Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
7
'I Like Too Much the Phfit-Phfit'
BOMBAY TO SWAT, 1976
Who or why, or which or - what -
Is the Akond of SWAT?
If he catches them then, either old or young,
Does he have them chopped in pieces or hung,
or - SHOT
The Akond of Swat?
- From
The Akond of Swat
by Edward Lear
I lost my bet with myself that I'd never clap eyes on Ray and Debbie
from Goa again. I found them ensconced in an extravagant suite in
the old wing of Bombay's Taj Mahal Hotel. Their room, with its
regal furniture, four-poster bed, twirling ceiling fans, and broad
balcony, lent the couple additional radiance, making them less like
minor feudal potentates and more like holidaying Westerners from
a more leisurely and elegant age. In his rumpled linen suit, Ray
could have been visiting a tea-planting relative; and Debbie, in a
tight little cocktail dress ending in a froth of ruffles at the knee, with
a matching turbanlike object held on her head by a giant emerald
pin, could have been his Jazz Age gaiety girl or moll, the two of
them enjoying an illicit fling. As long as they kept their mouths
shut, this rather pleasant illusion remained.
Ray had not forgotten his promise to guide me on a state visit to
the forbidden empire he claimed to preside over. First, though, he
wanted to show me Bombay as I'd never seen it. He seemed very
busy, however; so busy that much of my day was spent alone with
Debbie, or rather waiting for Debbie to get herself ready to go outside.
Not that 'going outside' generally meant actually leaving the hotel.
I would sit drinking several cups of tea on the balcony, watching
ships cleave the heavy brown waters of the Arabian Sea, carrying in
grain from Canada, or bearing off iron ore bound for Europe, while
she experimented with hairstyles and make-up, or trotted out to
