Mumbai Masala: Nostalgia Rekindles Bonds

Recently, members of the Mumbai chapter of Lucknow University alumni met for a heartwarming reunion at the Maharashtra Police Officers’ Mess, Worli. The gathering was filled with nostalgia as members fondly recalled their days at LU, shared cherished memories of professors, and exchanged anecdotes that brought back smiles and laughter. Over a hearty Mughlai lunch, old friendships were rekindled, new bonds were formed, and the afternoon ended on a musical note with spontaneous singing. The meet was attended by achievers, including Kanchan Srivastava, Satish Sahney, Sudhakar Dev, Karun Srivastava, Anupam Chaturvedi, Rahul Gopal, Gautam Chakravarti, Sudhir Goel, Seema Srivastava, Shishir Agnihotri, Praveen Chaturvedi, Pawan Tikku, Bishan Singh Lingual, Arvind Kumar Singh, Lalit Mohan, Alok Roy, Amitabh Gupta, Anupam Johri, Irfan Ahmad, M.N. Bajpai, Ira Ruparel, Mahim Srivastava, Ranjit Bakshi, Dr Richa Srivastava and Rajendra Singh.

Dreams Carved True

Mumbai continues to be a city of dreams. Baburam Vishwakarma came to Mumbai several years ago from UP with nothing but a dream to give the best education to his children. A very hardworking carpenter, recently one of his dreams got fulfilled when his daughter Soni got admission for the MSc course in textile chemistry at Mumbai University’s prestigious Institute of Chemical Technology, whose alumni include the likes of Mukesh Ambani. Here’s wishing Soni a bright future.

Old Flavours, New Competition

Yesterday, I went to the Opera House area after a long time and found that the famous Vihar Udipi restaurant has transformed itself into Vanakkam Vihar, a swanky air-conditioned eating place with bar stools etc. I don’t know how anyone can eat medu wada sambar sitting on a bar stool. But then maybe I am old-fashioned. The place is well-lit with a large idol of Lord Venkateshwara welcoming you at the glass entrance. The place serves some excellent rasam wada, mini idli sambar, rava idli, set dosa etc. The service is very slow, probably because they prepare all the dishes fresh. Was happy to discover that Sion’s world-famous Gurukripa restaurant has opened it’s first branch at Opera House. Now there is direct competition between Tiwari’s samosa and the one made by Gurukripa.

Tailpiece

Why street dogs in Mumbai wag their tails up and down? Well, dude there is no space sideways!!

(Compiled by S Balakrishnan)

Published on: Monday, June 30, 2025, 11:28 AM IST