Mumbai on December 15, 07
I had contacted Pushkar Kumar; a young artist, on Saturday morning, December 15, 07 to arrange a meeting for us and help me find reasonable hotels in the Juhu neighborhood of Mumbai.
So we decided to meet at the Prithvi Theater * (established in Juhu by Shashi Kapoor and wife Jennifer in 1978). I was pleased that Pushkar suggested to meet there first. I loved the theatre, its outdoor café and the atmosphere in general with the aroma of coffee and Chai. Before Pushkar's arrival, I wanted to take video footage of the theater's outdoor cafe and of theater's sign, I was told I couldn't without prior permission, which was not granted even after I asked the manager.
After a short discussion about the café, India and politics, Pushkar decided that we should leave the café and look for a hotel. We did and after about one hour, we found a reasonable hotel in the same block of the Sun n Sand hotel. It was the Sea Side hotel, which had good rooms. After I made reservations for Sunday night, which was my final night in India, Pushkar and I had a nice walk on the beach and I took video shots of him and of the lovely activities taken place near the beach, then headed to have dinner at a restaurant overlooking the Arabian Sea. It was one of two most relaxing days I had in Mumbai. The other day was when I spent it in the same beach area with my friend Pankaj.
At the restaurant and after about forty-five minutes from taking my first bite, I strangely felt weaker. With time, I began to feel heavy eyes and couldn’t finish my drink and food, so I asked Pushkar to leave and head to the street to get a taxi. At one point, I looked at my phone time and it registered in my mind as 9 pm, so I got worried because it takes an hour and a half to reach my friend’s house. That was the other reason why I decided to leave. But after I greeted Pushkar goodbye and the taxi began moving, I checked the time again and it was 8 pm!! How could that be? I felt sorry for rushing Pushkar to leave.
When I arrived at Santoshi’s apartment, she took pictures of me, and welcomed ten children and two adults at her apartment to introduce me to them and take my pictures with them. I felt awkward and overwhelmed. One of the children asked me cutely whether I was French. I did not understand why she thought so. But after I heard Santoshi make a comment about my “white skin,” I realized why the child thought I may have been French. It was surprising because though I had slightly lighter skin than hers, my skin was not white. After they left, I gathered my belongings and made them ready for my Sunday morning move to the hotel.
If I were familiar with the distances between the areas I was visiting and their characteristics, I would have met Shammi Kapoor at the Sun and Sand Hotel on Friday and moved to the adjacent Sea Side Hotel on Friday night. It would have been so convenient and more fun.
* First founded as a touring theater by Shammi Kapoor’s father, Prithviraj in 1944.
