Living Near the Powai Lake

The lake - views of the Hotel Renaissance and newly constructed IIT hostels. Temple managed by 'Chinmaya Mission' further down the road on a hillock flanked by the Powai Gardens.

Hiranandani Gardens which is a nearly 110 acres of residential cum commercial area whose buildings are architecturally pleasing. There are beautiful gardens and plenty of nooks and corners to have a nice time with friends. Loads and loads of activities - like 'go-carting', rock climbing, trekking on the hillocks - beautiful views from the top.

Galleria the Shopping mall. It gives you an upmarket 'flea market' kind of feeling. It has shops selling inexpensive clothes,jewellery and other trivias. Food court of Galleria a part of it has classy Cafe Mocha and Pizzeria and the other part gives a street food kind of feeling with small shops selling almost all the Indian road side specialities - kebabs, dosas pani-puris, bhelpuris, sandwiches, chowmein, parathas and what not even 'Thai' food is there etc. Culture shop where the owners collect artifacts -antiques and handicrafts from all the corners of the country.

'Loft' adjacent to the culture shop is the biggest showroom for shoes in Asia. People also like to go to Haiko and D Mart supermarkets forimported food stuff and bargains.

'Crossroads' is a large bookshop - has a good collection of all kinds of books- the owners encourage you to sitand read the books before deciding what to buy. Pleothera of good options for people who like food.

Boating at the Nirvana Park amongst the orange-coloured fish.

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

Best Things Nearby:
Powai Lake (4km), Juhu beach (10km), Andheri Station (Western side) for shopping, Furniturewala, a very big furniture shop

Best Things About the Resort:
Within the city, close to the airport, spacious rooms

Resort Experience:
It is a four-star kind of accommodation that saves you a lot of money if you get it, because hotels in Mumbai are quite expensive. The kitchen is well-equipped. The rooms are clean, and service is also courteous. On the other hand, there are no rooms with views because the hotel is on a busy road which has lots of traffic blockades. Of course, once you are inside, that doesn't bother you. The bathrooms are quite spacious, with bathtubs. There is an entertainment program at regular intervals. There are 'shady' bars, as well as other bars, nearby for those who are interested. The place is very, very safe for families or for single ladies too. Very good five-star hotels are in the vicinity; one can get very good Indian and international food in these hotels. Even Lotus suites offers buffet lunch, etc., at reasonable rates (around $5 per head).

• Unit Type: 1 Bedroom
• Activities: Very Good
• Amenities: Very Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Excellent

The food is exquisite. You get to try the cuisine of Far East countries. The service is excellent. The decor is also nice. It has an Indian buffet spread for dinner, as well as lunch, on the ground floor that costs around Rs350, about £4. Reservations are recommended during the weekends.

The place occasionally holds food/theme festivals. Ones held recently included a 'Spanish food fest', 'Food of Haryana', and a 'dim-sum festival'. The place is popular (very popular) with the residents of Hiranandani Gardens and the adjoining area, which is a good measure of the quality of the food and service.

My favourite dishes are the Japanese ones. They encourage you to see the kitchen and the cooking process, which my daughter likes immensely.

The place has comfortable/luxurious 4-star rooms if someone wants to stay here.

Actually, this is a sweet shop. I was on election duty to a place in Versova. On the way, I just happened to see this shop. I must tell you, I have a penchant for every thing Bengali. The next best thing to marrying a Bengali girl is to relish the bengali food specially sweets and other delicacies and imagine that your mother in law is giving you special treats.... well, I could not stop myself and just asked the taxi to stop and wait. As I entered the shop, I decided that I will eat each and every sweet.

So I decided to start from one corner on the first day I had 'Jal Bhara Tal Sandesh', 'Ras Bhara Babu Sandesh', 'Abar Khabo', 'Kasturi Sandesh' I also packed mishti doi. The election duty which I was taking as punishment suddenly became very interesting. The next attack had 'Ratabi Sandesh' ice cream sandesh sweet samosa khoa jalebiand, one sweet where dried sweetened milk was put inside a vegetable named padol, or padwal. This was heavenly, I must say. I packed six of those. Gave one to the taxi driver too--I was too happy with my discovery, but he didn't appreciate the delicate taste, I don't think. I paid another visit to the shop to find out how to prepare this dish, and it was so simple. I tried, and it works (to a certain extent).

To make it, you must remove skin of parwal and deseed with the end of a spoon. Steam the parwals just to soften. Mix khowa, sugar candy (mishri) granules, cardamom powder, and saffron water. Fill parwals with the mixture. Boil sugar in half a liter of water to make the syrup. Add filled parwals in boiling syrup for a few minutes. Remove from heat. Wait till it gets cooled. Decorate with silver foil before serving or eating (in my case). The same set of owners run a restaurant called only fish and mainland China, whereas I have visited both of these places and had appreciated the food. This fact was not known to me. One good thing about Bengali cuisine is that once you get the hang, it is quite easy to make if you have a Bengali friend, beautiful and adept in cooking.

One good thing about the shop is that the person at the counter knows a thing or two about sweets; the same person told me later how to make the ice cream sandesh, which I tried successfully. Grind cottage cheese and sugar together. put in a closed container and boil in a pan on low flame. Mix custard powder in milk and pour on the cheese. Remove from heat. Pour into moulds. Refrigerate - do not freeze. Serve chilled and enjoy.

And yes, if you go around 8:30 or 9pm, you get 50 percent discount on the leftovers.

Powai lake is home to the great Indian Mahaseer, a world-famous game fish fast facing extinction. This lake also holds some of the prized specimens of the famous Indian Carp family: the Catla, the Rohu, the Mirgal, running up to 45 lbs or a good 20 kgs. I believe that the lake has ten crocodiles . It also has fish hawks, kingfishers, cormorants, wild fowl, cranes, egrets and turtles. This fishing looks to be very cool, especially during the early morning before sunrise ,under the stars. The fishing club provides boats and sitting places to the members. Equipment has to be brought by the person. The catch is to be thrown back into the lake.

If you are not a member of the club ( like me) then also you can enjoy fishing using your own improvised tools. Me and my daughter usually sit on the stairs leading to the lake. We use the insects as feed and try to catch fish. At the same place especially during the rains we can see local people with there nets. They are able to catch a sizeable number of fish. We have not been lucky except once when we used a cloth - to catch the fish in almost the same manner as the villagers were using the net.

Whether you are actually sucessful or not does not matter much but the feeling that in this concrete jungle you are able to see such activities does matter. The scene is beautiful - With two hills in the distance, between which sunrise can still be seen as in old painted landscapes - a place where silence is the only sound in the still of night, deep in the heart of Mumbai.