Miss Adventures

As I mentioned before, it’s a little difficult finding your way around Mangaldas Market. But, now after two buying visits and a pit stop to show friends, I have mostly figured out where some of the best vendors are located.
The 6th Lane is the best place to start, specifically at Rangeela. The shop specializes in [...]

Looking online at the spring and summer offerings from the likes of The Gap, Banana Republic, Zara, H&M, etc., I’ve noticed that just about every store has something inspired by India. Embroidered or sequinned tops, cotton kurtas, long, full skirts, and paisley prints, appear to be - from this vantage point - all the [...]

Lots of web troubles going on as of late. Looks like BootsnAll, the site through which I have my blog, decided to do some upgrades. And, as a result, my blog no longer has formatting.
Talked to a guy at support, and he said the site looks the same to him. Am I the [...]

I just stumbled across this poem of sorts that I wrote last year for some shoe-loving jingle contest. Not quite sure why I didn’t win. I still think this is kinda cute:

All I have ever heard about the great Indian mango is true – it is the ripest, freshest, and one of the most enjoyable fruits ever. Forget the scrawny, stringy tasteless Mexican mangoes that we have to settle for in the U.S. Mangoes are the real deal here – and there’s more than one [...]

A week or so before the April 15 tax-filing deadline, I was on the phone with some financial planner guy who was trying to help me out with tax filings and the like. When I mentioned that he couldn’t courier something to me because I was living in India, he paused and said, “That must [...]

It’s tough being an animal in Bombay, especially now as the sun stays out longer. Crows fight in mid-air over scraps of food. Cats shriek at night below my window. And dogs have that ever-more sleepy hang-dog look as they look for shadier places to doze.
It has also been especially hard being a human animal [...]

I don’t think I was the only non-Catholic to shed a tear this morning when I heard the news that John Paul II had died. I definitely didn’t agree with many of the stands that the Catholic church had taken over the last few years - though I did appreciate its stand against the death [...]

A bout with jaundice - or even a little tummy ache now and again - certainly doesn’t encourage adventurous eating. But I am happy to say I am back to enjoying the interesting range of cuisines that Bombay has to offer.
On the low end of things, the most exciting development has been mine and some [...]

Bombay (Mumbai) makes the U.S. papers thrice in less than a month.
Tale of 2 Cities: Mumbai? or Bombay?
“Though the membrane between these two cities is permeable, there are plainly two realms, of Bombayites and Mumbaikars, where one name slips out more readily than the other…”[IHT.com]
Mumbai to Midtown, Chaat Hits the Spot
“Asking Indians in America about [...]

The dream is that the rest of India could adhere to the same standards that govern the upkeep of the Taj Mahal. The grounds are well-manicured, with nary a speck of trash, paan (the betel-nut narcotic) is prohibited so as to keep users from spitting its bright red juice all over the monument, and [...]

I have a love/hate affair with awards shows. I love watching them to see what people are wearing and who wins, but I usually can’t bear the acceptance speeches. Indeed, I love watching the Oscars, and I’ll definitely be tuning in on Monday morning (yep….they’ll be live at 6:30 a.m. in India) for a short [...]

I must say there is one upside to being sick in India: the drugs (and the doctor visits) are very cheap. Not sure if I mentioned before, but I had the best dental cleaning ever while here and it cost about $25. That’s not a co-pay amount. That’s the full fee.
At any rate, I’m on [...]

Fellow misplaced expat Karilyn hit the nail on the head with her recent comment. Indeed, I have come down with jaundice and I’m finally somewhat well enough to sit up straight and write about it.
Basically, I have succumbed to the second - yes, second - outbreak of jaundice in Bombay over the past three months. [...]

Well, it looks like India has gotten the best of me and I’m going to be sick for the next few weeks. I hope to be back to the blog sooner than later. But time will tell.
So, take care and I’ll write soon.

Today’s a day off from work, so I can’t complain. Nevertheless, I thought I’d “celebrate” Republic Day by following up on the BMC demolition drive. It seems that the BMC wants to delist slumdwellers from the voter rolls because, in essence, once their homes are destroyed they no longer have addresses. And, without an address, [...]

Pondicherry
If you really need to take a break from India, then Pondicherry is a good bet. Anthony and I had set our sights on this former French colony long before we came to India, but we weren’t sure how it had fared in the tsunami.
It turns out that Pondicherry has a really high [...]

Less than three weeks after the tsunami hit, I was able to visit Tamil Nadu (TN), the Indian state that, in addition to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, suffered the most damage. Most of the people who died in TN were south of Chennai (formerly Madras) in Nagapattinam.
I was unable to visit the latter over [...]

Just when I start to think that Bombay is a world-class city, ridiculousness ensues. The BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) – the org responsible for overseeing city planning – has recently gone on a rash of demolitions against illegal structures. The demolitions have included not only slums – something like 60,000 have been destroyed so far [...]

Several weeks and a new year since I last wrote, the tsunami has wreaked unimaginable havoc in Asia, though, luckily, not in Mumbai. Many of my friends and family, as well as many people I’ve never met before, have gotten a good lesson in geography, which has resulted in many more emails and calls than [...]