#10 Bombay

• Housing in Bombay is more expensive than New York. Legislation is so biased in favour of tenants, rather than landlords, that those seeking apartments are often asked to pay an 11-month deposit, on a 12-month lease to try and persuade people not to squat.
• Total energy demand in Mahrastra, the large state around Bombay: 15,200MW. Total supply: 9,5000MW. Result? Up to 18 hour a day blackouts in some rural areas. And riots. Who is to blame? Enron, claim the credulous authorities. They so looked forward to being able to benefit from Enron’s efficiency gains they forgot to build any new power stations in the late 1990s.
• Every Indian national election ever held has, at the time of its happening, been the biggest election ever. [from Edward Luce's book, Against the Gods.]
• Sachin Tandulkar has a restaurant in Bombay. It is called Tandulkars, and does lovely curried baby corn.

• Hotels I have stayed in whose names appear to herald great promise, but ultimately disappoint: the ocean view hotel; the lake-side inn; the rose garden house; the inn-crowd. [View above from the window of the "ocean view", Negumbo, Sri Lanka.]
  
• Thought: I am now in India. My USB Ports on my laptop are broken. If i call an IBM helpdesk, will it be a local call? Or, will i be put through to someone in Dublin, or Austen, pretending to put on an Indian accent? And if not the latter, how long until that actually does happen?
• People in India talk about the nuclearisation of the family, a rapid process ongoing process occurring simultaneously with the entry of women into the Labour force [conversation with Amand, the Herald Tribune’s South Asia correspondent.]
• The Indian national cricket team has a think tank.