November 24, Mumbai, India

Pre-cruise visit: Our ten little (fake) Indians settled into the beautiful Oberoi Hotel with our director, Helen Megan, who flew here two days earlier to make sure we would receive a royal welcome. And that we did, despite the intense heat and pollution outside. Friendly, courteous staff, and free breakfasts to die for! On the 26th, my birthday, I was greeted with beautiful roses and two birthday cakes

Mumbai is a cluster of seven tiny islands, populated by swaying coconut palms. Above the din of a dozen languages, including English, rise the raucous cries of vendors who hawk just about everything from steaming rice cakes served with spicy curry to pocket kerchiefs, plastic hair clips, cheap pens, sliced cucumbers and garlands of sweet smelling jasmine. Beggars move nimbly through the chaos, soliciting alms from the charitable.

Mumbai is not for the faint-hearted. Almost twelve million people live here on the west coast of India. Hindus, Muslims, Jains, sikhs, Christians, Jews, etc. People so diverse in culture and race and religion that coexistence is almost a miracle. Yet, coexist they do and live in towering skyscrapers and sprawling slums, migrating from vast rural hinterlands to find their destiny in the country,la financial district. Forty percent o its taxes from Mumbai alone and nearly half the nation’s maritime comes through its splendid harbour. India’s most powerful businessmen, flashy film stars, artists, musicians, writers all live here on this narrow tongue of land, lapped by the warm waters of the Arabian Sea. Further north is Bollywood, the nucleus of India’s movie industry, that churns out a staggering nine hundred films a year.

Helen arranged a private bus tour of the city lit up at night and dinner at the Royal Mumbai Yacht Club.

To be continued.