Success Story

Dear Neighbors, please read the "Hilton Mascot" post (4 Oct 2011) with ensuing comments and see how we can make a  difference in our own communities. My heartfelt thanks to Mr. Zaki Ali from Riverview Apartments and the Delhites' National Initiative in Palliative Care on their efforts to help a homeless lady. All is well that ends well.

And thank You, all my readers, for continuing to visit our blog and making comments.

Lastly , someone is looking for a play school in Mayur Vihar Extension. If you know of a good day care facility for small children in the neighborhood, let us know. How about starting one yourself?

Take care of yourselves during these hot days! Best wishes your MVEX reporter B.

Neighbors, start writing!

Hello Neighbors, you must be wondering why this blog has been inactive for some time. Well, yours truly has gone back abroad and is no longer roaming the streets of our neighborhood. All the information here about the apartment societies, schools and other places will pretty much stay the same, so in that way, this blog will not become "old". However, for current event, news about this quarter of East Delhi and other thoughts and ideas, you will have to write yourself. Meaning, send me your text and photos or happenings via email and I will post them for you! Please, do stay involved in your neighborhood. Report about new developments or take photos of the business district. Let us all know how MV1 Extension continues to be a great place to live in Delhi.
BEST WISHES to you all, neighbors! Keep in touch!

North East India Handicrafts at Star City Mall

Hello neighbors,
better late then never: you have 2 more days to visit our Star City Mall and shop for some NorthEast Crafts out of cane, bamboo , weavings and healthy spices and jams.

BOOK SALE on 11 Feb 2012 at SHEKHAR Apts and at the British Council on 18 Feb

Hello neighbors,
We are making room in the house and want to sell some of our books.
If you need something to read, please, stop by on
Saturday, 11 FEB , between 6 and 8 pm at 
B-49 Shekhar Apartment (ask for Tina at the gate)

Every book will sell for 50 rupees. Not bad for a 500 rupee item, no?
Here is a photo of the books so you can already have a glimpse. Thank You and see you next week.

Click on photo to see titles better

If you want to pay at least 100 rupees for used books , you can
attend the book sale at the British Council on K G  Marg
on the 18th on February. So you better come to me first :-)

Soccer in Mayur Vihar Extension

During my afternoon walks this week, I saw for the first time that there is something strenuous happening in our neighborhood: I discovered that we have a children's soccer club in our midst with 2 African coaches. The lady who brought this amazing feat to life is Mrs. Anju Abbott. She started the BLACK TIGER SOCCER CLUB for boys (and girls) age 5 to 15. Four times a week the kids slave away over that  round piece of leather. And boy, do they work hard. It certainly is a great alternative to cricket and the big field next to Vigyapan Lok Apartments could not find a better use. (right next to Mayur Vihar Extension metro stop)

Practice Makes Perfect:
Soccer Drill

So if you think you would like to torture your child a bit , why not stop by and have a look for yourself ?
You can call Mrs. Abbott at  98 11 402 831 and or get her email address from her blog
http://blacktigersdelhi.wordpress.com/
Read more about her in this 28 Dec 2009 issue of the Economic Times
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/indias-untold-stories/anju-a-housewife-with-will-power/articleshow/5386787.cms

This is one sure way to keep warm during the cold winter days.

Running in the fog

GREAT PLATES Restaurant in Star City Mall

We have finally tried out the restaurant  "GREAT PLATES" (whose owner, we were told, is also running a few other restaurants in Noida) in our little Star City Mall . You might have noticed it, since it now occupies the bright corner spot where SINGH's DELIGHT used to be. "Great Plates" has unique sitting booths. I am not a fan of the green color or that airy pillows, but if you are a love-starved couple, these booths really do make you feel cozy and romantic. What's better: the food is actually really good and very affordable. With 3 people we spent 550 rps. Not bad for a nice evening meal. The staff is a little unprofessional and spooky looking but you get over that. As long as the cooks can cook, right?! Bon Appetit!

Cozy booth inside and outside. Good for a romantic
get-together or a fun evening with 4.
GREAT PLATES at Star City Mall

Of course they do TAKE AWAY and free home delivery 011-2271-2233 or 2271-3322 (practical, ey?)
They accept credit cards and Sodexo and now I have made enough PR for them. I would like to give these place a little competition to Cafe Coffee Day and also offer GOOD COFFEE during the day, so the place isn't deserted all day, but I doubt whether the owners ever catch on to the opportunities out there.... GOOD LUCK!

CHEERS!

Cooking with a view. It is good to see that there is no
funny business going on the kitchen !

HYBERNATING in Mayur Vihar 1 Extension

Did you know that there are bears in our neighborhood? NO? Well that is because they are still sleeping through their winter sleep and you can't see them.
Gosh, do you feel like hiding in front of your heater all day in bed, too? I am. This is why you haven't heard any interesting stories of late. Waiting for warmer weather. But warmer weather means mosquitos will stir again, and we don't like that either. Where is heaven when you need it?
Stay warm, neighbors. More soon!

Christmas at Star City Mall

Even if you are not a Christian, all of us may enjoy a little bit of Santa's good cheers. I was happy to find this spread around Star City Mall which decorated their main hall quite nicely. More importantly, I was glad so many  young neighbors came by to have their coffee and chai in the mall , socialize and warm up a bit. It is awfully chilly these days. If you really want to get toasty, sit at Cafe Coffee Day, there the heaters were working nicely. And don't forget the Asman toy shop who offers lots of gift opportunities.

So come on over to feel that spirit , get a hot chocolate and hang out with your loved ones. At least this mall management still makes an effort to brighten our gloomy December days, even though most shops are still vacant.

By the way, did you ever try hot red wine (or hot rum) during winter months. Just add sugar and cloves , some water and a dash of lemon juice to the cheap red wine, heat it slowly until the sugar is dissolved and there you go: you have German GLUEHWEIN, that means glow wine (afterwards your cheeks will glow :-)

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

Fenced In

You have all seen the new side walks in our neighborhood, and certainly across the ASN School and near Samachar Apartments it all looks real dandy. They have even "cleaned" up the area around the trash dumps. But what about Club Avenue across from the CNG Station? WHO in godesses' name has come up with putting back the fences after improving the stones on the sidewalks? Who will walk behind a fence? Not that the sidewalks desperately needed a make over anyway. Looked more like a case of "malai" to me, if you know what I mean. New public trashcans, better cleaning of our roads, more streets lights at night all this would have been more important than sidewalks.

Wonderfully spacious and luxurious:
SAHAKARITA Marg across the ASN School

UNusable even with new stones to walk on:
Sidewalks on CLUB AVENUE

What do you think? Is this all a case of preventing small-time vendors from settling in on open sidewalks or what is the mystery behind the fences? May be if I hear a good explanation, I'll get used to it. Fact of the matter remains: fenced in sidewalks are a great waste of space. In the end they will only be used for piddle points. Tell us your opinion.

New Shops in MV1 Extension

Hello Neighbors! We  have a couple of new shops in our 5 Star Village. Have you spotted them already?

CHHAPAI is here, if only a bit hidden in the Gupta Arkade/ a.k.a Samachar Market/ a.k.a DDA market /aka Atlanic Plaza/Anupama Arcade/ Why are there so many names for his one shopping area here?

Ethnic sarees, duppattas, stoles & cordinates
Open from 10-10 every day except mondays

Two months ago this sari shop opened its door across from Mother Dairy's vegetable stall and next to the electric shop. It's a beautiful and elegant place. Do stop by! Mr. Khan is most helpful in showing you the most wonderful silk and cotton saris with block prints. There are also lovely shawls and nice fashion jewelry. I bought a nice gift there today: earrings, bangle and a ring for 460 rupees. Silk cotton kurtas can be bought for 850 rps which I feel is very reasonably priced. Give this new shop a chance. It is a great addition to the market. If all the other shops were as clean and beautiful as this one, we wouldn't have to rush to any malls anymore.

You might have seen the new kebab place KATHI JUNCTION. Located in a corner near the meat shop and close to Domino's, it it a welcome edition since there are simply not enough food places in our neighborhood. I have yet to eat there and probably won't, but you may know more about its quality. Tell us.

If only the mouth watering recipes were served in
mouth watering surroundings

The outside trash is still such a turn off and I cannot understand why shopkeepers don't put their heads together and organize common dumpsters so this area can be a great community place.
I wish we would get a coffee shop or some other places to sit and enjoy. If this large "lawn" area would ever get cleaned up and benches were put up, we would all only be too happy. I wrote the Municipal Department about the trash, but no word from them. If all of us would complain, may be someone woke up and improve this disgusting site. 

10.000 Viewers

We have crossed the 10.000 hit mark yesterday, after the blog is only 9 months old. A successful baby was born :-)  I thank all my viewers , followers and contributers, commentators for their interest. Here is the breakdown of where they are clicking from

India 7,820

United States 661

United Kingdom 177

Germany 121

Malaysia 87

Australia 55

Romania 49

United Arab Emirates 47

Canada 36

Singapore 36

Children's Day at Riverview Apartments

Farah from Riverview Apartments was nice enough to tell me about a lovely event that happened in her society last weekend. As I did not know about the idea behind it, I asked her to explain more:
"Children's Day is celebrated in India on the occassion of the birth anniversary of our first PM Jawaharlal Nehru.  He was lovingly called Chacha Nehru by children, and he was very fond of them. The kids in our society are quite active and they just decided on the 13th November, a Sunday, to organise this painting competition. It was they who told everyone going from door to door canvassing as it was not an official society event. About 15 kids got together , roped in a few of us for organising, settling and monitoring the events and then found some judges. We brought in "neutral" neighbours(whose kids were not participating) and they judged the paintings. 1st prize went to Faiz Ahmed, 2nd prize to Saloni and 3rd to Srinandan."


Congratulations on so much energy and creativity!

High Rise in Mayur Vihar Extension

This huge shell of a building has been standing on Club Avenue between Fraser Suites and the CNG Station for quite some time now. The sign only says Antartica Properties and we don't know yet what it will be, who will use it, but we do know one thing: it's tall. Fraser Suites apartment users must not be amused to have the sun taken away from them, but during the summer months, they might be grateful to be in the shade of this high rise.
Seeing how narrow it is and how flimsily it is made, one would like to warn future dwellers of it already, but life is a risk. When the next earthquake hits, they might start throwing bed sheet ropes over to the more sturdy looking Fraser Suites. Also not amusing is the way the workers dangle from the scaffold high up without any protection whatsoever. It might be a case of "Peepli Live", when he falls, the worker's family might be blessed with some money, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Taking the sun from Fraser Suites

Getting a bit of white coloar

Unprotected construction workers

Who will rent these narrow offices?

Covering the whole of Fraser Suites, this high rise will be the
main focus soon in MV 1 Extension. With occupants adding
to more clogged up traffice on Club Avenue and CNG mayhem

Yash Raj and others now at the DLF Galleria Mall

Getting boring, right? These no- news updates about the mall business. But you know what they say: HOPE dies last! So once again we ventured across Club avenue into the District Centre to see if there is new activity. But besides the aforementioned liquor activities all around the mall parking lots, not much else has changed since we last reported. However, there are a few brave souls who have opened their business inside the otherwise deserted Galleria Mall, one of them the YASH RAJ Film Shop . The have DVDs, CDs Vcds and also music CDs and Blue Ray movies. No, no blue movies :-)

This photo was taken in the setting up face
Yash Raj Films Delhi branch: 
IS OPEN NOW from 11 to 6 pm
(sorry about the poor picture quality)
http://www.yashrajfilms.com/AboutUs/BuisnessActivities.aspx?SectionCode=PRO002

One man was in there getting his beard trimmed I think.

The German dental specialists have arrived.
Will Indians use these services with a name
they cannot pronounce?
http://www.duerrdental.de/en/contact/branchoffices-representations/s-jaiswal/

One big office for all?http://www.pacificholidaysinc.com/

http://www.testritegroup.com/Contacts/asia.htm

http://www.myvideotalkindia.com/

http://www.orbitcoms.com/
the other company not found online

As far as shops goes, you can see that there is nothing here that makes a visit worth our while.

When will the big anchor shop finally arrive or a movie hall?  Lots of shops are now listed for rent, but it looks

like the fools who pay skyhigh prices are becoming fewer and fewer. Good!

The food court still deserted. Unless they install a COSTA or
Cafe Coffee Day
in the mall, no one is going to come.

So there you have it. I wish I could say "no news is good news", for our neighborhood it continues to mean, we have to head over to Noida or South Delhi to have a fun day at the mall. Too bad! The DT signs everywhere tricks us into thinking there will be a DT movie hall soon, but such is not the case.

Neighborhood Telephone Directory

Unfortunately this was done by Mayur Vihar 2 residents (RWA). A jolly good idea, don't you think?

May be  as active Welfare Association will do the same for us here in Phase 1. They have all residents listed alphabetically, though strangely going by first names first, and by house numbers, so one can look it up both ways. Also local businesses and more.

Important numbers for all