What’s the Name Again?

The extension of the promenade coupled with the string of restaurants at the bottom of the slope, perpendicular to Carter Road has brought change, and in many ways. Growing up, I remember, every celebration, from birthdays, anniversaries, my brother finally clearing his exams after four attempts (it’s the education system, it isn’t him), visits from the foreign relatives… the place to go was always Gondolas. It is no longer Gondolas- what time are they coming at, we’ll just order from down the road ya!

The building that is now house to these eating joints stood desolate ever since I can remember. From the days when Manoj, Princey and Raja bunked school and had a picnic on its terrace, Craig challenged Tarun to jump from the first floor, Jinelle told me that it was haunted, and thus to always walk on the opposite side of the road… to now a swanky face with several people cooped inside, and twice the amount pouring out. And if not that, pack up and leave boys.

Back then, the now YMCA road, was a quiet road apart for the neighborhood boys using it for cricket. The springing up of the restaurants has rendered this road a cool place to hang out, and with more than the cool drink to hang with. In the days when a phone call was a rupee a minute, to get something from Sea Spray meant forcing my brother to walk the distance. He’d then amble in his shorts to and fro.

Now… change in scenario- anyone want anything? He’s got his best clothes on, hair all in place and the aftershave galore, in the optimism that a romance might brew in the (5 minutes tops) journey from home to Sea Spray.

The road now has a bus-stop and even the occasional traffic jam. Anyone know what the street at the bottom of the slope, perpendicular to Carter Road is even called?

– Tara Paulose

Kool Katz

A new clothing and apparel boutique joins the band of Bandra’s chic couture.  Calling itself the ‘Kool Kats’, it’s all set to make you look super cool in their outfits (fingers crossed). Their stash consists of party tops and dresses, skirts, shorts and alotta jeans. And once your done picking out your outfit, you can pick out the accessories to go with it, they have funky belts, fashionable bags and some gorgeous shoes. If you still need some more accessories then they’ve even got chains and bracelets. But the one thing I liked about the store was its bedazzled hangers on which the clothes were hung, unfortunately those weren’t for sale though. So if you’re a cool cat looking for something ‘cool’, you can add this place to list.
Where: Kool Katz, 3 parimal, 17th road, Contact: 26051224

– Rommel Albuquerque

Mumbai Festival Finale

The Mumbai festival has been on for more than a week now and last weekend saw various rock bands entertaining the crowds. This weekend marks the end of the Mumbai festival, but don’t worry the festivities are still going strong. Today features Viraj Amar, Shripad Paradkar and Suhasini Koratkar  who will be playing at the Bandra fort ampitheatre and will conclude the India classical music part of the festival.

Sadly however, the much awaited Kohli Food festival was cancelled. But we suggest you don’t get too disappointed and head out anyway to catch the finale at the Bandra Fort.

Where: Bandra Fort Amphitheatre, When: 30th Jan, Entry: Free

– Rommel Albuquerque

Metta Meets the Mark

Located in the quaint Pali Village is a brand new reflexology spa called Metta (which means loving compassion in Thai) which offers you complete relaxation. But what makes Metta different is that the masseurs are visually impaired. Jenny, the owner who fondly calls the masseurs her “kids,” says that the whole thing happened just by chance. “After the training at NAB, my kids couldn’t get a job anywhere so we decided to start our own thing. We had no idea if it would work or not but we wanted to give it a shot,” she says.

And she’s really glad they did, because Metta has become really popular and people keep coming back for more. Jenny says, “I have trained people with sight as well as visually impaired people. Having visually impaired people massage you allows for a more intense experience. They are more in tune into the body and are less distracted by the surroundings. I’ve found that our customers are more at ease as well.”

Metta is cozily done up with bamboo sheets and reclining beds. As for the massaging…well, it’s brilliant! After an hour you’ll feel that you could run for miles. It’s completely relaxing as well as invigorating. However, the only thing to take away from the whole experience was the open window letting all the noise in.

For first timers the massage is Rs.200 (an hour of feet, back, head and hands), and for more regular customers it’s marginally more at Rs.300. For this price and this kind of relaxation you really need to try it out. You won’t be disappointed.

Where: It’s a bit tricky to find- Get into the lane leading into Pali Villagae at Pali Naka. 53 Suravi House, Above Toddlers,

Contact: 9870719923 for appointments

– Glynda Alves

Loud and Clear

If your written English is good but your verbal English is a bit off, don’t fret as ‘The Learning Curve’ is there.  ‘The Learning Curve’ is starting another session of its certificate course on ‘Power speech and effective verbal communication which is an 8 session course meant for adults who know English but want to refine their speech and diction. The course has modules like diction, voice modulation, pronunciation and language, public speaking, conversational skills, group discussions, presentation skills and much more. They also have renowned faculty like Tom Alter, Jerry Pinto, Denzil Smith, Asif Ali Baig and Divya Bhatia who conduct the course.

Where: St. Andrews college, When: 31st Jan 6 to 8.30pm,

Contact: Dr. Sampat – 9819161354 or e-mail: thelearningcurve@in.com

– Rommel Albuquerque

Dance For Life

The Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action (called SNEHA) will be having a fund raiser called ‘Dance For Life’ at St. Andrew’s Auditorium. SNEHA is an organization that aims to improve the health of women and children in the slum areas. The dance will have performers such as Dr. Mallika Sarabhai and Sandip Soparrkar, who will be performing classical as well as contemporary dances along with their troupes. Since it is a fundraiser invitations are only aviable through a donation to the organisation. They are priced at Rs. 2000, 1000, 700, 500 and 300 per person. The organisers request people who want to attend to book tickets in advance since they won’t be available at the venue.

When: Feburary 7th, Where: St. Andrew’s Auditorium

Wikked Sounds

Mash it up is the musical (and less gory) version of wrestling tag teaming. Kris Correya and Tspoon will join forces and bring the house down with their collection of electro, breaks, glitch, dubstep and drum and bass. The two will be trading and mixing up tracks for the audience and organizers say it’s going to be a blast. DJ Tspoon’s (aka Tarun) music has been defined as a meeting point between east and west. He’s actually a classically trained tabla player but loves fusing the traditional Asian and ‘wikked’ electronic beats. Tarun who is also part of the celtic punjabi live electronic act Delhi2Dublin; and bhangra/ grime/ hip-hop trio BPM will be playing at Zenzi, so if it’s ‘wikked’ sounds you want… you know where to go.

When: 31st Jan at 8pm onwards, Where: Zenzi, Waterfield Road

– Glynda Alves

Urban Stylz

Dave Barry once said “Nobody cares if you can’t dance well.  Just get up and dance”. This seems to be the mantra of all youth nowadays with a lot of youth looking to learn Hip Hop and freestyle dancing rather than classical jive or salsa. “Hip hop dance is a style that the younger generation relates to, and they find easier to pick up as it is relevant to their musical taste” says Priya Gonsalves who teaches urban dance styles like Hip Hop, House, Dancehall, RnB and Freestyle. Her classes are for an hour and a half  and every week various styles will be taught. “Hip Hop and freestyle require less of an intense training regime and is a social dance that  you do at parties and get togethers” adds Priya. So go ahead, shake loose and hit the dance floor. Where: Chaos, 14th road, near yamini store, When: Every Sunday, 8pm, Contact: 9930736417

– Rommel Albuquerque

Burn It Up

Okay, so this is not exactly in Bandra but the opportunity is too good to miss. Located in Santa Cruz, the Pulse studio (which is actually just a little off Linking Road), is now offering ladies a super sexy way to work out… pole dancing. Sheila Rane, the dance instructor says, “It’s a workout for every ‘woman’ of any age! It’s all about feeling good about yourself irrespective of whether you’re a size zero or a size 20.” The workout will include a beginner level exotic dance workshop inspired from pole-dancing, lap-dancing and strip tease performances (blush!). Sheila has been an instructor for two years and says that pole dancing tones the body like no other workout does.

Dress-code: “Essentially sexy gym wear with exercise shoes and platform heels/boots.”

Contact: 9833103710, Where: Pulse Studio, Santa Cruz

– Melanie Mathias

Puppy Love

Thirty nine dogs will have their day if they are announced winners at the annual Bombay Presidency Kennel Club dog show. The show will see many breeds come to battle it out for the Best in Show title. However, dogs that are not registered cannot attend. Sheila of the BPKC says, “There is an international standard of the particular breed and dogs will be judged on how close they come to this standard at the sporting event.” Apart from the show, there will be various stalls selling dog food, items, clothes (seriously!) etc including the Welfare For Stray Dogs and The Plant and Animal Lovers. The event will be a lot of fun and kids are encouraged to come as it will be educational. And good news for parents, there will be no sale of puppies.

Where: St. Peter’s Ground, Hill Road; When: 1st Feb at 10am onwards

– Glynda Alves