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Sapna Mehta has a chiku tree, a cherry tree and a ficus tree growing on the parapet of her Peddar Road house. It's a mini-orchard flourishing on a narrow strip of concrete, suspended in mid-air, looking over traffic on the street below. Twenty-three years ago when she moved into her flat in Mumbai, Mehta thought her love for gardening would have to take a back seat. "Most homes in the city do not balconies, let alone gardens." [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Bird's eye view Hornbill festival, Nagaland [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Horilal Bachulal Jaiswal and his 10-year-old bullock, Bailu have been making rounds of Lower Parel for seven years now delivering kerosene to grocery shops. He has developed a kinship of sorts with the shopkeepers. However Jaiswal is wary of talking to strangers these days, "The animal rights people have been trying to stop bullock-drawn kerosene tanks for a while now. The authorities at the union keep telling us that the carts will be stopped anytime soon. Then my bullock and I will have to find something else to do." [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Ramvilas Sharma, 62 has been working as a gowli (the person who milks the buffalos) for over four decades. "When I first came to Mumbai from my village, Colaba was full of cattle sheds. They moved us to Grant Road around 20 years ago. Then, we were moved to Goregaon. And now the government is planning to throw us out of the city," he complains. After saving up for years Sharma bought a small room in a slum in Jogeshwari, but if the tabelas disappear there were be no place for him to go. His sons have also been working in cattle sheds. "Our livelihood depends on it." [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As you walk into the Worli fish market you notice that the scene is considerably different from what you would've witnessed a decade ago. It's cleaner, less crowded and quieter. "These women don't deserve to be called kolis. They don't have the jigar. Look at how they dress - all 'Hawa hawaiis'," says Krishnabai Diwadkar, part of the scene for 45 years. She has a point. Diwadkar is one of the few women who still wears the typical kashta lugra. That has now been replaced by printed synthetic saris and salwar kameezes. A Koli woman has a hard life, explains Diwadkar. The women pick up the fish at five in the morning from the jetty, make rounds to the market, clean it and then sell. The lugra never gets in the way. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The harpodon neherius is Mumbai's most famous icon, but you might not even miss its presence. This conglomeration of fishing villages was once ruled by the smell of drying fish. Row after row of bombil adorned the city's streets and gave its air a unique fragrance, even stench to some. But Mumbai now has to find a new leitmotif. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

he bustling bylanes opposite Metro cinema seem like a regular neighbourhood at first - the odd grocer, paper marts, dingy beer bars - but when you least expect it, you are hit by a pungent whiff of freshly fried bangda. Take a closer look, and you will find an old paowallah who has been running his little shop for over 50 years, a poster of Jesus pinned up on a random wall, and the faint strains of Goan folk music playing in some obscure corner. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In Charlie, Molly and Maya Raghavan's school in Bangalore, there is an unlikely sight every evening: their dad. Badri Raghavan can be spotted swimming proudly through the tidal wave of moms, ayahs, drivers, and domestic helps to pick his children up. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Anushka Chawla, 16 discusses almost everything with her friends. But one topic she avoids is that of the proposed 90 per cent quota in junior colleges for SSC (Secondary School Certificate) students. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Neeta Raute was feeling the pressure this year. Her daughter was about to turn five in a month's time and by now she had a fair idea what a 'good' birthday party should be like. Four-year-old Ketki had already attended a pirate theme party, a Barbie extravaganza, a moonwalker's show, a puppet birthday, a Hannah Montana party and the popular Harry Potter celebration. "It all started innocently. But soon I was dropping my daughter to one lavish venue after the other and she was coming back with exorbitant return gifts and a ridiculously painted face." After contacting a bunch of party organisers she realised that the cost for every party ran in lakhs. Raute set up mattresses on the society terrace, hired a 'telescope man', bought a simple cake and invited a bunch of friends for a 'star party'. No loud music, no Bozo the clown and no face painting for sure. All evening kids heard stories of constellations and discovered craters on the moon through the telescope. "We celebrated my birthday in the sky," smiles Ketki. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Parth Arora, 26, has been wondering where all the loud DJ nights have disappeared. Over the last few months, his friends have chosen to celebrate birthdays with 'intimate' dinner plans and haven't attended an 'office party' since January. And at the few parties he's gone too, one element has been sorely missing - the DJ. "People bring in their own music, or hire a cheap DJ which kills the mood of the party," rues Parth. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Gathered at the far end of platform number 6 of Dadar's central railway station, seven men eagerly await the Bangalore Mumbai Udyan Express. As the train chugs in, passengers rush towards the coaches, but the group only moves closer to the engine. "This one has a WDP4 diesel engine. It is one of my favourites," says Giridhar Patnaik, one of the 200 Mumbai-based members of the Indian railways fan club. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Deepak Tharani had never seen a Sindhi film in a theatre before. Occasionally, when he attended the Cheti Chand mela, a celebration during the Sindhi New Year, he picked up old Sindhi film DVDs from the stalls. No wonder he was excited when he found out that there was a Sindhi film running at a multiplex nearby. He did not have to drag his family, they had very little to choose from in any case. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A framed photograph hangs on the wall of the Moviearts studio. It shows AW Khan, 48, standing proudly beside ex- prime minister AB Vajpayee. Khan remembers working on the BJP poster in 2000 for seven long days. This was before the onset of the digital age. In the end, he had created a 100-foot cut-out by hand. "Pramod Mahajan had given me the assignment then. Nobody had ever attempted a 100-foot cutout before. Vajpayeji said, in his typical poetic style, that he had never seen anything like this," he smiles. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Hiralal Darda, 46, and YA Kittur, 49, are members of a Bhandup-based NGO, People's Power of Nation. Unlike typical NGOs, however, they are not into run-of-the-mill welfare work, such as working for children, or collecting funds for underprivileged communities. They are concerned with 'welfare' of another sort: massaging people for their votes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

With a mushrooming of summer camps, children are busier than ever during their holidays. But are they really having fun? Or are they missing out on the joys (and benefits) of doing their own thing, or even nothing, during the summer vacation? Radhika Raj finds out  [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Tour packages have hit a historic low. "Never have we come down by such a huge margin," says Ashwini Kakkar, vice chairman at Mercury Travels. The company is offering a six-night package in South Africa for Rs55,000, whereas an 11-night package to France costs Rs65,000 - almost 50 per cent down from last year. Both packages include airfare, accommodation and sightseeing charges. "The competition is fierce and everybody is fighting for customers. If you have a little extra saved, you must go see the world," he adds. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The three-hour trail usually starts at the break of dawn with breakfast. On the agenda to visit is a recycling unit, reclaimed land, a diminishing mangrove jungle and a creek- not what you would usually expect on a tour of a river. "But then, the Mithi isn't a river anymore. It's Mumbai's largest stormwater drain," says Vivek Dalvi, an activist with the Mithi Jal Yatra, which organises these tours. "The Mithi swallows 295 tonnes of waste every day from the city." The jal yatra was started three months ago to create awareness about saving the much-abused river. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

"Bollywood dances are high on emotion. It helps to understand the meaning of the lyrics of the song. The defining emotion of the song Jai Ho is that of triumph, and the phrase jai ho is literally a victory shout that means 'it rocks!' explains a tutorial on www.ehow.com, an online knowledge source that gives you step-by-step instructions on how to do just about everything. The routine has been rated 'moderately difficult' on the website. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

I am not your chamcham, coconut, apple, butter chicken or whatever else you might want to eat,' reads a food chart that is up on the Blank Noise website. The chart - an attempt to revise the relationship between image, words and meaning - grew out of songs, names and phrases sent in by women that they have been eve-teased with. This is just one of the projects Blank Noise, a Bangalore based organisation that has been working against sexual harassment, has taken up. All these initiatives will be used as a rallying point for women's rights today. "The idea is to generate dialogue and get more and more people involved," says Jasmeen Patheja, originator. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

On Valentine's Day this year, celebrations in New York started with a fashion show where 50 top designers including Tommy Hilfiger and Gucci showcased their 'Barbie-inspired' outfits. Models with outrageously long eyelashes walked the ramp. The celebrations will continue through the year with new launches, including a new Barbie with a tattoo. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Dr Seuss' is a much loved name among both children and former children who have turned into parents or teachers. While Harry Potter may be insanely popular among kids who read, it is most likely Dr Seuss who made it possible for them to get to Harry Potter in the first place: his ABCD books on learning the alphabet, and 43 other titles that use characteristically simple rhyming, a limited vocabulary, colourful illustrations and appropriately silly storylines have sold more than 500 million copies and been translated into 21 languages, including Braille. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Like any film premier, the first screening of the movie was held exclusively for its stars - Sameer, Salman and Santosh aka The Scientist - the ragpickers from Mahim. Though they were quite excited about the film screening, there were a few things that they were still unclear about. The film had been shot over eight months. Where was rest of the footage? There was a scene, remembered Santosh, where he specially sang for the camera. Parasher Baruah, director, had to patiently sit and explain to a puzzled Santosh and the rest of his friends how all the footage cannot be compressed into a 20-minute documentary. After much work the documentary was screened at a private viewing at the Press Club last week. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Oscar-nominated film Milk, which opened in the city on Friday, has been given a limited release by its distributor, Multivision. It's being screened at select theatres in Mumbai and at only one in Pune. But that might change with the Academy Awards. If Gus Van Sant's film about California's first openly-gay elected representative, Harvey Milk, played by Sean Penn, gets some awards, it might make it to more theatres. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In August 1609, Galileo Galilei recorded findings from his telescope for the first time. Galileo's discoveries were described in a short book called The Starry Messenger published in Venice in May 1610. The work caused a sensation. Galileo claimed to have seen mountains on the Moon, proved the Milky Way was made up of tiny stars, and had seen four small bodies orbiting Jupiter. Four hundred years later the world is celebrating the work of this astronomical genius and enthusiasts from the city are all out to make it into a mass event. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Mysore Pak, made out of besan, sugar and ghee, is probably the most popular sweet at Mani's Lunch Home in Matunga. The freshly-ground besan is brought all the way from Palakkad in Kerala to Mumbai, every fifteen days. The ghee is ordered from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. The dish is only cooked by a chef from Palakkad. Every morning, chef Raman Kutty generously empties a packet of pure ghee in a large iron kadhai, followed by a bowl of sugar and besan. "Mysore Pak is one of the most well-known sweets from south India. It originated from the Palace of Mysore, hence the name. South Indian festivals are incomplete without Mysore Pak," says KS Narayanaswamy, owner of Mani's Lunch Home. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It's not a website, but a 'wedsite'," insists Santosh Kumar. His home page features a bee with a red carrot. The vegetable-wielding bee is chasing a rabbit that has beautiful doe-like eyes. "I am the bee and the rabbit is my fiancée," he admits. What is he doing with the carrot? "The carrot is to woo my bunny," he smiles. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

With the high-profile release and nominations for Slumdog Millionaire, the spotlight is shining on the country's largest slum - but this has not cheered residents or others who want to show the more positive side of the area. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There is an untold story behind Japan's regeneration after World War II, when the country was practically levelled to the ground by bombing. The Japanese government began its task of rebuilding, but concentrated mainly on putting industry back on its feet. In Tokyo, the work of housing and other development, was left to local activists and residents. Forced to find their own funds for projects, they created innovative ways of putting their savings to use. "Since the economy was intrinsically linked to urban development, this eventually led to the financial regeneration of Japan itself," says Matias Echanove, an urban planner. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Dilip Kapadia looks like a formidable businessman in his fifties, but the deep cuts on his index finger tell a different story. A kite-flyer will recognise them immediately - it is the work of the brutal glass-coated manjah. Amongst the 2000 odd kites stacked in metal boxes at his home - some that have been preserved since before independence and few others from countries across the world - Kapadia pulls out his favourite, the ordinary patang. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Two years ago, around this season, the Banganga Tank had been all lit up, and decorated with garlands. A stage had been built, and some of India's best vocalists, including Rahul Sharma and Shubha Mudgal, were seen performing as a rapt audience sat around them on the tank's stone steps. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Combat training [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As the lights dim in the lobby of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Sanghralaya (Prince of Wales Museum) 15 children from the Happy Home and School for the Blind, Worli walk in and line up along the stairs. Holding hands, they take their places, while a few gulp nervously. But when the keyboard plays the first few notes of a Christmas carol, the nerves disappear, and the boys enthral the audience that soon taps along. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As the lights dim in the lobby of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Sanghralaya (Prince of Wales Museum) 15 children from the Happy Home and School for the Blind, Worli walk in and line up along the stairs. Holding hands, they take their places, while a few gulp nervously. But when the keyboard plays the first few notes of a Christmas carol, the nerves disappear, and the boys enthral the audience that soon taps along. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Dr Ashok Kothari's clinic resembles a makeshift library, flanked with large cabinets full of books on both sides. But you won't find medical encyclopedias and journals here. Alongside a thriving medical practice, Dr Kothari has, for the past three decades, used his spare time to collect old books on Indian heritage and wildlife from the 17th and 18th century. "These books are very rare. I have travelled all over to find books written by Indian viceroys on the India they knew," he says. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Cafe Mondegar [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

My tryst with Taj began in 1982 when I was approached by the public relations officer of the Taj Mahal Hotel to help them research its history. There are variations of stories on why Jamshetji Nusserwanji Tata decided to build a hotel of this stature. I came across one theory in a book by British politician Sir Stanley Reed. Reed describes a conversation where he mentioned to Tata that there was no good hotel in Bombay. "This city is the gateway of the country and still there is not a decent place to live in," he said. "I'll build one," growled Tata. And he did - the best hotel the country has ever seen. His sisters mocked him - they said the man who has built textile mills and steel plants, now wants to build a bhattar khanna (dhaba). But he was adamant. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Shantabai Dongarkar leads the way to a water hole near her hut. This is where the leopard caught her mother and dragged her into the forest in 2004. Though she spotted one lurking around just a few days ago, she walks through the thick foliage barefoot and undeterred. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Vedilal Kanojia, 55, keeps his head low as he walks through the lanes in Dadar to deliver a bundle of freshly cleaned clothes to a hospital. "I try not to attract too much attention. A few months ago I was a Mumbaikar. Now I am a 'bhaiyya'," he says. Originally from Uttar Pradesh, generations of the Kanojia family have grown up at Dhobi Ghat near Mahalaxmi Station. And like the Kanojias, the washerman's colony is manned by migrants from UP and Bihar who have settled in Mumbai for almost a century. Established in the 1880s by Britishers to do the laundry of viceroys, the dhobis of Mumbai still clean clothes manually. Around 750 families work on 709 flagging stones at the ghat. Six hundred of them are from north India. Santosh Kanojia, secretary of Dhobi Kalyan and Audyogik Vikas Co-operative Society, the registered society of members of Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat has his facts in place. "Outsiders? We are the original inhabitants of Mumbai after the Kolis," he argues. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Sajid Khan is already excited about the number of Diwali parties he is planning to attend this year. "There is always Chunky Pandey's party, a party with Farhan Akhtar and invitations always keep pouring in," he says. Along with the dressing up, and bursting of crackers, there is an age old tradition they don't miss - a session of taash that often extends into the wee hours of the morning. Bollywood taash parties have been around for years now. The most popular amongst them are the ones hosted by Jeetendra and Ekta Kapoor, Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar. "Diwali is a busy time thanks to these parties. Once Farhan and I got into a tiff over a hand. I won the round, but he refused to believe that he had lost. We fought all night. Later we just split the money and went home. We still laugh about it," adds Sajid. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Four months ago when a Sikh man was gunned down by the Dera Saccha Sauda chief Ram Rahim Singh's security guard in Mulund, Jayant Chheda was the first to get the news. "A resident recorded a car with armed men opening fire at the locals on his phone," says Chheda. With a promise that the resident's identity will be protected, Chheda passed on the video to larger media houses. While channels grabbed TRPs, Chheda's neighbourhood Gujrati newspaper Gurjarmat got no credit. "This isn't the first time," Chheda says with a wry smile. "Journalists from mainline newspapers call us every morning. Our stories and photographs are used without credit." [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Across the coastal belt of Maharashtra, there still are a few fast diminishing communities of Konkani Muslims. Known originally as the Nawayats the Konkani Muslims trace their origins to the Arabs who arrived in the 7th century. Through centuries, Islamic and Konkani culture have fused together into one indigenous way of life. The married Muslim women wear vermillion, a mangalsutra, a nine-yard saree and the burkha. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]