Vishal Kotian: My first date was at a tapri with cutting chai and Parle-G

Bigg Boss 15rsquos Vishal Kotian is a true Mumbaikar from dates at chai ki tapri to enjoying breakfast at Irani restaurants he has done it allVada Pav or Pav BhajiVada Pav is our Mumbaikarrsquos invention and discovery It comes from the streets in Dadar and Parel where I reside Vada Pav over burger and sandwich or anything because it belongs to Dagdi chawlRickshaw or Kaali PeeliRickshaw over Kaali Peeli any day because you have to listen to the stories of the Rickshawalah I donrsquot know why every Rickshawalah is heartbroken as they play songs like lsquoAchcha Sila Diya Tunersquo or lsquoPardesirsquo Even a Limousine cannot compete with those beatsGateway of India or Marine DriveMarine Drive itrsquos the Queens Necklace and pride of Mumbai Marine Drive during the rains as seen in lsquoRimzim Gire Sawanrsquo with Amitabh Bachchan saab and Moushumi Chatterjee You can get a foot massage done enjoy the sound of the waves and lights aroundJuhu Beach or Bandra BandstandFor us Juhu beach means Bachchan saabrsquos bungalow and Bandstand means Shah Rukh Khan I am a Bachchan fan so Juhu Beach because aate jaate Bachchan saab ke bungalow ke darshan ho jaate hai Local train or BEST bus Doubledecker BEST buses are rare now I have memories from school where I would run and occupy the first seat of the bus I used to peek outside and when the wind hit my face I felt like SupermanTapri ki chai or Sol KadhiTapri ki chai with nankhatai that comes for Rs 2 I remember this because my first date was at the tapri It was drizzling and I had bought a packet of ParleG biscuits and cutting chai it was so romanticFavourite restaurant in the cityMy favourite restaurant has shut down There used to be an Irani restaurant in front of Andheri railway station and McDonalds has taken over that place now They used to serve sweet cream on bun pav at 5 to 6 am I used to travel every morning from Dadar to eat it along with cutting chai and return home Currently Cafeacute Mondegar in Colaba is my favourite the walls of the restaurant show the spirit of MumbaiFavourite place in MumbaiI love every place in Mumbai be it Marine Lines or Dadar flower market and Kirti college Fashion Street and Bandra but Filmcity is my favourite because it is full of starsThe Mumbai lingo you use the mostIrsquove grown up on Mumbairsquos streets and the lingo will always be with me This is why people on Bigg Boss would say I have three spirits within me one is Birbalrsquos spirit because of my show Har Mushkil Ka Hal Akbar Birbal the other is an English spirit because of my education and thirdly Mumbai ki aatmaWhat do you love most about the cityI am from Mumbai itrsquos my janmabhoomi and karmabhoomi Mumbai is the lsquocity of dreamsrsquo and it is often said the city doesnrsquot let its people sleep hungry What I love the most is the spirit of Mumbai The city faced 13 bomb blasts together and I lost a lot of friends I was at Plaza theatre and by the time I reached home everyone was crying because a few seconds after I had left the spot a bomb blast destroyed Plaza theatre The next day I saw hoardings in Mumbai that on July 10 trains in Mumbai running at 90 per cent capacity on July 11 2006 bomb blasts take place and on July 12 trains in Mumbai are running at more than 100 per cent capacity On July 10 blood banks were quite empty but after train blasts July 11 on July 12 blood banks were overflowing with donors Thatrsquos the true spirit of Mumbai