Mumbai - Day 1 (December 16, 2006) -- Evening & Night

On my way back from D's office I called most of my friends and made tentative plans to meet each other. Most of the responses seemed to be "You're in town?? For how long?"

I had planned dinner with my mom that night, and at about 9:00pm (We eat late in India) we set off for Paradise restaurant on Colaba Causeway. En route, we stopped at Kailash Parbhat where I picked up mithai (Indian sweets).

Mithai

Paradise is one of my favorite restaurants in town. It's a small, quiet place run by an elderly Parsi couple and it has very simple food. My childhood favorites were the Chicken Steak and the Paradise Fried Chicken which was served with Pumpkin sauce. And the walls are adorned by Adam & Eve drawings by Mario Miranda, a famous Indian cartoonist.

Paradise had upgraded their decor and had finally installed air-conditioning, but the food was excellent. The waiters were still the same two gentleman and they recognised me and asked me if I wanted my usual combination of the steak and fried chicken. It was nice to see them after so long, and I left them with a large tip.

Adam & Eve by Mario Miranda

My awesome mom!

Later at night I was supposed to meet my friends at Mumbai's new lounge -- Shiro. Shiro is located in the old Bombay Dying mills compound, and I realized that it had been a while since I visited last when I was asked for a Rs 1500 (US$ ~35) cover charge. I coughed up the dues and entered. Shiro was huge, and I really appreciated that I could have a conversation with friends. Most nightspots in Mumbai are clubs which play loud music, but Shiro was different.

Once in I met quite a few friends and sipped on a glass of wine. I bumped into a guy I hadn't seen for 6 years and we exchange brief histories and e-mail ID. Turns out that he finished an MBA in the US and was working in the US, before returning to India earlier this year. That's pretty much the route I want to follow. Working in India --despite the many frustrations and low pay-- is so much more appealing to me now. I'll get to influence processes and actually contribute something. So that's my plan now, hope to get admitted into an MBA program, work in the US or EU and then return to India.

Anyway, I was talking with my friend and she introduced me to one of her girlfriends (S). S was very opinionated (why aren't more women opinionated?), intelligent, and kind and while we were talking I could feel the butterflies rising in my stomach. I haven't had this feeling for a long while (I hadn't been on a single date in 2006 until my India trip) and it felt very good.

Then S and her friends left and I caught-up with my other friends. I reached home at about 3:00 in the morning and I went for a walk behind my house by Apollo Bundar, the Gateway of India, and the Taj Mahal hotel.

The Taj Mahal hotel was built by J. N. Tata of the Tata family (India's premier industrial group) after Mr. Tata wasn't allowed into the then-famous Majestic Hotel. Indeed, the sign outside the hotel read "Indians and Dogs not allowed." So Mr. Tata decided to build a hotel that was bigger and better than the Majestic hotel.

The Gateway of India was built in 1924 to commemorate the visit of King George V. The last British troops leaving India left thru the Gateway of India as well.

The Gateway of India late at nightThe Taj Mahal Hotel