Obama Jhama

Jhama, a Hindi word roughly translated as hullabaloo, accurately describes the current state of the Mumbai municipal and security authorities on the eve of President Obama's visit to India.

Obama is renting out the entire Taj Mahal hotel and attending meetings at NCPA and the Oberoi (see schedule). As you might remember, the Taj and Oberoi were two major sites of the gruesome terrorist attacks on Nov 26, 2008. Hence, the city is under extra lockdown during the visit, some measures include -

* The low seas around South Mumbai guarded by US naval ships
* All foreigners residing in hotels in South Bombay interviewed and documented
* Road closures, suspension of liquor permits and general prevention of crowds over the weekend
* Obama's traveling in 'Cadillac One' --an armored, missile proof car

Granted, needing my Indian city to be guarded by American battleships is a little embarrassing. But I think it would be infinitely more embarrassing if something were to happen to during Obama's visit that would make the CWG preparations look like a grand success.

What are people saying?
The visit has drawn mix feelings from the civilian population. For example, the Taj junior staff has been from the hotel for the visit. Some staff are disappointed they are not able to serve the US president, while others are ecstatic about a rare 4-day vacation coinciding with Diwali (India's closest equivalent to Christmas).

How do I feel about it?
As a good American citizen, I should attend panels/public events involving the President, but as an experienced former Indian citizen, I'm fleeing the city in anticipation of the crippling seizure to the city to be dealt by the visit. Watch for a "Goa Redux" post!

Boy Who Cried Tiger!

India, home to ~3,700 tigers in the 1990s, now has only ~1,400. Hence, the Save the Tiger campaign, helped by facebook and twitter has gained signifcant traction in recent times. I figured before I do something more than pressing the 'like' button, I should at least check out the beast in its natural Indian habitat.

Where to go to see a tiger? The full list of tiger sanctuaries in India can help you narrow down to the locations that are best maintained with the highest tiger density. We didn't do that. We just went to the most famous sounding park. Off to Ranthambore!

After a flight to Jaipur and 4 hour car ride from there, we arrive at our "mid-end" hotel. In an area where the nice hotels go for >$800 a night, you can only imagine what our mid-end resort cost.

All that money and effort later, we would have surely seen some tigers, right? Wrong.

After 3 safaris, I gave up and went to the spa at our resort--which incidentally had gorgeous rooms, and delicious, organic, vegetarian, locavore cuisine.

The more interesting story was of my travel partners who persisted and went on a 4th safari. Every single jeep on their route that morning saw a tiger except theirs. Guess, if it's meant to be, it's meant to be.

I should have known that given the celebrity profile of our destination, we had a better shot at spotting below Tiger.

Weekend of Culture in Bombay

Something's dramatically changed with Bombay. Or maybe it's just the monsoon ending. Whereas I typically bemoan the lack of alternative activities in Bombay, this weekend was jam-packed with them. Some quick highlights:

1) Washoku Japanese Food Festival
* Bombay's prestigious Institute of Hotel Management's 4th annual Japanese food festival gets an 'A' for effort but a 'F' for execution.
* In the immortal words of one of my friends, "they even screwed up potato tempura. This requires extraordinary talent."



2) MAMI: Mumbai Film Festival
* 12th annual festival had some fantastic movies on the list from Colombia, Belgium, China, Japan, Italy, Canada etc.
* The event was so poorly managed--the first night's screening led to a stampeded with some severe injuries
* We couldn't even get ourselves registered despite traveling 1.5 hrs for it



3) The Art Conspiracy Music Festival

* Alternative and electic musicians performed at various restaurant venues in Bandra.
* Finale was a thoroughly entertaining dance performance with capoiera, swing, asian break dancing as well as some vaudeville thrown-in.




Oh well, 1 out of 3 ain't bad! And the Mami is on-going so maybe worth another shot.

Goa: Mumbai's Miami

Goa's at a distance where it's not quite Mumbai's Hamptons. Once you're off the plane though, it feels like any other urban proximal get-away.

Given its prominent position in Mumbai culture, it's surprising that my first trip to Goa only recently. Since it's beach resort town, so I'll limit observations to non-beach activities.* Here goes the usual: good, bad and downright bizarre.

1) The Food
Amazing blend of North and South Indian food with a coastal twist, see here.

2) The transport
For a little vacation place, Goa is notoriously difficult to get around. Getting anywhere can take what feels like an eternity on the small, windy roads (albeit the view is not so bad).



3) The Russians
It's easy to mistake Goa Beach for Brighton Beach. More flights from Russia to Goa than any other location. Haven't done the math, but Goa maybe the closest warm beach from southern siberia. Notice the bookshelf at the reading room of our Taj:



*So, um, yeah, I didn't go to the beach in Goa. But there's always next time!

The Good Indian Wife

Despite many advances in India--including quotas for women in the parliament and a female President--women's empowerment here is often sorely lacking.

Case in Point, Prabhu Deva (famous South Indian actor) and his wife: Prabhu Deva is cheating on his wife and refuses to stop.

What's a good Indian wife to do?
No, the answer is not opt for a divorce. The answer is clearly to go on a public hunger strike and burn pictures of the mistress in street protests. Yup, that sounds about right.

Super difficult quiz: which photo below features Prabhu Deva's wife and which one features his mistress?

Not sure if it's the social pressure--how could it be more honorable to be cuckqueaned than divorced? May be the fundamental problem is the legal system.

If divorce (with alimony and child support) were easier, many married women would be much happier. Just like my theory that if suing businesses were easier, customer service would drastically improve in this country.

Common Wealth Games: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Oh the Common Wealth Games. Where to even begin? Let's start with reverse order of the post title cliche with a couple of bonuses.

The Ugly
* Copious debris and waste at games village
* Dog and human feces in athletes rooms at unexpected places

The Bad
* Shoddy construction (e.g. pedestrian bridge collapsing, ceiling tiles falling)
* Lax security standards
* Massive graft (e.g >1000% cost over-run, $80 toilet paper rolls)

The Good
* Despite all the hiccups, the opening ceremony was quite well-received

The Awesome
* India hires 38 langur monkeys to guard the games village and stadia. This is pretty sweet (full article here)

The Stupid
Why would Indian authorities offer to host an event with very little upside if a success but enormous embarrassment if a failure? When was the last time anyone heard of or watched the Common Wealth Games? Doesn't India alone account for some 80% of the Common Wealth's collective population anyway? India's disastrous organization has given the games more publicity than anything else in the games' history.

*****

Separately, apologies for the dearth of posts lately. Many of you know the reasons why. I'll be more in full force by end of this week!