Friday, December 29, 2006

A change of pace: ox carts and elephants

One of the advantages of being the eldest of a family generation scattered to the four corners of the Earth is that there are lots of weddings to attend, and children to look at and say "Isn't he/she/it adorable? Looks the spitting image of (insert name of relative)..."

And so you might guess that I'm doing that at the moment and I welcome you to Mumbai accordingly. My cousin Clyne is getting married next week to the mysterious Nisha - only mysterious because Clyne isn't terribly communicative, I admit - and I'm in town easing back into the routine of commuting around Mumbai, spending time sitting in the front room in Mahim chatting with relatives, passing friends of the family and, in fact, anyone who just fancies dropping in.

The other advantage is that the temperature is in the low nineties here, the beer is cold and my aging bones are beginning to respond to the low-stress environment. I've worked out how to get around from my hotel near the airport, and despite the occasional need to shoehorn myself into a space smaller than I would necessarily choose simply to get onto a bus (standing room for 21? Try 210...), all is well.

I'll be reporting from the wedding next week, and keeping an eye on events here in the big city, so watch this space...

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