Coffee, Comic Books and Smiles: Leaping Windows, Mumbai

Comic books are much more than some people think. They let your imaginations run. They make you believe. They make you learn good from bad.

For people who like good food and more than that who love to dig into comic books, Leaping Windows is a place which is an absolute pleasure to be in. It is this little Cafe/Library/Restaurant right around the corner in Yari Road, Mumbai. This small little place with immense character serves you food with a smile, and moreover with an extensive comic book library. I was extremely overwhelmed as a comic book library is my candy land.

The library at the basement

The USP

Leaping Windows is owned by Utsa & Vidisha. Utsa tells me that he has been digging his head in comic books since he was a little kid! His partner Vidisha seemed too busy working, a girl with a very friendly smile! Leaping Windows is situated at the corner of Yari Road in Versova. The place done very nicely with graffiti and drawings all over, keeping the theme of comic books in mind. "Cute" is not a word I like to use a lot but this place is cute indeed. But obviously when you are here, the biggest temptation is the treasure of comic books placed in the basement. Very comfortable reading space provided. For a nominal charge of Rs. 30/- per hour you can browse through these comic books and read in the library. This place gets a thumbs up for its USP! And for a place that is a few months old, the library was quite extensive.

The 'Marvel'ous books!

 
What did I order

And while I was flipping pages of The Amazing Spiderman, Watchmen and Hellblazer, on Utsa's recommendation I ordered the Vietnamese Cold Coffee and a club sandwich. The Vietnamese Cold Coffee was actually a delight. A dollop of condensed milk topped with cold espresso shot was a refreshing break from the otherwise too filling and excessively creamy cold coffees. Also, I believe that it is always easy to judge somewhere’s food by its sandwich. That way the Ham and egg club sandwich was moist and very hearty and with every bite it just got better somehow. For the entire meal I spent around Rs. 210 which is a decent price to pay for the ambience and for the food! Also, must mention that the specials of this place were quite tempting.

The Verdict

The library and the warm atmosphere was more impressive than the food. It is a place that WILL leave a mark in your mind. The only let down was that the place shuts at 10, which is not so much good news for the avid night readers. But keeping that aside, it is a place with character and a place that will call you back as it has more than just good food to offer.

Bollywood Broadway on Twitter !

Hola People,

Remember the time when meeting a celebrity in person was a dream come true? Catching a glimpse of Amitabh Bachchan, or shaking hands with Shahrukh was something people would die for! I have come from that generation. Not so much but still. And I have seen communication evolve over the years. First comes gmail, then gtalk, then orkut, then facebook and then comes the Baap of All, TWITTER!

BAAP bole toh father! Because you can live a dream here without being yourself. You can act cool everywhere, on facebook and on gmail too. But on twitter you can act cool before the cool people, since rumour has it that all the cool people are on twitter! And I too am a relatively new twitter - maniac!

So what happened with twitter? All the so called stars (read Bollywood stars) gather around here talking about what they had for breakfast, what they wore for an award show, have nasty virtual fights, pass remarks and abuse. So its like keeping a tab on what a person is doing, except that the person is a celebrity! So, twitter has made the stars accessible to all of us. We can judge them with their good or bad cyber behaviour! Whereas earlier when we did not know them that well, we would judge them only by there screen presence and filmy stardom.

Now my point being, according to me for the celebrities twitter is an emotional gutter and not a way to communicate with the fans. Because they know that the media and the fraternity is following for sure! So there hatred for a fellow costar, clarifications and complaints are carried by the media on their will and convenience. I know because I am a part of the Entertainment Media fraternity, where so many times my colleague would say, "Arrey check twitter, pata kya x or y ki ladaai hogayi." or my senior producer comes and says - "Twitter pe dekho zara, kya chal raha hai." Kya chal raha hai iss the Bollywood Tamasha on twitter 24/7! And with each of 'their' tweet, we and the fans get hooked a little more that last time on twitter!

FYI, Shahrukh Khan this day has 1,811,052. Amitabh has 2,087,676 followers and a big time attention seeking nobody like Kamaal R Khan has 36,402 followers. I still do not know why, and why we do not miss the old days of knowing the stars a little less, as it does no favour to the fans but bring down the value of stardom. The Celebrities are what we make them. And so I would want everyone to pull off a little from the Bollywood Tamasha on twitter! There is much more to do on twitter. Have a good laugh there with the witty ones and give attention to the ones who deserve it !