and conveniently left without paying because no one asked them. Extremely smoky and oily – cooking outdoors.

Naval Shoes

End of the Marathon

One evening and night out in Mumbai is almost like a whole lifetime of living for a lot of people not living in Mumbai. A lot of my non-Mumbai friends can’t imagine how I manage to do so much in less than 16 hours. All I have to say is that it’s Mumbai meri jaan. Damn. I love the city.

Had gone to meet up with a client in Town somewhere – I think it was close to where the VAMA store is – don’t remember now though. This is what happens when I don’t post for a while.

These are shots of some building when I was stuck in traffic in the cab.

In Andheri.
Lokhandwala Mocha road – the dog was busy devouring a pigeon – smack in the middle of the road! It was a slow Saturday – Ganesh Chaturthi.

That’s the Ganesha idol at a friend’s home. First time in about 13 years of being in Maharashtra that I actually went for a Ganesh Chaturthi puja and aarti as well as the Visarjan. At Andheri.

Decoration light under a flyover on Parel TT.

On the night of Chaturthi, boys in the building setting up the Carrom Board. Andheri.

With a friend on his bike – on our way from Parel to Andheri. Stuck in traffic.

The Phoenix Mills parking – flooded.

Another view of the high-rises around Phoenix Mills in Lower Parel.

Got off the bike in the Phoenix parking. They’ve changed the parking for two-wheelers. Now the entry is from the Lifestyle side.

Picked up a friend from the Domestic Airport and drove with him in a cab to the International Airport – he had a flight to the US. The cabbie asked for 280 bucks! LOL! The airport cabbies never fail to amaze me!

The dog was listening intently to our conversation.
Hot coffee – both of us had sore throats [ my friend and I - not the dog! ]