Bootlegs and Cats

Liz has a story coming up for where she will be interviewing one of the biggest stars in Bollywood, so we needed to get a copy of his most recent movie so she could watch it. We took a cab to a bootleg movie place that Liz knew of. No one on the block knew where it was (nudge nudge wink wink), but finally a young man admitted to knowing where it was and pointed us inside a building. We passed through the building, an alley or two, through the hallway of another building, through an office, and then we finally reached the dvd store. Inside they had a selection the rivals best buy. Almost every dvd I could think of they had, and every one was 3 dollars. We were pressed for time because Liz had to go to work so I wasn't able to fully peruse and take advantage, but I have a feeling I'll be back. 

I've pretty much exhausted everything touristy there is to do in Bombay. It's not really a city to tour very long, so pretty much everything from here on in will be more about experiences rather than interesting landmarks I saw. 

The French embassy (unlike our lazy embassy) has set a month of French themes events, so Liz and I attended a concert at a Jazz bar called the Blue Frog. It was probably the nicest bar I've ever been in, though the owners have a special place in hell for the prices they charged for drinks. They were more expensive than any bar I've even been to in Chicago. The quartet was good and the place had a very good atmosphere, but after the concert it was much too pricey to stick around.  We took a cab back to Liz's apartment in order to watch the movie she had to see. 

When we got out of the cab, we passed a group of men carrying burlap sacks. I thought nothing of it until Liz started freaking out. I looked around because I heard cats meowing, but I just thought maybe there was a litter of kittens huddled in some drain meowing out of hunger. The bags were stuffed to the brim with cats. I am not a cat lover, so I didn't think twice. Liz, being the animal lover that she is, made her boyfriend talk the men out of going to drown the cats. Her boyfriend, Liz, myself, and her friend all followed these men for 3 or 4 blocks while Liz pleaded for the release of the animals. The men finally relented and just released the cats by a fish market. The crisis was averted (though I personally was cheering for the men). 

The movie we watched, 3 Idiots, was quite good For those of you who like movies, this may be the Slumdog Millionaire of the year. I know it's showing in a limited release at home, so check it out if you have time.