Diwali's here

The first signs of Diwali have made their appearance. One can find a lot of vendors/hawkers selling lanterns and crackers along with the decoration items like "rangoli". Several "temporary" hawkers have come up everywhere...hopefully these guys will go away once Diwali is over. On the other hand, several "permanent" roadside hawkers have stopped selling what they usually sell and switched over to selling this new seasonal stuff.

There is high demand for sweets and other "snack items" like chiwda and chakli. Traditionally, these sweets and snacks were supposed to be made in each one's homes and then exchange them with their neighbours. While the exchanging tradition still continues in most parts of Mumbai, the making part has been now left largely to these shops that sell these items. I think this has mostly to do with women working or being very busy in whatever it is that they do.

There are some specialist shops that I would like to mention (from which I have bought these things in the past):

• Matunga (and King's Circle) has a slew of these "South Indian" shops that sell the south Indian variety of sweets and snacks. Cafe Mysore converts much of its restaurant into counters that display the various sweets and snacks. I wonder whether the restaurant stays open on these days.
• When I visited Panshikar at Dadar last year, there was a huge queue into that small eatery waiting patiently to buy these snacks.
• Sapre's at Goregaon West is another Maharashtrian favorite. This is the place I've bought most of the stuff from in the past few Diwalis. Sapre's has a large (maybe complete) variety (of the Maharashtrian kind, of course). The very unique thing is that one needs to fill in an "order form" with the quantity that one needs. (The forms are available at the counter.) The forms are to be handed over the counter to the sales person and they will find and collect all the items mentioned. They will even put it in a box so that one can carry the stuff home. Another thing of interest is that at the bottom of the "order form", they mention that no matter how big the order, one would still have to come to the shop to collect it - that they do not deliver.

Let's see if things remain the same this Diwali.

Jumbo King Wada Pav

Its been a few years since the Jumbo King Wada Pav was launched with an ambitious goal of making the "Wada Pav world class". But, it was only recently that I ventured to have a Wada Pav at the stall. This was partly motivated by reading an article in a newspaper about the types of Wada Pav that they offer - I was most attracted by the "Brown (Whole Wheat) Pav".

And so it was that I was pleasantly surprised to see the price of Rs. 6 for the brown pav variety and Rs. 5 for the normal one. They also offer soft drinks and lassi. The Wada Pav was not bad at all and in fact, for the hygiene that they offer, the price is really worth it (it is priced Re. 1 more than the usual Wada Pav hawkers).

I could see that this strategy would not only attract the middle-class and college students, but also the labourer class that make a "meal" out of the Wada Pav. In addition, they have also have Wada Pav with cheese. On the other hand, they call the "Brown Bread Wada Pav" as the "Diet Wada Pav" - quite an attractive proposition for the "diet-concious" people.

The article in the newspaper also mentioned that they were soon going to introduce a "Jain Wada Pav" (without garlic and potatoes).

Looks like a desi McDonald in the making.

Mumbai's best bakers

Without a doubt, most of Mumbai's best bakers are either Parsis or Iranis. Among them, my vote for the best (value, and quality) goes to Merwan's in Andheri (West). There are only 2 Merwan's shops in the entire city (suburbs included). And, believe it or not, these 2 shops are just a few shops away from each other. Both are located on the ground floor of a building called "Madhav Building" on S. V. Road, outside Andheri station (West). One shop specializes in cakes and pasteries; the other has some seats, a snacks counter, and a small get-together hall on the first floor (apart from the same cakes and pasteries). Why there are 2 shops selling the same items within such a close distance is not known to me...maybe it has to do with the handling of customers. Such is the fierce clientele that the customers actually keep an "eye" on the fresh baked items coming in by 4 p.m. By 5 p.m., most of the snack items like rolls, puffs are almost over. And by 6 p.m., you are too late to get anything at all in the snacks section. The prices are quite decent too. I have known people who drop in at Merwan's on their way to Malad. Some eggless pastries and snacks are also available which are quite tasty too. They also have packets of cookies that are crisp and well-baked. If ever there was a baker's competition in Mumbai, this one would take it all. Note that apart from these 2 stores, there is no other branch. There is a "B. Merwans" Irani restaurant and bakery opposite Grant Road station - this has no connection with the "real" Merwans.