My First Night in India: with the Holtzbergs

I arrived in India at 3 am on a Friday morning. I had no previous contact or arrangements for my first Shabbat in India. Before landing at the airport in Mumbai, I didn't even know if there were Jews in India. I was part of a business internship with Students In Free Enterprise, and I didn't think I would be interacting with Jews in India at all. I made one phone call to a number I found online through Chabad, and I found myself eating a tasty kosher Israeli style Shabbat meal overlooking the Arabian Sea at the make-shift Chabad House on the top floor of the Shelly Hotel opposite the Radio Club just down the street from the Taj Hotel. My time with the Holtzberg's was before they moved into the Chabad Houses' most recent location. I very much looked forward to Rivki's freshly baked Challah, as this was a novelty in a land filled with nan-bread.