Looking for Cavel
Rushikesh Kulkarni “Aage kuch nahi hain,” said a young man from his verandah. “Woh Cavel kidhar padega ?”“Nahi maalum, aage jao.”“Arrey, but aage toh kuch nahi hain na.”“Haan toh peeche jao.” “Sigh.”…
B for Bombay
Cycling Through Borivali National Park
This weekend I needed a place to structure the many thoughts in my head. So I decided to head over to one of my favourite places in the city. The…
Celebrating Goa – Festa De Goa
While growing up, people found it fascinating to know that my mum’s family was from Goa. I had been exposed to the beautiful cuisine and the Konkani language since birth.…
Small deeds
Today the Bombay High Court issued an order to BMC to build a toilet facility outside of Bandra Railway Station outside of Bandra East. It was a result of a…
When it rains
Everytime it rains it brings back memories of the floods. Everytime it rains it reminds you of your place in the social hierarchy. Everytime it rains you realise how vulnerable…
Escape
When the day is ruined. Only the sea can cure it. So take the train out. And head to the coast. if it’s far, you must still go. Because that’s…
Dialectical Muse
The city behaves as you do. She responds to your tone. She reacts to your actions. She is not your muse. She is independent, brazen and fierce. I miss her…
Taking Off over Bombay
rushikeshgk2 One of the advantages of travelling to the south of India by air from Bombay is the beautiful sights one encounters, especially that of South Bombay. While aerial photographers have…
Attending the Feast of St. John The Baptist – SEEPZ
There are some places in the city which remain obscured from public view. There are various reasons for this, but mainly because they are under government owned land. One such…
Escaping to the Coast – Erangal & Dana Pani
There are a few places in Mumbai which have endured the onslaught of development and stuck to their original forms. The reasons behind them vary but the villages of the…
A Tale of Two Colonies
Certain neighbourhoods hold precious memories. They act as pockets of nostalgia, portals into the past. A jog down memory lane means exactly that when you visit these areas. One such…
Hanging Out By The Tracks
The Suburban rail network of Mumbai is inextricably linked to the lives of the city dwellers. It is even more embedded in the lives of those who live next to…
The Heat Wave Washeth Over
The heat wave is washing over the city. The humidity is at an all time high. Now I’m not the one complaining. I’m good with warm sunny days. It is…
A Syncretic City
Where I grew up, we were always surrounded by three places of worship. The temple of the village goddess – Jarimari, the Madina Masjid and the Our Lady of Remedy…
Sold on the Streets
The other day at Hill Road, at one of the many stores I saw something peculiar. Branded stuff available at fixed rate. Now one of the two is acceptanle but…
Story of Sewri Fort & The Siege of Bombay
The eastern seafront of Bombay has not featured in popular imagination in recent times. However, with the advent of the Eastern Freeway, a lot more traffic flows through or rather…
A Walk Across the Maidan
The grass is nice and warm at Oval Maidan in the evenings. If you are lucky, you may find a friendly cat sitting and observing the world, as cats always…
Bombay Fast Musings
Where do needs end and wants begin? What comes first. With limited means, needs take over. What happens when needs are beyond your means? How does one make ends meet?…
Salaam Bombay
The other day I boarded the train at the last minute. Normally in the mornings I take the same train everyday. Missing the train has a ripple downstream effect on…
An evening by the sea
Nothing compares sitting by the sea on a hot summer evening. Summers in the city are gruelling but the interplay of differential pressures over sea and land in the evening…
Andheri Baaton Main
Andheri east is the underbelly of the corporate world. Its lanes and nooks smell of enterprise. It is within these industrial estates and the galas lie small ambitious, gutsy businesses…
Metro to Work
Until Monday I had never taken the metro to go to work. It was always for non official commutes. But when I was required to be at the infamous Saki…
Ocean Currents at the Railway Station
The heart is a good indicator of your mind. Is that why they call some matters, the matters of your heart? Mostly they are related to how one feels about…
A Ramadan Special
Food unites us all. Which is why breaking bread together has been a long tradition symbolising bonhomie and respect. But today food can also polarise and divide. Dietary preferences can…
Sakkath Namma Bengaluru
When the news of a loud explosion at Rameshwaram Cafe broke, all of us assumed that it must have been a cylinder blast. But as the story progressed and new…
Escaping to Uttan
One evening in November I decided to take the train to Bhayander to visit Uttan. It had been on my list for a long time and I had found some…
Leaving work at dusk
It is magical To walk out When the sun is about to set The golden light On faces of tired souls A glimmer of hope for their fate It is…
Sundays in National Park
There are very few cities which are blessed with such a dense forest within its geographical boundaries. Mumbai is one such blessed city. Thankfully I grew up not far from…
The Amazing Autowallahs of Bandra East
The rickshaw wallahs of Bandra East are an industrious lot, especially the ones who run between Bandra east and BKC. They may seem undisciplined and ruthless. But they are just…
Looking for Nayakan
Over a few train rides to work and back, I managed to finish watching Nayakan. The biopic is based on the life of Varadarajan Mudaliar or Vardha bhai as he…
Bandra West Tales
It is hard to fault Bandra West. Each time I visit this part of the city, I wonder why I feel intrigued by it a little bit more. Even though…
In Search of Silent Solitude
Speech is silver, silence is golden they say. In other words, they mean keep your trap shut. It’s such a condescending way of saying something polite, like please maintain silence.…
Social Control on the AC Local
A few days ago I discovered that if I timed my departure just right, I could catch the AC local to work. Now to say “catch” is of course, incorrect…
An Extraordinary Slice of History
There are spaces in the city which lead a quiet existence. There is no pomp or show. These spaces derive their strength from the purpose for which they exist. One…
The Need for Green Spaces
No Magic Trick This A few days ago the Sea Link disappeared. It was gone with a dozen other buildings on the skyline. It was like P.C Sorcar and David…
Daily Commute & its Impact on Productivity
Hustle Everyday, Everyday Hustle Your commute to the office has an impact on your productivity at work. This seemingly obvious factor has often been overlooked. Most productivity literature including the…
In Search of Kadak Chai
When I was preparing for the UPSC exam, I would spend a considerable amount of time at the David Sassoon Library at Kala Ghoda. At about 4 PM, a couple…
What Mumbai Really Needs
2023 is an important year for the city of Mumbai. The elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation – the prime local governing body are slated to be held this year.…
Finding the Right Talent in Maximum City
Recently a friend shared a link to the latest episode of The Ken’s Podcast – Cost to Company. The key theme was the flight of talent from Mumbai to other…
Bombay, Oh Bombay
The city of Bombay, now Mumbai, has always fascinated artists, writers, filmmakers and now Instagram reel makers. The sights and smells play an important part in their creations. The social…
Hybrid Work and Mumbai’s Realty Problem
I visited Bombay this weekend, finally, after two years. All thanks to Covid which kept disrupting my earlier plans. It was a pleasant surprise to see so many positive changes.…