India-Happy Hillary

I got a very sweet email from Shibbir Bodrul who follows my blog and listens to my Monday Bollywood gossip with Nikki Bedi on the BBC Asia Network and was wondering what Hillary Clinton got up to on her weekend in Mumbai. So here ya go Shibbir and thanks for the support! 🙂

For one hour on Saturday afternoon in the majestic wood-paneled hall of St Xaviers College (Mumbai) Hillary Clinton addressed her rapt audience dressed in a bright red suit and two-toned pumps. (I’m not sure who her fashion advisers are but although Mumbai is a pretty colorful city it isn’t quite mandatory to dress the part from head to toe. I’m just saying.) Anyway, Clinton walked in on the dot at 4pm with Aamir Khan, actor and ambassador for Teach India and so began what must have been a very big day for the host Arnab Goswami, pity he wasn’t quite up to the challenge.

Earlier that afternoon the excitement was palpable at Hansiba Creations, an outlet of hand-crafted knick-knacks on Nepean Sea Road. Hillary Clinton, who has been a keen supporter of the Ahmedabad-based organisation Sewa (Self-Employed Women’s Association), whose products are stocked by Hansiba, was to visit the store. At noon, shortly after a press conference at the Taj where she also had breakfast with the head honcho’s of India Inc. like Ratan Tata and Mukesh Ambani, Clinton walked into Hansiba to shop. She was overheard greeting Sewa president Ramilaben warmly before picking up things worth 20,000rs ($412) during an hour’s shopping spree. According to Sewa members, Clinton purchased a kurta in bright red a yellow-and-green quilt, a Varraq collection scarf made from locally produced fabric, and a bright red corset-top for daughter Chelsea (oh so many it’s just her favourite colour.)

FYI Twitter feed @americagov provided complete coverage of the US secretary of state on her visit to India following Hillary every step of the way during her activities in Mumbai and New Delhi (you can check all the tweets with #HillaryIndia.) Nice!

While visiting the capital she expressed a desire to have a dish in her own name at Delhi’s most famous restaurant (Bukhara at theMaurya Sheraton)which already has two platters dedicated to her husband and daughter. A beaming Mrs. Clinton, wearing a turquoise business suit, expressed her wishes saying, “I hope so that they have my own dish. I would like it very much!” The five-star’s menu has a ‘Presidential Platter’ named after former US President Bill Clinton, and a ‘Chelsea Platter’, named after their daughter Chelsea Clinton. The three had visited India and stayed at the hotel in 2000, when Bill was prez and had dined at the Bukhara. (I wonder why she didn’t get one then?)

The Presidential Platter costs Rs.4,700 ($97) and includes non-vegetarian food that Clinton ordered and the Chelsea Platter, priced at Rs.4,200 ($86) features vegetarian dishes that Chelsea picked. The two dishes continue to be served till date and are a hit with guests. I think its time they bumped something desi Obama likes to the top of that menu dontchya think? Yes We Can.

P.S. I think I finally figured out the fashion forethought. She was going for the all Americano red-white-and-blue lol. So what’s the fashion police verdict; cheesy but forgivable?