Mumbai Race Course

It is sheer coincidence that I got to see two horse race within a span of three months. The first one was in October at the Pune Race Course. 

Had been to Mumbai many times but this is the first time I have been to the Mahalaxmi Race Course. The Race was a part of the Christmas Fest held by the Indo German Chamber of Commerce. 

Had a look at the VIP and the VVIP stands and I am sure that they are just as they were from the British era. 

These doors with these special handles could be a later addition. 

Some photographs of Queen Elizabeth on her 1961 visit were on display. 

Was impressed by this security guard who came up to me and checked my I-card to see if I was really authorised to take pictures. 

These judges had to climb up and be seated at the finishing line before the commencement of every race 

A girl having a close look at the horses as they pass by 

 while this little guy is wondering what all the fuss was about 

 (he also gets a lot of footage at the end of the video)

You get to see a good cross section of the people from the city at the races 

These young ladies wanted their group picture to be clicked with their mobile phones and later agreed to pose for my camera too. 

I was impressed by the outside ambiance of this eating place which is connected to the race course. 

I assume these are some regulars over here, but I liked the relaxed attitude that they had, meeting other like-minded people and discussing things in general. 

It is also that time of the season where the young and the very young can display their choice of clothes. 

Concluding with a shot of the place in the day time and how it looks at night. 

If you are watching the video on YouTube, keep the settings on 720pHD for clarity.

The Horse Race in Pune

The picture above was clicked about two years ago but was never used in any blog.  I keep passing through this way (the race course) on a regular basis and have seen this guy peering out most of the time. I wonder if he is thinking about the free world outside. 

I like the area around the race course. It has still maintained its old world charm with bamboo trees, bungalows and picket fence 

While enjoying the Oktoberfest, I got to see the horse race. In fact this is the first live race that I have witnessed. Frankly speaking I have no idea of how to bet, nor to calculate the probabilities of a winning horse. 

But I was mighty impressed by the way the race was conducted with everything well planned and executed. There was no time lapse between races, but at the same time there was enough time provided for people to place their bets. 

Huge screens and small TV screen were provided at strategic places to follow the race. 

After every race there were some cleaners who went through the complete track, probably making sure that it was race worthy for the next race.

It was interesting to note that everyone had a Cole race card, commonly known as the ‘Cole Book’. It is the Bible for the race goers. The blue and white cover of this book has never changed for the last 94 years and is supplied to race courses at Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangaluru, Mysore and Kolkata.  

I noticed some frantic last minute betting at these kiosks 

In the foyer there was a top view of the layout of the race course with some detailed information of the gradient of the starting point and the ending point.

It seems these gradients are also taken into consideration when preparing the Cole book to assess the performance of a horse. 

I liked the way the ambiance of the enclosure is maintained. The woodwork, the latches, and the balustrades are just the same as they were during the British era.

The famous Deccan Queen was started in 1930 as a weekend train for the British people in India to ferry race fans from Bombay (Mumbai) to Poona (Pune)

Somehow I missed those fancy hats which is synonymous with races, but still there were some interesting ones 

The Indo German Chamber of Commerce and the DieSulmtaler band was in attendance during the last race of the day. 

Observed that people from all walks of life converge on this point when it comes to betting. You can see the anxiety and the suspense written on these faces as they keenly observe the giant screen to see if “their horse” is in the lead. 

I was observing this old man, with the small chit in his hand where he had jotted down all the probabilities, but the final result did not match, as can be seen from his face. Probably an old timer, who thinks of making it big one day.

Made a small video of my experience of the day. 

Oktoberfest in Pune India

I made it a point to attend the Oktoberfest this year. This is the sixth year that it is being held in Pune and I kept missing it for one reason or the other. It was a three day affair, held at the race course and conducted by the Indo-German Chambers of Commerce.

Having a ring side view of the horse race was an added privilege as that was a part of the Oktoberfest. (more on the horse race in the next post) 

In fact horse races in the presence of the Royal family (in 1810) marked the close of the event that was celebrated as a festival for the whole of Bavaria. The decision to repeat the horse races in the subsequent years gave rise to the tradition of the Oktoberfest. A painting of the horse race held in 1813. 

picture source wikipedia

  Coming back to Pune, the German band Die Sulmtaler was in attendance and I must say that they did a good job of keeping the crowd entertained.

Matthias was liberal with his smatter of Hindi “Maja aa raha hai?” 

Many had turned up in the Dirndls. 

Almost all hit the dance floor (or swayed with the music) 

The kids too had a gala time

There were photo opportunities for many

Some liked to be clicked 

but I found that the candid ones were better and had a natural appeal 

The second day being a Saturday, the dance floor was jam packed, so many decided to make do with the table top 

A special mention should be made about the beer and the German food. 

and the sale of the food coupons was brisk

Had the opportunity to witness the "tapping" of the beer keg. (and drank some beer directly from the keg)

The only thing that I found out of place were the plastic glasses.

I mean when you think of beer you always associate it with beer bottles or beer mugs 

Have compiled some videos with more photographs. 

Noticed that these videos were also uploaded at the PuneOktoberfest FB site.