The Pantry and a personal gripe.

Pomegranates are delicious and this season has been the best I remember.  On a visit to The Pantry off Kala Ghoda, in a little lane just to the side of Fab India I found the best pomegranate drink ever.  Pomegranate and sweet lime.

The Pantry is a lovely little place, all pastel colours and teashop retro chic decorated with prettily painted kitchen utensils and other ephemera.

Big windows and white tiled walls create a lot of light and the open kitchen and glass cases full of bakery goods make for a relaxing space.

Food is served on rather stylish teal boards and the menu offers a good range of pies, sandwiches, salads and soups.  Local produce is favoured and there's free wi-fi.

The coffee is good too, very good.

Now to my personal gripe.  The Pantry has signed up to the social media initiative Treetins which encourages strangers to share tables and build relationships.  They have the cute little flags on the table which are popping up in restaurants all over Mumbai. They also have a regularly changing menu and specials.

They also have free wi-fi and throughout the restaurant people were taking advantage of it.

Now I get that it's useful, it helps people keep in touch, it can pass a lonely lunch or snack as well as a newspaper can.  I wasn't alone I was with the man and a very close friend.  I ordered soup, it came first, that's fine,  as a starter it should.  I tried conversation, questions, comments, suggestions, I got only vague grunts in response.  I even offered to let them try my soup! Nothing!  The two of them sat pecking at their phones like demented pigeons.  Eventually, just before their mains arrived they happily turned their phones to me to show how they had updated their status and had conversations with people who were online to say they were at The Pantry.  I bloody KNEW that!  At least they had tagged me into their comments so I knew I hadn't eaten alone!

I should have got up and moved to another table that was waving it's little flag but all the people eating alone were also pecking away at their various pads and phones.

I've decided that I prefer places without wi-fi but I'll go back to The Pantry and beg my companions to stay off the bloody social media at least until the coffee comes.

Why shopkeepers hate me.

I love shops and markets.  I'm a happy rummager. I'm a terrible shopper.  I like to look, prod, poke and photograph things but I hardly ever buy them.   Shopkeepers do not like me.

With the exception of cushions and books I don't like to be surrounded by clutter.  I like the look of it, but not the practice so I take pictures of the shiny fanciness that catches my eye instead.

Here are a few things I haven't bought recently.

I did not buy any hair sticks or bangles from this man despite them being shiny and lovely. You can see I'm never going to become his favourite customers.

I did not buy even one little Ganesha despite them being the "cutest things ever" because I already have one which was gifted to me.

I did not buy this pretty mirror which so nicely reflected a wobbly Rampart Row because I thought the buildings looked lovely in the distorted reflection but I would look less so.

I did not buy lovely glass versions of the chilli and lime amulets to hang above my door because I don't have any nails strong enough to hammer into the concrete wall. These are the things
I came closest to buying recently. I liked them a lot so I used the picture as a
new blog header to ward off the virtual evil eye.

I've just carried out an audit of my decorative items. I own 6 paintings, two small decorative boxes, one Ganesha, twenty eight cushions and seven tea light holders.  I have a hankering to replace some of the cushion covers.  Shopkeepers of Mumbai, prepare to celebrate.

Bollywood Abridged

Film posters are found all over the place.  Any relatively flat surface will do, although sometimes it takes a bit of ingenuity on the part of the poster pasters to cover irregular surfaces and sizes.  A case in point, here's the poster for Dhoom:3

 ... and here's a compressed version:

 

Well done Mr Bill Sticker.

Kala Ghoda 2014

A three month break is just too long.

I got out of the habit of taking pictures, or I got too precious about it. The light is wrong, it's too busy, it's too quiet, it's too early or too late. One way or the other I spent too long not taking pictures and complaining about not taking pictures. So Kala Ghoda Arts Festival came around and Saturday morning found me waiting for it to open so I could get in before it got too crowded.

Here are a few images:

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 Incredulous India

 Bollywood Mover

More soon.