Bombay in brief

Cites, like people, can be briefly described by referencing parts of other cities or people; "Bette Davis eyes," or a "Machiavellian personality." What one ends up with, of course, is a Frankenstein amalgam which lumbers about a reader's brain causing confusion and possibly destruction. But short of writing 10,000 words, or employing the talents of a poet, such crude methods must suffice.

That said, Bombay, or at least the parts of it I saw, is a blend of four American cities. Take the financial aspects of New York, with its penchant for tall buildings, hustle and bustle, and people looking for an "angle." Take the colleges of Boston, with the associated Wednesday-Friday-Saturday nightlife, coffee houses and random student gatherings. Take the materialism, retail boulevards and cult-of-personality from L.A. Finally, wrap all those aspects in a muggy beach city climate like Miami, and you get an approximation of the Bombay I saw.

May the image lumber around your heads for a while…