A birthday morning surprise, looking out a window of the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai (Bombay) at the green-carpeted quad beside India Gate.
Today, I am 35. Today, I am in Mumbai.
I arrived early this morning, landing around 4am; the ride from the airport, which was covered in haze, was as surreal as it was dimly lit. Racing along the Necklace on empty streets, we arrive at the Taj Mahal Hotel; peering through my room’s screened-in window, I see nothing of India Gate. Once called Prince Albert Gate, a gift to the citizens when the city was known as Bombay, it reveals itself in a glorious spring morning. The park, quad and statue commemorate Chhatrapati Shivaji, who united India against the British.
