Five puppies, four colleagues, two cities, one Test
Our correspondent samples Mumbai's nightlife, explores Chandigarh on two wheels, and makes canine friends

The cricket's next door: Mumbai's Marine Drive • AFP
On the road again. Well, almost. There's a new Indian consul general in town who wants some new and different things from South Africans applying to travel to his country. Among those things is absolute proof of living and working in South Africa, for fear you may never return. All of this is only revealed while waiting anxiously in the visa office the day of the departure flight. Frantic communication ensues, but in the end, crisis averted. All aboard. This will be my third visit to the place my grandparents came from, but I will not be visiting my ancestral home of Porbunder. More's the pity.
Maximum City. Mumbai. Arrival at 8am reveals exactly what that means. The traffic always takes some getting used to.
The first day of long-form cricket has arrived. And how. The open press box at Brabourne allows me to soak it all in. It's unusually hot for this time of the year, with temperatures close to 40 degrees, and high humidity, but it's wonderful. I find a small piece of what I think is my own history - one of the dining halls at the Brabourne is called the Porbunder All Rounder. I can't wait to tell my dad.
A few more concerns for South Africa after only AB de Villiers manages a decent score.
Mohali-bound for the serious stuff. My only experience of Chandigarh was during the 2011 World Cup, when South Africa played Netherlands. It looks different when hosting a Test match: quieter, cosier, and at this time of year, cooler.
Get a first look at Mohali's much talked about pitch, and on first glance it looks green. Looks can be entirely deceiving. South Africa are the only team training, while the Indians make their way back from Harbhajan Singh's wedding in Jalandhar. After practice Faf du Plessis says South Africa are expecting "the worst". He is proved right.
Determined to see a bit more of India than airports, hotels and cricket teams, I have booked a cycle tour of Chandigarh for the morning. As a commuter cyclist back home, I am confident I will be able to cope, and I am not far wrong. Despite an unfamiliar bicycle and unfamiliar routes, I stay on. And I see the city. Among the stops are the Rose Garden (not in bloom at this time of year), the war memorial, the Rock Garden (not open at times when I might have visited), and the Sukhna Lake. Can't help but feel Chandigarh is quite a strange place because it is planned. What was the plan supposed to achieve? I conclude it must be equality. Every sector has a park, a market, a residential area. It's a nice idea.
There are five puppies in the park close to the PCA Stadium which I decided to use as my running route. They seem about eight weeks old, with bounce and faint barks. They try to jog alongside me but only last a few metres before they are distracted and bound off. I finish my laps and stop to play with them. They enjoy the attention and I enjoy the interaction.
Ah, that Test match feeling. This is the start of a big summer for South Africa. Eight Test matches are the most they have played back to back in the same season since I started covering cricket, and I am excited about the prospect.
Only three of the five puppies are in the park this morning. I spend most of my run scanning the surrounds for the other two. I don't want to think about where they might be.
True to their reputation of being cricket's best travellers, South Africa fight back. Their bowlers give them a fighting chance of winning the first Test, though they will have to score the highest total of the match to do so. They don't. The match ends with the crowd sounding like a full house.
All five puppies are back in the park again. Relief. I say my goodbyes, wishing I could take them home with me. I'm not sure what Doosra, my cat, would think of that.
Against all odds, manage to get a trip to Amritsar organised with a convenient and cheap taxi by the same people who did the cycle tour. Arrive in the Holy City and am amazed at how busy it is. Diwali is in two days' time and it seems everyone is shopping. Those who aren't are praying at the Golden Temple. It is a breathtaking sight. The structure is mirrored in the water beneath it and the colours reflect as rainbows.
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's South Africa correspondent