When I started planning to move to India in 2005, my friends said I was mad. “How can you work in a newspaper there? You don’t even speak Hindi,” one said. Read more

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Posted by Naomi Canton on Wednesday, August 11, 2010 at 6:59 pm
Filed under Europe, Expat on the edge, India, Mumbai · Tagged bhangra, Bollywood, Brick Lane, Hindi, India, India Shining, Indian men, Leaving, Mumbai, Mumbai terror attack, slumdog millionaire, UK
Ok, well for those of you that said I was being over optimistic with the dating of ‘my new Indian male interest,’ err, well you were right. It lasted three weeks, to the day.
Good thing, probably, as neither of us wasted the other’s time. Read more

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Posted by Naomi Canton on Wednesday, July 21, 2010 at 7:59 pm
Filed under India, Mumbai · Tagged blond bombshell, bridge, email, facebook, hiking, Himalayas, hindustan times, matrimonial website, news, nightmare, online dating, peroxided hair, poker, Prithvi Theatre, Romance, Skype, snowboarding, waterski-ing
I have spent the past few days with monsoon food poisoning and been stuck in my flat together with my cats for a few days, waiting for the diarrhoea to wear off, and also to gather my strength. I went nowhere and did nothing and so was panicking about what would I write about in this blog. Read more

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Posted by Naomi Canton on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 3:53 pm
Filed under Mumbai · Tagged Auto, autos, bandh, black and yellow cabs, car, films, fuel price hike, hindustan times, meru cab, Motorcyle, news, P3 parties, radio cabs, strike, swine flu, Taxi
I went to an interview this morning in a Mumbai hotel basement. A young Indian woman in a sari greeted me. I presumed she was one of the hotel staff, as at these high-end hotels, they often dress in saris, so I smiled and walked past. She shouted out my name and it turned out she was the PR woman waiting to meet me. Read more

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Posted by Naomi Canton on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 at 6:59 pm
Filed under India, Mumbai · Tagged flip flops, gay book shop, hindustan times, jeans, kurta, leather boots, Mumbaikars, news, PR woman, punjabi suits, Salwar Kameez, sari, strappy top, trousers, western dress
It’s taken me a while to work this out, since the initial difficulties of properly dating Indian men have been so all-consuming, since moving here, but I have recently figured that if you get an Indian guy to take you seriously, they are pretty romantic. In fact, they beat English men hands down. Read more

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Posted by Naomi Canton on Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at 6:56 pm
Filed under India, Mumbai · Tagged auto-pilot, blond, CCD, coffeewallah, dating, English men, hindustan times, indian food, Indian men, Mumbai, news, Romance, Shah Jahan, Taj Mahal, Valentine’s Day, wear Indian dress
The heavens have opened and the rain is pouring. Who cares if there is a leak in my kitchen and Mumbai’s roads are waterlogged once more? Read more

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Posted by Hindustan Times on Wednesday, June 16, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Filed under Expat on the edge, Mumbai · Tagged Barista, Bollywood, karan johar, london eye, monsoon, Mumbai, mumbai roads, rains
I had the pleasure of interviewing Don Ward, the owner of The Comedy Store this week. The British comedy club is set to open its third outlet in the world, in India, on Friday. Read more

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Posted by Naomi Canton on Wednesday, June 9, 2010 at 10:28 pm
Filed under Mumbai · Tagged Alan Partridge, Don Ward, High Street Phoenix, India, London, Manchester, Norwich, the british comedy club, The Comedy Store, UK, world
Well, well, well. I did not have my anticipated reaction to Kites. At all. The way the film was promoted was such that I thought it was going to be mere ego boost to Hrithik Roshan – a chance for him to dance around, flex his muscles and kiss and dance with several foxy women. Read more

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Posted by Naomi Canton on Wednesday, June 2, 2010 at 7:57 pm
Filed under Expat on the edge, India, Mumbai · Tagged acting, action, barbara mori, Bollywood, cross-cultural marriage, film, foreigner, hollywood, hrithik roshan, Indian, kites, love, marriage, movies, multiplex, Mumbai, religion
It seems I have become materialistic since moving to India. Not just that, but I have become right-wing. Isn’t that weird? One is supposed to become left-wing and spiritual, after moving here, surely? Read more

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Posted by Naomi Canton on Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 6:05 pm
Filed under Mumbai · Tagged British, David Cameron, facebook, Gordon Brown, India, Mumbai, new labour, Shakespeare, spiritual, UK
A few years ago Mumbai was known as the ‘city that never sleeps.’ That was because a night out on a Friday or Saturday, literally meant a ‘night’ out and would always go on till 6 or 7am. Read more

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Posted by Naomi Canton on Wednesday, May 5, 2010 at 7:49 pm
Filed under Mumbai · Tagged Bonobo, Chenin Blanc, Escobar, JW Marriott, Mumbai, Mumbai nightlife, party, Royalty, Toes, Zaika, Zenzi