Traveling to India is always a splendid thing.  There are many globetrotters who make it a regular stop, and there are those who make it a once in a lifetime thing, and it’s always a life-changing proposition.  It’s impossible to come here and not be touched in some significant way.  It’s almost as though some of the secrets of the human race are found here, and it is continually evolving, in an amusing, baffling, and wonderful way.  Mumbai is one of the major centers in India, as well as the world.  It attracts some of the country’s best artistic minds, drawn by the lures of Bollywood, the literary life, or the thriving alternative art communities that practice their craft here.  Mumbai could also very well have some of the world’s best restaurants.  Mumbai is a remarkable place.

There are many different cultures and languages that merge in the cityscape, with stunning results in the food that’s offered here.  Many regional types of cuisine are served in the restaurants, representing the best of India’s culinary history, and it has some of the tastiest food in the world.  Many people, when they think of Indian food, think of coconut and curry and extremely rich taste sensations.  That’s entirely true, of course, but there’s much much more.  Sample a few of the dishes at our excellent restaurants, and see for yourself what your new favorite food might be.  And if the literary life appeals to you, you might want to keep an eye out for Vikram Chandra.

He and his wife split their time between here and Oakland, California, in the U.S.  They both teach at UC Berkeley in the Creative Writing Department.  Chandra was born in New Delhi, and has degrees from Pomona, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Houston, and also had a short stint as a student at Columbia University, but left to write his first novel.  He’s written a few novels, and has also worked in screenwriting.  His latest work, Sacred Games, is 900 pages long, and has received critical acclaim from all over.  It is set in Mumbai in the recent past, and is a kind of guide to the underworld here, with a fantastic sense of the elusiveness of the city, and a flair for playing with the languages that are spoken here.

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