Tag Archive - Colaba

How Do You Deal With A Child’s Questions About Terrorism?

1 December 2008 by admin, No Comments

This year I was determined to have a meaningful Thanksgiving. After all of the shocks we have faced this year with the economy, Wall street, mounting financial issues…not to mention a slew of family health and business problems, it was time to finally sit down and celebrate the change that Obama has promised.

And then…in the very wake of the Thanksgiving hour came an SMS message from a friend alerting us about the terror attacks in Mumbai: “Right this very minute, bombs are going off in every corner of our city. Please call home and ensure that your loved ones are safe.”

All of Wednesday, I was glued to the TV and checked lists of the deceased on the hour every hour…luckily no one had been harmed. But on Thursday, the day that we sat down to by thankful for what we have…I received word that a good friend and her husband had been shot at a restaurant in Mumbai’s Oberoi hotel orphaning three young children. It was the restaurant that our family frequents for Sunday brunch, the restaurant in which we celebrated my daughter’s birthday just three months ago.

My daughter who overheard everything could not help but ask how it is possible that a child’s parents can go out for dinner as they do every week perhaps, yet one day never come back. That night she wanted to sleep in our bed, in between her father and her mother petrified that somehow that they too might be taken away from her for some unjust reason.

Over the course of the holiday, we continued to receive news of friends who had dodged bullets as they fled to safety and the less fortunate ones who did not make it. Mumbai is a city where everyone knows everyone. For all the victims that we knew directly, we were separated by barely one degree from those that we did not. My children recognized many of the victims and survivors.

As we watched NDTV my son overheard a reporter speak of the orphaned child of a Rabbi and his wife who was saved by his nanny. It was the child’s second birthday the day after. My son who like any child anticipates his next birthday every day of the year, asked me, “Why did God kill his parents on his birthday?”

What kind of answer can a parent create or concoct for questions like these? How to deal with a child’s natural curiosity, fear and intense emotion?

This morning I was told a story about a family of four killed in one of the hotels: The terrorists first killed the father and watched the mother go beserk. They then killed the mother as the two teenage kids stood by. They set fire to a table cloth ordering the kids to place it over their parents…”you need to cremate them,” said one of the terrorists. When the tablecloth somehow brushed the arm of one terrorist, he shot one of the kids. Then…having let the other kid linger over his dead parents and sibling for some time, the terrorist finally shot him too.

Can we seek solace in knowing that the entire family was killed and so none will be left to grieve? What justice is there in this world?

Whether terrorism is economically driven or whether it occurs due to religious strife, we can no longer rely on others to protect us. What can we do as individuals to make the world we live in a safer place for our children?

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Café Mondegar – Your Home Away from Home

20 May 2008 by admin, 1 Comment

If there is one place in Mumbai that reminds me of ‘Cheers’, the famous Boston café immortalized in the American TV show by the same name, it’s Café Mondegar (or Mondy’s as the locals call it) on Colaba Causeway. Most Mumbaikars (i.e. Mumbai locals) frequent the café during their college days and then return to it for a sense of nostalgia, sometime later in life. Invariably it also becomes the Mumbai visitors’ local haunt because this is where they can really get to know the locals. Property deals and business contracts are struck on a regular basis at this Mumbai landmark.

Farshid and Hoshang Yezdegardi, the two brothers who currently run the establishment, form the third generation of an Irani family that has operated it since 1925. True to old Indian values, the Yezdegardis believe that for a business to be successful yet personable, it must remain within the family. Perhaps that is why spending the afternoon at Mondy’s is like lounging at home on the weekend. After all, at Mondy’s everybody knows your name!

Address:
Shahid Bhagat Singh Road
5A Metro House, Colaba, Near Regal Cinema
Mumbai, MH
400 001

Neighborhood: Colaba

Nearest Train: Churchgate/VT

Phone: +91 22 2202 0591

Cuisine:
Eclectic. Ranging from Continental to Chinese cuisine.

Range:
Average INR. 200

Hours of Operation:
Daily 8am-1am

Additional Information:
CD Jukebox, and wall murals by famous Goan cartoonist, Mario Miranda

Comments:
You cannot say that you have been to Mumbai if you have not had a meal at Café Mondegar. Located right next door to Regal Cinema, this restaurant-cum-bar is where you can catch a glimpse of bohemian life in Mumbai. Haunted by locals and visitors alike, Mondy’s friendly wait staff clad in green and yellow t-shirts, serve up draught beer, by the pitcher or glass amidst the loud tunes of a CD jukebox. The wall murals painted by Mario Miranda, a famous Goan cartoonist make for the unique décor that has been the café’s trademark since the 1987.

In 1925, the Yezdegardis, an Irani family, bought the home of a French sailor named called Monsieur Monde. Inspired by its Hindi reference ‘Monde Sahib ka Gar’ (Mr. Monde’s house) the Yezdegardis soon converted it to a café called ‘Monde-Gar’. It started off as a typical teahouse that also sold tobacco, foreign liquor, wine, breads and specialties from Iran like saffron, almonds, and pistachios. In time the Yezdegardis have developed an assorted menu influenced by Irani flavors.

In the seventies, the menu was widened to include keema-pao (minced lamb with bread), soups, puddings and Chinese food. Today, you can choose from a variety of food, everything from kebabs to burgers, bruschetta, chow-mein, grills, and sizzlers. But through the ages, the house favorite has always been the Pepper Steak, or Steak Boti.

Whether you’re looking for a Saturday night scene with great food and loud music, or a quiet Sunday morning spot where you can read the newspaper while you sip your coffee, this is the place to go.

Scenes from Cafe Mondegar:

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Bombay Burning: What Is It That Motivates The Terrorist?

28 November 2008 by admin, 3 Comments

About  24 hours ago, I submitted an article to Digg entitled

‘Mumbai Hotel Hostage Situation is Not Yet Under Control’

inspiredeconomist.com — A terror scene that eerily resembles 9/11 has been unfolding in Mumbai since late Wednesday night (November 25th). In spite of the arrival of army commandos, three hours ago, hostages are still being held in Mumbai’s top two hotels.

A number of people commented on the article but one particular comment left me gasping….

“How does it resemble 9/11?

Have any buildings been demolished?? No.

Have any planes been used as weapons of destruction?? No.

Obviously the subject matter is important, but BURIED for inaccurate and sensational headline.”

It amazes me that anyone from anywhere could possibly make such a naive comment!

How does a deadly series of attacks on Mumbai that has spanned beyond 40 hours NOT resemble 9/11? Have Mumbai’s landmark hotels not been destroyed? Does a terrorist necessarily need a plane to exercise as a weapon of mass destruction? Are AK-47s, hand grenades and bombs not enough? How could anyone consider a report of Bombay burning in these last two days either inaccurate or sensational?

Bound by natural human values of greed and self-indulgence, we are all perhaps entitled to live in our own ivory towers. But when disaster strikes should we not stop for a moment to question why the home of 20 million spirited people becomes a terrorist’s playground? Or what possesses a terrorist to turn a city’s monuments and into fortresses of terror?

I never thought that I would see the day when I would watch the news to find out that 30 dead bodies were recovered in the Oberoi hotel yet feel a sense of relief because the news was an indication that things were finally under control. What have we come to? Where do we go from here as we realize tomorrow which of our loved ones have been lost. After all, in this town everyone exists with three degrees of separation.

It pains me as it pains millions of others to see my city go up in flames. And while it is easy to point fingers at the coastguard, the government..our national security…when are we going to point fingers at ourselves? Will we ever question what role large or small, we might have played in molding the mind of the terrorist? The ‘brotherhood of man’ is a concept that society has consistently failed to cultivate. India is certainly no exampl,: although Mahatma Gandhi attempted to unite races and religions, he arguably failed too.

Are we going to continue living in fear for the rest of our days? What can we do as individuals to quell terrorism for good? I would like to invite your opinion.

Highlights of the events can be found on Mumbai Terror Update: 40 Hours Later, the War Continues

Read more on CNN

Read more on NDTV

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