Accommodation Deposit Paid, A Day Becomes More Relaxed

Thursday, August 9, 2018

Bombay, India

            Namaste!

            I wake up each morning in Bombay with the thought that each night is entirely different.  Last night, for instance, having fallen asleep at 9.30 pm, I awoke at 12 midnight—wide awake and full of beans.  There was no sense in attempting to get to sleep again—so I read a magazine on my tablet and continued to write a blog. By 3.00 am, I was sleepy again, fell asleep in a trice and then did not wake up until 8.30 am. It helped that Auxilium Covent, whose school shares a common wall with my Dad's building, was closed today, thanks to some Bandh (Protest) or the other than has become a regular political occurrence in Bombay. Hence, with no school bells to wake my slumber, I had a longer lie-in than usual.

       It was not long before I had my breakfast: an omlette of two eggs and a cup of coffee (This will surely become boring in a bit and I will need to switch to something more appealing). It was soon time for me to call my landlord Sameer and make pans to go and see him to pay him the deposit for my studio. He happened to be at the dentist's and postponed our 10.30 am meeting to about 11.00 am. My neighbor Arun who was pulling out of the driveway of our building gave me a ride and in five minutes I was in Sameer's very spacious apartment at Professor Almeida Park (which Llew always tells me was named after me!) Our meeting took much longer than I expected as I had to ask him many questions about my new potential abode—he responded patiently and truthfully and by the time I left, I felt quite certain that the place will work for me.

A Walk in Bandra's Bylines:

            I walked back home—it took me about twenty minutes along the beautiful rain-washed bylanes of Bandra that never fail to charm me. These bits of my native suburb have remained appealing despite the enormous amount of construction and development that has taken place to rid the pretty bungalow of their erstwhile quaintness and replace them with swanky high-rise buildings instead.  Still, I am not unhappy.  Having lived in Central London where the rate of construction is so rapid as to make the skyline change every week and having visited Dubai where the urban landscape is a concrete jungle, I am grateful that the tropical vegetation of Bandra—mango trees, coconut palms, red flame of the forest and yellow laburnum trees that spread their branches on both sides of the street to create green canopies--enable the suburb to retain its village-like feel. Besides, there is a very fresh scent in the air: a result of the annual washing that the dust-ridden trees receive as a result of the monsoon. I absolutely love strolling along the little lanes at this time of year. The feeling is accentuated by the delightful breezes that tug playfully at my hair and add to the cool vibrancy of the place. 

            

Lunch and a Nap:
        I returned home to have lunch with Dad and Russel. It was a nice companionable meal filled with chatter. Clearly Dad is delighted to have me at home as it provides him with the company he usually lacks. But then both he and I wanted to get in a quick nap before the Test cricket match between India and England began at Lord's. Sadly, that never did take place--as usual, as so often happens on a summer's day in England, rain cancelled the day's play. It took me back to exactly ten years ago when Llew and I were in London and had obtained tickets for the cricket match at Lord's--England was playing South Africa in a one-day international match. That day, too, rain had postponed play!
     Both Dad and I did get our naps in, though mine was restricted to just 20 minutes--exactly as happens at home. When I awoke, I decided to start reading the new novel that I had downloaded on my iPad--an Elizabeth George novel featuring Inspector Lynley.  Sadly, I forgot to renew it and I had only 6 hours left on it.  By the time I got a wifi connection and could do so, it had expired!!! I have now downloaded another George novel--A Great Deliverance--and shall start reading it right away.

Church, Dinner and Bed:
     The end of my days here in Bombay has reached a sort of routine.  I go to the 7.00 pm Mass with my Dad--which means we leave our home by 6.45 pm. We stopped at a new Lebanese restaurant called Za'atar to order their Chicken Shwarma for dinner as we had run out of food for the evening. They delivered the dish to us in about a half hour--it was just delicious.  That with the Potato Chops and last bit of pork that was still in the house meant that we had a good dinner--the three of us--Dad, Russel and myself. I enjoyed fresh papaya for dessert.
     And then I managed to pick up a wifi connection and was able to access my mail and other aspects of social media--which kept me busy for the next hour or so.
     It was then time to take a shower and get ready for bed.  Chriselle called and we had a half hour's WhatsApp chat and caught up with the past few days in my life.
     I am still keeping a pretty erratic sleep schedule.  But this does not bother me as tomorrow I leave for China when jet lag will hit me again like a ton of bricks...
     Until tomorrow, namaste...