Day 5 - Even more shopping

View of street in front of Cottage Industries
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Ganesh Chaturthis was pretty cool, but the cover of this morning’s Hindu Times has pictures from Chowpatty beach’s festival. Hundreds of people are in the water, pulling on ropes, dragging 50 foot tall Ganesh’s across the beach and into the sea. The scenes are unreal, and our night doesn’t compare.

More shopping today. We’re taking my mom to the crafts stores near Colaba and then heading to Roopam to pick up the shirvani that Jen and my mom wanted me to buy (I got tired of arguing about it with everyone, so I said I’d wear the one they picked out). We eat lunch at Indigo, which is behind the Taj hotel. A cool place with great western food. Our guidebook says Bill Clinton ate here. After lunch we pass through one last shop, where I find a lecture of Slick Willie shopping in the store.

Fountain at Indigo
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We get to Roopam, I select the Shirvani, mojari (which are the pointy toed shoes), and a turban. Afterwards back to the hotel, for a well deserved nap poolside. We’re all dying for something eat, so we ordered Dominoes pizza. It’s not exactly like the Dominoes in the US, but it’s pretty close, and at this point it doesn’t really matter.

We have dinner at my aunt and uncle’s place, which is only a few blocks from the hotel. In this flat (apartment) live my aunt, uncle, their two married sons with their wives, and two kids. In India it’s very common for adult children to live with their parents even after they’re married and have kids. In this case, each family has it’s own master suite in which they live. Did I mention that the flat is at the Cricket Club of India (CCI). CCI is private cricket club with its own stadium (Brabourne Stadium), hotel, and private residences. The hotel is part of the stadium complex, along with several restaurants, and all the usual health club and hotel facilities. Initially the club’s pitch and stadium were used for club play, but in 1972 they began hosting international competition. We enjoyed a few beers in the members only lounge and spent some time with my cousin and his wife.

View of Mumbai from the Hilton's pool
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Shorty entry today, expect more details tomorrow. Cow count is up to 8.