I love Juhu
Marshland and a sandy island called Juhu Tara metamorphosed into this queen of the suburbs- Bollywood’s own Beverly Hills. Juhu, with its film-famous beach , coconut palm skyline and its barricaded bungalows is a movie goers Mecca. Crowds congregate every evening , via wide bodied Volvos , or by BEST bus rides from the Vile Parle Station to take in the temples, the sand and the sea . Also to scour the streets for that single second serendipitous glimpse of their favorite film stars – a scene they will describe many times over to enthralled audiences in the great Indian hinterland.
Almost every road in Juhu seems to have own little story. The mini Gandhi ashram, the temples, the tanks, the Bollywood homes all these are local reference points, as estate agents and autowalas inform all prospective buyers and passers-by with pride. [Even for the suitably inured resident, it is rather a thrill to encounter Shabana Azmi strolling on the beach or wheel one’s trolley past Hema Malini at the Foodland supermarket. At the hip Nalini and Yasmin beauty parlor, you could be flanked by Farah Khan in the midst of a power hair wash and dry, and Dimple Kapadia on the other side. And at Rain and Vie, the beachfront bar, you’re likely to spot Kareena Kapoor, Bobby Deol or Bipasha Basu in animated conversation at the little tables perched atop a softly luminous floor.
But it isn’t all high living in our neighborhood. Next to the giant glass-windowed Shoppers Stop (with its very own Crossword and soon-to-come Moshe’s) is Chandan Cinema. Here, for the princely sum of Rs 40 you can sit back in air-conditioned comfort and watch the latest blockbuster. Crowds of college students, Sindhi and Gujarati families and the inevitable complement of unemployed /part time /playing hooky? young men line up for matinee shows.
Life is lively on the Juhu streets. Spicy vada pav and sweet steaming chai at many street corners find conversational crowds of takers, discussion veering from film star employees to cricket controversies. College students congregate in coffee shops and householders wax expansively with their families over generous dollops of ice cream and milk shake . Gyms, saunas and Jacuzzis dot the area as their many patrons – the yummy mummy’s , the actor wannabe's and the adventuring Buntys and Bablis scour designer boutiques for sensational strappy wonders, as they ready themselves for nights of net working in the areas chic pubs and lounges.
Mostly though, it’s just good to be home. Mornings bring birdsong – emerald green parrots pecking at the coconuts on the palm trees, tiny grey sparrows, shimmering sunbirds and maybe even a mynah. And everywhere, the feel of the sea, just there, or a couple of lanes away. You can see it if you climb high enough – that and a wide open vista beyond foam flecked waves and a blue grey Arabian sea.
NEIGHBOURHOOD GEMS
Juhu Beach All roads in Juhu lead to this stretch of sand and sea. The beach has something for everyone – sports enthusiasts play Frisbee, football or beach cricket mornings and evenings. Walkers, laughter clubs and suryanamaskar practitioners congregate mornings, while evenings turn almost carnival like. Picnicking families set out little rectangular cloths, women unwrap carefully packed parathas and theplas while their kids tuck into pink candy floss, build sandcastles and dip in the sea.
The ISKON Temple Complex With its black and white marble floors, its generous tree- shaded quadrangle and great teak and gold doors that open onto ornate Krishna figures, the temple is worth a visit. There’s also an excellent auditorium that hosts classical dance and music performances. Gourmet meals at the in-house restaurant ‘Govinda’, that connoisseurs delight, with its trademark ‘chappan bhog’ in shudh ghee, are the icing on this cake. At Hare Krishna Land, Juhu Tel 26206860. Temple opens from 4am – 1 pm and 4-9 pm. ‘Govinda’ open all days of the week from 12.30 -3 pm and 7.30-10 pm . Meal for two Rs.1100
The Centre for Arts and Crafts. Originally Contemporary Arts and Crafts, this store has a new name, but retains its distinct feel. It’s crammed with mix of irresistible artifacts - pottery, lamps and even a warm wooden bar. Tribal masks, silver Ganeshas and wicker furniture too. This a great store to pick up unusual presents and the displays are gorgeous. They play Buddha Bar, but don’t let that put you off. There’s a smell of freshly roasted coffee from the tiny café. Seating is outside, under dark blue canopies nice, except when it’s raining. At 9, Juhu Supreme Shopping Centre, Gulmohar Cross Road no 9. Tel 26204668 . Open all days of the week from 10am -8 pm
Bharat Scouts and Guides Grounds – Turn off the Juhu Military Canteen road at the police Chowky, past Rutumbara/ Sanghavi College and suddenly out of nowhere, you have an amazing, almost endless expanse of verdant green. There’s a series of tennis courts here , six or more and often a cricket game in progress too.
Off Juhu Military Road, past Ritumbara College Most games between 7 am to 6 pm
Prithvi Café Sip mint tea or coffee, splurge on brownies or get serious with chicken tikka at this arty outdoor café, ringed by bamboo trees. The crowd here is an interesting mix of intense artists, articulate writers, hippie girls and lets-hang-out-in-an arty-place others. Besides Prithvi theatre there’s also The Corner Bookshop for a bit of browsing. At Janaki Kutir, Off Juhu Church Road. Tel 26149546 Open all days from 12.30 in the afternoon to 11.30 at night.
Mahesh Lunch Home Spicy tandoori pomfret, tiger prawns, Mangalorean fish bathed in satisfyingly rich coconut gravy. Mahesh Lunch Home is a branch of the original thing in Fort and located very accessibly on Juhu Tara Road promises all that and more. Only, one wishes the décor was not so Udipi-turned-prosperous plush. At Juhu Tara Road, next to Hotel Tulip Star Tel no 56955554, 56978966/8967 Open all days of the week for lunch from 12-3.30 and in the evenings from 7 - 12.30 PM. Meal for two Rs.500
Natural Ice Cream The winning combination of fruit and creamy kulfi-like ice cream was born here. Today Natural of JVPD has branches all over Mumbai, but the original Juhu outlet continues to do brisk business. Crowds converge at all hours Seasonal specials are posted on boards – strawberries, sitaphal, watermelon , cheeku or tender coconut….all very hard to choose between , even after sampling tiny white plastic spoons of each.
At 13th North South Road, Opp.Lotus Eye Hospital Tel 26707558, 26206053. Open all days of the week . From 10AM – 12.30 midnight. Prices range from Rs. 25 a scoop of ice cream upward
An edited version of this appeared in Timeout January 14th 2006
Monday, February 06, 2006
Party time in Juhu
January in Juhu and it’s party time. The Citizen’s Group is taking a break from clearing road blocks and battling beach encroachments. Earlier in the week, slim blue and white flyers are slipped into mailboxes and under doors in most households in the area. ‘Volunteers required’, they invite, ’for the Juhu Hamara Festival 2006’, details set against a beguiling logo of a radiant sun on the sea.
So calls flood in - a few want to help, others to attend festivities and many to see the stars.
Juhu Citizen members dash around in different directions – Hansel is putting together the free film screenings, Gulu Gadekar makes the round of local schools for kiddie activities and Adolf processes entries for Sunday evening’s talent night. So much classical music and dance, he discovers. Age old traditions from ‘Nandan’, the celebrated Bharat Natyam School opposite Amitabh Bachchan’s shrub filled and fenced palatial house ‘Pratiksha’ . From ‘Sangeet Mahabharti’, the singing institute in the striking old world house and garden across the road.
Song and dance, and the grounds opposite the Shoppers Stop Mall are beginning to look festive. Here’s where Hema Malini will inaugurate the festival and Ahana Deol will perform a traditional Ganesh vandana dance. The Mall itself with it’s strings of fairy lights and giant glass windows will be host to a series of literary readings. It’s sprawling basement Crossword will see an enactment of Dalit writer Urmila Pawar’s gritty autobiography ‘Ayudaan’, stories of the sea by Juhu Versova born poet Saleem Peeradina, Arundhati Subramaniam and Anand Thakore’s poetry of the sea and a reading from ‘The Girl’, journalist Sonia Faleiro’s haunting debut novel of love and betrayal set on the sea.
A few streets away, the Kaifi Azmi Park with it’s carefully coiffured landscaping, paths and podiums will be another scene for much bustle and buzz – pot painting, craft work and kite flying. At Juhu Jagruti, Javed Akhtar inaugurates the film festival with a mix of Mumbai gems like Anand Patwardhan’s classic commentary and Paromita Vohra’s neighbourhood documentaries. Oh, and there’s the Juhu Dream Run , Sunday 8 am everybody, the gorgeous Pooja Bedi’s going to flag off runners from the spacious Jamnabai Narsee School Grounds, deep in the heart of the gulmohar tree lined JVPD Scheme.
This appeared in the Mumbai Mirror Jan 18th
So calls flood in - a few want to help, others to attend festivities and many to see the stars.
Juhu Citizen members dash around in different directions – Hansel is putting together the free film screenings, Gulu Gadekar makes the round of local schools for kiddie activities and Adolf processes entries for Sunday evening’s talent night. So much classical music and dance, he discovers. Age old traditions from ‘Nandan’, the celebrated Bharat Natyam School opposite Amitabh Bachchan’s shrub filled and fenced palatial house ‘Pratiksha’ . From ‘Sangeet Mahabharti’, the singing institute in the striking old world house and garden across the road.
Song and dance, and the grounds opposite the Shoppers Stop Mall are beginning to look festive. Here’s where Hema Malini will inaugurate the festival and Ahana Deol will perform a traditional Ganesh vandana dance. The Mall itself with it’s strings of fairy lights and giant glass windows will be host to a series of literary readings. It’s sprawling basement Crossword will see an enactment of Dalit writer Urmila Pawar’s gritty autobiography ‘Ayudaan’, stories of the sea by Juhu Versova born poet Saleem Peeradina, Arundhati Subramaniam and Anand Thakore’s poetry of the sea and a reading from ‘The Girl’, journalist Sonia Faleiro’s haunting debut novel of love and betrayal set on the sea.
A few streets away, the Kaifi Azmi Park with it’s carefully coiffured landscaping, paths and podiums will be another scene for much bustle and buzz – pot painting, craft work and kite flying. At Juhu Jagruti, Javed Akhtar inaugurates the film festival with a mix of Mumbai gems like Anand Patwardhan’s classic commentary and Paromita Vohra’s neighbourhood documentaries. Oh, and there’s the Juhu Dream Run , Sunday 8 am everybody, the gorgeous Pooja Bedi’s going to flag off runners from the spacious Jamnabai Narsee School Grounds, deep in the heart of the gulmohar tree lined JVPD Scheme.
This appeared in the Mumbai Mirror Jan 18th
Papa, Pass the Pullman
How many children read the dazzlingly inventive adventures of Artemis Fowl, boy genius and criminal mastermind? How many venture into the incredibly complex, richly textured parallel universes of Philip Pullman’s Dark Materials trilogy? Do tweenies and teenagers really dip in, of their own accord, into the time travels of Jonathon Stroud’s infamous djinn Bartimaeus?
Certainly not as many as the multiple displays in the Children’s Sections of many bookstores would have us believe. Armed with a basketful of questions based on these bookshelves, at a recent children’s literature quiz, I was greeted by staggering silences on these bestsellers. And yet the same kids were competently conversant with Shakespeare and Sherlock Holmes, with Janus and Jules Verne.
So why are these titles all over children’s sections? Why isn’t Pullman, like HG Wells’ ‘War of the Worlds’, tucked into the crowded recesses of adult science fiction and fantasy? Perhaps it’s because booksellers, like movie makers have discovered the secret of wholesome family fare. If ‘Shark Tales’ with its Robert de Niro and Martin Scorcese voiceovers can net in entire families, books targeted at teenagers and yet complex enough to hold their parents attention are sure volume winners. Spawning a separate category called ‘crossover’. It’s a category that’s largely publisher created and it features a lot of complex fantasy like Pullman , Stroud and Ursula Le Guin. Also other intricately nuanced books like Mark Haddon’s ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night time ‘ , a story of an autistic child which makes the grade because of it’s simple language and it’s child protagonist. But really a book that is, in the reading far more complex, than a standard Hardy Boys roaring river mystery. Interestingly, both Pullman and Haddon, never intended their books to be for children. Yet both ended up being wildly successful after being slotted by their publishers, in the children’s fiction category. For children’s fiction shelves are by all accounts , burgeoning, and how ! What’s debatable is who exactly is driving that boom.
Post Potter, it is no longer infra dig or dumbing down to read children’s books. More and more adults are doing exactly that – maybe because these books are well marketed, they stand out from the clutter and are exceedingly well written. They feature powerful and very primeval stories that engage with the always fascinating metaphysical confrontations of good and evil. Harking back to days when, crossovers’ ancient predecessors , ‘The Arabian Nights’, ‘The Odyssey’ or ‘The Mahabharata’, enthralled all ages in the telling . Or even their modern day variations that work so successfully at various levels. Lewis Carroll, Roald Dahl, Tolkien and CS Lewis . Rushdie in that delightful children’s tale of ‘Haroun and the Sea of Stories’. I loved reading it out to my six year old who delighted in the action of Haroun on a boat in a lake, while I marvelled at Rushdie’s scrumptious satire as Snooty Buttoo speaks through the Mists of Misery, on the Dull Lake, in the Valley of K. A great story - but not one you’d find the average child reader rushing off into a cosy corner with.
This appeared in the Sunday Times of India Bookmark page 5 th Feb 2006
Certainly not as many as the multiple displays in the Children’s Sections of many bookstores would have us believe. Armed with a basketful of questions based on these bookshelves, at a recent children’s literature quiz, I was greeted by staggering silences on these bestsellers. And yet the same kids were competently conversant with Shakespeare and Sherlock Holmes, with Janus and Jules Verne.
So why are these titles all over children’s sections? Why isn’t Pullman, like HG Wells’ ‘War of the Worlds’, tucked into the crowded recesses of adult science fiction and fantasy? Perhaps it’s because booksellers, like movie makers have discovered the secret of wholesome family fare. If ‘Shark Tales’ with its Robert de Niro and Martin Scorcese voiceovers can net in entire families, books targeted at teenagers and yet complex enough to hold their parents attention are sure volume winners. Spawning a separate category called ‘crossover’. It’s a category that’s largely publisher created and it features a lot of complex fantasy like Pullman , Stroud and Ursula Le Guin. Also other intricately nuanced books like Mark Haddon’s ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night time ‘ , a story of an autistic child which makes the grade because of it’s simple language and it’s child protagonist. But really a book that is, in the reading far more complex, than a standard Hardy Boys roaring river mystery. Interestingly, both Pullman and Haddon, never intended their books to be for children. Yet both ended up being wildly successful after being slotted by their publishers, in the children’s fiction category. For children’s fiction shelves are by all accounts , burgeoning, and how ! What’s debatable is who exactly is driving that boom.
Post Potter, it is no longer infra dig or dumbing down to read children’s books. More and more adults are doing exactly that – maybe because these books are well marketed, they stand out from the clutter and are exceedingly well written. They feature powerful and very primeval stories that engage with the always fascinating metaphysical confrontations of good and evil. Harking back to days when, crossovers’ ancient predecessors , ‘The Arabian Nights’, ‘The Odyssey’ or ‘The Mahabharata’, enthralled all ages in the telling . Or even their modern day variations that work so successfully at various levels. Lewis Carroll, Roald Dahl, Tolkien and CS Lewis . Rushdie in that delightful children’s tale of ‘Haroun and the Sea of Stories’. I loved reading it out to my six year old who delighted in the action of Haroun on a boat in a lake, while I marvelled at Rushdie’s scrumptious satire as Snooty Buttoo speaks through the Mists of Misery, on the Dull Lake, in the Valley of K. A great story - but not one you’d find the average child reader rushing off into a cosy corner with.
This appeared in the Sunday Times of India Bookmark page 5 th Feb 2006
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