Mumbai - Day 1

Well, i got to Mumbai on 30th August, i had previously had a delay from Lahore to Karachi due to a bad weather, but no such problem on my flight to Mumbai. Got there in the early afternoon and surprising it took me only about 20-25 minutes to get out of the airport. They had an extra checking feature for Pakistanis but still it was all super easy and super fast. Awesome!

Met up with Samir (the groom), Richa (the bride), her father and two brothers. We went down to a local eatery called Yogi - Chinese Indian style restaurant with not the best taste in music and food that took forever to prepare and wasn't especially good. But there was A LOT of good food coming my way over the next couple of days.

Samir and Richa

Uncle Arjun party guy

Gaurav and I

Went home, which at that time, was the Reliance guesthouse in ChunnaBhatti. Got dressed and drove down to Arjun (Richa's Uncle) party. Almost had an altercation with 5 rowdy youngsters cause my driver had blocked there way as we had stopped for the train to pass. Anyways, got to the party which was at the CCI Lounge which is like an ultra exclusive spot, they dont even accept new members anymore. Arjun Uncle rocked the evening, great hospitality, amazing liquor, even better tidbits to eat, met some really lovely people from both sides of the family, also got to meet with Gaurav, friend from college. Exceptionally good evening and great dinner i might add.

After the party which lasted a mere 3 hours and ended at 11 pm we, now this included Samir, Richa, Gaurav, Manish (Samir's brother in law) an awesome fella, really lively, and Pranay Richa's brother headed out to the bars. First up was Jeffries' a nice little hangout where we had some tequila shots and a couple of drinks. Then we went on to a new place called 'dragon-fly'. A very trendy little nightclub located in an office building. Restaurant by evening, club by night, it was ultra cool. Alcohol was ultra expensive as it is all over Mumbai, had a margarita and some beer.

That was it for Day-1, i was exhausted but there was much more in store for Day-2.

Mumbai visit

I was in Mumbai for the past week for a friends wedding. stayed at the comfy guest house (Swadeshi apartments) of Reliance in Chunna Bhatti, Central Bombay. It was somewhat discomforting but quite enlightening to see the stark difference between the Mumbai slum-dwellers and those quite well-off living virtually side by side.

Had a great time at the wedding and could not help but relate all the customs, rituals and events to weddings here in Pakistan. Ill be writing in detail of things i did but currently need to get back to work =)