Just Walking Around

Rag Rag Me Mumbai City

After walking around the by lanes of Matunga for a year now, I decided why not extend my walks to the neighboring places to bring out the flavor ,the nuances and the little tit bits which define their character. Each neighborhood having its own culture and specialties. Also to make it a little more interesting I will not only talk about the places in the neighborhood but about the various places across India ,which I visit due to the extensive travelling I do as part of my Sales profession. Sharing some personal experiences and thoughts.

The other day I turned on the FM and heard Shukhvinder crooning …. “Rag Rag Me Mumbai City Rag Rag Me” …Thought how true. Once a person is born and brought up in  Mumbai or has stayed for a large part of his life in this City it tends to grows on him/ her  and literally runs through the blood…

So decided let me bring out the various facets of my Karma bhoomi , Mumbai. The city I was born and grew up in , the maxim city of Mumbai. The financial capital of India , the jewel in the crown of India, a city that never sleeps. A cosmopolitan city , a cultural cauldron of various religions ,faiths , castes and creeds. A city with heart of gold but its soul tied to the ever ticking clock of life.

So here goes a beginning of a new innings ….Just Waking Around …..

On a lazy Sunday evening , I decided to walk around Shivaji Park which is a little further from where I live that is Matunga. This place is steeped in  its Marathi culture and  represents the vibrant lifestyle more in synch with the buzzing nature of Mumbai. The minute you ask anyone of Shivaji Park the first thing that comes to mind is the Shivaji Park Gymkhana and the Maidan . And also the Chowpatty which I will elaborate in my next blogs. The Shivaji Park Gymkhana and Sports club is synonymous with the Cricket . The park maidan has been host to such celebrities like the “God of Cricket” Sachin Tendulkar his buddy Vinod Kambli , Little Master Sunil Gavaskar and Colonel Dilip Vengsarkar. One end of the ground (maidan ) is reserved for the nets of Cricket coaches who train the budding and talented youngsters in the age group of 6-16 years . The most well-known coach who had nets here was Achrekar Sir coach to Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli. It is on these very grounds, Sachin practiced his perfect cover drives , the straight drives hooks and pulls thus starting his illustrious sporting career. The ground support staff here are the best in class and toil away at their manual rollers, water the ground and prepare the right pitch be it a bouncy wicket or a slow turner to give ample practice to the students. On any given day during summer camps you can see at least a group of 30-40 boys training and practicing their game under the observant eye of their coaches. They stretch, they run , they dive around the ground with a hope in the heart  and a dream in their eyes of becoming great cricketers and being selected in the Mumbai Ranji team or any of the IPL teams as stepping stone to being part of the Indian Cricket team.

After a strenuous work out you will find most the boys at the most famous enterprise right on the Shivaji Park ground close to the Samarth Vyayamshala, home to gymnastics and traditional sport like malkhamb. This stall has been churning out the yummiest batata bhajjis and hot batata wada’s for ages. Whenever you visit the stall you will find the owners a courteous family of typical Marathi husband and wife manning the counter ably supported by their cook and the other staff. The bhajjis are perfect in taste and deep fried to make them real crisply. The sweet and sour tamarind chutney is the perfect dip accompanying the hot bhajjis before they are wolfed down by the eagerly waiting customers. You can have the wada or the bhajji’s alone or can have them stuffed in the soft pav smeared with garlic chutney to give that extra zing. Orders fly thick and fast and the hot wada’s and bhajjis get consumed real fast making the big Thali in which they are unloaded look empty in less than 15 minutes of their arrival.  

Just next to this stall are couple of new stalls one serving the famous Mumbai Chowpatty bhel and Pani Puri to the foodies gathered around. The other serving Sandwiches , regular or toast depending on your liking. But neither can give a semblance of a fight to the tasty batata wada or the mouth watering & crispy bhajji.

Walk ahead and you come to the Udyan Ganesh a temple dedicated the Vighnaharta Lord Ganesh. A small temple some time back before it was restored and renovated to the current beautiful structure in White marble. The temple itself is very old and well known among the Ganesh devotees. Every evening you will find it brightly lit and can be seen shining from the entire Shivaji Park neighborhood . The light emanating giving a feeling of hope and security to the observer and the devotees alike. The temple itself is small with a small but serene Ganesh murti in its garbha griha or the sanctum sanctorum. All your stress and worries melt away the moment your close your eyes and stand with folded hand in front of   HIM. You feel blessed and happy once you have visited this temple .

Another famous land mark here is the Bengal Club and the Durga temple on the precinct of Shivaji Park ground. Every year during Navaratri the nine nights days leading up to Dassera or Vijayadashami , the Begali community hold the Durgotsav  from the Shashti till Dussera. A huge pandal  is put up with the idol of Goddess Durga striding on her Lion installed at the center and the scene of Mhaishasura mardan (Mhaishasura the demon or Asura who had the blessing of Lord Brhama and who could change forms and who had oppressed the Gods. Finally slayed by Goddess Durga ). People from all communities and not just the Bengali’s throng the pandal during these 4 days to enjoy the atmosphere and specifically the food stalls right behind the pandal. Famous caterers of Bengal specially come all the way from Kolkata to sell their Bengali delicacies. I have been a regular at these stalls along with the Missus and the kids gorging on the Kati Rolls be it egg , chicken or mutton . The taste is exemplary a little spicy but finger licking. The kids love the misthan or the Bengali sweet , Sandesh , Cham Cham , Misthi Doi (dahi) , Gulab Jamun and the Rosogulla. Pick any  sweet , it melts in your mouth the moment you eat it leaving a overdose of sugary taste in your mouth. Forget about the calories and do try the Misthaan at least once , you will surely come back for more. To burn the calories you could always walk around the other stall showcasing the Cotton Malmal Sarees , ethnic ware and handicrafts .

If you visit this place on Navmi its teeming with activities. A dance group from Kolkata would be performing on stage , another group would be entertaining the crowd with sweet Robindro Sangeet while the finale would be the staging of the Mhaishsura  Mardan act. Walk away smiling at the dark night on Navmi which will make way for the bright day of Vijaya Dashmi or Dassera , the day on which Lord Rama won the war against Ravana symbolizing the ultimate truth the victory of Good over Evil and giving hope to the entire humanity.

Happy Dassera to all my readers

Happy Reading