Monday, February 19, 2007

Kitab 2007

The Kitab Festival is being held in Mumbai between February 23-25; details here. I’ll be there on all three days, mainly for the fest but also because a trip to Mumbai was long overdue – have been promising family and friends I’ll be coming across soon, and plans just haven’t taken shape. (Btw, eating-out recommendations in the Churchgate area would be appreciated.)

Check the Kitab schedule – there are many promising discussions on offer. I’m part of the same panel Chandrahas is on, and must sorrowfully inform him that at last year’s Kitab there was a long table in front of the panelists. But this is good in a way, for you can kick off your shoes and socks and not worry about pedicures and suchlike.

15 comments:

  1. Not on the panel this time?

    Hope the venue doesn't have those tricky ankle-twisting-worthy aisles :p.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ok I guess you are on, in the "What’s the future of Literary Criticism? " discussion.

    ReplyDelete
  3. deep envy and jealousy. have fun!

    ReplyDelete
  4. eating reccos in churchgate area
    1) mahesh lunch home (near citibank) seafood stuff. mid-range
    2) cafe churchill (colaba causeway, near best depot) continental. thoda expensive
    3) britannia (ballard estate, near new custom house) parsi food. till 4pm only. hajjar vfm
    4) cafe sundance (eros cinema bldg, opp ccg station) snacks n stuff
    5) delhi durbar (colaba, opp mondegar) mughlai stuff

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sorry to ask a stupid question here - but how does one sign up to attend this Kitab fest?? Or are we non-journos cordially univited?!

    Also, I heartily second Shirish's recos. Do not miss Mahesh Lunch Home if you're a connoisseur of seafood.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Adding to Shirish' list,

    Cafe mondegar - Good ole watering hole for beer drinkers (Nr Colaba)

    ReplyDelete
  7. to add to the list ..

    pizzeria is a favourite of mine .. it's on marine drive, by the sea .. n the food's not bad at all

    have a great time in mumbai!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Never been to bombay myself, and I plan to soon... been sitting in bloody delhi for about 4 years now, just didn't get much chance to up and leave

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dont miss out on Theobrema which is on colaba causeway, their brownies are really good and other bakery products are yum. If you like gujju food, try out Soam which is opp Babulnath mandir on the way to marine drive.... You can check out Cinnamon formerly known as Cafe Royal,opp Regal cinema, famous for hosting Pres Clinton and wife for a meal.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Shirish, Vijay, Megh, Anon: thanks

    GM: I don't think there's any "sign-in". At last year's event anyone could come in and watch the sessions.

    Renovatio: I'm going to Mumbai "bees saal baad"!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Shantaram will be disappointed if you dont visit Leopold. Go Colaba, walk towards Regal and you won't miss it. At the ground floor restro, one has to pay along with the order for beer. pub is on first floor.
    Dont miss the kala khatta and a variety of juices outside VT (now called Chattrapati terminus for obvious reasons); nearby are a lot of pirated dvd shops to compete with Palika line-up
    good street food stalls are also at chowpatty (a bit pesky). my suggestion will be to get down at marine drive and walk down teh cobblestoned footpath to chowpatty over breeze (only Pamuk's bosporus can beat that air and walk)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Don't forget:

    1. The bhelpuri outside churchgate station (the one outside Asiatic was my preferred BPW)
    2. The vadapao outside Xaviers.
    3. The jhunka-bhakar at Canon.

    I am also told dosas outside Jai Hind? Sydenham? (Commercewalas help me out here) were to die for. We never ventured that far.

    And butter-pepper-garlic prawns at Trishna! I also second and third and fourth and ...and twenty-fifth hundredth the Mahesh-Apoorva-Bharat trio. And Mondys of course. Always Mondys.

    Oh and Martin's (am I correct here?) for the Goan food. And Samovar for the guava juice and everything else.

    Caveat: half of these may not exist.

    n!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh, Jwock I forget - if you ever were to undertake the long and perilous journey to Bandra-men (bleddy good place i'm telling you, just axe and find out how to get dere) you should go to hirsch bakery bugger and get dere hot bread and whatnot frickin' bleddy good prices men. Udderwise go to Andorras also where hotchicks are waiting.

    n!

    ReplyDelete
  14. N: heh. thanks, but I doubt I'll step out of a 3-4 km radius. The trip is too short, I'll be spending most of the day at the festival and the people I'm staying with are in Churchgate.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Udderwise... hotchicks!
    hummmm, that was a heady combo, jai!!

    ReplyDelete