A new breed of Unique Service Providers is taking over the city, offering cool new services that promise to change the landscape of your home, rev up your food, pimp your ride, and give your love life an energiser shot. Sowmya Rajaram and Kasmin Fernandes meet the men who want to make your life exciting
A new breed of Unique Service Providers is taking over the city, offering cool new services that promise to change the landscape of your home, rev up your food, pimp your ride, and give your love life an energiser shot.u00a0Sowmya Rajaramu00a0and Kasmin Fernandes meet the men who want to make your life exciting
Mr Bright Idea [Anand Tanna]
Cool guru of: Decor and advertising. He runs Ads by Light
The big deal: For an investment banker-turned founder of lighting solutions provider Ads By Light (trust us, the end product is a lot cooler than that brochure-like description), Tanna has a child-like enthusiasm for his trendy baby. And one look at the at-home light projections he demonstrated for us, made us see why. Like he says, "When I saw what could be done with these, I was blown away." We were too.
Anand Tanna juggles a light-changing paperweight against the mirage
of a Bond girl. It's just one of the several funky indoor light projections
he offers. PIC/ Vikas Munipalle
From lighting up entire buildings -- Tanna showed us an impression of a building in Gelsenkirchen, Germany,u00a0 wrapped like a Christmas present --u00a0 to creating innovative advertising solutions that are more cost-effective and have a wider reach than billboards, Ads By Light can do pretty much anything you want with light. As he puts it: "I'd say, give us any flat, opaque surface, and we can change its face, and create revenue for the owner of that space. The possibilities are endless." Add the fact that the environmental impact of halogen lighting will be significantly lesser than the heaps of paper and plastic you'd put into a
regular billboard, and you see his point.
What's exciting is that these cool possibilities can be brought into your home too. With Gobotops (they turn ordinary low-voltage halogen lamps into mini-projectors) costing as little as Rs 6,000, home d ufffdcor just got a whole new meaning.
Insert a lens with the image of your choice into the gobotops, flick a switch, and presto! Your wall can be the home of anything from a leafy tree to a sexy James Bond girl. Oh, and if art is your thing, a tiny Gobotop can project your favourite Hussain on your bedroom wall.
Tanna's dream, though, is to light up CST Station. Their techniques like Lightbrush and simple Outdoor Projections on buildings have already created waves across the world, from France to South Korea.
"It will change the face of architecture in this country, and enhance the beauty of structures like the Gateway of India. We can use bright lights in winter, and play around with mood."
Next on the agenda is a brand signage lamp to be used as lights and branding space in a club to generate revenue for the nightclub. For example, a liquor brand could choose to advertise on these lamps.
All very well, but we can't get over the possibility of having the funky wall projections -- from the Transformers logo to your dog's face and even a tiger on your roof, complete with adjustable settings for contrast, brightness and what not. A far better conversation starter than the weather, we think.
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Get in touch: Log on to www.adsbylight.com for details on what Tanna offers.
Mr Sugar and Spice [Nikhil Agarwal]
Cool guru of: Booze. He's Director of All Things Nice
The big deal: Don't be fooled by Agarwal's business suit and BlackBerry. The formal exterior hides a fun guy who cracks up at Rajinikanth jokes, is in surprisingly good humour even in an unforgiving blazer on a hot October afternoon, and greets his friends with infectious enthusiasm. 
The tasting sessions conducted by Nikhil Agarwal for ATN are
educational, spiked with fun. PICs/ apoorva guptay. Location
courtesy/ Bonobo
So, when he tells you that the sessions he conducts as Director of All Things Nice (ATN) are boisterous, informal and a whole lot of fun, you are inclined to believe him.
The idea, the Bandra resident says, is to "promote a culture that appreciates what we drink and eat." ATN does that by conducting at-home wine, single malt, beer, cognac and vodka tastings. He can arrange them at restaurants across the city too.
"We want to build a community of people who love their food and drink, and understand how pairing a certain food with a certain kind of alcohol can make the whole experience richer," says the 32u00a0 year-old.
The tasting sessions can be customised to your liking, with your choice of brands and food, with ATN pitching in to offer recommendations and suggestions to newbies. "A typical at-home wine tasting session will see a minimum of five wines, and will last about two hours," Agarwal says, giving us a quick demo of how to recognise the notes of pepper and dark chocolate in a red.
Agarwal's workshops come complete with a customised booklet that has the maker's tasting notes along with space for you to jot your thoughts. "Everyone's palate is different, and we make the session as interactive as possible."
It's all far from elitist, though, Agarwal is quick to clarify. He wants to cater to foodies across various price points. "But quality is important. We won't agree to be paid to do tastings for a brand we don't believe in. We want to enable everyone to walk into a restaurant and order that bottle of single malt to go with their food with confidence, knowing how and why it will enhance their experience. The idea is to create a level playing field for everyu00a0 consumer in India. We want to be looked upon as an independent body that can make recommendations and educate on bettering the quality of your experience." At-home sessions start at Rs 15,000 plus the cost of wine, and restaurant sessions start at Rs 1,500 per person.
That's not all. ATN also conducts workshops for corporates and wineries, trains Food & Beverage staff and helps create food and wine pairings for restaurant menus.
They'll also cater a party for you -- from the glasses to the help they bring along -- and at-home sessions are taken care of.
u00a0
Agarwal sums up the ATN experience best: "We love to hang out with people, eat and drink. If you do too, come along."
Get in touch: Log on to www.allthingsnice.in to find out about forthcoming sessions, to have an at-home session or to get more information.
The Indian Dr Hitch [Vicky Kalwani]
Cool guru of: Love. He's a dating consultant from New York
The big deal: The idea of a dating coach sounds ridiculous -- why should you entrust your romantic success to another person? What could a coach possibly tell you that you don't already know? 
Mumbai has its first dating coach in Vicky Kalwani. PIC/ Sanjiv Valsan
A lot, believes the city's first dating consultant who goes by the alias Vicky Kalwani. "Everything from approaching a beautiful woman to kissing on the first date," says the New York-based entrepreneur, is up for learning.
In the Hollywood film Hitch, Will Smith's character Alex Hitchens coaches love-challenged men on how to find the woman of their dreams. The film is, of course, set in the US, where dating coaches abound.
No one can say for sure how many dating coaches exist; the field is largely unregulated. Anyone can offer the services, although some coaches have degrees in psychology. The International Coach Federation, a
professional association, sent out a questionnaire to 30,000 coaches worldwide. Of the 6,000 respondents, 20 per cent said they specialised in some kind of relationship coaching.
Wouldn't it be great if you had a desi love doctor who would break your pattern of singledom? Turns out, there is. In the next six months that Kalwani spends in Mumbai, he will coach everyone from the nice guys who
finish last to shy guys and Blackberry addicts, in the rules of dating.
We have business coaches, nutritionists, accountants, even life coaches. Why not an expert on love? After all, it's one of the driving forces of our life, says Kalwani, a fan of American dating gurus Neil Strauss and Erik 'Mystery'. "I love Strauss' bestseller The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pick-Up Artists, where he describes his experience of becoming a 'pick-up artist' in the 'seduction' community," he says.
Kalwani has had no such community to compete in, since he is the first of his breed in Mumbai, perhaps even in India. "Matchmakers are aplenty, but there aren't any dating coaches. Surprising, because people in the cities are just as upwardly mobile and the dating game is just as big here as in the West," says the suave and dapper, but camera shy 32 year-old, throwing a look at young men and women chilling over Frappes and Lattes at Gloria Jean's Coffees in Bandra.
Coaches have different methods -- some work strictly over the phone, others provide in-person consultations, while others offer total immersion weekends, in which the coach lives with you and monitors your behaviour. Kalwani has chosen the casual, yet less intimate in-person group setting.
A two-hour evaluation will cost you the Rs 2,000, while a week-long session will set you back by Rs 10,000.
Kalwani's thorough three-month course (priced approx. Rs 64,000) takes you through 13 chapters that cover everything from grooming and wit to winning over the girl's friends. It's a small price to pay, considering dating coaches in Los Angeles and New York demand thrice as much. Who said money can't buy love?
Get in touch: Send an email to mumbailifestyle2010@gmail.com
Custom Chopper Guy [Akshai Varde]
Cool guru of: Machines. He runs Vardenchi Motorcycles, which customises choppers
The big deal: Nothing has embodied the spirit of the open road like a chopper. Since the very introduction of motorcycles, bikers have been modifying them to go faster, sit lower.. try something that will set the rider apart from the pack. 
Akshai Varde at his workshop with his latest creation Vedic, which has
the Hanuman Chalisa painted on the bike in an Indian form of
calligraphy. PIC/ Sanjiv Valsan
There is a sense of pride in ownership that cannot be derived by simply buying an "off the shelf" motorcycle. Building rather than buying, provides the freedom to create a custom chopper that truly reflects the owner's personality and unique sense of style; not to mention the satisfaction of completing a project.
Akshai Varde is interested in anything with wheels, so it is only fitting that the biking enthusiast opened his own business of building custom-made choppers. "They are for anyone who wants something a bit different," says the 29 year-old at his grungy workshop inside an industrial estate in Jogeshwari, equipped with an in-house paint booth and metal sheet unit.
Vardenchi Motorcyles has been running for four years, and Varde says his own head-turning chopper Miracle, which he customised from a Royal Enfield Bullet four years ago, was a good advertisement. "Friends started asking me to go pro," he recalls. It wasn't too long before he bagged his first contract with stand-up comedian Ash Chandler who saw him riding Miracle on the wide Marine Drive stretch.
Varde rented a small workshop in Juhu and took up the assignment. Equipped with only a kit of basic tools, drill machine and grinder, Varde bought a 1991 model Enfield and started working on it. The finished product Yellow was a "wide, yellow chopper to suit his bright personality." It hit the sweet spot for his quirky client -- now part owner of Mumbai Motorcycle Company. Varde quit his flight attendant job and restaurateur dreams to start Vardenchi (Marathi for "belonging to Varde") Motorcycles.
One of his favourite designs is Skeletor, which he designed for actor Jackie Shroff. "He called me and said he was looking to build a bike. I should have known he would want nothing less than a mad build," says Varde.
Inspired by the gothic villain from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe franchise, Skeletor took three months "and an insane amount of effort" to custom-build. "The night I drove the finished bike to his house, we laughed like mad."
A custom chopper costs anywhere between Rs 2.9 lakh to Rs 4.5 lakh, but is worth the moolah. After you have
specified your requirements, the team at Vardenchi Motorcyles creates a design or lets you pick from 30 custom designs that are already available. Once you've approved the design, the team gets down to do the metalwork.
You are called in for a trial fit; changes can be included up to this stage. The bike is then completed -- Varde
supervises the process and maintains quality control.
"Imagine creating that often imagined stripped-down chopper, or tricked-out cruiser, or hair-raisingly fast pro-street chopper; I'm doing it all, and loving every moment of it," says the entrepreneur whose outfit has overgrown the western suburb workshop. In the works is a custom bikes factory, which will manufacture high-end bikes from scratch, possibly the first in India.
Get in touch: Log on to www.vardenchi.com or email akshai@vardenchi.com
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