Chocolate Street

For those of you who don't know this place: This is the choco lover's paradise in Mumbai. They call it Manish Market though some people use a different name. But its right beside Manish Market if you are travelling on Mohammed Ali Road. If you are a diabetic like me then stay away if you don't have a strong will (seriously) This place is crammed with chocolates and just looking at it can give the faint of the heart a sugar induced coma. Four lanes of shops each almost 100 meters long and all of them selling different varieties chocolates, candies, mints, jellies, marzipans, liquid chocolate fountains, marshmallows, mawa sweets, dry fruits and everything that can satisfy a sweet tooth at the lowest prices in Mumbai. One 350ml of Thousand Island Sauce that will cost Rs. 220 in Hypercity will cost you only Rs. 140-150 over here. This is where all the wholesalers buy their goods. And you don't need to buy enough to open a shop every time you come here. I always fetch Dark Chocolates, Mints and also a combination of the two. One such popular example is After Eight from Nestle, the Exotica brand available in Haiko's Powai, I dont know if they still stock it though. Or the ultimate Dark Chocolate + Mint chocs Whitaker's Dark Gold. However Exotica and Whitakers are specially imported by Haiko and Hypercity. You'll find many more varieties like a whole new range of Lindt which includes the plain classic Lindor, the mix flavoured Lindts or the premium dark chocolate Ghana range. Then there is Cote D' ur or something spelled like that etc.....

If you are a guy and your girlfriend loves chocolates then this place will earn you a million brownie points and you'll be able to save money too. I don't advise bringing your lady love along with you though. She might have you filing for bankruptcy before the day ends. This place is right after the Dava Bazaar gully when coming from Marine Lines station, try walking cause the traffic in this area is terrible and you'll waste a lot of time and money in a cab. Apart from just chocolates which are only a small part of this market You can also find travel bags, clothes, electronic and loads of other things over here. For sports goods you'll have to head to the Metro cinema lane. I usually come for chocolates here more than anything else. Don't worry I dont eat them, my girlfriend does.



Here's the latest purchase I made, contains mostly mints as she has already got many chocolates and as summer is approaching mints will become an endangered species.

A new weapon of choice

Just got a new table-tennis bat for myself!
I have been playing with my almost ancient GKI-5star which I had bought 6 years back. I still like that bat cause the rubber sheets are still spinny after so much use but now I feel it is the time for more speed rather than spin. And I really like the feel of the Jonyer-H-AN, it has a Red Sriver-FX for the backhand and Black Sriver for the Forehand. Prefer a bit more looping power on my forehand rather than the all out speed of the Sriver-FX. Took a couple of days to get used to the speed. The best thing I love when facing a player for the first time is when they place a shot long on my backhand and the ball blurs past leaving them lunging in futile.
I will buy the Boll TriCarbon with Bryce Speed rubbers as soon as I outgrow this bat (I have seen a player using this combination to lethal effect, I know I know every player is different BLAH BLAH. Thats the reason I am waiting for sometime to buy this bat. And this blade is like a nuclear bomb among other blades.) Till then planning to practise against better players to improve my game. Here's a video of my favourite player Timo Boll for you to see. Have a look and enjoy.

A new venture

Jai Gurudev to all, I am posting after an almost two month long sabbatical. Been fairly busy with the setup of a new venture that me and my family are taking in manufacture of Automotive, Industrial & Speciality Lubricants. Yes you heard (actually read) it right. Moving into the BIG BAD WORLD of lubricants manufacturing. The name of the company is Oiltech Lubricants Private Limited. The company is in its final phase of set-up and the inauguration will take place soon in Tarapur, Boisar. I am currently looking to build a strong network of distributors all over India. So if you are interested and have an expertise in marketing Automotive OR/AND Industrial Lubricants then I'll be happy to welcome you aboard. You can also join if you already are a dealer with another brand and are looking to explore better options. There are tonnes of USP in this brand which I'll be glad to discuss with you. And even if you are not selling my products, please do buy them.

A mother needs to be protected.

I first offer my prayers to those innocents who were slain and to those braves who were martyred in the line of duty.

Mine is of the many voices that is being raised against this blatant form of brutality. From what I have seen happening from the 26th November, 2008 to the last of the attackers being dropped dead on national television has definitely shaken me. I was at Crawford Market that day and was supposed to go to Dockyard for work. Now sitting at home I wonder how closely I have managed to escape death without knowing it. Both of these locations were hit by the attackers and they surely could have spared a bullet for me if I had crossed them. That night I was frantically calling my friends, family and employees for their safety. Over a hundred people dead and lots more injured. Businessmen, families, train commuters, CEOs, foreigners and maybe some of the hotel too. All of them who have been killed have not yet been recognized by the authorities. We Indians and especially Mumbaites been living under the so called Unshakeable tag for too long now. And its time that others realize that we are resilient by force and not by choice.

Then who is to blame, The Government? But infiltraring the attackers network and preventing these attacks is also no mean feat. And the group that claims responsibility for this is supposedly a new group. Then who do WE, people like YOU & ME that get killed the most can do. Whom do we turn to? Do we keep faith in the system or do we take it to the streets and ask the government to defend us. The first thing that comes to my mind is that I will make sure that I vote for the most elidgible candidate this year in the elections. Because once in five years we get the power to shape our nation and henceforth I'll make sure that I give my stamp of approval after some thought. And we Mumbaites now realize that we are not the invincible breed some of us think we are. I am specially referring to those who are throwing people out of Maharashtra calling them OUTSIDERS. In these dire consequences we can reflect on some topics that wouldn't have come to light.

Firstly did the Thackerays realize that the 200 plus NSG commandos that flew in from New-Delhi to save our lives while they went without a thought to face death were OUTSIDERS too?? Why didn't they bring forward the Marathi Manoos or face the flak themselves as they call themselves soldiers of the soil. DUH? And where are Mr. Balasaheb, Uddhav and Raj Thackeray right now? Are the helping the centre in formulating new security policies? If they have a conscience they wouldn't utter another word regarding this territory rubbish again. And anyone who creates seperatist theories and conflicts within different groups of the nation is a TERRORIST, yes I said TERRORIST himelf. This is not the time to play politics for our national leaders and try and topple this government using these attacks as a spearhead. And neither am I being soft on the ruling side. If they cannot run this country then we will find someone better to do the job. And if you wish to stay in power then we the people of this country want to see some results. We do not wish to step out of our houses not knowing that we will return or not. WHO AM I KIDDING!?!? We are not safe inside our houses too if things keep going this way!!!

And if any one of our leaders are reading this then consider this as a wake-up call (read: wakeup kick in the @**.) And be kind to pass it on to your brethren :)

Stumped: They Weren't There!!!

An awesome post I saw on Bawa's blog couldn't resist from posting it here.....


An ingenious example of speech and politics occurred recently in the United Nations Assembly that made the world community smile.





A representative from India began: ‘Before beginning my talk I want to tell you something about Rishi Kashyap of Kashmir, after whom Kashmir is named.
When Rishi Kashyap struck a rock and it brought forth water, he thought, ‘What a good opportunity to have a bath.’
He removed his clothes, put them aside on the rock and entered the water.
When he got out and wanted to dress, his clothes had vanished. A Pakistani had stolen them.
The Pakistani representative jumped up furiously and in support of Pakistan , he shouted, ‘What are you talking about? The Pakistanis weren’t there then.‘
The Indian representative smiled and said, ‘And now that we have made that clear, I will begin my speech.’

UURGH!!!!!

Came across this particular brand of drinking mineral water while I was staying in Ahmedabad. I've had no problems with the hygiene in that city. But its the brand name I've found interesting and couldnt resist posting about it.

Thirst?? Just pop a BLISTER!! :p

Comments

I have been receiving quite compliments from people who meet me regularly about my blog and I am registering a good amount of hits on this page too. And I would really like to know your opinions for my posts and what would you like me to include. So please drop your comments and reactions the next time you visit. Dont forget.....
Jai Gurudev to all
Love
Jay

Stop IDLING. Its like an OVEN out there!!!

'Rain rain go away, come again some other day', surely Bobby Vinton had never visited India and especially Mumbai after the monsoons decide to end so abruptly. For one day it was raining heavily where I live in the suburbs and a couple of days later the sun is scorching on my head. Now being on the suffering end I also started thinking about things like Global Warming. (Not that I am not aware, my entire house runs on energy efficient appliances.) Getting back to the topic, the heat was unbearable at the signal and I was unfortunately (unwittingly) was right near the exhaust line of a BEST bus. I felt the way a cube of cottage cheese would in an oven. The bus driver was waiting for the signal to turn green and was merrily honking away, why I dont know. To top it all he was also revving his bus in neutral which is worse than idling. (Idling is a term used to describe when a vehicle's engine is running and not being used to move the vehicle. Revving or a more brutal form of idling is flooring the accelerator in neutral for god knows what reasons.)Now if all these guys would stop running their engines for the 2 minutes, then we would achieve the following:
Fuel savings and emission

For Large SUVs (CRV, Terracan etc): Min. 22 Liters saved per car/year and 60 KG lesser CO2 per year.

Regular Cars (Esteem, Logan etc): Min 15 Liters saved per car/year and 50-60 KG lesser CO2 per year.

2 Wheelers and Rickshaws: Min 5 Liters saved per bike/year and 10 KG lesser CO2 per year in our already molested atmosphere!!!!


Now branded petrols in India like Speed, Xtra Premium cost Rs. 58-59. For a large SUV the savings would be approximately Rs. 1298.00 and Rs. 295.00 for a bike. Where am I getting with all this? Imagine how many vehicles are stranded for 2 minutes or less at a signal in Mumbai without any congestion. And now imagine the number of vehicles in the entire city of Mumbai. A research conducted in 2007 in Pune showed that the city wastes Rs. 34 CRORE that is Rs. 340 MILLION for people living outside India just by fuel wasted in idling. These figures pertain only to vehicles caught in minor traffic waiting at a signal for 2 minutes.

See it for yourself, here's the link:
http://pune360.com/Editorial/2007/10/31/an-idle-threat/

Cars idling in Delhi burn around 1000 CRORES of fuel a year. That is One followed by TEN freaking zeros!!!!!! And that's just ONE metro in India. The amount of idling caused in traffic jams is unimaginable in a city like Mumbai. Now calculate all the three zones, Western, Central and Harbour. And how many metros are there in our entire nation? You can calculate the harm that is being done to both, our environment
and our economy.

You have the answer for yourself whether to idle away literally or be responsible person towards the society and turn off the keys. I'm literally getting 25 extra kilometers on my bike because I have chosen not to idle at signals or in traffic. You too can make a positive difference to the environment without any extra effort or without giving up on anything and save money while doing that too. So next time you are caught in a jam remember to turn off the engine.

People who think likewise:
http://www.pca.state.mn.us/oea/ee/noidle.cfm
http://www.cleanwateraction.org/njef/campaigns-noidling.html
http://www.zerostart.com/power/no_idle_technology.asp
http://www.airwatchnorthwest.org/wa/NO_IDLE/index.asp

Delhi idling research article in the Times of India

The wonderful bliss of SURRENDER

After posting about everything from recipes and elephants, I am posting about THE MAN himself. His Holiness Sri Sri Ravishankar or Guruji as we all know him is the most easy to love person on earth. And he is the sole reason that I am steady and balanced in life. Its easy to get lost and tongue tied when talking about him. Because a lot of experiences are subtler than words and have o be felt. Here he talks about Surrender with a master's ease.



That people wish to surrender their desire and it becomes another desire in itself, driving one away from his centre. Even the thirst for liberation or surrender should not be feverish. You have to let go of that too. Because letting go is not a process it is simply a state of mind that one experiences when all inhibitions and bondages drop. Then what you desire shall be brought to you in some way or the other by nature. But to surrender to the Divine you must first be in love with the Divine and know that the Divine too loves you immensely :)

PS: Comment on how did you like this post and make sure to read the article 'The four wheels of Sadhana' in this month's edition of Rishimukh.

Fast Food Ganesha

Yesterday was tuesday and the Parsi New Year so a half day at office, so I returned home early and on my way I found this elephant strolling on the lane in front of my house. I thought of giving him something to eat, so I got some bananas from the fruit vendor. Now this big guy had some other ideas. He hardly ate a couple out of the dozen bananas. They had not at all gone bad and when I asked the mahaut whether Ganesha (Name of the elephant) was ill. He surprisingly said that he simply likes bread & sugar cane better than bananas. So I got 2 packs of whole wheat bread and amazingly finished them up and was hungry for more. When he ate the small chocolate fudge brownie kept in my bag. He gave out a loud trumpet in return as thanks. I headed back home turning back for a look at him only to find him facing our area sandwich wala.....