Rawte Days,Mumbai, Part 4: Eating out..Daily

One of the greatest drawbacks of Rawte was the lack of a proper mess. That left us guys with nothing but outside food to hog on... So in this post i just wanna visit all those places in and around Nana Chowk, Chowpatty, Gamdevi and Grant Road where u can eat as much as u can for Rs20/- to have just a bite for Rs150/-

Heroes Restaurant at Nana Chowk was the first place that i had visited. The waiters were such who had come to recognise us by names for every day at least 3-4 orders did reach Rawte. The chinese sucked but the chicken biryani and chicken fried rice was great... Just that Heroes food meant red finger nails because the colour that they used was terrible

The best food that all of us experienced was Crystal at Chowpatty. A shabby looking, dingy place but the food, just as mom makes at home. Rajma chawal, hot rotis, dal fry, aloo jeera. Never felt away from home there. Even though it was so shabby any guy wouldnt mind taking his girlfriend there for a date. The food was that great.

I still remember that shitty looking place just outside the hostel where u would find taxi drivers and watchmen eating. Why? Because it was all you can eat for Rs 20/- Watery dal, thick chapaatis, 2 god knows what sabzis... But as students when u run short of money there was no better option.

On the other side was this south indian outlet (again i seem to have forgotten the name) where i loved to have wada sambhar for breakfast. I still remember Rishabh ordering Onion Uttapa from there almost every day. The owner was rude but when you are the closest and cheapest, you can treat customers that day. After completing MBA will surely go back to teach him some managing skills.

The roadside dosa beside Patel Hostel was also fabulous. The chinese dosa, the pav bhaji dosa, the cheese dosa... They were mouthwatering. People got off Mercedes and BMWs to have dosas there... Miss that really..

Once u crossed Grant Road station we get into this small lane which had a Kerala mess. Loved the chicken pepper and paraathas and the fish and the mutton... And for a wholesome stomach filling meal Rs30-35 was enough. And then the bananas that we bought from the cash counter when we left.. Loved going there with Arjun and Aamer.

Some special days all of us we would take the bus to Mohammad Ali Road to have hardcore non veg. Sheek kababs, Chicken roast, Shawarma followed by the wonderful Rs5 watermelon drink we had. Even though we knew how unhygienic it was, who cared, till u enjoying.

Burgers and Pizzas no better place than MamaMias. I never had enough money to buy the Rs 100 better burger.Always managed with a Rs65-70 one. the best thing i loved about these burgers was the fries that we got along. Sadly i always ran short of sauce. Always told him send more sachets but that idiot never and i mean never even listened...

Another place that i miss terribly is the Gamdevi Farsan Mart and Azad Tea house. The farsan wala, Mukesh Bhai was such a gem. Every morning he would open the shop by 4 30 and we used to get out to have garam garam vada pav early in the morning. By 5.30 we would be ready to hog on tasty jalebis... By 8 o clock the first lot of cutlets would come out and time for some cutlet pav.. Rishabhs favourite, patti samosa, it was the one which had a vegetable filling instead of potatoes.... mouth watering..This accompanied by chai from Azad Tea House was the perfect way to start your morning..

Hey i forgot one more place, Guru Bar. Sorry guys i dont drink but loved the egg bhurji that they prepared here. This place also has wonderful memories because its here that we saw Yuvraj hit his six 6s and India and Dhoni lift the T20 world cup trophy. Since this particular channel wasnt available at Rawte, all of us used to go to Guru and sit with a cold drink for 3 hours till the match got over. The owner got so irritated that he threatened to throw us out and that also half way through the final. Lots of convincing and coaxing helped us see Dhoni lift the trophy and Joginder Sharma bowling that fantastic last over.....

In the middle days we also used to run off to the Wilson College mess to have our dinners. The attendants there were always troubled by the residents there so they welcomed us who, not being residents, always treated them with respect. Some of us found the food bad but some like me who had seen worse places was like, at least its eateable

There were 100s of other places that i might have left out but guys these were the main amongst them. These were my struggling days where none of us knew where the next meal was coming from (read ordered from). so much so that today my stomach is immune to all sort of shitty food and rubbish that i can eat from anywhere and eat anything as such.....

Rawte Days,Mumbai, Part 3: The Pune escapades

Mumbai had never been a place which i loved very much baring a few things here and there... so every few months that frustration and homesickness did follow me.. and that times i remembered my extended family, my school friends in Pune...

So everytime i felt i needed to escape the grinds of Mumbai, catch a Volvo and off to Pune... To meet Riya, Shreya, Antara, Rahul, Jaggu and Mayur.. To people who dont know this but i had got my admission in Symbiosis but due to a well thought of decision i decided to stay in Mumbai completing my graduation from HR college...

Since i never managed to find a very great group in Mumbai, i would look forward to these trips. The blast that i use to have during those times used to be fantastic... Those bike trips, those dinners on the highway, the all night talks just loved it...

Today will share a few of my memories all the way from Pune...

This particular trip was highly emotional for me because of its unexpected ending... but lets start from the beginning...
It was 28th February, 07... I had just finished my BCom 2nd yr exams and my Diploma exams were on the 10th and 11th of March... Another very close friend and my chaddi buddy, sandeep was in Pune those days so my friends called me saying, why dont u come over, the whole group again and then we could celebrate Holi together on the 4th.. So 1st evening i zoomed away to Pune... One of the best memories of this trip was all of us going to the dhaba on the highway. i dont remember the name, maybe one of them could make me recollect.. But it was after 2 years that all of us, had such a gala time.. we hogged on chicken like we had been hungry for ages... 8 of us on 4 bikes on the highway....man it was fun... then after that we rode through the streets of Pune late in the night enjoying the desertness and we being the rulers... We also managed to ride through the haunted street, Pashaan, i think they called it

I am not sure but i think it was this very trip that we very roaming around one day in one of the many haunted places in Pune when suddenly we turned a corner and saw this mysterious female sitting in the middle of the street. She had a dirty dog sitting by her and as we crossed her i managed to stare at the plate she was holding in her hand.. it contained all sorts of strange things that i didnt recognise and as we went ahead i did take the courage to look back and saw her staring at us, a bad stare i would say. We zoomed away from there, not brave enough to check upon her...

It was the next day when we had dinner in one the city restaurants and the guys were supposed to visit Singhad Fort that night but somehow the girls convinced us that it wasnt safe...It was the night of 3rd march 2007. Thank god we didnt go that day because if we had i would have never made it to the airport by 2 am.. Ya i had to run back, a phone call at 10.30pm almost shook my world.... Dad had passed away.... this was the only glitch that Pune had in the 3 yrs that i frequented it but with time i accepted this as well...

On my next trip we did manage to go to Singhad Fort. This was one of the most beautiful places i have seen. We left home at 3am for the hour long drive. The winding roads, the jungles all around, the scary darkness all built the atmosphere up. What i witnessed up there was the most beautiful dawn i had seen. With my camera loaded i did what i love most, click. By 8 am we were back, tired enough to sleep through the day.

Pune also shares loads of other memories. Those bike rides up the NDA road to sit on the parapet and watch cars racing past on the highway below. The cold coffee at Durga Coffee House was the best i have had till date and that also at a paltry price of Rs10.

I still remember the day when Mayur was coming back from Patna to Mumbai and then he was supposed to take a bus to Pune.. The flight landed at 10pm. I was waiting outside to take him to the bus stop. On our way there God knows what got into us that both of us boarded the bus. The 11pm bus to Pune just for the fun of it. We reached Pune at 3.30am. After ensuring Mayur had reached safely, i caught the 6am bus back to Mumbai... By 10am i was back in town.

Pune's greatest memories go back to before my graduation, much before Rawte days came into picture. That was, June 2005 when all of us had landed seeking admissions. The 3 weeks that we spent there filling forms, having fun, checking out girls.... That was just great... The places we ate at on JM Road, FC Road.

All those wonderful memories from BMCC to MMCC to Garware to Hanuman Nagar to Apte Road to Sambhaji Park to Kothrud to...... Miss those days guys....Thanx for the memories....

Rawte days,Mumbai, Part 2: Waves of the ocean

Once long ago i had read a book by Robin Sharma "Who will cry when u die". One of the chapters that really loved about that book was "Find your place of peace", somewhere where you are just yourself, without any stress of the outside world or any such tension....
Luckily i have managed finding it everywhere i have gone after that. For IMT its those moments when i can stand near the AEC and gaze at the stars, be it Place Wilson in France where i spent long hours writing some of my best blogs.... So when we go back to Mumbai it also had such a place..

IMT had the sky, France had land so with this trend Mumbai had its sea, The Arabian Sea...
i still remember those times when i used to feel low i used to walk to Chowpatty, half a kilometre away from Rawte and just sit there on the sand... During my CAT preparation days i used to sit back in college till late in the night. My college used to be at one end of the Marine Drive and Rawte at the other. So everynight used to walk back on the parapet of Marine Drive enjoying the sights and sounds of the sea. The third and final place where i loved spending time with the sea was Amarsons Park. Evening when i was free i used to walk to this place around a kilometre and half away. In addition to the breeze and the sound of the waves, one would get to hear the rustling of the leaves of the palm trees on the edge... Used to be a wonderful feeling...

In any of these places i would just sit there, feel the breeze on ur face and the sound of the waves to and fro non stop... There in the distance you could see a light or two of the ships anchored in the deep seas.. I loved these moments because the time that i sat there one disappeared into a world of trance... away from the rigors of life.... Something like Marine Drive, even though a 1000 cars sped past you, i would never even hear them once i got lost in those waves..

I had a grand time observing waves and how they work... The sea gulls who would swoop down on the surface and catch their prey, the crabs who would scamper about looking for their means of survival... A 100 thoughts, away from your life, would take ur breath and mind away...

Still remember the beauty of those days when the full moon used to be above the water and the surface use to shimmer like silver... a scene straight out of paintings and pictures and at times in the darkness and this shimmering, a late evening fisherman used to cross trying his hand at a last minute catch....

Those walks on Marine Drive would be great, plug ur ear phones in and go along singing away to "Yeh hai Mumbai meri Jaan..." The sea had a completely different look during those monsoon days when we used to go to chowpatty and marine drive just to get drenched in the downpour... and when the waves used to hit the parapet and splash up...those were divine moments....

If i do miss something about my Mumbai days its the sea and the moments i spent by it... be it Chowpatty or Marine Drive or Amarson's Park... It was just fabulous.... Just hope i could carry some of it to everywhere i go but sadly... It had to be left behind.... Someday......

Rawte days,Mumbai, Part 1: 1st Impression

Hey guys, this is gonna be my first post on a period of life which i didnt enjoy professionally but ya personally have had great number of experiences. And i feel its gonna be damn long so i am gonna divide it into parts. So presenting to you

Rawte days,Mumbai, 2006-08 Part 1

January, 2007
i used to stay with my brother in Goregaon and travelling to Churchgate daily used to be a pain the a**. So half a year of my stay into Mumbai i started looking for hostels and PGs. Thats when, through a college friend, Rishabh i got to this place somewhere in the lanes of Gamdevi. A huge house owned by Mr Rawte so the name Rawte PG/ Hostel so 17th january 2007 started Rawte Days...

A place haunted by dangerous looking creatures, one would actually feel that there is something wrong with the place. You enter the gate and first person you meet is none other than... Subhash... you want me to describe it...Dont worry i will make you picturise it...

SUBHASH: 4ft 11inches tall with a huge ponch comes walking towards you as if a dead body is walking. Not even God would remember when he last had a bath. Filthy, dirty, disgusting you could smell him approaching from miles away. His hair is short but stiff due to not being washed ever, and i mean ever. He walked slowly and with that stare that if a ghost saw him in the dark even he would run away. Wait till you hear him speak. He had this hushed and grizzly sound, something like when you whisper but a little louder and all he included in his statements were "M*****C*** and B****C***" His clothes would not be changed for days, leave alone a bath.

Now one would ask, why such a gatekeeper... Do you think that with him at the gates, anyone dare enter. Even we use to dread entering, leave alone somebody else. He was an actual speciman.


Now moving on to the next speciman... Ya, dont worry Subhash was not the only one. There was more to come and you will surely say after reading both these," Sampark, where the hell did u stay." So presenting to you, the washerman, all the way from Nepal, Gopal.

GOPAL: 5.11 tall, slim but great muscles was our washerman. But then you would says whats great about him. He was blind by one eye. So this eye was silver in colour. So as he would walk in this eye, combined by the wicked grin that he carried along with him could scare the shit out of anyone new. I still remember Arjun's (hostelmate, great friend, would be introduced later) statement of when he first saw Gopal. He claimed he was damn scared.
And mix it with the days he was drunk. You mess with him and he would even get a 3inch broad stick to attack you (it did happen). So the better you maintain your relationship with him, the safer and the faster your clothes got washed.

So with the great welcome you get at Rawte with Subhash and Gopal, one thing is for damn sure, this place is not for the weal hearted..

So with this the Part1 comes to an end. In further Parts we would read about our eating joints, our hangout places, the friends, the specimans, the events and experiences etc... Keep waiting and keep reading....