Mumbai 911

Thumbs Up Break Time

Bengali Sari Exhibition

Tuna Can in Elephanta Suite

Incense Burning Inside Taxi

Shrimp Kaliwalla

Hyderabadi Pomfret and Jera Rice

Crab with Garlic Butter Sauce

Wine Time on our private Balcony Overlooking Gateway of India

My plan to avoid Jet lag didn’t work. I slept very poorly. Sleeping pills didn’t work, unfortunately. Our friend John, from San Francisco, is meeting us in Mumbai and travelling with us. He is staying at a hotel near the Taj. When I awoke there was an email from him saying he was in great pain, his leg had swelled up, he didn’t know what to do and asking for our immediate help.

We contacted his hotel and they couldn’t reach him by house phone or by pounding on his door. I said I would be right over to determine what was happening. When we arrived John was in the lobby and said his leg had swollen up and was extremely painful. We suggested he come to the Taj with us where we had breakfast by the pool. 

After breakfast, John took a nap in our suite while Cathy and I took a long walk through the Coloba neighborhood where the Taj is located. We visited an Art gallery and then a museum where we saw an excellent exhibit of extremely rare Bengali Sari's.

At a Western style grocery store, we bought a can of Tuna Fish to commemorate Paul Theroux’s novel about an American staying at the Elephanta Suite who is so afraid of Indian culture and food that he brings cases of canned tuna fish to his room, refusing to eat anything but the canned tuna while stays in the room, looking out the window. He does eventually leave the room and becomes a Jain Monk, completely  leaving his Western identity behind. Because we are staying in the Elephanta Suite, I wanted  to capture that aspect of the book by taking a photo of the canned of tuna fish in our room . I am also thinking of taking the can to Paul Theroux and getting him to autograph it.

When we returned to the room, it was apparent that John was not improving, his leg had swollen up and he was in great pain. He also was having difficulty taking appropriate steps to resolve his medical problem. We insisted we call the Taj in-house doctor who quickly diagnosed that John was having a deep vein thrombosis in his leg – this is a common ailment caused by long flights. This is a potentially very serious condition and requires immediate hospitalization – it is not to played with. The doctor was very surprised that John wasn’t advised to get a shot of Heparin before flying a long distance. Luckily John had the foresight to purchase Medical Travel Insurance. We were able to call the company in America from my Indian cell phone and they appeared to be quite competent, reassuring and helpful. 

People our age when travelling abroad should ALWAYS get this type of Insurance. Indian Hospitals do NOT accept American Insurance. You need to pay cash or you don’t get treated. The costs are less than in America (the most expensive medicine in the world). The Taj doctor recommended the Breach Candy Hospital, which is one of the top hospitals in Mumbai and extensively used by American Expatriates. All of the hospital workers speak English. The Taj doctor arranged in advance for John to be admitted and requested a wheel chair to take John down stairs (he couldn’t walk). Shortly a young hotel worker brought an office chair with wheels. Woops, small mis-communication, he left with that chair and quickly returned with a real wheel chair. We were taken to the front where they hailed an air-conditioned taxi to take us to the Breach-Candy Hospital. This would be John’s one Mumbai sight seeing event and the driver showed us landmarks along the way. He was born in Bombay and said it will always be Bombay to him and not Mumbai. He said about 80 percent of the residents say Bombay in daily usage.

Breach Candy hospital was wonderful. They were expecting John's arrival, and immediately took him to a private room with a magnificent view of the Arabian Sea. The place could be converted into a high-end hotel with a view like that. John has wifi in the room. The service is immaculate, offering all kinds of teas and cookies for us. I filled out all of the paper work to get John admitted. They requested 100,000 rupee charge to get him admitted on John’s Credit Card which I signed for.

John had a Xerox of his US Passport with him, but did not have a Xerox of his Indian Visa. I always travel with a copy of my passport put never realized the importance of also copying your Visa if the country requires one. I will in the future make a copy! To complete the paperwork they needed the real Passport and Visa. I promised I would go to John’s hotel and retrieve his Passport and Visa, I would also need to   pack the items in his room into the suitcase that he left behind. I was afraid the hotel wouldn’t release John’s passport to a stranger, so John used my cell phone to call to the hotel and request they do so.

The doctors removed John’s sock and we saw the swollen leg and the attendant redness from a probable infection. 

They wheeled John off for some tests and we knew our tasks were almost complete. We said goodbye to the staff and had the staff hail a taxi for the return trip to the Taj.

The cab driver was a caricature of a Bombay taxi driver. He swore, he farted, he burped, he kept lighting incense in the car which thankfully covered his smells and maybe brought a little of pleasure of the Gods as he swerved through the endless cars, people, trucks, busses and occasional Cow on the return trip to the Taj. When arrived we immediately walked to John’s hotel where we retrieved his Passport, and luggage. Ever intrepid, there was one more store Cathy wanted to shop at, so trailing the luggage behind me we walked to the store. There was nothing of interest so we retreated back to the Taj.

It was time for us to have some wine and relax on our deck overlooking the Gateway of India towards Elephanta Island. For dinner there was no doubt: Trishna our favorite restaurant in Bombay. Shrimp Kaliwali (very Spicy), Crab with Butter, garlic sauce (out of the shell), Pomfret Hyderabadi Style (fillets covered in black pepper), Jera Rice, Garlic Butter Naan, a bottle of Sula White Wine. It was a perfect meal (well the wine could have been better). No leftovers! We took a Taxi back to the Taj and went to the Club Room for a final night cap of cognac and chocolate. We returned to our room - I was exhausted and took a stronger sleeping pill (we have them in all strengths) and slept like a baby for a full nights sleep. I am writing this blog in the morning. Jet Lag 0, Cliff 1.

We plan to rest today here at the Taj, and then visit John later at the Hospital.