A Day Spent Working and Watching 'A Star Is Born' with Shahnaz

Monday, October 15, 2018
Bombay

A Day Spent Working and Watching A Star Is Born with Shahnaz

      Namaste from Bombay!
      Today was all about making a To-Do List and ticking items off it.  I awoke, as usual, after an almost sleepless night that provided maybe three hours of sleep because, for some reason, I stayed wide awake until the early hours of the morning. At 5.30 am, I was already getting along with morning tasks: blogging, emailing, reading (my novel and The Times of London) when I got a call from Llew. Spent over an hour on the phone with him. This set me back, somewhat, but I washed, ate my breakfast--for a change, it was a cold roast tongue sandwich on multi-grain bread with mayo (a result of my purchase at the East Indian Bazaar) wth coffee--and scooted off to work out at Bandra Gymkhana. It is now too hot and humid to walk around the Jogging Track at Jogger's Park where I was already soaked and dripping with sweat by the time I came home--two weeks ago, when it was much cooler here.
     I had a great work out after ages in an air-conditioned gym--did the elliptical, the stationery bike, the treadmill and the rowing machine (new brooms always sweep clean, no?) and then went upstairs to Jacinta to renew my membership for the next quarter...at Rs. 1500 a quarter, I am paying Rs 500 per month. This is less than $10--such a steal! I got home, had a quick shower and shampoo and then sat at my laptop and worked...and worked...and worked.

Working on my Laptop:
     I had intended to go to the city today to start research in the library at the NCPA but the person I also wished to interview there, I discovered on the phone with his brother, does not come in on Mondays. Hence, Plan B.  I would go to the library tomorrow.
     Today, I re-wrote a conference abstract and bio note and sent it off for a conference in Chennai in January of next year.
     I re-wrote the prospectus, query letter and chapter synopsis of my memoir and emailed off to a publisher in Delhi who has shown willingness to review them. Fingers crossed! Let us hope he bites.     I also emailed a bunch of people including the folks at St. Xavier's about the re-designing of the English curriculum for the MA course that I have been pulled into as a Fulbrighter.
      I emailed contributors of my forthcoming Goa book to send me their addresses so the they can receive their complimentary copies from the publisher.  Replies started to come in and I needed to collate the list.
     I also emailed my Fulbright host Monica who has not yet made personal contact with me.
     I texted Shahnaz to find out if she would like to see 'A Star Is Born' at Globus theater in the evening at the 5.20 pm show--there is only one show a day and English movies usually only stay for a week or two.  She was game. This meant I would need to finish everything on my To-Do List before 4.00 pm as I wanted to visit Russel and my Dad before heading off for the movie.
     I made a call to my contact at the NCPA to find out how I could set up interviews with more staffers there.
     I also texted my friend Patsy who has contacts with a lot of the Bandra Zonals folks and we made plans to meet for lunch on Wednesday at the Bandra Gymkhana when I hope she will pass on contact details with me so that I can start setting up interviews.
     I also called Dr. Vijay Patel to find out if Dr. Derrick D'Lima is back from his 20 day hiatus and when we should next see him. I was told to come in during his Out Patients hours a month after sutures were removed from Russel's leg--which would be on October 29.
     And so, it went on and on....there was not a dull moment and I was on a roll. Oh and I also called my Meal Delivery Service as my lunch was not delivered--I had suspended it while I was in Hyderabad and they had not resumed.  My tiffin arrived about a half hour later.
     My light sandwich breakfast clearly was not adequate especially after I'd burned all those calories during my work out. By 12.30, I was tucking into an early lunch of Kheema Mattar, Chicken Cutlets and black eyes peas with half a guava for dessert. Then, I spent a while reading my novel (My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan) when my eyes kept closing--clearly, lack of sleep was catching up. I had more than my 20 minute power nap today--in fact, I slept for almost an hour and a half.
     I awoke hastily, continued working on my computer--mainly responding to email--and ticking items off my To-Do List. At 4.00 pm, I stopped and got dressed and walked off to Dad's where I spent the next hour with him and Russel--both doing well. Dad is enjoying his cricket matches (India is hammering the West Indies right now) and Russel was watching Crime Patrol which he really enjoys.
 
A Star Is Born in Bandra:
      I took a rickshaw at 5.00 pm and arrived at the theater at 5.10 pm. Shahnaz was there already.  She had already bought tickets for the show--as well as a huge bucket of the most delicious spiced popcorn for us and a cold coffee for herself (thankfully, she did not buy me one or I'd have stayed awake for two nights in a row!).
     I discovered that Globus theater is no longer Globus--it is now called Le Reve. It is beautifully done up on the fourth floor of a mall building on Bandra's Hill Road.  Inside, of course, the AC was turned to the top setting and I shivered in my sleeveless blouse (which was perfect for the weather outside). However, during the intermission I discovered that duvets and pillows are available for Rs. 30 if you need to feel more cozy. Needless to say, I rented a duvet and was comfy again.
      The movie was superb. Despite having reservations about seeing it (because reviews in The Times of London were contradictory and I had loved the Kristofferson-Streisand version too much), I was glad I saw it (primarily because my friend Hina in Edinburgh, Scotland, had raved about it in a tweet she had sent out). I was glad I took her opinion seriously because Shahnaz and I simply loved it.  It is Bradley Cooper's directorial debut and I am told that the songs were recorded while being performed live--a true feat of film-making. I am also told that the two stars sang their own songs (we always knew Lady Gaga is a power house of talent, but Cooper...who knew?) Apparently, Cooper has also written the songs for the film. So he seems to be channeling his own inner Streisand (she wrote the screenplay and songs which she sang, directed and acted in Yentl which I think won several Oscars that year). We thought the film was very good indeed and renewed our admiration for Gaga.  There is a danger that I might go gaga in trying to say how great Gaga was! She is truly the consummate performer--and that voice! Boy, enough. I have said enough.
 
Chaat and Kulfi at Elco:
     As per tradition, I always make my way to the restaurant attached to Elco Arcade, the shopping mall on Hill Road in Bandra to eat kulfi  falooda which is my one huge guilty pleasure. I cannot believe that I have been in Bombay for over two months and have not gone there yet.  Well, of course, this time there was no resisting. Sadly, my Indo-American tummy can no longer stomach pani puri--the cumin water (probably contaminated)--always does a number on it. So Shahnaz had pani puri alone while standing on the street in the midst of the crazy shopping bustle of the suburb. Afterwards, we went upstairs to the quiet, AC-ed restaurant and I ordered a dahi batata puri which was simply divine. I had to follow it up with a kulfi with rabdi and falooda and I ordered the kesar (saffron) version. Is there a more telling word than divine? Well, if there is, that word described my dessert.
     An hour later, after we'd gabbed non-stop, Shahnaz and I hopped into a rick--she dropped me off on St. Paul's Road before heading up to Pali Hill and I got home. With dinner done, I was just about to call Dad to tell him I was back home safely when he called to request me to come to his place at 8.30 am tomorrow to help him with some paper work. I was more than happy to comply.
     I had an early night--by 10.00 pm, I switched off my light and went to bed.
     It had been another fabulous day that superbly combined good solid work with a fun evening with a friend.
     Until tomorrow...