Vada Pav

Vada pav is the favourite snack of Mumbaikars as it is available anywhere easily and a good grad-and go food. It is called the ‘Indian Burger’. People in Mumbai are very busy to actually sit and eat and they prefer such food items. This potato filled snack accompanied with fiery red garlic chutney should be on the top of the list of street food for the visitors of the city. This is the only thing that helps poor people in Mumbai to survive, as you can get this anywhere at a maximum price of 10 to 12 rupees. There is no place in Mumbai where vada pav does not exist. Even if you are hungry at midnight, vada pav will be present for your rescue.

Many actors, who came to Mumbai and struggled, often say that vada pavs kept them on the go during their struggles to make it big. In the U.S. a burger will cost you fifteen cents but a vada pav costs just seven rupees. In Mumbai, at least 100,000 vada pavs are consumed daily.

Normally you can eat tasty vada pav anywhere in Mumbai but there are specific places which people remember only for vada pav. The Parleshwar shop at vile parle east is famous for its vada pav for years. The vada pav stall outside Mithibai college at Vile Parle West serves super tasty vada pav with butter in mere 12-15 Rupees. Changu Mangu vada pav center is famous at Dahisar for its vada pav, but the best vada pav you can have in whole Dahisar is the vada pav of Vidya Mandir School (My school J J). My mouth still starts watering if anyone mentions ‘Vidya Mandir ka vada pav’. I remember students from different schools used to come to our school just for tasting that vadapav.

Vada pav has also played an important role in the politics of Maharashtra. In 1990s Shiv Sena, one of the leading political parties in Maharashtra set up vada pav stalls in Mumbai to give some work to young Maharashtrian people. Two years back, Shiv Sena started a chain of vada pav named “Shiv vada pav”.

There is one stall nearby Dahisar station and they came up with new invention of chinese vada pav which is also nice and you can get it at the cost of normal vadapav. This is something exclusive as I haven’t seen such stalls anywhere else in Mumbai.

Nowadays vada pav is being modernized as you can find different forms like grilled vada pav, cheese schezwan vada pav, paneer vada pav, Chhole masala vada pav etc. at many places. Jumbo King and Goli vada pav are a few of these branded vada pav manufacturers. Vadapav is so famous in Mumbai  that it attracted a marketing idea to generate more money by offering variety of these famous vada pav and targeting hygiene based people. These vadapavs are tasty but expensive and the only vadapav which can satisfy you in just 10 rupees is the traditional one.

According to a poll conducted by Star News these are the top four popular vada pav joints in Mumbai.

1.      Vada pav outside Kirti College, Dadar

2.      Vada pav at the Elphinston station, platform number 2.

3.      Borkar Vada pav , Girgaon

4.      Krishna Vada pav, Dadar -

Vada pav at restaurants and hotels do not taste as good as the street vada pav. If you want to taste the best forget the ‘hygienic keeda’ in you and eat the street vada pav. It is the thing that is hot favourite among elite, middle-class, poor alike. 

Mumbai ki Baarish

 Yes, Rainy season is actually the most beautiful season to be enjoyed in Mumbai. I think anyone visiting Mumbai should visit during this season. No other city looks as beautiful as Mumbai looks during rainy season. Our concrete jungle wears a new look during this time. The season of Love makes Mumbai more lovable.

There is no other joy than sitting in your balcony or window and watching the rains outside especially, if your balcony shows a view of roads and trees outside instead of other people’s windows. J J If you are fortunate enough to have a sea facing house you can enjoy this even more. Drinking coffee/ tea and reading a book in your balcony or window while it’s raining outside, Oh! There is no other heaven, and then you can demand for nothing more when your mom brings a dish of hot served onion pakodas.

It’s a visual treat if you visit Marine Drive during this time. No Umbrella and windcheater is ever invented which can spare you from getting wet. The sea also showers blessings on you in its own way as the waves make you wet with its splashing. You can see the whole sea line of the city and it looks amazing while during rains. The big rain drops coming on you from above and the water splashes of the sea beneath, will leave you completely drenched and you will enjoy the nature’s shower. People in Mumbai are also fortunate enough that they can go to the beach in just 15 minutes to half an hour if they stay anywhere in western suburbs of Mumbai.

You can also enjoy small waterfalls in our concrete jungle. If you visit Sanjay Gandhi National Park during rainy season you will find mesmerizing green environment renewed in water. There are small hill like areas and Kanheri caves and you can enjoy water falls flowing down from these.

You can also enjoy hot vadapav which is the staple food of the city. It tastes even more better during rains but you will have to forget your so called ‘hygiene’ for this. A ‘cutting chai’ after that will make you even more satisfied. Another food to be enjoyed in rains is the Bhutta. Corn cooked on charcoal and sprinkled with salt, lemon and masala is the tastiest thing to be enjoyed. You will find stalls of bhutta in the city only during rainy season so never skip it.

But, there is a different side to rains in Mumbai. Traffic is at its peak during rainy season. The potholes will create more difficulty for you in this season than ever before. Trying to avoid travelling by roads and thinking of taking a public transport? Even the local trains will not spare you. It’s noted in the history of Mumbai and God knows when it will improve but local trains have a speciality of running late and getting cancelled during heavy rainfall. It will take you forever to reach your destination. Walking on roads? Then the vehicles passing by will splash muddy water on you. Not to mention, wherever you go in rainy season, you will reach late and completely drenched. Travelling becomes a big issue. The biggest speciality of rains is that it will remain absent when you want to get wet and enjoy it and then it will surely mark its presence when you have to go to some important place, meeting, event, etc.

Having so many negative points the rain lovers will not stop loving it and yes one visit to Marine Drive will surely convert rain haters into the opposite and they will start loving rains. After all, it’s a season of Love. 

People of Mumbai

  I will obviously write nice things about my city because I love my city a lot. But yes I will not try to hide things that are bad about my city. Mumbai is really a nice city to at least visit once and I feel fortunate enough that I stay here. It is always said that once anyone comes to Mumbai he/she never goes back. I think that's why the population is increasing day by day. :) :) :D But yes Mumbai is that mesmerizing and addictive.

Starting with people of Mumbai, as known by everyone Mumbai is the city that never sleeps. Obviously, the people here are very hardworking. Mumbai is called the city of dreams. People from every nook and corner of the country come here to try their luck and become a true blue Mumbaikar for the rest of their lives.

You will find very entertaining and crazy people in Mumbai. People in Mumbai are very united when it comes to a natural calamity or a disaster or a terrorist attack. Be it a 26/7 flood out-burst or a 26/11 terrorist attack we always make it a point to stick together in such times. You will find Mumbaikars helping each other often. At one part in the local train when you will find people fighting with each other at the top of their voice but just a few seats away you will find a lady who is very much tired from her daily work at office offering her seat to an old woman or a pregnant lady, you will also see a lady who will happily hold another lady’s bags or a child if she has over weight in her hand while travelling.

There are people in Mumbai who go out of their ways just to show correct ways to people who are new to the city. If you even just fall down in a public place there will always be one hand of a Mumbaikar who will help you get up. In a case of accident people here don’t just gather to see what happened but are o generous that they take the one who has injuries to the hospital and also complete the initial formalities till the family members come. (Even if it requires money).

People in Mumbai don’t see religion, caste, colour when it comes to helping. However, everything has an exception. In the busy life of today, they say we don’t know who our neighbours are. But if you look closely you will find that we have made friends in trains, buses or any public transport through which we commute daily. The sweepers and watchmen of our college or office can be counted as our friends. I can tell one example of our college tapir where a blind uncle became our friend. My friend used to help him daily to cross road and he used to recognize my friend just by his touch.

Having said all the positive points I would also like to add that people here don’t like to involve into police cases. So, you cannot expect much of a help when it comes to crimes, legal cases, theft etc. This is one of the negative points, but I think it’s the psychology of the society as a whole and it’s not just related to Mumbai. For example, people don’t help a rape victim and deny accepting her in the society.

But yes, Mumbai is a place made by its people and trust me anyone who visits the city will love it and its people. That’s why the saying is so famous, ‘Once a Mumbaikar, always a Mumbaikar’.