Skyline of Mumbai from across Back Bay. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Many years ago I was zipping up my  baby pink wind cheater (which I mistakenly thought was the height of chic) on a summer day in  Warsaw when I found everyone around me stripping down to their  tank tops and shorts!The chamber maid of the hotel we were staying in was quite aghast when she saw my jacket and asked me where I came from that I found 25 degrees so cold.When I told her that a hot summer day in Warsaw was probably the coldest day in Mumbai, she rolled her eyes and actually said how lucky I was to have such wonderful weather…..

We in Mumbai are truly blessed when it comes to cold weather (that’s not really cold by those who’ve experienced cold) that’s mild enough for you to want to stand in the sun

You know it’s winter in Mumbai when

• It’s pitch dark outside when you get up at  6.00
• You have an evening walk at 4 because it gets dark by 6.
• The smog outside dims the lights of the Queen’s Necklace
• Hordes of Tibetan sweater sellers take up half the pavement in Nana’s Chowk
• The grannies in the building bundle up in assorted shawls
• Boxes of strawberries are shoved under your nose by traffic light vendors shove boxes  while you wait for the light to turn green
• The carrots get redder and peas soft and sweet.
• You put away the remote for the AC and pull out those blankets kept mothballed away
• When friends and family are busy with their friends and family who’ve descended on them from colder climes
• When songs by Jim Reeves  play on radio waves
• When cotton wool snow and tinsel and red make up decorations in shops and hotels