Trip-Hop live with Obama in Mumbai

Come November 6 and Mumbai will be hit by Obama-mania. We suggest that the US President and first lady, Michelle take a break from their trail of stuffy meetings and power lunches. Instead, they should indulge in Goan seafood and Mumbai pizza, light diyas at Banganga tank, dribble ball in Nagpada and drop by Duncan Dock

US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama dance during
the 2009 Nobel Banquet in Oslo, Norway. PICs/AFP

10 am: Naval dockyard connect withthe star-spangled banner
We suggest President Obama kick-start proceedings with a crash course about the city's long, rich maritime history. What better way than to set out on a heritage walk inside the Naval Dockyard. Of special interest to President Obama will be the Duncan Dock. Named after Jonathan Duncan, then Governor of Bombay, and built between 1807 and 1810, it was where the HMS Minden, an Indian teakwood vessel became the first ship to be launched from Duncan Dock. The Star-Spangled Banner, the National Anthem of the United States, was composed on board this ship in 1814, by Francis Scott Key at Baltimore harbour, when he was a prisoner of the British on board this ship.

1 pm: Goan ishtyle seafood at soul fry casa
After all that walking, we suggest that the Obamas slip into a siesta mode for lunch. Since seafood is one of the President's favourite cuisines, they could drop by Soul Fry Casa for a Goan Fish Thali (Rs 299 or $8 approximately) for a mix of Crisp Bombil, Goan Fish Curry, Prawn Balchao, Goan Mango Pickle and more.

4 pm: Ball games at Nagpada
We've read about how the President celebrated his 49th birthday by trading passes with Kobe Bryant. Mumbai isn't exactly NBA-crazy but Nagpada is an exception. It not only boasts of similar initials (Nagpada Basketball Association) but also of a history of having nurtured some of India's best cagers. We would love to watch Obama hoop a loop here.

6 pm: Happy Diwali, President Obama
"Happy Diwali and Saal Mubarak"u00a0-- that's what Obama wished everyone after lighting a Diwali lamp at the White House last year. Since that made him the first US President to join a Diwali celebration, we wouldn't like him to break the tradition, would we? We suggest whisking the couple away to Banganga Tank. Don't forget to leave an earthen lamp floating in the waters, as hundreds do every year. Watching the shimmering lights bob on the waters can be like an immaterial souvenir.

9 pm: Mumbai loves its pizza too
The breeze, the sea and the view of life by the seau00a0-- Marine Drive's Pizzeria has it all. Put Bombay Masala (Rs 250 or $5.60), one of their most popular dishes on the pizza-loving President's menu and you know he will take back with him the chatpata flavour and the garam masala aftertaste that is quintessentially Mumbai.

10 pm: Shake a leg at Oba...
It's hard to imagine any US President shaking a leg in a nightclub but since we hear that the Obamas love to dance, we reckon they would enjoy doing a thumka or two at the Bollywood and Commercial music night at a nightclub that pays an ode to the President's name: Oba, located at Colaba.

1 am: Mumbai at night
" ufffdEverywhere on the ground lay sleeping natures ufffd hundreds and hundreds. They lay stretched at full length and tightly wrapped in blankets heads and all. Their attitude and rigidity counterfeited death." ~ Mark Twain.
Few known that this American novelist had visited Mumbai in 1896. While on a midnight drive through the city, he observed the still streets in contrast to the chaos of the day. We suggest President savour this, with a glimpse of Marine Drive, to relive Twain's 114 year-old experience.