BEDAZZLED IN BOMBAY

Welcome to the club lounge used by Oprah, Alfred Hitchcock, Gina Lollobrigida and Shane Warne – perhaps not all at the same time.

Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel services directory has a ‘Destiny Planner’ available at the business centre. That’s an astrologer, in other words.

I wondered whether to dial 3372 and ask when our lost luggage would arrive. Singapore Airlines didn’t seem to know. Was it our destiny to spend the next fortnight buying new clean shirts every day, or would the missing cases turn up before we left the city on Saturday?

At least we could wait for them in considerable comfort.

The Taj Mahal Palace is reputedly the finest hotel in town. It’s hard to imagine a grander one.

The colonial staircase – designed by M.C.Escher?

Mevrouw T bones up on the life and batting averages of Sachin Tendulkar.

It’s not obvious what we’re supposed to do with all those cushions, but we’ll think of something.

From this angle it looks a bit like those galleries in US prison movies. I promise you it’s way more beautiful.

And to put our ‘ordeal’ into perspective, a short stroll through the streets outside the hotel reminded us that there are millions of less fortunate people in the world who will never have any luggage to lose.

Ferries outside Colaba.

The writer was the guest of the Tal Mahal Palace Hotel, Mumbai.

Post Script. The luggage has arrived, delivered to the hotel in plastic wrappers.