Walking Around Matunga

Google Stores………………… Jo chaiye milega

Sameer could you get some Prasad Toast and Jeera butter and oh we are out of Amut butter too for Sunday and if you are getting these please get sachets of Bournvita for Bhakti and a pack of Digestive Marie and Diet Chivda for me….. This simple order by the Missus make you think should I order for home delivery then again who will come to deliver such a small order. So you decide to trudge down to the local “Google Store” . I call these small but handy local shops Google store for the simple reason they have wide variety and are easily approachable.

There are a number of such Google stores in Matunga. If its small purchases of foodstuff head to Nityanand at the Ruia naka. Recently renovated and upgraded to an AC store with an appealing sign board. I still remember this as the most frequented shop in Matunga catering to the sundry needs of the locals. Run earlier by Mahesh who passed off recently, a great Manglorean and a senior to me at the Khalsa College. This quaint shop was started by his father in early 1960’s stocking breads , eggs , biscuits and farsan items. Handed over to Mahesh after he passed out from college. He turnded this shop around with his sheer ability to understand the pulse of the locals and local market . Also with his effective skill of building vendor relationship he had tied up with vendors of running food items . At any give time of the day when you visited the shop , he would be there smiling and courteous behind the money counter , personally attending to each shopper who visited the shop. He not only stocked the usual biscuits like Parle G , Marie and Bourbons but dietiers special Digestive Marie or the Oats and honey biscuits or the Muesli biscuits. Then there was wide option of farsan like masala chakli , murukkus , butter chakli , bhanji chakli , Bhavnagri gathia , theeka sev. For kids he had the cheese balls , cheese rings , tomato or schezwan murukkus. You can be rest assured whichever item you picked was fresh and tasty. I still rember him introducing me to and insisting to try the fresh khandvi ,a gujarati farsan item made from besan and curd and made out into the softest rolls which melt in your mouth when you eat them. He had a knack of keeping the right food stuff at the right occasion. Be it the fresh jalebi and fafda during Dussera for the Gujjus or the Maharashtrian basundi at Guddi Padva. Or the fresh Puran poli during Holi time. Some all time favourite snack items were also kept by him like the A1 Samosa , or the mini idlis’s or sandwich dhokla or the sweet but fluffly yellow dhokla , even the patra items like alu wadi and mini kothimbir wadi he sourced were exceptional. Nityanand’s was and still is the go to shop for all these and other items when you are having a family get togher or are throwing a small birthday party at home. He started the trend of home deliveries much before any other shop did so in the vicinity. You could always rely on him for even those emergency moments like in the middle of a party the Tomato ketchup is finished or you have run out of cold drinks and need speedy refill. Or the ice cream pack you bought is fast getting over and you need an emergency back up. His delivery boys were quick to respond….  I miss this great friend of mine. May his soul rest in peace. Now the store is abely managed by his brother –in-law.

If you have  some groceries to buy , head to  “Food Arcade” just behind Kapole Niwas. This shop stores the usual grocery and sundries like soaps , detergents , fabric softners , rice , wheat , dal and pulses. A good variety of options in each item at good price points. But their speciality is all those exotics sauces and salad dressings which are trending today. So if you need to stir up some diet friendly salad or throw a night out party for close friends head to this shop . In a special section dedicated to sauces and dips you will find oyster sauce , Tobisco sauce , schezwan sauce , soya sauce or special Italian salad dressing with olive oil base. Or the various dips used to eat with your tortilla chips . For example the cheese dip , the mayo with oregano flavor. A lot of options on the tortilla chips itself , light corn with oregano , spicy falvoured chips or lemony flavourved corn chips. Then they keep lot of variety pasta , long ones “Buccatini”, small ones “Acini de pene” to used in soups,bell shaped “Campanelle”, ring shaped “Annelli” , Corkscrew shaped “ Cavatappi”. You will get lost in here.

All these items from the top brands in F&B sector like American Garden , Kraft Heinz ,Fun foods , Smith & Jones and Hidden Valley.

For the diet conscious they have huge collection of low cholesterol –high fibre biscuits like Oats , Museli , Raggi , Ginger –nut from McVities , Nutriechoice (Britannia), Unibic and Parle or try their collection of fresh breads whole wheat or multi grain  sourced from bakeries across Mumbai.

An added attraction of coming here is Bhola’s Chat corner ,let out by Food Arcade to Bhola the chatwalla. Earlier Bhola had a thela at the Five gardens from where he operated for years together with a very loyal foodie fan base. He entered into a mutually beneficial partnership with Food Arcade in which he gets to use a legal permanent premise from where he can operate without being hounded by the local Municipal authorities and Food Arcade gets additional income in term of lease and percentage in the profit. A win-win for both businesses. And a great treat for the customers. On any given day especially in the evening you will find a crowd of 15-20 persons eating at this stall. Enjoying the yummy dahi puri , or the tantalizing pani puri or the authentics Delhi Basket chaat. His chutneys are his speciality giving the right mix of sweet , sour and spicy taste. He also takes party orders for small get togethers or birthday parties with unlimited sev puri’s ,dahi puri’s, pani puri and bhel puri. A good option if you are organizing such parties at home and are bored of ordering the usual Roti –Sabzi or Biryani-Kebab’s.

Another google store in the area is a small but useful store going by the name of “Lucky Stores” specializing in Stationery ,arts and crafts items. This store is a gods send when your child tells you on a lazy Sunday evening that next day he / she has to submit a science project on Water Cycle or a work experience project on best out of waste. You are jolted out out of your slumber . You try to find the necessary material to start the project but most of the thing like chart paper, colored paper , crepe paper or even the basic marker pen is not available at home. So the next thing what you do is head to this shop. You rattle of a list of items that you require and the guy on the other side of the counter smiles at you and orders his shop assistant to give you the material double quick. You all must have faced similar situation numerous times and didn’t know where to shop for such materials. So if you are in Matunga walk to this shop near the Matunga Railway station and you will get everything and anything under the sun needed for school projects. Be it decorative stickers , glass pieces, cotton balls , craft papers , glues , glue sticks , marker pens , sketch pens stationery items like note books, long books , project books , journals, folders , plastic bags , zip lock bags etc etc. He even keeps fake notes for maths projects or photo charts depicting festivals , natural calamities, national figures , birds , vegetables , fruits and many more. During special festivals like holi he keeps the organic colors and the pichkaris that spread the magic of colors. During Diwali he keeps all sorts of fire crackers to help you light the sky . At Christmas he keeps the small X’mas trees and all the required decorative item like hollies, stars and those shiny balls. Being a Kuchi entrepreneur he knows all the current trends and keeps all those items that appeal to the huge student population in Matunga.

So next time you are in an emergency and want to shop for such items at short notice don’t just google them or shop online , just check into these Google stores and your prayers will be answered.