India (Frommer's, 4th Edition) (54 page)

Clothing is one of Mumbai’s major exports, and at
Fashion Street
(Mahatma Gandhi Rd., across the road from Bombay Gymkhana), a motley collection of shops and stalls, you will pay a fraction of the prices asked in foreign stores. Much of what is here is surplus stock; other garments have been rejected by quality controllers. Start your haggling at under half the quoted price.

Taxi drivers get nervous when you tell them you want to visit
Zaveri Bazaar
(jewelry market)
(Sheik Memon St.; Mon–Sat 11am–7pm). You’ll soon discover why. Shoppers and space-fillers shuffle and push their ways endlessly through narrow gaps in this cluttered, heaving market, and it’s often impossible to inch forward by car—or even on foot. Behind the street stalls and milling masses, glittering jewels are sold from family shops. If the glitzy accessories don’t fascinate you, perhaps you’ll be drawn to packed
Mumbadevi Temple,
where the city’s namesake deity is housed. Activity around the temple is chaotic, with devotees splurging to prove their devotion to the powerful goddess.

Less familiar to tourists, is
Null Bazaar
(20 SV Patel Rd.;
022/2346-1008
), where you can browse the
Bombay Lungi Market
for namesake lungies (sarongs made for men, more typically worn in South India) crafted from Madras cotton.

Catch a Bollywood Blockbuster

You can’t say you’ve properly done the biggest film-producing city on earth if you haven’t gone to the cinema to catch a blockbuster. Listings are found in daily newspapers, where you can also determine quality and even figure out the storyline by reading reviews written by contenders for the world’s bitchiest critic; alternatively, ask your hotel concierge for recommendations. Of course, you can always get completely into the swing of things by picking up a copy of one of Bollywood’s gossip magazines.
Filmfare
and
Stardust
not only fill you in on what’s hot or what’s not, but are crammed with glossy, airbrushed close-ups of silver-screen idols. Even though the growth of multiplexes has killed virtually all the old cinema houses, some still offer historic Art Deco appeal. Get tickets to watch a film at the once wonderful but now run-down
Eros Cinema
(opposite Churchgate Station;
022/2282-2335
) or lovely
Liberty Cinema
(
022/2203-1196,
a short walk from Eros, near Bombay Hospital), where upper-stall (at Liberty) or dress-circle (at Eros) tickets (the best in the house) still cost under Rs 100. Besides the Bollywood melodrama, you get to admire the wonderful Art Deco interiors, with majestic high ceilings, white cedar and teak paneling, ’60s-style soda fountain, magnificent huge etched mirrors on the stairwells, mock fountains, and old movie posters. It’s possible to get a little more involved in the Bollywood scene, either by joining a personalized tour led by a working assistant director (with Beyond Bombay; ), or by getting yourself landed a part as an extra in a movie (scouts often trawl Leopold Café, looking for foreigners to add to the scenery of forthcoming blockbusters).

CRICKET

Although hockey is India’s official national sport, cricket
is by far the best-loved game, and even watching a group of schoolboys practicing in a field is an experience unto itself. Mumbaikars play the game with an enthusiasm that’s quite intoxicating—almost as if it provides some measure of relief from the hardships of daily life. In cricket-crazy India, the stars of the game are worshiped as keenly as film stars and gods, and Indian spectators at international games have the ability to transform even the blandest match into an exciting event.

During the season (Oct–Mar), several matches are held each week at
Wankhede Stadium
(Churchgate), which is where Mumbai’s big national and international games are hosted. Tickets are sold by the
Mumbai Cricket Association
(
022/2281-9910
or -2714), but it’s worth asking your concierge to arrange good seats for you at a decent price (top-tier tickets can go for as much as $100 officially, and up to $300 on the black market). There’s no doubt that watching a cricket match in an Indian stadium with tens of thousands of fans is one of the more fascinating experiences to be had in India, but if crowds make you nervous, watch the World Cup, Sharjah Cup, or any major cricketing event live at a local bar or lounge, with a few dozen cricket-crazy Indians to provide the spectacle.

Giggling Is Good for You

Mumbai is many things, including the hometown of Dr. Madan Kataria, the infectiously joyous man who spread
Laughter Yoga
to the whole world. Today there are nearly 90 laughter clubs in Mumbai alone, and over 5,000 around the globe. Dr. Kataria says that you don’t even need a sense of humor to take part in these vibrant and wonderfully relaxing, stress-relieving, life-changing sessions where you focus on breathing, body relaxation through stretching, and fun exercises that include different kinds of laughter-inducing techniques. It’s one sort of therapy you really should try out while you’re here—you can track down a club while you’re in Mumbai, or even start one back in your home town. Sessions in Mumbai happen early each morning throughout the city—a good choice is the club that meets at the Worli Sea Face, organized by Mohit Kapoor (
022/2422-8895
or 98-2006-5119). The website of
Dr. Kataria’s School of Laughter Yoga
has all the details, as well as contacts for clubs around the world (
022/2631-6426;
www.laughteryoga.org
), and explains how you can initiate your own laughter groups.