mumbai deli II

Weekend Guide: Rain Check

bpb Freebie: Get 10% off when you spend Rs 500 and up at home store Baaya. Offer valid until June 25.
bpb Freebie: Subscribers get crafty deal at home store Baaya. For this and other cool discounts, plus a weekend guide in your inbox every Friday, enter your email in the subscription box.
bLADE
What: Knife Skills workshop with 3 Michelin-starred chef, exclusively for bpb by Le 15 Patisserie, shop 2, B wing, Rajgruha Co-Op, BM Marg, Lower Parel, email guide@bpbweekend.com for your slot – limited seats only!, Rs 1,000 per person.
Why: Julienne, brunoise, chiffonade, batonnet, allumette, paysanne: there are many ways to cut someone down to size. Chef-extraordinaire Mukul Tanwar will teach you all these and more at a hands-on knife skills workshop where each student is given their own arsenal. While on vacation in Mumbai, the France-based chef is also conducting classes on soufflés, pastas and more.
When: It’s your turn to pick up the (s)tab. June 30 from 7.30 to 9.30 pm.
pROTECT
What: Embellished raincoats by Sonya Vajifdar, call 9322221434 or visit www.sonyavajifdar.com, Rs 4,000 onwards.
Why: Sonya’s super raincoats offer more than a silver lining for your cloudy day: they come in pop colours with sequined hoods, polka dots and asymmetrical zippers; we especially love the bright purple trench with satin lining. She supplies to Attic and Bombay Electric, but we take you directly to her Churchgate workshop where the designer, her masterjis and two fat dogs work hard to please the rain gods.
When: You want to shop before the drops.
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What: Yogacara, Rewa House, Bulabhai Desai Road, opposite National Garage, Mahalaxmi, call Radhika on 9833198371, Rs 6,800 monthly membership for 12 yoga, 4 meditation and 2 massages sessions.
Why: Traditional yoga classes, meditation sessions, massage facilities and a stunning view of the ocean all live here, at this quaint cottage in Breach Candy. This new “healing centre” lets you indulge in Thai, Shiatsu and energy flow rubs or learn aasanas from experts who teach spiritual courses at Mumbai University. Ommm-y God!
When: You want to breathe inn. Go before June 30 for a free yoga/meditation session.
bRAND NEW
What: Zara, Palladium, Phoenix Mills, Lower Parel, T-shirts for Rs 900, dresses for Rs 2,000.
Why: It’s finally here. The Spanish fashion chain opens its first outpost in Mumbai, amidst hype, impending credit card debt and fears that everyone in the city will now be wearing the same thing. Our initial recce of the two floor store yields salmon pink silk shorts, jersey gladiator sandals, summery white dresses, swimming trunks and a cool hat rack for men. Look out for the full bpb review!
When: Opens today, June 11.
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What: Finish Tarla’s movie, a donation driven animated film by Project Nanhi Kali, visit www.agirlstory.org to watch clip and contribute.
Why: Right now, Tarla is a little girl who can’t go to school. But with your help, she can break through the barriers of gender bias and poverty to earn a stellar education, discover the cure for procrastination and save the world! But her story, endearingly captured in this fictional animated series, progresses only if you donate to the cause of the girl child.
When: Now. The fate of our future superhero is in your hands!
Event Round Up: Tapas and unlimited beer at Valhalla’s FIFA fest; Sharik Hasan Trio plays jazz on June 12 at 9.30 pm at Blue Frog and the Comedy Club – finally!- opens at Palladium on June 11.

Half Arted

Space-Time Continuum

This just in: time travel possible for one month at Lakeeren, a contemporary gallery in Colaba where you’ll find art (and price tags) from ten years ago. Past perfect!

Stroke of Luck

At “1001 Works 25 Rupees Upwards” , art flea market conceived by owner and curator Arshiya Lokhandwala, you can rummage through an engaging collection of photographs, etchings, paintings, eggshells and more, piled in corners, propped against desks and tacked onto the wall. This is a place where you’ll find signed serigraphs by MF Hussain (Rs 90,000 for a set of eight) scattered over the floor, and wall beams papered with photographs of an artist meditating in the midst of chaotic streets (Rs 5,000 each).

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bpb loves: Anuj Poddar’s miniseries centering around a mirchi (Rs 1,800), Ashim Purkayastha’s 3D cut-outs from a past show titled Cryptograms, a series of small, super-fine etchings by Kanga that capture perfectly the slender elegance and grace of youth (Rs 2,000).

Blank Canvas

For Arshiya, this month-long sale not only makes art more accessible to people, it is also a way for her to move forward with a blank slate. “Lakeeren used to be located in Vile Parle until 2003, after which I went to Cornell to get my PHD in art history and returned with a brand new Lakeeren in Colaba last December.”

Curator Picks

Not sure where to start? We weren’t either. That’s why we got Arshiya to pick out her top five bargains:

Untitled series of hand gestures by Sushil Mangaonkar (Rs 15,000 each): Rendered in sweeping strokes and bloody red pigment, this series of three will draw your eye as soon as you enter the gallery. And if you believe art should come with a sense of humour, ask for the fourth, censored piece (yes, it’s exactly what you think it is).

Chatterbox by Amod Damle (Rs 25): Funky matchboxes for Rs 25 each. And you thought you’d never make an impulse buy at an art gallery!

Anjum Singh’s drawer (Rs 15,000): This poignantly sweet pink and yellow drawer conceals a treasure trove of memories – prints and postcards by the artist. And at Rs 15,000, bedside change!

Sharmila Samant’s Areperenius (Rs 10,000): Apparently part of an exhibit meant to symbolise permanence, this sculpture is made from the most transient of objects – eggshell holders. Apart from its symbolic value, the three-dimensional piece is super fun to play with; it looks different from all angles and can be re-imagined as countless things, from a gas mask to a fortress.

Debraj Goswami’s morning art (Rs 14,000): Cool, funny paintings of toothpaste tubes and other every day objects by an artist who has shown at major galleries in the city. Colourful and cheeky, these are guaranteed to brighten up the bleariest mornings.

Getting there: Lakeenren, 2nd floor, Grant's Building, opposite Basilico, Arthur Bunder Road, Colaba, call 65224179 or visit www.lakeerengallery.com, on until June 30.

Bungalow 5

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders

Owned and developed by filmmaker and restaurateur Prahlad Kakar, 14C Boran Road has turned into quite a random house. In this pretty cottage, you’ll find a dive shop, a marine conservation NGO, a kitchen that caters to outdoor shoots, a bakery, and a prop shop in the attic.

Eau Baby!

Pretty mosaic fish tiles and an aqua door lead you to The Dive Shop, an offshoot of marine lifestyle company The Life Aquatic with Lacadives. Designed to look more like a living room, this “store” displays bright yellow and pink snorkel masks and diving glasses on a grand piano, features a book case filled with volumes on marine information, and allocates a generous amount of space to comfy seating. Even if it means relegating the actual rack of dive equipment to a nondescript corner, which stocks wet suits, underwater cameras, bag packs, candy coloured flippers and other accessories. But what Life Aquatic instructor Jurgen van Duffel really wants to show off is a shipment of underwater computers – watch-like gadgets that give you details about your dive – expected to arrive soon.

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For Bake’s Sake

Sea biscuits, crab cakes, bread and water...we’re trying to imagine what connection a dive shop would have with a bakery, because also moving in soon is Pune-based Cupcakes n Cookies. Here, New York returned banker-turned baker Tarini Naravani will make biscuits, breads, cakes and other treats from scratch, which you can enjoy in a garden cafe to the sound of music. Sweet!

More Tenants

Previously a home delivery headquarter for Kakar’s Papa Pancho, the kitchen here now provides catering services for outdoor film shoots. Meanwhile, a jumble of props from the filmmaker’s own TV commercials and movies – curtains, wigs, furniture, even a grand piano – can be rented from the prop shop upstairs.

Finding our Feet

Kakar promises that every visit to this bizarre bungalow will be different. During our sneak peek, he offered to read our feet while we tried on scuba flippers. What will happen next time? Drop in on opening day – June 11! – and find out.

Getting there: 14 C, Boran Road, tiny lane opposite Globus, Hill Road, Bandra (W), opens June 11, Dive equipment from brands like Tusa and Aqua Lung starts at Rs 2,000.