CULTURE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 it is believed to be a former summer palace of the royals built in 1699. The Amber Fort, built in 1592 out of red sandstone, rests on top of a hill over the small town of Amer.

In New Delhi, I enjoyed visiting the Lotus Temple and the famous Sikh temple, Sheeshganj Gurudwara, where they feed 10,000 people daily.

Queer India

India’s LGBTQ community is vibrant, creative, and full of life. In Mumbai, I spent a fun evening at a lively queer trivia night hosted by Gaysi Mumbai, an LGBTQ group that promotes queer events, at the Independence Brewery Company in Andheri West.

One of the wonderful things about India is the art, culture, and literary scene. I was pleased to discover LGBTQ artists and art experts like Kalki Subramaniam, a transgender woman, gallery founder, and director of Sahodari Art Gallery. The gallery, which features 45 LGBTQ artists — mostly transgender people — is about four hours outside Kochi by car.

In Mumbai and New Delhi, I learned about the city’s LGBTQ art scene and history with gay art historian Aditya Ruia, the owner of Bombay Art Gallery. Ruia also leads an LGBTQ art tour in Mumbai. On one of my memorable nights in Mumbai, I randomly toured Colaba’s Art Deco architecture, art galleries, and boutiques with filmmaker Faraz Arif Ansari.

In New Delhi, Serene Journeys’ Saikhom leads guests through about 55 public murals on the Lodhi Art Public Art Tour. Sambhav Dehlavi, the gay owner and tour guide of Purani Dilliwala Iqbal, leads an LGBTQ history tour through the city.

The tour with Dehlavi was one of the most memorable tours I experienced during my trip. One of the sites he showed me was a tomb of a king and his male or transgender lover buried side-by-side. There were many other sites throughout New Delhi where it is suspected that LGBTQ history took place.

FOOD, BEER, AND WINE

Microbreweries are all the rage in India. Pune is the birthplace of India’s microbrewery scene. In 2020 there were 12 craft breweries in the city and many more throughout India. My girlfriend and I were thrilled to discover the craft breweries that served excellent beers with delicious bar food. We barhopped through Pune and Mumbai, stopping at Effingut Brewery, Independence Brewing Company and Toit Brewery in Pune, and Doolally Taproom and Drifters Tap Station in Mumbai.

Nashik is the birthplace of India’s emerging wine industry. India’s wine country boasts more than 30 wineries. Nashik was inspired by and has roots in California’s wine country, but it won’t be mistaken for California’s Napa Valley or Sonoma County. Over a quarter century since the first grapes were planted at Sula Vineyards in 1996, to its first bottle crafted and corked in 1999, producing quality Indian wine is still a work in progress.

During the few days that we hung out with my girlfriend’s cousins on her mother’s side of the family in Nashik, we went to Sula and visited York Winery. However, the best Indian wine we discovered was at a bar in Fort Kochi, produced by Big Banyan Vineyard in Bengaluru. It gave us a glimpse of the possibility that India could one day produce California-quality wine.

Kochi, Kerala is where I got my fill of seafood. On the shores of the Arabian Sea, the port town is known for its Chinese fishing nets, beaches, and backwaters traversed by boat to see the wildlife.

Where To Eat

We cautiously ate our way through India. We took recommendations from friends and looked for modern eateries that we would expect to see back home and places that looked clean. Some of our favorite restaurants included:

Mumbai

The Birdsong Cafe, a charming organic eatery tucked away on a narrow street in Bandra West; Loya at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel; and Jimmy Boy, a local Parsi restaurant that Ansari introduced me to in Colaba, Mumbai.

Pune

We happened upon the Pan-Asian restaurant Malaka Spice and enjoyed cocktails at Culture.

Kochi

In Kochi, we enjoyed freshly caught fish grilled and poached at Fort Cochin around the corner from the Trident Hotel Cochin, where we stayed.

New Delhi

I enjoyed a variety of excellent cuisines in New Delhi. On my last night there I ate a wonderful Italian dinner at the lesbianowned Diva restaurant. Chef Ritu Dalmia, one of the plaintiffs in the 377 case that broadened LGBT rights in India, opened her new restaurant in Greater Kailash-2, an unofficial gayborhood where rainbow flags wave freely outside many businesses. I enjoyed another good Italian dinner at Fat Jar Cafe & Market. LaLiT New Delhi’s Pan Asian restaurant, OKO offers the flavors of Asia and views of the city at the top of the hotel. The Spice Market — Kitchen & Bar in the city’s Southern Park Mall served up spicy tandoori and flavorful dishes.

Where To Stay

In Mumbai and New Delhi, I stayed at the LaLiT Hotel. I also stayed at the Grand Hyatt Mumbai, India’s eco-friendly Orchid Hotel, and a vacation rental in Bandra West in Mumbai.

In Pune, we stayed at the Hyatt Pune. In Jaipur, our tour group stayed at the Hotel Arya Niwas, and on our way to Agra we stayed at Hotel Bhanwar Vilas Palace in Karauli, a town in the mountains between Jaipur and Agra.

In Nashik, we stayed at the three-star, business-focused Ibis Hotel.

Getting off India’s beaten path, I stayed as a guest of the LGBTQ Community Ashram, the community center and retreat in Rajpipla owned by gay Indian Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil and his husband, DeAndre Richardson. The ashram was being built on the banks of the Karjan River to provide services for the local LGBTQ community and a retreat for queer organizations.