24th October 2010 - Obama

Headline story - Obama's coming to India landing in Mumbai on the 5th November.....which is Diwali. I maybe new to all this Indian celebration stuff but even I know that Diwali is kind of a big thing here, parties all night, firecrackers in the street til all hours, police stretched to the limit (of what I don't know, not seen one yet) and the President is flying into all of this - who the hell is planning his travel? Most of the hotels, inc the Taj, are booked solid by Obama and his massive possie (the Taj has 604 rooms on its own). One of the many dilemas is whether Obama will fly from the International airport by helicopter to a Naval base in the South of Mumbai and them a short hop to the Taj or will he and his 50 vehicle convoy drive down to South Mumbai. Hummm, tough one, difficult to call. Will the most powerman in the World/biggest terror target chose to stay on the tarmac, zoom down to the 6 star Taj in a matter of minutes or leave the airport driving, even if they clear the roads completely unless he brings a Hummmer in Airforce One his Caddy Limo is going to have a rough ride indeed, it will also take him around 45 minutes and he will have to take in the breath taking smells and sights on his trip. The BMC are in a flat spin, trying to repair the roads on his potential journey so that they are smooth(er). Okay, so this is wierd one two counts - why don't the BMC know what's going on (!) And secondly it perfectly advertises the route, it will be the only smooth(ish)bit of road in Mumbai!