There's one band out there that's synonymous with everything wonderful about that place, that the mere mention of its name brings a pungent, sense-memory whiff of hair spray, Camel Lights and fried dough on the Shore.

WSJ: Jason Gay: Who Plays Jersey in 2014?

The operator of Taco Bell and KFC restaurant chains has made its Pizza Hut chain into a nice restaurant in the country, deemed by some contemporary Chinese to be a great place for a first date, while introducing products such as fried dough sticks, egg tarts and shrimp burgers to suit local tastes.

FORBES: 5 Market Predictions for 2012

Dumont's house are expected to stay for a meal, often what she calls "Indian tacos, " made from deep-fried bread dough, hamburger, sour cream, raw onions, tomatoes and black olives.

WSJ: This North Dakota Mom, 77, Reared 69 Kids

The most popular gift is mithai (Indian sweets), and shops are filled with a spectacular array specially prepared for this festival, from thickly cut squares of barfi (a fudge-like sweet, often coated with a thin film of edible silver leaf) , to soft syrupy gulab jamuns (deep-fried balls of dough) and spongy rasgullas (sweetened cream cheese balls flavoured with rose water).

BBC: India��s festival of lights

It is fantastic for people-watching while munching on the famous Mumbai bhelpuri (fried, savoury rounds of dough).

BBC: Mumbai in a day