I associate Toronto with friends. And the golden days of my youth, when I first visited it as a college student, in the Fall of �79. A city more beautiful would be hard to find. Autumn suits Toronto. If I were a poet I would have written many verses on the russet beauty of the maple leaf or if an artist, filled many canvases. Being neither, I simply filed away in blank memory spaces umpteen images of that visit which I return to on nostalgic evenings back in my home in Bombay. There is so much to this city, I�ve discovered in subsequent trips, the most recent being this summer. It absorbs people coming in from various parts of the world much as Bombay does, accepting folks from the rest of India. And it doesn�t crack up. Instead Toronto assimilates and grows. And you see proof in the number of housing colonies that continuously come up as more immigrants pour in. Of course the best is you see a huge melting pot happening.

Literally. The cooking pot, I mean. If in downtown Toronto you can find your way to a Korean Grill Literally. The cooking pot, I mean. If in downtown Toronto you can find your way to a Korean Grill on Queen�s Street, or try out some Tibetan momos next door. A few metres away at Sakura, you can get the most authentic Japanese food outside Tokyo and for a fraction of the cost, 12 Canadian dollars! On the other hand there are whole neighbourhoods with specific cuisines to choose from� There is the Greektown, at Danforth Avenue, lined with designer shops, stylish restaurants, pastry shops and numerous cafes. Little Italy around Queen�s Park is a hip place with the martini crowd. On Front Street is the Union Station, as grand as train stations go.

And directly opposite is the Royal York, an enormous Hotel with 1,365 rooms it is steeped in history having hosted countless VIP guests. Its kitchens extend over three floors. Further on this road is the CN Tower which you can see from almost anywhere you are � peeping out from behind skyscrapers, looming over your head or standing tall and proud up ahead in the distant. A cloud tickler, it reaches 180 storeys above downtown Toronto. Just beside it is the famous Skydome, the world�s first stadium with a fully retractable roof. Canadians love baseball, BlueJays are their favourites.

Queen Street at lunch hour has a happy buzz about the place, but on Yonge it is happening all the time. There is the Eaton Centre, a mall for serious shoppers. The three-million square feet building extends along the west side of Yonge all the way from Queen Street up to Dundas, with subway stops at each end! Overhead, an exquisite flock of fibre glass Canadian geese float gracefully in the open space of the Galleria.