The Idea-smithy

He called me the gatekeeper of the great suburban conscience of Mumbai.
Am I? Each time I write something serious about the city, I’m reminded of a friend bitching about the ultra-intellectual types who eat at McDonalds and come out and talk about the poor people in the country. Am I one of them? Does the [...]

I don’t know what ‘Ramsha’ means but I was struck by the embedded Hindu reference in conjunction with a license plate that imaginatively draws out the ‘786′ in the its number. For those not in the know, this is supposed to be a holy/lucky number for Muslims.

And there’s the inevitable romance embedded in the decor [...]

Did anyone get stuck in a gargantuan traffic jam in Vile Parle/ Andheri/ Jogeshwari/ Malad earlier this week? Yes, yes, I know that’s roz ka jhamela in aamchi Mumbai. But this was like the baap of all traffic snarls. Your vella bloggy-reporter takes you straight to the scene of the crime…errr, traffic jam.
In that dirty, [...]

We got our first car when I was 5. My mother described it as an ‘off-white Fiat’ and proceeded to invite all the kids in the colony for a ride. I was disappointed though. Why? Because I wanted an autorickshaw.
I figured dad could sit in driver’s seat and mum and I would ride in the [...]