Kashmeri 3, USA 0

Sign of the day

Tom doing his Negotiating Walk

Ambani's driveway and art

Ambani's Billion Dollar House

Pool at the Taj

Crab, Gobi, Lamb, Okra, Rice, Dal

Chocolate and Silver Covered Kulfi

Today was Tom’s last day in Mumbai. We decided to go rug shopping. There is a guidebook that we like: “Love Mumbai” that recommends only 2 rug dealers in all of  Mumbai. I am sure there are thousands, but what the hell, we decided to go with what the book recommended. The dealer we chose was about an hour from the drive the Taj. Our driver had great difficulty finding the store. However Google Maps was actually accurate as to the address. Mumbai is a close second to Tokyo in the race to have a city where you can’t find anything. A typical Mumbai address would be: “Across the street from the post office, up a block from the fire station, near the intersection that is under construction.” Basically people drive to a location near where they want to go, then roll down a window and ask someone. Sometimes they are lucky and get an answer that is correct.

On the drive to the rug merchant, we drove around to show Tom Mukesh Ambani's house. It is the most expensive home in the world. He spent over 1 Billion dollars to build this 27 story house. 3 people live in it, it has a staff of over 200 people to maintain it. There are multiple guards with machine guns around the entrance. Talk about flashing your wealth!

Our driver after many calls to the store for directions, eventually found the rug dealer. I think all rug dealers in India are Kashmeri. I know that when you negotiate with them you are going to loose. We went into the basement store and they started pulling out rugs to show. There are a lot of variables in what makes a fine rug, thread per inch, design, quality of the silk, etc. Basically it finally boils down to what do you like, what can you afford and how hard do you want to bargain. Most people think cricket is the Indian National Sport, it isn’t bargaining is!

One interesting thing I learned was that Silk rugs look different depending upon how you look at them. They would show us a design and you would see a color. They would then spin the rug around 180 degrees and it would be a totally different shade. I did come to realize I like the feel of silk rugs.

Tom turned out to be a great negotiator. Once he decided in his mind what he wanted, he must have spent another hour taking pictures, walking around the rug, asking prices, getting email address so he could contact the dealer if wanted the rug. The Kashmeri dealer knew if he allowed to Tom leave without buying the rug, he would never hear from Tom again. Tom kept asking questions, looking at the rug, not committing. Finally after an hour of this subtle negotiations, they reached a price they both agreed upon. I wondered if it would happen. Tom knew what he was doing.

We returned to the Taj, dumped off our 3 rugs (2 for Tom, and did I mention we bought one too). Final score: Kashmeri team 3, Los Angeles team 0.

Cathy and I went for tea in the club room (actually lime soda) then went out to rest by the pool. Soon it was time for cocktails (courtesy of the Taj). We met our new friends Richard and Anil from England over drinks. Soon it was time for dinner. Once again we ate a Marsala Craft, the exceptional Indian restaurant at the Taj. Crab, flaming Kashmei Lamb, Dal, Rice, Roti, Gobi (cauliflower) of course, and Okra. We think of Okra as slimy, Indians cook it crispy with onions, it is delicious.

Here is a short video of serving the Kashmeri lamb. It was delicious!

We then retreated to the Club room for Cognac and chocolates courtesy once again on the Taj. It was then time to see Tom off to the airport. We are really happy that Tom and Scott enjoyed India. We then returned to the Club Room to finish our drinks and staggered up to our room.

Tomorrow a new adventure, slightly North.