What: The Pilates And Altitude Training Studio, 301-304, Business Plaza, Gazdar Bandh Road, opposite Dhan Potohar Sports Ground, Santacruz (W), call 9821154492/ 9987511511, Rs 5,900 for eight classes.

Why: Tired of being an ab rat? Withdraw from strange fitness experiments and sign your tummy up for definitive results at The Pilates Studio, co-owned by celebrity trainer Samir Purohit and Rajasthan Royals physiotherapist John Gloster. Here, group classes and one-on-one sessions take place at a studio that is small but bright, clean and offers some A-list sightings.

When: You want to be the crunch-back of Notre Dame.

You may not get the day off for Children's Day any longer, but who says you can't kid about a bit? Start with our reading list, which blurs the line between kiddie and adult fiction. All books available on Flipkart.com:

Haroun and the Sea of Stories: Salman Rushdie wrote this magical caper for his young son while he was under fatwa. Highlighting the importance of free speech, it is populated by all kinds of fantastical characters and lands, including Princess Baatcheat, Prince Bolo, the Land of Chupp, and of course, a magical (if slightly polluted) Sea of Stories. Also check out the more recent sequel, Luka and the Fire of Life.

The Daydreamer: Atonement author Ian McEwan's first book for kids. Need we say more?

When Banshee Kissed Bimbo and Other Bird Stories: And you thought you were the only one getting in trouble for PDA. In Ranjit Lal's hilarious short stories about a bunch of birds that live in Goa, owls are penalized by the minister of cultural propriety for smooching their beloveds, parakeets speak English, and an over zealous hornbill tries to shield his wife from roving eyes. 

Where The Wild Things Are: Winner of the Caldecott Prize, this awesome picture book has sold over 20 million copies worldwide. Centering around Max, a kid who gets sent to his room for being naughty, it explores how anger can be a propellant for the imagination, turning a tantrum into a mad and wonderful journey into a land of monsters. Written by Maurice Sendak, it was recently turned into a critically acclaimed film with a killer soundtrack. Watch this music video by Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeah's for a taste.                                         

Peter Pan: Sure, we all know the story and have watched the film, but if you haven't read J. M. Barrie's original version yet, drop what you're doing and get it now.                                                                                                     

Au Pear

The Silver Pearl building at Waterfield Road, Bandra has become rather bottom heavy in the last few months, with Fro-Yo, Saks Salon, Urban Shore and the indulgent San Churro Chocolaterie occupying its burgeoning ground level. Saving it from this pear-shaped predicament is F2 Fitness, a new exercise studio that’s opened up on level one, with a legion of instructors ready to whip it into shape.

Bulletin Board: Mumbai's First Art History Course

This makes us want to go back to school: Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum is offering a brand new Modern and Contemporary Indian Art History course - they say it's the first in Mumbai - that will help you tell your Tagores from your Husains. But before your dad goes on about how a tryst with Tyeb will make you money, you should know that this one year postgraduate diploma doesn't require you to quit your job. The course is on Friday evenings and weekends, with each lecture set to last about three hours.

Exploring art from the 1850s to the present, this course will offer theoretical study as well as hands on training with fun visits to exhibitions and field trips to museums and artist studios. You will also learn about art techniques employed in the 21st century, including print, photography, video and digital media. The faculty will include a mix of visiting professors and local experts including art historian, curator and gallery owner Arshiya Lokhandwala and art critic and columnist Girish Shahane. As far as your dad is concerned, the course also focuses on careers and are expecting the graduating class to be art writers, curators, managers and conservators. They even promise to help with job placements.

And while they prefer that you have some education in Art History, even art enthusiasts without degrees are welcome. The museum's website mentions the sign up date as October 31, but the deadline has been extended to November 15. Go on, sign up. Don't wait for the paint to dry.

Course Details: Duration: mid January 2012 to December 2012. Last date for application: November 15, 2011. Application forms available at the museum. Fee: Rs 50,000 for a one-year diploma.

Getting there: Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum, Rani Baug, 91/A, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road, Byculla (E), call 23731234.

Waking up at 7 am on Sunday for that heritage walk around Mumbai is no easy feat. Enter Alisha Sadikot, an expert who conducts fun and cheap city walks - under the newly launched Inheritage Project – that can revolve around your schedule. And you don’t even need to get a big group together – go solo for Rs 1,200 for two hours or bring two friends and pay just Rs 400 a head. Day time slots are encouraged though, as heritage buildings aren’t well-lit at night.

Meet Your Guide

After having recently moved back to Mumbai with a Masters in Art History from SOAS, University of London and a Diploma in Heritage Education & Interpretation from Newcastle University, you can be sure that Alisha can tell her Gothic from her Greek. Her resume also boasts a curatorial stint at Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum, one of her favourite places in Mumbai.

Convinced? Then call Alisha and she’ll set up a walk taking into account your likes and dislikes, and also the area (so far restricted to South Mumbai) that you’d like to explore. Leave the route up to her and she’ll draw up a mad graphic like this one, including landmarks like Watson’s Hotel, Sailor’s Home and Bhuleshwar’s heritage markets with the promise of hidden statues. While she will serve tourists, what Alisha’s really excited about is taking locals to mundane sites like The Rajabai Clock Tower and revealing little-known secrets about them. We tried our best to get one out of her, but we’ll only know next week during the bpb walk. Set group tours will start in December, she tells us, once the weather's better.

Besides private walks, she also conducts workshops, still in beta, which focus on educating school and college kids as she believes that “heritage is rendered meaningless without the people that inherit it, that understand, interpret, value, use, and eventually transmit it.” 

Sneaker Peak

More economical and definitely more interesting than treadmill-ing at the gym, The Inheritage Project offers a walk that will make you fitter and wiser. Call to get dial toned.

Getting there: The Inheritage Project, call Alisha on 9930317897, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or view the Facebook page here, Rs 400 per person for a two hour tour for a group of three.

Browse Guest

“The only place to browse art in Bandra is probably Satguru’s (a store that sells generic paintings of Ganeshas, plus statues and name plates and clocks and things). And that’s more about buying the right frame rather than the art itself,” says graphic designer Karthikeyan Ramachandran, who, prompted by this dearth of art galleries in the suburb, recently opened his own and called it False Ceiling.

Housed on an industrious little strip connecting Dr Ambedkar Road and Pali Naka – on this stretch you’ll also find Pali Village Cafe, The Shop, Calmhrim Cali – False Ceiling is exactly what you would expect a Bandra gallery to be like. A non-descript flight of stairs leading to a pretty bungalow where the browsing experience is more akin to viewing art in someone’s living room, rather than at a plush gallery.

Father Up the Stairs

Currently, the main room displays works by artist KN Ramachandran (owner Karthikeyan’s father), who paints scenes and people that reflect the South Indian culture. Some of these traditional landscapes you’ll find, are suddenly startled by cool iron suits and well-armed superheroes.  There are the canvas collaborations between father and son that Karthikeyan describes as “futuristic antique”. See for instance, Safeguarding Tradition, where a Terminator-style warrior watches protectively over a sari-clad woman with a puja thali.

Thai Scurry

From knits to kneads, you don’t have to wake up and smell the Thai curry to realise that Bandra has a whole lot of Bangkok in it. Taking it one step closer is Sawadee, a new Thai body spa that moved to Mumbai from Australia, and promises to open more branches in the city soon.

Just take a tuktuk to 33rd Road to treat your feet, as well as the rest of you to a whole range of wellness treatments. What’s great is that if you go between 10 am to 4 pm on any day of the week (before November 30), you can score a 40% discount. Chang My!

Red Light

We visited on Friday to find a maze of red-hued rooms sectioned with screens -  a reception area (with an unpleasant colour-changing fountain) leading to a spacious foot spa that further opens out into ten private cabins. Sprays of orchids, pools of water and Asia appropriate music set the scene. We got two treatments – a thirty minute foot massage and a thirty minute back-shoulder-neck rub.

For this month's podcast we borrow from Keith Richards' autobiography, @paperslut's Twitter feed and our new team member's play list. Thank you for the music!

Download the podcast or hear online here.

We All Go Back To Where We Belong - REM
1,000 Ships - Rachel Platten
Save Room - John Legend
Wood - Rostam Batmanglij (of Vampire Weekend)
She's a Rainbow - The Rolling Stones
Empire State of Mind - JayZ featuring Alicia Keys
Live and Learn - The Cardigans
Apples - Delhi 2 Dublin
Sometimes - The Bandana Splits
Lightning Crashes - Live

Have a favourite song? Send us your recommendations to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and if we love them, we’ll add them to next month’s track record!

Green, Not Jaded

If he could paint anything in the world, Pune-based graffiti artist Luvnit Sawhney would spray the words “Property of nature: return to closest water body” across city water tanks; and parachuting wine bottles, which he depicted in a recent mural, are his solution to the aftermath of war and natural disasters.

But don’t dismiss him as a tree-hugging, impractical idealist just about yet – this boy’s got talent, and he’s willing to share.

Banksy on This

A final year product design student by day, Sawhney moonlights as a graffiti artist by night, painting odd corners and quiet streets of Pune with neon pink balloons and wine bottles. His works are heavily influenced by the art and ethos of cities like Detroit and Singapore, where he has lived; he counts artists like Banksy and Shepard Fairey as major inspirations as well.

Sawhney has also recently launched his own company called W!NK (stands for Wasting Ink), through which he is collaborating on the Dirty Wall Project in Mumbai and also holding graffiti art workshops at IIT Guwahati. Catch him there, or better yet, call him over, where ­he’ll customize a mural or art installation specifically tailored to your space and taste. Spray of hope!

Getting there: Call 09730984036, email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or view the Facebook group here, murals start at Rs. 10,000.

What: bpb Tuitions video lessons from hot celebrities, view here.

Why: How do you open a champagne bottle? Or change a flat? The secrets to these and life’s other important lessons are revealed in our new video series, where experts from all walks of life teach you vital tasks in two minutes or less. We kick off with: Mad O Wot founder Sapna Bhavnani, who shows you how to cut your own fringe; and Bollywood hunk Arunoday Singh demonstrating a perfect push-up.

When: Now, because you’re not too cool for school.