Chinese food anyone??
Mumbai is famous for its various Chinese Thellas ( roadside stalls). While I am aware that most people in Mumbai meaning 60% of the population finish their meals well within 10 or 20 bucks a day, having a full-fledged chinese dinner in 35 bucks is extraordinarily sensational.
Chinese stalls can be found all over Mumbai, that is when you look out for those large red dragon signettes which for some reason translate into authentic chinese (spelled: “autantic chinis” by the owners). The quantity provided is good for two, three if all have normal appetites). The guy who posed for this picture told me that he had learnt the kala (art) of making chinese from an original china-man. And the claimed chinese cook had even given him the secret recipe of making the perfect schezuan sauce, just so that it was part spicy, part saucy and a very small portion of sweetness. Must say, even supermarket sauces dont come near the perfection of this one.

The meal cost us ( three of us) :

Shezuan Noodles :30 Rs
Fried Rice: 25 Rs
Vegetarian Manchurian with gravy: 25 Rs
A 500 ml Sprite : 22 Rs

The bad quality of the pic is due to fact that it has been taken from a cell phone.

This might not be the real chinese cuisine, but what we Indians call Chinese is just this – a lot of Chinese with a lot of Indian tossed in for good measure. Noodles from China and spices from India. And needless to say, its the best way to eat it (the real Chinese fare can be a litlle bland for the Indian tongue). In USA, most towns with a substantial amount of Indian crowds has an “Indian Chinese” restaurant, to cater to the Indian taste of Chinese.
Surprisingly the meal did not give anyone bad stomachs or any kind of ailment. Although i would not recommend anyone to try it out on an everyday basis, it sure is good for the tonsils, pocket and adventurous streak albeint once in a while.

Mumbaikars crying and practically banging their heads day-in-day-out over parking space is nothing new. It’s in many ways become a regular part of our daily lives, but then again there is always a saturation point. And therefore I have decided to do a post about the daily parking space trauma at my workplace.

Hijacked by contract buses

Firstly, it takes me nearly 45 minutes to an hour to get from Juhu to M.I.D.C, Andheri East. The less said about the traffic scene in Andheri East, the better it is. Come here any time of the day, at times even late evenings, you will be in most probability get stuck in a jam. Most of the roads around the M.I.D.C are dug up – but than I can’t re-call a single day in all the three years that I have been coming here – this is the pathetic state of one of the most popular industrial area in Mumbai city, 365 days.

So after wrestling with the rickshawallas (they can be such a pain in the ass), tempos, BEST buses, trucks, cars and humans, I reach my destination with my head already fucked-up for the day. But then this is not it, a-sight-for-sore-eyes greets me just outside my office building. My whole street is perpetually choked with contract buses. There is barely any space for cars to go thru from both ends. These contract buses are for staff pick-ups and drop-offs. Forget about buses (because of their big size) taking up parking spaces for at least 2-3 cars, most of these contract buses are not even hired by the companies in my street. They belong to firms located in Seepz, which is about 5 minutes drive from where I am. Since outside buses are not allowed to park with in Seepz compound, the contractors nicely get their vehicles parked in streets around the Seepz compound.
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We all knew that seats were reserved in BEST Buses for ladies. Some ladies even got ignorant men on their feet for occupying the ladies’ seats in a crowded bus. But today I was witness to a new reservation – reservation for women carrying babies.

On the left half of the ladies seat

(Streeyansathi – for ladies)

And on the right half

(Tanhya Mulansaha pravas karnarya streeyansathi – For women traveling with babies)

I was seated on the second ladies’ seat on my way home by bus today. A lady (lets call her Lady 1) got into the bus, and shooed a man from the ladies’ seat in front me. The man stood up with a glum face, and soon found a seat right behind me. A few stops later, another lady got into the bus with two toddlers, one in her arms, the other tugging her dupatta. Lets call her Lady 2. Since there was no place for her to sit, she nudged Lady 1 and requested her to get up. Lady 1, surprised at being asked to get off a ladies’ seat, snorted and didn’t budge. Lady 2 then called out to the conductor, who pointed out to the ignorant lady – the seat she was sitting in was reserved with women carrying babies. Cleverly Lady 1 offered to hold the toddler, but Lady 2 was unrelenting. Sheepishly, Lady 1 stood up, and Lady 2 took the seat, her happy toddler enjoying the view from the bus window.

I turned around to glance at the displaced man’s face. I’ve never seen a bigger and more gleeful smile. ‘Jaisi karni waisi bharni’ (as you sow, so shall you reap) he said to nobody in particular.

Yesterday, we were forced to have three arguments with officials when all we wanted to do was quiz. We had decided on the food court of InOrbit Mall as the venue. It is big, promised to be relatively uncrowded for our 10:30 start and would have offered enough scope for food and drink through the quiz. However, the mall authorities had other ideas.

The first encounter about which I have written about here was with a young manager and two security guards. The second was with another young manager who came to ask after our well-being just before we broke for lunch – “Aren’t you guys going to eat anything?”. The third was with this safari-suited security head who actually thought that he could force us out of the Mall. This after we had spent at least 5000 rupees on food and drinks.

Why is it difficult to find a place in Mumbai where we can sit and quiz?
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