Another Interview, Lunch with a Former Teacher and Shopping at Khadi Bandar

Thursday, October 25, 2018
Bombay

Another Interview, Lunch with a Former Teacher and Shopping at Khadi Bandar 

     Namaste from Bombay!
     I have decided that on days when I have to go into downtown Bombay, I will skip my gym routine in the morning as it gets much too rushed. Today was one of those days.  After waking up at 5. 30 am, blogging, emailing and checking what's happening in the world on Twitter, I had my breakfast (muesli sans apple--as I have none--and coffee) and got cracking.  One shower later, I dressed and left my home at 9.30 am for my 10.30 am appointment at Churchgate.

Interview with Roger Pereira:
      I met Roger Pereira at the Bandra Gym the other day when Shahnaz and I attended the Book Launch of the new novel by Ivan Arthur--A Village Dies. I had approached him then and requested that he meet me for an interview--to which he instantly consented.  I sent him an email and lo and behold, this morning, I would be interviewing him.  I love it when things move at this pace!
     Roger was a well-known actor on the Bombay stage in the days before I left India. I had often reviewed his performances for the Indian press. Although now 78 and retired from his work as an advertising man, he is spritely, lively, intellectually aware and still very much in the swing of things. I knew that it would be a pleasure to meet him.
     Roger told me that he now lives in Churchgate right opposite the Oval Maidan--where the International Eucharistic Congress was held in 1964. He told me that  this was his dream. Accordingly, he shared his address with me and gave me directions. I found the place easily enough and made my way in an elevator to the fourth floor where I entered one of those never-ending apartments that the well-heeled have lived in for at least a century in this lovely part of Bombay. On one side is the Oval Maidan with gorgeous Victorian-Gothic buildings such as the University of Bombay and the High Court. On the other side, is the Arabian Sea at Marine Lines--what is not to love???
     I was shown into the living room--a humongous living room, by Bombay standards-- by a maid who then went on to summon the Master of the House.  This gave me a few minutes to take in the vast dimensions of the place that is absolutely crammed with stuff--there was an odd assortment of furniture--a lot of antique Indian Portuguese-Goan style dark wood carved pieces with chunky modern upholstery-covered sofas and a whole three-piece leather suite. There were dozens of paintings and pictures on the wall, there were piles of coffee-table books, there were scores of knick-knacks all over the place--it resembled an antiques store. I settled down on the leather sofa and waited Roger's arrival. The maid had asked me if I wanted a glass of water and I gratefully accepted a cold glass from her as my walk from Churchgate station, although less than five minutes, had been accomplished in the mounting heat and humidity of another October day. So, it was grand to sink into a sofa in an air-conditioned living room and to conduct my interview in relative comfort.
     Chatting to Roger was a lot of fun. The interview was a bit all over the place as we did not follow any question and answer format. I told him to talk about his initial beginnings in Bombay English Theater and he went all the way back to being a 12 year old at St. Stanislaus School in Bandra.  From there we free-wheeled into the initiation of the Zonal competitions in Bombay, his entry into advertising, his contribution to Bombay theater, etc. In-between he offered wonderful anecdotal information about other big names on the circuit--people with whom he worked closely and who are good friends of his. What's more, he offered their phone numbers which will now keep me busy for the next couple of weeks as I schedule even more interviews.
     We had to cut it short at 12. 15pm because I had my next appointment and he had much to do himself.  However, he was a goldmine of information. He agreed with what I have been thinking for a long time.  It is time someone wrote a book to preserve all this material for posterity because none of it has been documented or is available for the scholar or the general public to read.  Once this generation passes away (as in the case of the book I wrote about elderly Anglo-Indians the UK) all of the invaluable memories they carry with them will also be lost forever.  Hence, it is imperative that these memories and impressions--part of the oral history and folk lore of the city of Bombay--be preserved for posterity. I felt very satisfied indeed with the interview and with the material it unearthed.
    Perhaps, if time permits, I will contact him again.  Transcribing the interview into some kind of coherent shape is going to be challenging as our conversation was rather disjointed. But it will no doubt provide much data for a chapter about Bombay English theater.
     I said goodbye to Roger, crossed the Oval Maidan on foot while chatting on the phone to find out how Dad was doing--much better, it appears. He is getting stronger each day and feeling more spritely.
   
Lunch with a Former Teacher:
     Aruna Fernandes was my Science teacher when I was in the sixth grade. She was a really good teacher and I have very happy memories of the times I spent in her class. Over the years, she has stayed in contact with a lot of ex-students (probably Facebook plays a huge role in this respect) and as her priest brother, Fr. Praveen, became a family friend, I have renewed contact with her in recent years.  We met at the memorial service, a few weeks ago, of my school-mate Shehnaz Pinto, and exchanged contact information with the idea of meeting again.  
     When Aruna contacted me a few days ago to make plans to meet, I suggested a coffee somewhere at Nariman Point as I knew I would be doing research at the library there.  She texted back saying that she preferred to have lunch with me as she wanted to have a longer chinwag. Since I knew I would be at Churchgate this morning, I suggested we meet at Kala Ghoda (which would involve a swift crossing of the Oval Maidan to get to her). Also, having chanced upon the deliciousness, economy and convenience of the Copper Chimney Soup and Salad Buffet a few weeks ago, I had decided that it would be the best place to meet for lunch. Accordingly, we set 12. 30 pm as our appointed hour.
     Lunch was lovely--the salads are varied each day (the Pepper Chicken Salad today was great) but the soups remain the same: Tomato Soup and Chicken Soup.  I thought that they are both delicious  and with so many salads to choose from, one can have a very healthy and very tasty meal. I hope Aruna enjoyed it as much as I did.
     Best of all, however, was chatting with her and finding out about the many exciting and interesting things she does.  How amazing to find out that she has been a Speech and Drama Teacher for years and that she trains students for the Speech and Drama component of the exams held annually by Trinity College of Music, London! In fact, she will make a great subject for an interview and I told her that I would schedule one with her soon. As in the case of Celeste,  who runs the vocal music classes in Bandra that educate the next generation on Western music, Aruna too is training the next generation of English drama students. This is how these performing arts are kept alive in Bombay.  It is amazing how much I am learning from these interviews. Slowly but surely, I am getting such a composite idea of performance arts education and the ways they operate in Bombay.

Shopping for a Birthday Gift:
     A few days ago, I received a text from my cousin Meera inviting me to dinner at her pace tomorrow to celebrate the birthday of her son Reuben who had arrived from Dubai for a few days with his wife Tabitha. I needed to buy Reuben a birthday present as I will be going over for dinner to theirs' tomorrow.  But the question is: What do you buy someone from Dubai, right? Mulling things over, I had decided I would buy him an Indian cotton kurta--something different to wear to a party.
     As Aruna was headed on a bus to Byculla, I decided to go with her part of the way and hop off at the former Handloom House. It was my plan to get to the Khadi Bandar at Flora Fountain to pick up a suitable kurta for him.
     We hopped into an empty 69 bus (that starts at the Prince of Wales Museum) and rode it for about ten minutes. I hopped off near the Bombay Gym and walked to the Khadi Bandar. I love this place--not only does it have very unique merchandise that you do not find in other stores, but you support the hand-weaving cottage industry that was so dear to Gandhi's heart and which he instituted, when you buy their wares.  It is also such a cool oasis in the heart of a very busy area that it is a pleasure shopping here.  I love their antique vitrines, their lovely orderly shelves filled with kurtas and silk scarves (I have bought hundreds of these over the years and have given them as gifts in the US) and their silk ties (lovely gifts for men).
     It was not long before I found a kurta for Reuben--short sleeved to suit the Dubai heat--in a cool color that I think he will like. What's more, I got a 10% discount too!!! The entire area surrounding Flora Fountain is a mess right now with digging for the new metro system going on right outside. I am sure that business is affected although I did see a couple of foreigners also shopping there.  You can be sure the prices are fair in this establishment and I have been proud to support them year after year.
     I then walked across the Cross Maidan to get to Churchgate station from where I took a train and a bus to get back home. I had toyed with the idea of visiting the Museum and doing a couple of galleries of it at  time or the National Gallery of Contemporary Art as I was in the neighborhood...but somehow I lacked the motivation to do so. Perhaps having Aruna for company on the bus to the Khadi Bandar made me nix my plans.
     Anyway, before I got home, I shopped at the supermarket near my place and bought biscuits and a cake for my tea as well as penlight batteries for my battery-operated tooth brush as I have run out of juice. Then, I got home, sat down gratefully in the air-conditioned coolness of my flat and brewed a pot of tea which I enjoyed with my lovely new butterscotch cake.
     A hour later, I left for Dad's and spent a half hour at him as I chatted with Russel. I told him all about my experience at the post office yesterday and he was simply seething when he heard how poor the service had been. He suggested I put my entire experience in writing and that I complain that stamps of just Re. 1 were available for purchase. He told me that he has purchased stamps in the past for even Rs. 10 and above--he buys them to mail cards overseas. Anyway, I told him that at the end of the day the entire episode appeared more comedic than infuriating to me and that I had put it down to one more bizarre Indian experience.
     We walked to church together and then back home where we parted company.  I went home to a drink--I craved a G and T and sipped it slowly with some roasted nuts as I set my TV up to watch another episode of Midsomer Murders. Both Llew and I have discovered that The Bodyguard is available in both the US and India on Netflix and we have resolved to watch it together--Chrissie will join us in watching from California. It should be fun to do this together. It is the third most highly watched TV show in the last decade in the UK where it has taken the public by storm.
     With a plate full of green chicken curry, cutlets and white pumpkin with dal, I had myself a very tasty dinner and finished off with a small bowl of custard apple ice-cream.  I am now craving good chocolate ice-cream (from Baskin Robbins) but I will need to empty my tiny freezer of its current contents before I can stock up again.
     Until tomorrow....