Jamshedji Tata Road (3)

The street that threads the fraternal-twin pillars of Churchgate station (Victorian Gothic) and Eros Cinema (High Deco) is a fine example of Indian urban planning. If Churchgate is the beating heart of downtown Bombay, this is its vena cava. Yet the principle here is manifestly chalta hai. The 45-watt streetlamps, placed at vast intervals, cast an orange haze over the street but illuminate nothing. To the extent that the sidewalks are navigable, it is courtesy of the fluoro bulbs dangling from food stalls and the gas flames of peanut-roasters. Normally chased off of pavements for their presumed infringement on public goods, here the equation is flipped and the municipality mooches off of the little guy.

I'd much rather be having hakka noodles fried to order, an omelette, some chicken lollipop — all of which are within arm's reach. But I have made a commitment, so I sidle up to the tray of flattened bondas and grudgingly ask for one chutneywala. I force myself to chew. I swallow. 'Nuff said. (And it's only day 4. Is this what it's like to be married?)

[Yes, day 3 was a bye. I'll make up for it tomorrow.]