Coffee and Conversations in Mumbai

It was the Monday before Thanksgiving, about 10:30 am, and Eric and I were in Mumbai (Bombay), India for the week. It was our second full day. I stopped into a local Mumbai café called Mocha to do some work while Eric is doing a media event at the nearby Oberei Hotel. We arrived on Saturday night and spent most of Sunday in exploration.

Monday in Mumbai is a busy time. Everyone is in transit, although sometimes the expected hierarchy of speed is usurped in the gridlock of city traffic. The free-for-all that is Mumbai traffic is chaos and perfection at the same time. The waiter just brought my coffee – mocha au lait. Although India is supposed to be known for their coffee, I am not impressed. The tables around me seem more concerned with the smoking machines that are available for checking out from the establishment - hookahs. The chrome detailed and are level with me as I sit. Black to grey objects sit upon foil and create the smoke which is breathed in. Whole tables share the smoking machine and conversation, casually and with little determination to finish. I think I have landed at the local college café as almost all of the patrons are younger but there are no books to be seen.

Our hotel is far outside of the city center but near the airport. The drive into downtown this morning took just at an hour and while faster than predicted adds some complexity to sightseeing. Infrastructure and public transportation in particular seems underdeveloped here. From what I’ve seen in Shanghai (not that it can be considered typical of China from what I’ve read) in comparison to Mumbai (touted as India’s financial and business center), China has a monumental jump in its efforts to enter the legion of developed countries.

I ordered breakfast, taking the waiter's suggestion to try a traditional Indian Suffi breakfast:



Vegetarian with cooked carrot and other vegetables spiced heavily and then cookedwith eggs, it was a treat. Given all the bird flu concerns, I couldn't bring myself to eat the yellow portions, but all and all, a real treat. For about two hours, I worked from Mocha with my laptop and soaked in the universal scene around me of friends enjoying a good breakfast and conversation but with a new and vibrant feeling. These were people younger than me and in many ways more dressed like "Americans" than I was. Unfortunately, I didn't engage in any conversations this day so I am left with only the memory of my eyes and the tickling of my nose as insights.

I hope to start posting more regularly now. Thanks for all the nice comments of concern from family, friends,and concerned readers. I am still having some trouble with my arm (something like shin splints of the forearm and elbow or tendonitis) but am feeling somewhat better.