I had always dreamed that visiting India at some point in my life would be a pilgrimage and it turned out to be exactly that – my own version of “Eat, Pray, Love” and a pilgrimage of fun!

When my friend Sabrina asked me to travel with her and her husband to India to attend their friends wedding in Bangalore, I thought when opportunity knocks, open the door! An unplanned adventure while navigating matters of the heart sounded perfect! I was reeling with excitement and in less than 3 weeks I would be off to India. I didn’t anticipate that two days before we were to leave she would tell me she couldn’t make it. Therefore, I would be flying to a foreign land without Sabrina but with her husband, Yoav, a sweet and charming Israeli, and staying with her relatives in Mumbai without her.

The first part of this adventure started in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, but everyone living there goes back and forth with what the city should be called. It’s very confusing! Quite honestly I did not know what to expect from this city or the whole trip in general for that matter. I knew it would be bustling and hot. Just imagine the worst heat wave New York recently had, add the traffic and congestion of Time Square at rush hour during the holidays, then add pimped out taxi’s, cows, goats, stray dogs and cats- rickshaws everywhere and now multiply that by 20. Millions of people all living cheek-by-jowl in soaring skyscrapers and sprawling slums. Ladies and gentleman – welcome to Mumbai!! The people come from diverse ethnic backgrounds and speak in over a dozen tongues, all adding color, flavor and texture to this melting pot. The energy is high and the pace is fast but they do slow down for Tea Time. I loved every minute of it – quirks and all!

Mumbai is a one-stop shopping center for practically every kind of product and handicraft that India has to offer, from hand-woven cloth and leather, to antiques, silver and casual designer wear. With the exception of the government shops and some of the stuffier boutiques, no one will raise an icy eyebrow when you haggle. Together with Sabrina’s cousin Ooshin who became my guide, host and long lost sister, we hit it off shopping until we dropped! Dodging the insane traffic and beating the heat with our personal driver, (I can get use to that kind of service and attention). I was happy to have Oosh for all the bargaining and haggling while shopping. She is Parsi, both sharp and feisty, and one does need this kind of attitude while shopping in India or they will take advantage of you. I got used to saying nay nay (no no) following her lead (with a hand gesture of course) when we weren’t happy about the offer. I thought I got all the shopping out of my system until I arrived in Kerala, where I just couldn’t resist the textiles and jewelry.

EAT: Indians have more than a hundred ways of cooking meat – and nearly twice as many ways of preparing a single vegetable. In fact, the cuisine varies from state to state -a culinary cornucopia. In Mumbai, you can certainly explore the broad culinary categories. Although most five star hotels boast several types of Indian cuisine on the menu, smaller restaurants are well worth a visit and offer a more local ambiance. You can have rich north Indian fare accompanied by chappatis (the flat unleavened bread of India), spicy southern curries with rice or steaming idlis, gujarati thalis (MY FAVORITE) with their limitless range of vegetarian dishes, or even delicately flavored fresh water fish. When I thought it couldn’t get any better it was time to eat again. It was non stop eating during this trip too. See below for some of the restaurants I visited and highly recommend if you are ever in Mumbai.

PRAY: Isn’t dancing liking praying? Well, I had 5 days of non-stop fun in Bangalore at the Hindu Wedding. Praying is getting in touch with your inner self…I just feel my soul, my instinct, my past…or maybe it’s more of a meditation? Well I must say I especially feel in touch with my true self when I dance…it is such a powerful feeling! Read more >

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