New Year's Eve at Bombay Gym

Originally uploaded by lools.

Despite being quite under the weather for a few days now (all the NRIs seem to have caught a bug), I saved some energy for the New Year's eve gala at the Bombay Gymkhana lawns last night. No, the party was not cancelled and Bombay Gym actually managed to raise a whole lot of money for the tsunami victims by setting up a donation counter on site making it easier for us to give to the victims of the tragedy that has struck South East Asia.

From the minute we landed in Bombay, we'd been hearing about how difficult it was to get tickets to this party which has become quite the talk of the town. Being longtime members of this club, we thought it would be a breeze and were actually quite surprised how difficult it was. Tickets were sold out an entire month earlier. Not to be outdone, H managed to get us a whole bunch of tickets thanks to his wheeling and dealing ways.

The dinner and dance event was attended by over 2500 mostly South Bombayites. The open air atmosphere of the cricket lawns adjoining the club was so nice. Imagine being stuck inside a smoky and crowded restaurant jostling for space. I loved dancing to all my favourite songs from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Thanks heavens there wasn't too much of techno-trance to deal with!

The food selection was spectacular - there were Indian, Thai, Lebanese, Italian and Chinese tents set-up. Having an upset stomatch, I went light and had the Italian chef toss up penne with garlic, black and green olives in some red and white sauce! it was delicious. My friends commented that the onion kulchas in the Indian section were to die for. H was quite impressed with his falafel roll. What I was most fascinated by was how at ease all the members were ordering these foreign foods. Clearly, the level of familiarity that Indians have with international cuisines has risen dramatically in the past couple of years.

For me, the best part of being at Bombay Gym was the opportunity to bump into very old friends and acquaintances. I exchanged numbers with an architect who sat next to me in 7th grade, an investment banker who I played badminton with in 11th grade and a ex-colleague from O&M who is now in Singapore running her own design firm!

If you happen to be passing through Bombay next December, make sure you get passes for the Bombay Gym event. It's the best value for money on New Year's Eve in terms of food and drink.