My flight to Bombay was about two hours late, so I landed at about 5:30 instead of 3:30. The drive from the airport (about 20 miles) took more than an hour. Bombay is vast. I kept thinking that we were almost there because surely this is downtown. But no.
Rough Guides has led me somewhat astray on the hotel, which it describes as a "smart, international standard hotel." I have a hard time squaring that with the actual hotel. Sure, it had a western style sit down toilet. But is that all that "international standard" means? Maybe it is a veiled reference to the fact that every other guest is an Arab? Which would also explain the two separate channels carrying Al Jazeera (or is it Al Arabiya? Whichever one has the sort of flame-looking logo.). But "smart" does not compute.
It's perfectly adequate, without being remotely inviting.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Arrival in Mumbai
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3 comments:
There's a new book out in the U.S. by an Indian author named Vikram Chandra who teaches at Berkeley these days. He got a $1 million advance, and the book (Sacred Games) is getting a lot of press (the publisher's marketing efforts presumably are commensurate with the size of the advance) in the last couple of weeks. I'm very tempted to pick it up, so I'd be curious if you hear anything about it or him while you're in Mumbai. Or, for that matter, about a non-fiction book about Mumbai called Maximum City (it's also in the TBR queue).
Not that you'll want to read it now, but Chandra wrote interesting piece in the Boston Review about authenticity and fiction.
A friend recommended it before I left, and I tried to find it to bring it with me, but couldn't. I want to read it when I get back. More thoughts on Mumbia soon.
It's about 900 pages, and only out (here, anyway) in hardcover, so maybe best to wait.
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