cutting chai in mumbai – The Metrognome

Your only chance at survival in this magnificent metropolis is to learn about life here and why it ticks so.

by Dr Pooja Birwatkar

As a child, I heard a lot of stories about the big bad world that existed somewhere. A place where people were like machines devoid of emotions, leading a mechanical and calculated life, where crimes that one read about in stories actually occurred and people were heartless, self-absorbed and practical. Coming from a small hilly town with a close-knit community, I always wondered where this world was. Slowly I discovered it was called Bombay (in those days), and which we now know as Mumbai.

When I came to know that I have to visit this city, my first reaction was that of fear and a reluctance to go. As advice such as ‘Be careful there!’ from near and dear ones poured in my ears, my anxiety and restlessness grew. I landed in Bombay after many scary dreams and nightmares that I underwent all through the journey. The city appeared magnificent, voluminous and bustling. I remember clutching at my mother’s bag and holding her hand tight as we walked past Gateway of India. Every person, to me, seemed dubious, and the crowded city looked so threatening. I went back with the resolution never to come back. But as fate would have it, I was back years later after having married a Mumbaikar. I questioned my fate – Why did I return, of all the places, to Mumbai? But being left with no choice, I settled for a life here.

Mumbai dads are like Santa Claus, because they usually come home late – normally when the kids are fast asleep.

In my initial year, I learnt a few things about the city:

– ‘Ka’ must be suffixed to all action words – jaaneka, khaneka, baithneka, rukneka, etc.

– If someone asks where your room is, the person is asking for your address and not about your personal room in your house.

– ‘Bumper to bumper’ means that there is a traffic jam and ‘mama’ is the name given to the traffic police man.

– ‘Ek cutting dena‘ means give half a cup of chai.

– Everyone is genuinely busy in Mumbai. Soon, this will rub off on you, too.

– Everything you heard about the local trains of Mumbai is, unfortunately, true. But if one has to learn punctuality, learn from the local trains.

– If someone standing in the local train asks you which station you will get down at, it does not mean the person is interested in you or trying to be friendly. It simply means that your seat is now booked by him/her.

– Well groomed, hair in place, large bag, sandwiches or roti wraps in foil and cut fruits in zip lock bags, latest novel and big glares on…this is what a woman in the ladies first class coach normally looks like. To identify the second class ladies coach, you need no training – it is bursting with women, but is more homely. It is okay if you did not get time to eat or wear your accessories in a bid to catch the train, as you can buy all of it here.

– In Mumbai, the rains do not stop life, nor do terror blasts. However, local trains and BEST buses do manage to halt life momentarily.

– Winters are hardly present here, but nevertheless, Mumbai celebrates the spirit of winter. Though the weather is merely pleasant, Mumbaikars still shiver, light fires, wear warm clothes and say ‘Arre, thandi hai kafi.’ This might make people from the North, who are used to harsh winters, roll their eyes and mock these deprived souls, but Mumbaikars don’t care. If they are not sweating, then it is winter in the city.

– It is never too late to go and eat dinner outside. Restaurants would be open. Almost everything gets home delivered.

– Mumbai dads are like Santa Claus, because they usually come home late – normally when the kids are fast asleep. You expect the dhobi, pavwala, bhajiwala to be there in the evening when your door bell rings. It is unusual to find your husband so early at the door. The first reaction to your husband home early is to wonder if he is unwell or if there has been a bomb blast in the city.

– It is easy to cross the road despite the traffic, as discipline still prevails. I am not joking – once a dog stood next to me at a zebra crossing and waited patiently to cross the road.

– ‘Sobo’ means ‘South Bombay’, and if you are a Sobo resident, you are usually envied and considered to have ‘class’. Going to Kala Ghoda in Sobo is a status symbol.

– If you ask for directions, people will seldom say they don’t know. They make every effort to help you. Rest assured that you are bound to reach with the directions given to you.

– It is hard to imagine this, but amidst the hustle-bustle, Mumbai has a strong religious streak and rejoices during festivals.

– The ‘aam janta‘ here is not fashion-conscious, and frankly, they don’t care about the latest trends. Unlike their counterparts in other areas of the country, people here don’t look down upon you if you are not fashionably dressed.

– Mumbaikars are not star struck, but local train-struck. They would prefer missing seeing a celebrity over missing their long distance train.

New entrants like me owe a lot to this city. Mumbai makes you stronger – much more than you ever thought you could be – and teaches you to raise your self-esteem, and instills fearlessness and strength to go on. I now love this pulsating, vibrant city which never sleeps. So, to all you newcomers, it would be just a matter of time before you would also say with pride like me, “Yes, I am a Mumbaikar and it is my own aamchi Mumbai”. I belong here and I am happy to be here.

(Pictures courtesy Nidhi Qazi, www.thehindu.com, mumbaithecityofdreamscometrue.blogspot.com)

Take out, take away, parcel, to go!

We’re no longer sitting down and eating – and our willingness to eat on the move has sparked interesting innovations.

by Shweyta Mudgal

Mommy always brought me up to believe that one should stay put in a place while eating or drinking. Little did she know that the world I’d grow up in would believe the exact opposite – to eat and drink on the go!

‘Take out’, ‘Take away’, ‘Parcel’, ‘To go’ are the buzzwords of our times. Depending on which part of the world we are in, we use one of these terms whenever we order food or drink. They all mean the same thing – that one intends to take their meal or drink to some ‘other place’ to consume – may be at home, one’s office or a park.

Our eating and drinking habits have come a long way from the days when there was a more formal, stationary sanctity associated with the act. Today, shortage of time has expedited the process and eating on the go has become a routine part of our fast-paced lives.

Global eating-on-the-go is a growing market and a key consumer trend that has shaped the food, and more importantly, the drink industry. Accordingly, interesting innovations have been made to incorporate and accommodate this modern lifestyle trend.

In the West, for example, coffee to-go is served in paper cups. At most cafes in New York City, coffee is always served in a to-go cup, as nine out of 10 customers prefer to drink it on the move. Thus, innovations such as the ‘coffee sleeve’ and the ‘cardboard drink carrier’ came about – the former to insulate the drinker’s hands from the hot coffee, and the latter to facilitate the carrying around of multiple cups of hot coffee.

In Asia – Singapore, for example – coffee to-go is a popular yet relatively new trend. Here, on ordering a coffee at a global cafe chain such as Starbucks, the barista still poses the question, “To have here or take away?” If opted to “have here”, coffee is served in a ceramic mug that one need not even clear up oneself, as there is an entourage of cleaning-and-clearing staff that makes a living doing just that. On opting to “take away”, the coffee is served in the usual ‘paper cup’ with a lid.

At local Singaporean cafes a.k.a Kopitiams, though, the take-away experience differs. Here, a drink taken to-go gets poured into a clear plastic bag tied with lanyard, and stuffed with a straw. Freshly-squeezed fruit juices, soft drinks and coffees can all be slung on one’s arm while being sipped (see pics above). The design of these to-go bags is intelligent, making for an easy hands-free operation. The lanyard can be hooked onto car-door knobs, motorbike or bicycle handles as well.

If one is not open to the idea of sipping from a plastic bag, one can opt for the conventional paper or Styrofoam cup to carry one’s drink in. Here too, is an interesting contraption at work – in the form of a simple plastic loop placed around the lid of the cup (see pic on right), converting the ‘hand-held’ into a ‘hangingly-held’ device, again enabling hands-free mobility.

Closer home, in North India, the use of age-old beverage containers such as the terracotta cup aka the kulhad has seen a heavy decline. Higher procurement costs in comparison to plastic cups have not helped its sustenance. Besides, firing the clay at higher temperatures to manufacture them causes the formation of a glassy substance that takes up to a decade to degrade, rendering the kulhad eco-unfriendly.

In cities like Mumbai, one can find chai stalls serving ‘cuttings’ in glass containers or flimsy plastic cups. Here too, the concept of ‘take away’ is fairly recent, due to the available labour pool of chai boys that provide a prompt ‘delivery service’, bringing glasses of chai to the customer (usually an office worker or shop owner) in their smartly-designed wire-rack holders that can hold up to six glasses at a time.

Some of these daily innovations have now been iconised as collectibles – the classic New York paper coffee cup that read “We are happy to serve you” and now duplicated in a ceramic version has been sold in countless online and physical stores. The desi chaiwallah‘s indispensable wire rack with six glass holders is another example of a traditional keepsake item that has now turned kitsch.

The cardboard ‘coffee sleeve’ and ‘drink carrier’ (see pic on right) are both examples of contemporary utility items being transformed into creative fashion, art and architecture projects. And the Singaporean plastic to-go bags and ‘loops-around-lids’ have proved themselves as true icons of our changing times and habits.

So every morning when I get myself a ‘take out’ coffee, I make sure I ‘take away’ something more from it. I breathe, savour, smile, sip and ‘parcel’ up the moment, to transcend myself onto newer horizons – where I’ve never been before. So that at the end of my day, like my morning coffee then, I too deserve a “Way (to go)”!

A Mumbaikar by birth and a New Yorker by choice, recently-turned global nomad Shweyta Mudgal is currently based out of Singapore. An airport designer by day, she moonlights as a writer. ‘Outside In’ is a weekly series of expat diaries, reflecting her perspective of life and travel, from the outside-in. She blogs at www.shweyta.blogspot.com and can’t seem to go anywhere without her daily coffee to-go!

(Pictures courtesy Shweyta Mudgal, fortyredbangles.wordpress.com, www.flickr.com, www.perpetualkid.com, bigthink.com, media.cmgdigital.com, www.telegraph.co.uk, corbis.com)