This 'No TV Weekend', all fun and games in Mumbai

Turn off the box and take to the skies. You can fly a Boeing simulator this weekend, join a gaming group, head to Mumbai’s indoor football fields or shoot at friends with lasers.

Take a trip this No TV Weekend, without leaving the city.

There’s a Boeing 737 flight simulator in Mumbai that will let you ‘fly’ almost anywhere you want to go, putting images on the windshield that’ll make you wonder if the city is really just outside.

Climb into the cockpit of a Boeing simulator at Kurla’s Phoenix Market City mall, for Rs 1,750 for 30 minutes and Rs 2,950 for an hour per couple.

“My wife and I flew over the Caribbean islands and it was as real as it could get,” says 36-year-old management trainee Punit Mehra. “I hope that saves me from burning a hole in my pocket,” he adds laughing.

The simulator is a replica of a cockpit, complete with an array of dials and controls.

Actual pilot views with intricate topographical detail and a trained instructor as your co-pilot are part of the package.

“We were briefed on how the aircraft flies and what the different dials and controls mean. You get the whole experience — from preparing the flight plan to taxiing on the runway,” says Mehra.

If you’re scared of heights, on the other hand, you could stay grounded and celebrate the weekend on the many new indoor football turfs launched in Mumbai over the past year, scattered across Andheri, Malad, Kandivli, Worli, Lower Parel and parts of Navi Mumbai.

Indoor football at Kick-Off astroturf

Enclosed by a rope mesh and a roof that offers respite from the sun, these spaces are open till midnight. “We often play a game of football after work. It’s a great stress-buster,” says geologist Clarence Mendoza, 28.

Or, if you’d rather stay indoors, you could play board games such as Pandemic, Dominion, Viticulture or Mage Knight with members of gaming enthusiasts’ group Meeples Board Gamers (MBG).

They have a collection of about 300 games one doesn’t generally find in India. So you can play at being a scientist trying to save the world from a pandemic, or build an estate in rural France.

“My wife and I have become big fans ever since we discovered MBG four months ago, through a friend who had attended a gaming event,” says businessman Chintan Buddhadeb, 30. “We love gaming, and now we no longer have to ask relatives to ship games to us from the US. We’ve also made many new friends over games.”

On the other hand, you could stay home and let the fun come to you.

Laser tag courtesy Blue Bulb

Events and experiences company Blue Bulb can turn your terrace, garden or parking lot into a lasertag ‘battlefield’ for you and your friends.

On the other hand, a two-and-a-half-hour drive away is Kelva, where you can lie back in a hammock and watch the waves hit the shore, or go horse-riding, cycling, and kite-flying. You can also go on excursions to the nearby Shirgaon and Kelva forts.

If you’re looking for an adrenalin rush, opt for wilderness rafting in the Vaitarna river, also conducted by Blue Bulb. This two-hour tour will take you along forests while navigating narrow river and bouncing off rocky outcrops.

Unusual board games at the Meeples meet

Big Red Tent also offers weekend kayaking adventures, at Vasind. Here, you row your way up the Bhatsai river, just off the Mumbai-Nashik highway, pitch a tent on the banks, go fishing and end the day with a barbecue feast.

For the less outdoorsy, there’s Purushwadi, where you can just sit back and watch a million fireflies light up the night sky. “My husband and I go there every May,” says Ruchi Khemka, a senior manager at a telecom company. “It’s the perfect break from the chaos and pollution of the city.”

Kayaking in Vasind