Reunion Week turned into Reunion Month! I actually wasn't going to write more about it since I've had enough (in a nice way of course!). I've also injured my hand and haven't been able to type much. But then I read Guyana Gyal's comment on my last post and it made me smile. So my dear friend GG, this one is for you.

After meeting N and K earlier during that week, I thought it couldn't get any better... until the weekend! It turned out to be super fun and interesting. A friend of mine is studying for his MBA at a college in Germany and was in town with a bunch of his classmates. They were from Germany, Columbia, Mexico, Spain and a few dozen more countries :-) So we decided to show them South Bombay because frankly that's all the Bombay you really need to see anyway. I'm talking about Victoria Terminus and Fort, Colaba, the Gateway of India, Marine Drive etc. NOT Peddar Road, Malabar Hill, Cumballa Hill, Breach Candy, and all those other snooty places where if someone even farts you'll probably see diamonds popping out of their asses!

A half-day trip was planned to Elephanta Caves, which is an ancient heritage site on an island about an hour away from the city (which was also formed by joining together seven different islands!). I had to drop out at the last minute because I wasn't feeling too good the previous night, so I decided to join them later in the day.

So in the evening when they'd all been fed and had rested after their trip to Elephanta, I went to meet the MBA gang, bearing the gift of my freshly baked chocolate walnut fudge brownies! We hung for a bit and chatted, then headed to dinner. Which was at Khyber, one of the oldest, most popular restaurants for cuisine from the Northwest Frontier. The size of the place and the opulent yet classy decor blew them away. They even got excited by the two Husain original paintings on the walls. I decided to name drop a little and told them that I'd met him. Years ago, at his home, we drank tea and chatted and the next day I wrote an article about he also designed and painted on children's furniture. They were amused. True story, by the way.

I was in charge of ordering the food and wine, and for a change I was actually nervous doing it. Luckily, I got it right and everybody loved my choices. So we drank some Portuguese Rose and ate a variety of kebabs and naans, kulchas and lentils. The food was really good but I have to say this, I can make a better dal makhani. I was disappointed by Khyber's watery and extra "tomatoey" version of this simple and beautiful dish. I'm not kidding, but I do make a mean dal makhani. There are some folks who could vouch for it too :-)

I was really amused when everyone refused to have any dessert at the restaurant because they all wanted to eat the "brownies lying the car." Nervous again.... but it was fine. Brownies all got polished off within seconds, no kidding!

By the time we finished dinner at Khyber, their nightclub - Red Light - was in full swing and we could see the city's swish set all line up outside. We decided to go somewhere less noisy, where we could chat and have a few drinks. A couple of calls were made and we decided on Busaba in Colaba. The ambience there was really great and I was listening to some good house music after ages. We downed some beers and talked about the night life in Germany and Bombay. They had a lot of questions, as anyone who comes to India always has. The diversity, the vastness, the density, the stark contrasts of poverty and wealth, of the modern and the traditional, of spirituality and materialism, of progress and corruption, the list goes on.

People kept walking in and out of the lounge, tripping in their stilettos and high boots, standing outside on the quiet, narrow road, flicking the ash off their diamond studded wrists, the smoke from their cigarettes mingling with the stench of the stale night, the perspiration of the night watchman, and their designer perfumes. It was the fragrance of the city; if you could capture Bombay in a bottle this is how it would smell - the dreams and sighs of over 20 million people all intermingling.

The questions continued about why some people dressed a certain way and some didn't, and how some people ate certain foods and some didn't. The longer you look into the mirror held up in front of you, the better you know yourself, or as in this case, your city, your hometown.

We left, slightly buzzed and half in thought, and decided to show them the city's solace at night - Marine Drive. Where art deco buildings from the 1960s rub shoulders with plush hotels, ice cream parlours and fast food joints. A lovely, winding promenade along the sea with tall lamp posts all lit up and so arranged that the glittering row of lights dotting the island city's skyline, forms a sort of "Queen's Necklace".

It was 1.30 am and everyone from a prince to a pauper was out on Marine Drive, canoodling, playing, strolling or speeding down. A good time to show off a hot red Lamborghini, if you have one. While the odd horse and buggy strut along, and balloon sellers try selling you a piece of the sky late into the night, and bhutta (roasted corn-on-the-cob), peanut, and ice cream sellers offer midnight snacks.

We went slow at first, pointing out the most expensive apartment building, the "other" hotel that the terrorists attacked in 2008, etc. Then someone wanted to pee, so we sped on ahead, turned around and zoomed right back while the wind did crazy things to our hair. Back at their hotel, we said our goodbyes and promised to keep in touch.

I came home a little after 2 am to a crazy Goan woman yelling about how late it was.... Well, it was just me in the mirror ;-)

Today, I'm taking a pretty Swiss Miss around my favourite parts of the city. (I just love doing this, there has to be a career in there somewhere!) So I'll write about the other places in detail later. Also, my hand is now ready to fall off.. Owww! Somewhere out there, somebody has a voodoo doll that looks like me. I don't know what is scarier though - the fact that they could be harming me or that there is a doll that resembles me!

Oh, I almost forgot - I had an unexpected visitor on Valentine's Day. We cooked lunch together, went to the movies, ate ice cream, came back home, lay on my bed and talked our hearts out. Thankfully, it was a girl! An old friend who I hadn't met in 3 years.

Till next time then, hopefully with pictures (if my hand holds up).