I <3 Bombay

Without a doubt Bombay is the best city in India.  

I’m not saying its the best city “in my  opinion” or best city I've seen “so far”  – no – its THE BEST city in India.   Sadly I'm pretty sure I feel this mainly because it’s the most non-indian, Indian city.  

First off, Bombay has geography and natural landmarks.  The two other cities I’ve been to – Delhi and Hyderabad are both flat and  huge (This would be a great place to insert an immature joke along the lines of “Like Kanika”, but I’m not that mean).  I’ve had a hard time getting oriented in most other Indian cities  because there are not enough permanent landmarks (i.e. like an ocean or lake) or any form of rationale city planning.  Bombay, on the other hand, is intuitively easy to figure out…it’s a metropolis on an island (i.e. its Manhattan).  Bandra is its “upper west side” and Colba it’s “Tribeca". 

Drivers (kinda) follow the rules of the road.  I was shocked to see cars staying in their lanes, stopping for lights, NOT abruptly making u-turns in the middle of one way roads, and NOT honking like it was their job.  Plus to top it off – the taxi’s have DOORS (!) and the taxi drivers use the meters without any goading or threatening.  And the final straw…there are SIDEWALKS for pedestrians.  How civilized.

Bombay has energy.  It doesn’t shut down at midnight.  There are lively cafe’s and bars open every night of the week.  Alcohol isn't prohibitively expensive.  In short, I can have a life in Bombay. 

Food.  Real simple…it’s better in Bombay (except for the Biryani i’m sure). 

Bombayites are truly urban.  They don’t get caught up on stupid things like whether I chose to wear shorts or happen to not be married with 3 kids.  Seeing this made me realize just how narrow-minded and conservative people are in Hyderabad.  I’ve come to realize that Hyderabad is the Cleveland of India.  I always forget if Cleveland is in Iowa or Ohio and I don’t really care much – the point is, Hyderabad is a  socially conservative “red state” kinda place.  I’m not quite ready to say Bombay is New York City – but it sure is a helluva whole lot closer than where I am.  The pictures pretty much sum up the difference:

Hyderabad	Bombay

So what did I do in Bombay beside gawk and get bitter about my placement?

Well on my first night a friend of mine picked me up from the airport  and took me to some open bar/fashion show in the Grand Hyatt.  Naturally I was in my 4-years-old-torn-airplane-wear-only Target brand undershirt while surrounded by Bombay’s elite fashion crowd.    I think seeing something so glitzy had a lot to do with shaping my perceptions of the city.  It made me realize just how much I  genuinely like superficiality and bling (whatever, I’m from the OC).  I think the free alcohol might have also helped.

We finished the night off with the awesome street food above (don’t judge it by the look of it). 

The next day I met up with another Clinton Fellow in town and went around sightseeing.  Nothing too exciting here except for my surprisingly delicious chole bhature breakfast  at Victoria Terminal that I literally could have picked up off the road.

I really liked the architecture in South Bombay.  Say what you want about British colonialism..but at least they left behind some nice buildings. 

My evening involved heavy drinking and lots of fried food.  Next day – brunch and random walks around the city with friends (how NY does that sound?).  Day after that a few of us got together for a half-day trip out to Elephanta Island in Mumbai Harbor to see the carved caves pictured below.

 

Finally I should mention that for the entire trip I was scared out of  my mind that I was about to explode.  Since it was Diwali weekend even little street children were lighting up hardcore illegal fireworks EVERYWHERE and AT ALL TIMES.  There is no concept of a “fireworks show” in Bombay like 4th of July in the US.  That’s far too organized.  Instead why not just give everybody explosives?  I actually liked this free for all attitude and the constant fireworks in the background.  It added some pizzaz to a city that really doesn’t need any more.  Bombay felt like a war zone and on Diwali night I took some of these shots of people on Marine Drive.  I’m fairly confident that at least 30 kids probably got severely burned that night.

I realize this post is way too long already, but I don’t think I could possibly end it without mentioning more about the food. 

Diwali sweets…I bought my friends some as a gift for the sole purpose of trying some myself.  This plot collapsed when they thanked me and took them home with them. Epic fail.

East indian thali plate….fish, prawns, chicken, and some toxic pink “sol Khadi”. All followed by a Goan “Bebinca” (ghee +coconut milk+mind-blowing amounts of sugar) for desert.

 

Sweet “Calcutta” Paan.  I somehow got this entire thing into my mouth at once and was stuck chewing it for about 15 minutes. 

Hot “Masala Milk” with almonds and pistachios…

 

Litchi shaved-ice “Gola” with condensed milk.