MUMBAI CITY
1. MUMBADEVI
Mumbadevi is the
patron goddess of Mumbai; the goddess after whom the city gets its name. But do
you know her story?
When I went
for more information, here what I
Found: a textual
reference called mumbadevi
Mahatmya.
Mumbadevi mahatmya-
the glory of mumbadevi
Is a set of
52 verses in Sanskrit, estimated to
Been composed
somewhere in the period 16th to
18th
century. In 208 lines, it tells the tale of how the goddess got her name.
Named Mumbaaraka. He obtained a
powerful boon from Brahma, that he could not be defeated by man or animal or
yaksha or gandharva. The people went to Vishnu, who along with all the gods,
went to Kailasa to petition Siva. From Siva's mouth there emerged a shining bit
of his essence. Other gods similarly gave a part of themselves. This combined
to form the goddess Mumba. She mounted the lion of Ambadevi and waged battle
with Mumbaraka, and defeated him. He was banished to patala (the netherworld).
The goddess assured the people that n ancient times there was a daitya (demon) she
would take the title of Mumbadevi and reside on the island to protect
them.
2. MAMA KANE’S SWATCH UPHAR GRUH
Established in 1910, mama Kane is one of dadar’s old names. The
founder, narayan Vishnu Kane and his widowed sister, worked very hard to establish
this eatery.
A lot of
Konkanastha Brahmins / Gaud Saraswat Brahmins worked in this eatery. In fact,
the original name was Dakshini Brahmananche Swatch Uphargriha, indicating this
little eatery's roots in the cuisine of the Brahmins of southern Maharashtra.
But it was more popularly known as Mama Kane, as this is how the founder was
called.
3. AHOK
VADA PAV, DADAR, MUMBAI
On a typical evening, his vadas are
made fresh in small batches and that leads to customers screaming, threatening,
pleading and cajoling for their orders to be fulfilled from the lot that just
came out of the fryer. Meanwhile, Ashok is busy striking up small conversion
with the P.Y.T. who has meanwhile gotten ahead of everyone else in the line.
I've learnt that the best way to get his
attention is to act extremely disinterested. His policy seems to be; the louder
you scream, the less likely you are to get your hot VP! As soon as a fresh
batch of vadas rolls out of the assembly line fryer, he and his able assistants
jam the piping hot vadas into pavs on
