Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Property Rates Soaring


The property market in Navi Mumbai is back in top gear. After the 10 to 20 percent slump due to rising property rates. In the last six months, there is a 25 percent increase in demand, and also rise in rates by about 20 percent.
Navi Mumbai is definitely emerging as the city of the future. The D.Y. Patil Stadium, the upcoming SEZ, International airport, the IT industry moving in, and the malls and five star hotels have all added to the glitter of the city.

People have woken up to realise that they should have bought homes here, before the hike in rates. There are customers coming here with 15 to 20 lakhs, looking for 2 BHK's (2 bedroom-hall-kitchen) only to realise that the amount can fetch them a CIDCO 1 BHK now.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Venna Lake 1

The Venna lake is one of the major tourist attractions of Mahabaleshwar. The lake is surrounded by trees on all sides. A late winter evening boat ride through the slight fog is well appreciated. Tourists can enjoy a boat ride over the lake or a horse ride next to the lake. A number of small eateries line the banks of the lake. The Mahabaleshwar city market and the S.T. bus stand is about 2KM from the lake and makes for a nice walk during the day. Most tour operators include the Venna lake in their tours. Most buses, private vehicles will stop at the Venna lake on their way to Mahabaleshwar on request.(from Wikipedia).


Sunday, April 13, 2008

More From Sherbaug

There was some more of Mahabaleshwar left to see thru my camera and here it is.

Most of the flowers in Sherbaug are rare varieties and these are one of them.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Raghuleela Mall




Raghuleela Mall is one of the biggest and popular malls in Navi Mumbai, and is on a prime location exactly opposite Vashi Station. The mall not yet being fully functional, Future Group's Big Bazaar in the mall is the favourite shopping paradise.
I love the architecture of the mall. Photography is not permitted in the mall, so I could not get any photos of the atrium.
For amazing photos of the inside, click here.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Vashi Station Entrance





This is what you see if you look up at the entrance to the station. I like the structure.
Most Navi Mumbai stations have been built with planning and design, and not randomly like Mumbai stations.
Raghuleela Mall, which also houses Big Bazaar is exactly opposite this entrance.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Vashi Ticket Counter

As you pass by the shoe shine boys (locally called boot polish walas), to the left are the ticket counters for local train single and return journey tickets, and also monthly and quarterly season tickets.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Boot Polish

These are boot-polish walas making a living outside Vashi Railway Station( & International Infotech Park).
For a small amount, they will first use cream, then polish and polish your shoes really well. It's common here for men to get their shoes polished(on their way to work) outside railway stations, and at some places, even on railway platforms.
If you want to be sure of the quality of polish being used on your shoes, ask for 'SPECIAL' polish, which will cost you a little extra.
A little further on the left is the Vashi station ticket counter, another entrance ahead and to the right, opposite the station is Raghuleela Mall.
I will show you these photos in my next posts.

Monday, April 07, 2008

Spring Is Here




My residential complex is full of flowers again, and I simply couldn't resist photographing Mussaenda Erythrophylla again.

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Ghodawala

This is Seven Bunglow's Ghodawala. Like Kunal said 'wallah' is added to a word. Ghoda means horse, and Ghodawala is the man who has the horse. He gets the pony to the market area, to give rides to little children. For a five minute ride from a point to another, he charges Rs.10 for little ones and Rs.15 for older ones.
Three or four little ones sometimes queue up here, waiting for their turn to enjoy the ride on the pony. Whenever I visit mom's place, my preschooler Krrish makes sure he gets the ride.

Saturday, April 05, 2008

Archies Gallery




Archies Gallery, a household name in Mumbai for cards and gifts has an outlet at the Palm Beach Galleria in Vashi, Navi Mumbai. I love the soft toy collection here.

Friday, April 04, 2008

Snacking

Trupti Snacks is a popular snack joint at Nadco Shopping Centre at Andheri West, near the railway station.
You can have fresh samosas, vadapav, khandvi, dhokla, kachori and all types of bhajiyas (pakoras) with tasty green chutney and sweet chutney. They also sell fresh Gujarati snacks like theplas, khakras, mathris, banana and potato wafers.
The sweets like Mohan Thal, Besan Laddoo and Kaju Katli are simply yummy.
The place here is always crowded and you are simply lucky if you can get samosas after 6 pm in the evening. The samosa tray comes hot from the kitchen 3 to 4 times, and within minutes, all are sold.
When you are in Andheri West, dont forget to snack here.

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

More From City Center


This is another view from the window of a store at City Center. This link will take you to the previous post a couple of days back.
What do you think of Mumbai fashion?

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

April 2008 Theme Day - Water

Today is the April Theme Day and the theme is 'Water'. I didn't have much of a choice between the water photos I clicked of the Venna lake at Mahabaleshwar (the nearest hill-station to Mumbai), the sea waters at the Gateway of India and the seaside at Sagar Vihar, Vashi. But none of the photos, even the Venna lake had lovely blue waters and an amazing landscape. The waters were not clear. So I chose this photo of a little stream of water. No, this is not unclean water from Mumbai's nullah.





This is a part of the acres of land of a strawberry garden in Mahabaleshwar. It is a clear stream of water. I found this stream of water behind the strawberry garden area, where we were choosing rose and other plants for taking home. The woman in the pic is a worker with the garden and is doing her daily washing chores here.The strawberry garden we visited had huge cabbages planted in between strawberry plantations.



When we look to the left from the place above (where we could choose and buy plants and fresh strawberries), we see this stream of water. The woman was washing clothes and then she paused to tie her hair and continued washing.



This stream of water, coming from the direction of the dam (built at Venna lake) is used to water the whole farm area of 10 acres, and is used for drinking, cooking and washing purposes too. There are 178 blogs participating in the April 2008 theme 'Water'. Visit them for amazing photos and ideas for the theme 'Water'.



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