We were scheduled to depart Jodhpur on a 2pm flight and arrive Mumbai at 4pm. But it seems that flights having anything to do with Mumbai are perpetually delayed. The complicating factor is that we were to meet Cliff and Cathy’s friends, Bollywood actors Kashmera Shah and her boyfriend Krushna, for dinner and they were going to pick us up at the airport. Mumbai is a huge city and, like in LA, it takes forever to drive from one side to the other. Krushna and Kashmera live in far northern Mumbai. Our hotel, the Taj Mumbai, is in the extreme south. To make logistics easier, we’d previously made arrangements with our tour operator to take our luggage from the airport directly on to the Taj Mumbai. Although we arrived much later than planned, thanks to the conveniences of text messaging on our Indian phones, Cliff and Kashmera were in constant contact.
K&K arrived in two cars and whisked us north to their favorite part of town, Juhu. Juhu is a wealthy area of Mumbai with “bungalows” (think three story white houses ringed with balconies) where the rich and famous live. We pulled into the ultra-chic JW Marriott Hotel with Las Vegas-style fountains in front and security posts that retract into the ground to keep vehicles from approaching.
Dinner was a lavish series of buffets reflecting cuisine from all over the world. I made small talk with the chef (a stunningly good looking native of Mumbai) feigning interest in recipes. Kashmera is a vegetarian on Monday and Tuesdays (giving up meat for religious reasons) so she avoided meat dishes. We had no such dietary restrictions and filled our plates with shrimp, chicken, pizza – and I haven’t even mentioned the Indian foods we sampled.
After dinner K&K drove us to see a local beach and then to a birthday party for an actor friend at a club on the beach. At the party K&K posed for paparazzi and were interviewed for the press. Needless to say, they are a glamorous couple!
