Happy Diwali

WSD Photography exhibition

From The Welfare Of Stray Dogs(WSD)

The Welfare Of Stray Dogs and Cymroza Art Gallery would like to invite you to an exhibition of photographs titled " Stray Snapshots" by Rohan Mukerjee at the Cymroza Art Gallery between October 27, 2008 and November 1, 2008 between 10 am and 8 pm.

Rohan Mukerjee, a WSD volunteer and photographer has beautifully captured these thirty one stray dogs and cats in their natural surroundings in Mumbai, Kolkata , Shanti Niketan and other parts of India.

WSD spends about Rs 3 lakh per month on all its activities for strays which include mass sterilization and immunization, on-site first aid and immunization, adoption, education and awareness. All proceeds from the sale of these photographs will be used for funding these activities.

The WSD 2009 'Strays of Mumbai' calender will also be available at the venue.

Please find above an invite to the exhibition and we look forward to seeing you there.

The Music Room

The Music Room is written by Namita Devidayal, a Princeton graduate and a journalist with the Times of India. The book takes you through 'her plunging into the world of Indian Classical music at the age of ten' and the stage is set for the story of her teacher, Mumbai based Dhondutai Kulkarni (b. 1927) and Dhondutai's gurus, Alladiya Khan (1855-1946) of the Jaipur Gharana and the great Kesarbai Kerkar (1892-1977).

The book predominantly focuses and takes us through Dhondutai's life from her Congress House residence near Kennedy Bridge to Shivaji Park and finally to Borivali where she currently resides.

The Music Room is an unputdownable book which I really liked and read cover to cover.

A book reading, interspersed with recordings, of THE MUSIC ROOM will be held at the Crossword Book Store at Kemps Corner on Saturday, June 28, 2008 around 6.30 pm. Srila Chatterjee will be "in conversation" with the author Namita Devidayal.

You will also be treated to the enthralling voice of Dhondutai Kulkarni through a recording of her performances. So be there.

Mumbai rains prediction and MRF

Around 8:30 pm yesterday, it poured in many parts of Mumbai. These were pre-monsoon showers as confirmed by the weather bureau in the DNA and Indian Express.

MRF, the tyres company has been releasing an advt. every year predicting MRF rain day and telling Mumbaikars to switch to MRF tyres. And mostly every year they have been wrong with the prediction. They then follow up with the release of another advt. telling us that the MRF rain day has been extended so that we could switch to MRF tyres. Here are the dates of MRF rain days for the past five years….

June 6 - 2008
June 6 – 2007
June 4 – 2006
June 7 – 2005
June 2 – 2004

Either every year they get their information from the weather bureau else have the same two advertisement inserts. This year they have predicted June 6 as rain day in Mumbai and I am sure they will issue the second advt. on June 7 if the monsoon does not arrive in Mumbai.

And not only MRF but other people are trying to predict rain and even making money on it. Here is a story about people betting on not only when it would rain in Mumbai but also the quantum of rain that Mumbai will receive.

Though the weather bureau has predicted monsoon to hit Mumbai on June 10, it has this forecast for today. So what's your prediction ?

Sol Kadhi review

Had reviewed Sol Kadhi served in some of Mumbai's restaurants sometime back for a website

Sol Kadhi

THIS kadhi is truly for one’s soul. With the advent of coastal food especially of the Malvani variety, sol kadhi has started getting the recognition it truly deserves. Known earlier only to households that lived along the coastal areas of Maharashtra and Goa, sol kadhi has now become very popular with everyone.
Sol Kadhi is made from kokum which is readily available at any grocery stores. The ideal sol kadhi needs to have a coconut milky consistency, a baby pink colour (neither overtly red nor white) and the correct taste (refreshingly sour)

Goa Portuguesa : This restaurant located at Mahim serves Goan and South Indian (Culture Curry) specialities has the best Sol Kadhi in town coming close to the one prepared in GSB (Gaud Saraswat Brahmin) homes. The kadhi priced at Rs 29 has a good consistency, baby pink color, the right amount of chilly and garlic and does not smell rancid.

Color ****
Consistency *****
Taste ****
Rating: 8/10

Casa Soul Fry : This newly opened restaurant near Fountain serves Goan specialties. The sol kadhi here priced at Rs 40 has a good consistency. The color too is perfect but is too garlicky. The kadhi also smelled rancid as it may have not be fresh and kept in the fridge for a long time, thus imparting an offish taste to the coconut milk.

Color ***
Consistency ****
Taste **
Rating : 5/10

Anant Ashram : This no-frills eating place serving Konkani coastal cuisine is located in the very quiet heritage quartier of Khotachi Wadi in Girgaum. The sol kadhi here is very watery and nothing much to talk about. The color is white with the absence of the astringent kokum taste. The served free with the food or priced at Rs 3 if ordered separately.

Color *
Consistency *
Taste **

Rating : 3/10

TRADITIONAL RECIPE FOR THE PERFECT SOL KADHI

Soak three-four kokum in three tablespoons of warm water. Extract coconut milk (one cup) and grind in two-three flakes of garlic. Once the kokum extract is red, add the coconut milk, chopped green chillies and salt to taste. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Be careful not to leave the kokum soaked in, as it will make the kadhi sourer than normal. Ignore all recipes that add ginger, cumin or mustard. A quick fix sol kadhi is also called ‘futi kadhi’ or ‘tival’ (in Konkani) and is made in coastal Maharashtra or Maharashtrian fish-eating households. The recipe of this is similar to the one above, but instead of coconut milk, one uses water.

See my earlier post here for more on the Sol Kadhi

Children Welcome

A sign in a Mumbai restaurant ...

Children Welcome
Only if they sit at their assigned table.
No compromise
No bothering other guests
No Noise

Guess which one ?

and no it is not Anant Ashram in Khotachi Wadi

Rani aka Julie aka Rowdy Ranga.- R.I.P.

Rani died yesterday. She had ascites which is an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity, a condition that I have not seen any dog come out of. She was admitted to the WSD kennels when someone called about a very fat dog with a very fat belly lying motionless near the Gateway of India. We instantly knew that it must be Rani.

We brought her, treated her and kept her for a month. It was amazing that she got better and went back to her home at the Gateway of India where she must have lived for over 13 years. I saw her a week back sitting near the police chowkie on the footpath next to the Taj Mahal Hotel. She recognized me, wagged her tail and made a few noises. I patted her and was happy that she was back to her normal self.

Fifteen days after she went back and a week after I saw her, the same condition recurred and she was again admitted to the WSD kennels two days ago but unfortunately did not make it.

Rani was a favorite with every one at the Gateway of India. All the policemen, the photographers, the Taj Mahal hotel staff, the street dwellers and urchins knew her as Julie.

I used to see her every year when we used to immunize all the dogs in Colaba and around the Gateway against rabies. She was quite boisterous and used to accompany us whilst we were vaccinating all her Gateway friends. It used to be as if she was either poking her nose at every vaccination or checking on what we are doing to her friends. Else I used to see her at the Gateway on my way to Elephanta or Alibag and she would always greet me with a nice wag.

If you had visited any WSD stall, you would have seen her photo on the poster(shown above) which featured Cyrus Broacha. She is sitting on top of his head and looking straight into the camera. She has pushed the stray dog cause by featuring in WSD’s adopt a street dog campaign along with Cyrus. She was called Rowdy Ranga in it.

She was not the same slim dog that you saw in the Cyrus poster and had put on quite a bit of weight. She used to look very roly poly. I had told Cyrus that both the models (him and Rani) had put on tremendous weight over the years.

As I reflected on Rani’s life, I realized that we have never had to treat her in her entire life for any ailment. This meant that she had lived a very healthy life and never had injuries, wounds and basic first aid ailments that most stray dogs suffer sometime in their life on the street.

I will really miss Rani when we go vaccinating dogs at the Gateway or on my next visit to Elephanta and Alibag. She was one of the sweetest and happiest strays I have ever known.