St. Theresa's (6)

Everything but the street stalls being closed today — Republic Day mubarak ho — I felt more or less assured of finding a newsstand with a fresh copy of Time Out. The Mumbai Festival is about to make its exit and the Kala Ghoda Festival is waiting impatiently in the wings. I wanted to check theatre listings and was pretty certain I hadn't just missed them in my Navbharat, though I do miss plenty. For instance, I see from the headline that one Chahat Khanna takes the position of "Expose ki khilaf." A highly controversial one, I may add — contortionistic, even. But all I got from the interview was at that at this point in her career she's "jitna kar rahi."

Anyway. Slipped out the door without disturbing the landlady's astrology session and slid down into town. Was pretty sure there was a Pali Hill Festival on today, but Nargis Dutt Rd. was Planet of the Apes. Pali Naka: zip. Turner Road: nada. Waterfield Road: kuchh bhi nahin. Finally I homed in on Bandra's spiritual center: National College.

The 15-m.-sq. park opposite it bristled with illicit couples. Householders in tight formation brisk-stepped around the jogging track like jawans on Janpath. Presumably they were squeezing in a whole year's worth of exercise. Opposite that, a newsstand. And opposite that (good thing Google Maps isn't up yet) a man, calling attention to himself with a Pesci-esque strut, lit a match beneath a kadai.