Ya Ali

Last Friday, I visited Minara Lane, Mohammed Ali Road, which is famous for delicious food, in the month of Ramazan, for some yummy food. I have been going there, for some years now, but alone. Every year, some of my friends promise me to come along with me, but drop out at the last moment. So I end up going there alone. I look up to this annual visit as an yearly pilgrimage.

I have a favourite place at Minara Lane, called Marhaba, which I find quite good. It is a small place, but the food here is quite tasty, especially baida roti and mutton rolls. This time, I clicked some pictures, which are below. The prices are also quite unbelievably cheap.

[Click to enlarge]

[Click to enlarge]

Since I had gone there quite early (around 6:30 p.m.) and it was not yet Iftar time, I could not eat anything there, and got some items parcelled for my family at home, who also share my likeness for tasty food.

Not to be missed on the Minara Lane is Phirni, which is put in a small earthen pot and Malpua. I clicked this picture of giant malpuas being fried at Suleiman Usman Mithaiwala.

The ambiance and the aroma of yummy food is the reason which takes me to Minara Lane every year. When it comes to yummy and tasty food, everyone stands united, I think so.

My blogging friend, Kusum Rohra, has also visited Mohammed Ali Road last weekend and written a post about it.

A guide to eating places at and around Mohammed Ali Road is here.

A pact

Last week I made a pact (unsigned one though) with my daughter, aged 11, that I will pay more attention to fitness and will walk more. Daughters have a way to get their dad do the right things in life.

She (my daughter) and I go on most Sundays (when it is not raining) for an evening walk to our nearby park. Last Sunday, she mentioned that I am paying no attention to my health and am expanding in the middle. She said at least I should walk to railway station in the morning and evening instead of taking an auto rickshaw. Well, I tried to explain to her that it is quite difficult to avoid taking an auto in the morning as I do not want to miss my beloved 7:20 a.m. local train and the time seems to be flying the morning. Like a good daughter she understood but said what about evenings? Certainly in the evenings there is no hurry and I can certainly walk home. Well this stumped me. She is right. This set me thinking why I am taking an auto rickshaw in the evening and not walking from railway station. The distance is certainly walkable.

Next she asked me how much I pay per trip to and from railway station. Since I take a shared auto it comes to Rs. 5. She made a quick calculations and said if I walk from station to home every evening I will be saving Rs. 1300/- every year (5 x 5 = 25, 25 X 52 =1300), and every penny saved is a every penny earned. She said, or rather ordered me, that from tomorrow I will be walking from station to home every evening, and as a proof that I had walked I will deposit Rs. 5 with her every day, which she will be saving. Well, this seems to be quite good and practical suggestion. I readily agreed and since last Monday I am walking from station to home in the evenings. Now let us see if I am true to this unsigned pact in the coming days. I hope I will be. And I should be.

A sad story

[click on the picture to enlarge]

I saw the above news item in today's HT, and it really moved me. Sanath Singh, who used to work in Mumbai as a security guard, had decided to leave his job due to harassment by Raj Thackeray and his men,and moved to his native place in Bihar. The recent Bihar floods swept away all his possessions and he and his family is now living in a relief camp.

As a Maharashtrian by birth, I am sorry Sanath Singh.