The big hit eatery
Woodside Inn is a quaint eatery which has been around for quite some time at Regal cinema circle. Earlier it used to serve the likes of onion-tomato uttappam etc. Its menu now justly boasts of puffed quinao and guac sevpuri, poha patti samosas, tollygunge club rice/noodles, tangra paneer, rolled pork tenderloin steak manekji, roast aga burger on a bed of salli waters etc. The place is a big hit with foreign tourists. It has now put a board at its entrance which reads ‘Willingdon, Bombay and Bandra hopefuls’ that the joint has no waiting period and ‘formal attire and footwear be damned’. It promises that ‘all month long we will be serving delicious gymkhana food; renditions of which you won't find in your gymkhana and food measure’, it adds that the menu has been co-curated by Kunal Vijaykar of Gluttonshire. Unfortunately, Cafe Royal, that sizzler and global cuisine joint next door which was visited by Bill Clinton, downed shutters long ago. Even the popular Sahakari Bhandar canteen nearby has vacated its premises since Aamdar Nivas is undergoing a major renovation.
‘Mumbai Police lack professionally manned PR set up’
The image of the Mumbai Police has indeed taken a severe drubbing in recent times with its inspectors being arrested for murder, for keeping explosives near Mukesh Ambani's residence etc. Once the darling of the media, encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma is still behind bars. However, there is also another side to the force which is largely neglected. Take the recent case of a young woman who was groped by one Shreyas Jain at the resto-bar called 145 Bandra. The youth groped a woman and escaped to Jaipur. The cops identified him based on CCTV coverage and alerted a police team which was already in Jaipur in connection with another case. This team zeroed in on Jain and brought him back to Mumbai. We also hear wanted persons being arrested 20 or 30 years after they committed a crime. In one case, a senior citizen had lost over Rs30 lakh in an elaborate cyber fraud. Despite repeated warnings from the police, people still reveal their bank details to cyber crooks and later complain about being cheated. A police team went to Delhi and picked up the suspects. There are hundreds of cases where the cops help the victims informally even in matters which are purely civil in nature. The problem with Mumbai Police is that it still lacks a professionally manned PR set-up. Often a deputy commissioner is asked to handle the media, but in a few months, he is posted elsewhere.
Supported by political parties, ten housing societies in Manipada, Santacruz, on Sunday held a protest against the BMC and MMRDA over the long-pending issues of incomplete stormwater drainage and improper garbage disposal. | Vijay Gohil
Generosity extends across seas
When the earthquake struck Turkey and killed thousands of people, many offered their condolences and prayed for the departed souls. However, two prominent Muslim clerics of Mumbai, Syed Noorie of the Raza Academy and Maulana Moin Miya, decided to do something concrete. They collected a whole lot of relief material and flew down to the quake-affected areas of Turkey and distributed it among the affected persons. The local people could not believe their eyes that some people had come all the way from Mumbai to help them. They had tears in their eyes when they accepted the relief material with gratitude. Lately, Miya has been actively conducting a silent campaign against drug abuse among the Muslim youths of Bhendi Bazaar, Pydhonie and neighbouring areas. In his sermons, he repeatedly warns the youth of the danger posed by drugs. He also actively collaborates with the local police and the Anti Narcotics Cell in identifying drug peddlers and their bosses. Understandably, he has been targeted by politicians on the payroll of narcotics smugglers. However, undeterred, Moin Miya is carrying on his mission to make his area drug-free.
Tailpiece:
Can’t vouch for this. However, when a city school student was asked by his teacher to name the builders of modern India, he innocently replied: “Raheja, Lodha, Godrej and Rustamjee”!
(Compiled by S Balakrishnan)
