Spent a whirlwind 4 days in Mumbai during Diwali. This is what my schedule was like:

* Eating
* Shopping
* Chatting with friends (actually trying to above the loud cracker bursts)
* Eating some more
* Shopping some more
* Chatting some more!

Mumbai looked pretty, especially during the night. All lighted up, decked in her most resplendent jewellery, she shone and sparkled. In fact, flying out on Sunday evening, I looked out of the window and the usually lighted city looked even brighter, and with the crackers going off at regular intervals, it made for a pretty sight indeed.

I found it unusually hot. I think I’ve got a little spoilt after the cooler climes of Bangalore. I also realized that there is no city like Mumbai for shopping! So I made the most of my trip, with a willing friend who kept telling me how much she misses all our shopping expeditions.

Visited heaps of old friends. Spent some precious time with them. Eating. Chatting. Catching up. It was hectic all right. The highlight however remained binge eating. To kick-start the visit, I visited my favourite fish place in Mumbai – Gajalee. After that a good friend treated me to a meal of yummy mustard fish and delicious chicken. Evening, it started with chicken and paneer appetizers at a friend’s place followed by dinner at Peking Tom, where we decided on prawns, since all of us had already had too much chicken! Then another round of Gujju oondew oondhiyu (it was delicious, though I am sure the spelling is wrong!) that my art sir’s wife cooked up for lunch.

If I ate anymore, I was sure they would not allow me on the flight back on one ticket!!

Boy, was I was relieved to get back to my cat on Sunday!

Vaish gave me the good news that I had passed 1a of my French. Meaning I can now go onto the next level. Of course, I have to thank this brilliant woman, the topper of 1b, who went over the basic fundas and helped clear my million doubts just a few days before the exams and saved me from getting really dismal marks!

We watched a play called Marathon, on Monday at the Ranga Shankara complex, Bangalore’s answer to Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai! Vaish could not stop raving about how cool the place was (a hop, skip and jump away) and how the suburb of JP Nagar had finally arrived!

It is a really nice complex with a small, but cosy auditorium, coffee area and a bookshop. The centre stage itself is designed so that you get a good view of all the seats. It is a 300 seater complex, which means that nearly everyone gets a clear view of the stage.

The bonus of watching the play was that not a single cell phone went off during the whole performance. Thanks to all the volunteers and Arundhati Nag herself who made a personal appeal to shut them off. Actually, it’s rather sad that they have to resort to begging people to switch of their cell phones. People should shut off their phones automatically when they enter cinemas and plays. Not only does it disturb the audience, it’s a real menace for the actors who I am sure can do without the disturbance. IMHO, if people cannot live without their phones for an hour, then they should not go for a play in the first place!

I have watched a few plays with cells going off every 10 minutes and it’s so irritating that I wouldn’t mind it if they ban phones during performances.

The other interesting thing about the play was that the protagonists actually jogged and acted through the whole 62 minute performance. It wasn’t called ‘Marathon’ for nothing! Coming from someone who can do neither, that was real impressive! I am definitely looking forward to more of such experiences. And with the complex pretty close to home, I hope my life will get a little more culturally enriched now!