Sunday 25 May
After another healthy sleep, breakfast and dose of reading, I met up with Chetan and his wife for a yummy Indian lunch at Bandra, a cool suburb of Bombay. Around 4.30pm I headed to Juhu Beach and wandered along this expansive stretch of sand on the Arabian Sea, warm like a bath and teeming with humanity.
More crowded than any beach I've seen in China, it was still a remarkably beautiful stretch with palm trees, blue skies and some amazing beachfront properties that looked like run-down bomb shelters. Groups of guys played cricket, girls ran into the sea fully clothed, and everyone was holding hands. As I got to the core of the crowd I found people selling fruit, photos, balloons and someone even offered me a smoke! Didn't feel threatened until I realised just how big the crowd that I was immersed in really was (and how many people could be hit by just one bomb blast - even though Mumbai is said to be very safe thanks to a strong mafia), and decided to head back to Vie Lounge and kick back on the other side of the fence.
This place was part Ku De Ta, part KM8, but with an art deco vibe that was entirely original and not forced at all. The crowd grooved to Sunday afternoon house music dished out by some quality British DJs while the Tiger flowed on. I lodged myself in the jutting out part of the deck and just observed both the party and its own group of observers on the beach. Overheard one of the Bollywood producer types say to his younger friend, "Act like a star, you're going to be one soon."
Hung around until I had my fill, then headed back for a shower, a light dinner and off to the airport. The midnight flight saw me sleepy and I half dozed for the 5 hour trip back to Singapore and a real Monday morning. Respect to the sub-continent.
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