A Taste of Mumbai

Monday, January 15:

Our first full day in Mumbai started with lunch at Trisha, a popular seafood restaurant, located in the historic Churgate neighborhood. Our first course was crab slathered with garlic and butter sauce; luckily the restaurant provided bibs as well as fingerbowls after each course. Next was fish in masala sauce, accompanied by naan, and for dessert, we had lychee nuts with ice cream and kulfi, a delicious Indian specialty that is somewhere between ice cream and crème caramel.

To make up for the damage done at lunch, we decided to walk back to the hotel. We stopped in at Mumbai University, a lush campus of neoclassical and gothic architecture dating back to the mid-nineteenth century. Down the street from the University, we stopped at Mumbai City and Civil courts, where we observed a proceeding in progress. The courtroom was packed with both advocates and spectators, distinguished only by the white dickeys worn around the advocates’ necks. The court was hearing a construction matter and was quizzing counsel about the facts of the case. When wandering through the court building, we peaked into the Registrar’s Office, which was filled floor-to-ceiling with legal documents.




Dinner that night was hosted by Anil Harish, a prominent Mumbai attorney, at the Cricket Club of India. The Club is a relic of colonial days, with several restaurants, hotel rooms for members, a variety of sporting and recreational facilities, and a professional- size cricket stadium. At dinner at the outdoor barbeque restaurant, we were joined by Mr. Harish’s wife, Honi; his sister, who is also a partner in the law firm that bears his father’s name; and his nephew, who owns an on-line legal publishing company. Although we were still stuffed from lunch, we could not resist the grilled kabobs, vegetable biryani, and other South Indian delicacies, followed by mango ice cream, an Indian version of bread pudding, and a rice pudding with pistachio nuts on it.

During dinner, Mr. Harish told us about the legacy that his father started and that he and his sister continue. About thirty years ago, his father decided to provide scholarship money to any person who asked him for it; the only condition for continued support was that the recipient of the funds continue on to the next level. Other than that, there are no restrictions on the amount of the scholarship, the level of education, or the subject matter studied. To date, they have provided scholarships to over 1000 students, some of whom now have returned the favor by donating to the scholarship fund.

Tuesday, January 16:

On Tuesday, we were back to work. In the morning, we met with the CEO of Pangea3, which we believe is the largest legal outsourcing firm in India. Although the office is in an old building, the office itself is modern and has about 50-60 attorneys in cubicles working on projects ranging from document reviews to fifty-state and international surveys to research memos. In the late afternoon, we went to K.C. Law College where, in a room that was even too blue for Anne and Laurel, we taught what is now our standard four-hour seminar to a highly-engaged group of about 60 law students, professors, and attorneys. Our guest of honor was the Honorable Shaixa J. Vazifdar, Judge of the High Court.

Today’s gifts were ornate beaded clutch purchases, glasses cases, and tissue holders. The dinner that followed the presentation had a tropical theme, with fruit drinks with umbrellas in them and plenty of Mumbai’s signature dish: bhelpuri, a miniature version of puri bread filled a mixture of rice, lentils, lemon juice, onions, and herbs.

Wednesday, January 17:

This morning, we played tourist, spending our morning at the Taj Palace Hotel, built in 1903 by the Parsi industrialist J.N. Tata after he was supposedly denied entrance to one of the European hotels because he was “a native.” After massages and manicures, we had lunch poolside, taking a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of Mumbai street life.

This afternoon, we are off for a walking tour of the architectural highlights of the city with a tour group owned and operated by two female Mumbai architects.