Kashmir Carpet Day

Street Food Snacks 

Eggplant

Fish, Goan Style

Political Sign at Restaurant

We started our day carpet shopping. In India that means dealing with Kashmiri Rug dealers, for they have the carpet market  cornered. The basic rule of thumb is try to bargain them to ½ of what they originally ask. No matter, the transaction will end with you happy and the Kashmiri smiling. They will always win at this game.

We went to several shops, didn’t buy anything yet, but the game can be played over several days. We walked around visiting art galleries, clothing and textile stores and just enjoying the old Colaba area of Bombay. The traffic is horrendous, and when crossing a street you have to be extra careful. We usually wait for a group of Indians to cross the street and join them. The weather here in Bombay is hot and humid. Even after a short walk we were perspiring.

The Indian Newspapers are full of articles about Trump, most all of them negative. His immigration ban and especially the talk of limiting H1B Visas for high-tech workers has greatly damaged the Indian Stock Exchange. He is not only damaging America but the economy of foreign countries like India. In addition, about 18% of India is Muslim who are certainly not fans of trump. The most common sentiment I hear from talking to non-Americans is: We thought America was different, was special, what is happening to your country? It is just like every other country now. It is hard to explain what is happening. This has definitely been the trip to India where we couldn’t escape America and Trump being the dominate subject of conversation.

After shopping we returned to the Taj to the pool area to relax and read. After cleaning up, we headed to the bar for a Gin and Tonic (perfect for this climate). We decided to try a new restaurant for us: Bombay Canteen. It is the creation of Floyd Cardoz, who wrote an Indian cookbook we like: Flavorwalla. "Walla" by the way is Hindi for a man that does some kind of work. You could say doodhwalla (man who sells milk (doodh), etc. In this case – Flavorwalla: man who adds flavor to food. Cute title. Outside of the restaurant was a large sign protesting US immigration policy. The US in not making any friends.

At Bombay canteen (a restaurant that could easily be a hip restaurant in Los Angeles) we started with street snacks (here they were safe to eat, we were in a restaurant not eating off the street). We then had excellent fish, eggplant and coconut rice. The neighborhood around the restaurant is very middle class, with tons of young people who obviously work in the financial and high tech industries of India. To get there (about 45 minutes drive from The Taj) the doorman hailed us a cab, who drove us to the restaurant, waited for us to eat, then returned us back to the hotel. The total cost was 1800 rupees or about -$ 27.00 for the 3-1/2 hours we had him. The Taj somehow, watches over us, they know what cab we were in, and where we went, if there is any trouble they can contact us. It is amazing.

We always enjoy the nightly complimentary Cognac and Chocolate at the Taj.  How could we resist? We then staggered off to bed.