There are two dubious Indian connections of that period. Victor Sassoon, a Baghdadi Jew, arrived from Bombay and made his millions in the opium trade, real estate and horses. "There is only one race greater than the Jews," Victor said, "and that's the Derby." He built the biggest hotel in the city, The Cathay, one of the four grand hotels of the Orient, the other three being The Peninsula in Hong Kong, Raffles in Singapore and the Taj in Bombay. The Sassoon Docks in Colaba still bear his name, unless they have been renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji Bundar during my absence. The Cathay was nationalised by the communists together with the rest of China. The new socialist name, Peace Hotel, doesn't quite have the same ring. Now it looks like one of our itdc hotels with the same level of service. I went to try out the jazz band in the bar. It has been strumming along for years. I was disappointed. Its only remaining claim to fame is that every player is a geriatric. For a night-out, you should try out The Cotton Club which mixes hot funk with cool jazz, to good effect. But you might have trouble fending off the ladies of the night.
