With The Mount Mary Fair starting this weekend, here's a mini guide to shopping at the myriad stalls that line the area. The festival of the Virgin Mother starts on Mother Mary's birthday, and is a 300 year-old event that attracts close to 10 lakh visitors every year.

Home-made cakes Apart from the usual coconut-based Goan sweets, the Bandra Fair usually has a stall selling melt-in-the-mouth, home-made cup cakes and pies. Available in plum, date and walnut, wine, mixed fruit, and chocolate mawa flavours.



Tribal tattoo artists Get a tattoo from the men and women who travel from the interiors of India, and squat along the streetsides here. They etch a variety of tribal designs and symbols engraved in green, black, and red ink. But the archaic tools they use might not be all that safe.

Buy fashion wear A row of stalls sell earrings, necklaces and export-surplus garments, wooden bangles, trinkets and fashion accessories at rock-bottom prices.

Bamboo and solar-wood flowers Look out for a stall that sells Bamboo and Solar-wood flowers in white, that don't wilt.

Sanjivani Plants A bunch of hawkers usually stock a heap of green. The Sanjivani plant is a dull brown in colour when dry. But watch them dip it in water to see it suddenly turn a lush green. Low maintenance, these don't demand daily watering.