Now that I’m safe and sound in the home of my college friend, Avanti Maluste, I can take my time to recuperate and rest before resuming my journey in Hyderabad. I managed to finally hunker down and read; I managed to finish Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns and Barack Obama’s Dreams of my Father in one sitting while Avanti worked from home (and thus depriving me of a computer). Feels good to read again.

I said goodbye to Ryu in Udaipur and left for Mumbai via an overnight sleeper bus (a 16 hour ride):

This midnight rest stop nearly didn’t mind my being the only non-Indian among them

This was my 6′ x 2′ cell that I inhabited for 16 hours straight; water was dripping on me half the time:

The bus then dropped me off many many miles away in Bandra. A hornet’s nest of taxi drivers attempt to help:

Before long, I finally found a way my way to Avanti’s home. I had to exercise a lot of memory in directing 2 cab drivers where she lived on Malabar Hill.

While finally arriving at her apartment, she demanded for me to…”serve” it good:

Ahh, rest awaits me in what finally seems to be a real bed…

- At time of posting in Bombay, India, it was 80.6 °F -

Humidity: 94% | Wind Speed: 10km/hr | Cloud Cover: scattered clouds