Magic Realism at Warden Road

gtgt Whereas fans of Salman Rushdiersquos seminal Booker prize winning Midnightrsquos Children are legion it has a special place in the hearts of Mumbaikars being as it is the finest book on the city that never sleeps And so we present one of the first peeks into the much awaited movie based on the film directed by Deepa Mehta that features a host of Indian actors like Rahul Bose and Soha Ali Khan slated to be released in October 2012 Incidentally for Rushdie fans herersquos a Mumbai story about the author mdash as infused with magic realism as any of his famous novels Shortly after he won his first Booker this diarist had accompanied Rushdie back to his childhood home at Warden Road see pic to write an article that aimed to take him back down memory lane The home now belongs to Sunita Pittamber one of Mumbairsquos most glamorous hostesses from whom we had sought permission for the visit It was an emotional moment for Rushdie as he was returning after many years and so when the liveried and whitegloved bearer opened the door and handed him an envelope borne on a silver salver the author turned as pale as a sheet ldquoSir this arrived for you yesterdayrdquo the butler said handing over the missive it was a letter from Tata shares addressed to his father notifying him about a transaction mdash almost four decades after hersquod left the country Incidentally Pittamber who was in the house never showed her face all afternoon as she was sulking with Rushdie for turning down an invitation to dinner with Mumbairsquos cafeacute society Less attitude mdash more service please gtgt Ok So herersquos our retail rule of thumb the fancier the deacutecor and the hipper the salesservice people mdash the worse the customer experience And we are not the only ones who have this opinion Ask any Mumbaikar and they will agree that whether itrsquos one of those fancy foreign beauty salons where the stylists have more piercings than experience or a chain of bookshops where the assistants have never read a book leave aside caring about them itrsquos a wellknown truth that for a true blue genuine Mumbai experience of good wellinformed service you have to look beyond the decor and the brand name and seek out the gems the scruffy Chineserun salon where the hairdressers are up to their gelled and buffed fingernails about the latest products and innovations or the fusty run down bookshop where the salespeople are passionate about reading themselves and not only make it their God given duty to find you the book you want but can recommend half a dozen in its genre When and how did hip bubblegum chewing iPod listening bejeaned and bejeweled sales people change the superb sales and marketing culture of Mumbai And please when we step in to buy something we expect service and not top of volume stereophonic muzak The geeky Mafatlal gtgt Our favourite Mafatlal mdashMiheer mdash greatgrandson of family patriarch Gagalbhai is back in India after a selfimposed 11year exile in USA where breaking with the family tradition of noblesse oblige he rolled up his sleeves and actually worked founding an IT infrastructure company and living a simple anonymous suburban existence with his wife and kids One of the pioneers of the nascent Internet industry in the early rsquo90s few of Indiarsquos click happy cyber citizens know that the selftaught geek Miheer played a vital role in bringing IT awareness and culture into the country when he unofficially lent his expertise and advice to VSNL which was experiencing some early day hiccups Those were the days when young Miheer used to sit at the fabulous Mafatlal mansion in a darkened room surrounded by computers cables and other IT paraphernalia with close friends actor Shammi Kapoor and Vijay Mukhi celebrating the wonders of cyberspace An insider says that if it were not for Miheerrsquos intervention at that time the Internetrsquos arrival in India as a tool for common folk would have been delayed by another 23 years Fitting that Miheer has returned to the country of his origin to set up Mafatlal Cipherspace Pvt Ltd a company that deals with IT infrastructure services And ironic that when we spoke to him his own Internet connection was down Bandra Ahoy gtgt What has a chemical consultant and a jeweller got to do with the cityrsquos culture scene A fourstoryed building we would say Tucked away in the leafy bylanes of Bandra is the new and upcoming culture hub lsquoTemperancersquo ldquoThe entire building is dedicated to art culture and promoting talentrdquo say the owners cousins and Bandra girls Hema and Viola of this soonto be launched ambitious project The structure is divided into four storeys each dedicated to a certain area of interest The first two levels house the deli the next is dedicated to different dance styles another floor houses yoga while the topmost level is home to a mixed martial arts gym with space for movie clubs workshops exhibitions shows etc The owners hope the hub turns out to be a culture hotspot for the suburbs Viola Wadia the jeweller says ldquoThere hasnrsquot been a place in Mumbai where you can just chill take some dance classes and catch a bite etc and since the property was there me and Hema the chemical engineer decided to have such a placerdquo With classes starting on the May 1 and the Deli cafeacute by the 10th itrsquos one more reason to move to Bandra we say Beautiful Beginnings gtgt For years one of Mumbairsquos best kept secrets were the humble Beauty Palace stores at Crawford Market where every hairstylist salon owner beauty industry worker and budget conscious young woman would head to shore up on their products Run by two enterprising arms of a Bohri Muslim family the shops sold international beauty and hair products at staggering wholesale prices And matched it with efficient and informed but oldfashioned service So now how wonderful it is to learn that the store has moved considerably up the retail ladder and taken its place amongst new Indiarsquos fancy universe with a tieup with a German makeup brand for a recently opened posh store in Bandra Managed by one of our favourite makeup artists Cherag Bamboat the launch saw 30 international makeup personnel fly in from all over the world hosted ably by the Beauty Palace folk It was a Kodak moment when old India met new India We likeu00a0