‘Dream snack’ dreams
Once upon a time, this place served the best bhel puri and other chaat items in akhaa Mumbai. But, most unfortunately, Vittal Bhelwala (estd 1935) near New Empire cinema downed shutters ages ago much to the shock of thousands of patrons. The memories of taste, though, are still fresh on many palates. His sev puri, dahi sev puri, pani puri, ragada pattice et al were simply mouth-watering. Even during off season, he managed to add sliced raw mango to his bhel. The reason for the closure was a dispute within the Kadawala family that has been pending before the hon’ble Bombay High Court since 2003. All efforts at settlement through arbitration and other alternate dispute resolution methods have failed. A section of the family opened an AC bhel outlet nearby with a bar at the mezzanine level. To be honest, the quality of the bhel priced at Rs150 is simply no patch on the original stuff.
OTT brings curtains down on city theatres
The area between New Empire, Sterling and New Excelsior cinemas was once such a vibrant part of SoMu. New Empire was a single screen theatre which mostly screened Hollywood movies. The seats were comfortable and the air conditioning decent. Unfortunately, it shut down. Sterling and New Excelsior cinemas are still functioning, but in this era of Netflix and Amazon Prime the patronage is not as strong as before. In fact, there is a sad look to this neighbourhood despite the fact that new eateries like Pizza Hut have come up. At night, the area looks shady, having been taken over by drug addicts and pavement dwellers. Even Capitol cinema on the main DN Road, which used to screen the most B-grade Hindi movies, has also shut.
Healthy Postures
Yoga session organised at Juhu |
City Cong chief: A post of virtue
The appointment of Varsha Gaikwad as the first woman president of the Mumbai Congress reminds one of the power that the post commanded when giants like SK Patil, Rajni Patel and Murli Deora were at the helm. Since the city was the financial capital of India, the post carried with it a lot of political importance. SK Patil was truly the uncrowned king of Bombay, as it was known then. He wielded his power with aplomb till he was defeated in the Lok Sabha election from the silk stocking south Bombay constituency by the indefatigable trade unionist George Fernandes, who rightly earned the sobriquet ‘George the Giant-killer’. Rajni Patel, who was a barrister of leftist persuasion, brought in a touch of class to the post. It was the late Murli Deora who emerged as the most eligible president. In the morning he might be having breakfast with the Ambanis, in the afternoon high tea with top bureaucrats and in the evening he would be addressing a meeting in Dharavi. He elevated the post to another level altogether.
Tailpiece
There is this bhelwala of Chembur who has put a board prominently in front of his shop: ‘Don’t ask for sukha puri’. Wonder what is the reason for this since all bhelwalas give free ‘sukha puri’ with a bit of ragada inside and topped with ‘sev’.
Compiled by: S Balakrishnan
