Veering Away from Routine on Dussehra

Thursday, October 18, 2018
Bombay

Veering Away from Routine on Dussehra

     Namaste from Bombay!
     Today was a bank holiday (or federal holiday, as we would say in the US) in India as it happens to be Dussehra--a Hindu festival that involves worship of the Goddess Durga and festivity after ten days of fasting. In fact, the holiday season is upon us in India. For the past few nights (also known as Navratri or Nine Nights), a lot of people have been attending parties to dance the Daandiya Raas--a dance form that originated with Bombay's Gujaratis. It involves group dancing (sort of like American line dancing) except that you dance in circles and use a lot of props such as sticks (Dandis) that you hit to the sound of folksy music.
      I got into conversation with a woman at a bus stop at Nariman Point, the other day (actually the first really well-dressed and well-perfumed woman who sat at a bus-stop with me, whipped out her phone and made a couple of business calls on it while waiting for a bus--fancy that!!! Have I started a trend--of getting people to take public transport again in Bombay??? I hope so because I love the BEST bus service and I am told that they are running at a loss and are in danger of closing down--Nooooo! Could I, perhaps, singlehandedly, reverse the state of their finances?). She informed me (on Wednesday) that "everyone is already in a holiday mood and no one is working any more." It appears that with the holiday on Thursday for Dussehra, offices were already partly shutting down. She also informed me that dancing the Daandiya-Raas at some of the parties that are thrown by celebrities (she named someone unknown to me!) can "cost a bomb"! Boy, I thought they were free and that anyone could turn up to dance! Not so, apparently!
     Anyway, I awoke at 5.00 and began blogging, as usual. I then had a long (free) whatsapp phone chat with my friend Bonnie in the US who told me that they had missed me dearly at Book Club the previous evening. It is good to hear that one is being missed! We caught up with a lot of news. I am looking forward to having Halle, Bonnie's daughter, here in Bombay at Christmas. I have offered to give her and her friends a walking tour of colonial downtown Bombay and they are up for it.
     Next, within seconds, Chriselle called to tell me that she had found a really good fare (finally!) to come to India for Christmas and wondered if her dates would work for me. Actually, they would not because I have planned to go to Orissa and Calcutta just before Christmas with my friend Nafisa and her husband Hosefa. But we will have about 5 days together in Bombay at the end of her stay at Christmas itself and that will be more than adequate. Plus, it will give her quality time with my Dad and Russel--who are the main reasons why she is coming to India. We are all delighted that we will be seeing her--most of all Russel who is already counting the days.
     I then had a quick cup of coffee, dressed and went to the gym for my hour-long workout.  I was happy to bump into a friend I had made at the gym a year ago, Elaine, who has also relocated to Bombay after 15 years in Seattle to look after her aging parents. Elaine has found a job with an NGO in Parel and has settled down well. We exchanged contact details and said we would get together sometime soon. My workouts at the gym are going along nicely and I love the time I get to exercise as well as read my novel while I am on the machines.
     I raced back home for a shower and breakfast (muesli) before setting off for Dad's with my laptop.  He needed me to type out a letter for him connected with reimbursement of Russel's medical expenses. Dad had done a fantastic, really painstaking, job putting all his papers together, arranging all bills date-wise, substantiating claims with receipts, etc. There is so much I can learn from this meticulous man that it takes my breath away.  All he needed was help with typing as he says that typing (on a portable typewriter) now takes him much too long--he has never used a computer. I am glad that I have many pictures of Dad hammering away on his typewriter as those days, too, have gone with the wind. What a great role model I have in my life and how lucky that I can still observe and learn from him!
     When we finished, it was almost 1.00 pm and I raced off to meet my friend Patsy at the Bandra Gym as we had made lunch plans. Patsy in a long-time friend of mine but one with whom I lost touch over the years.  It was terrific to hook up with her again and catch up.  At one time, before I left India, we were involved in the Zonal Dramatics competition of our church (St Anne's, Pali Hill) and together with my brother Roger, who had acted in the same productions, we'd had such fun times. She is still very well-connected with the Bandra Zonals network and was able to provide me with the names and phone numbers of a bunch of folks with whom I hope to secure interviews in the weeks to come.
     We had a lovely lunch of Chicken Arrabbiata on Fettuccine (which was very good indeed) and Ceasar Salad (not so good--severely lacking in dressing as well as the flavor of anchovies and parmesan!). Whenever I am in a restaurant, I tend to go for non-Indian food as I eat so much of it at home. In fact, I have been eating out or eating sandwiches so much, these past few days, that my food supplies have piled up in my fridge and I made a note to call Valerie, my meal supplier, to cancel my tiffin for tomorrow.
     After lunch, I left for home to be in time for my TV techie, Alden, who came along on the dot of 3.00 pm as scheduled (Eureka! I have found an Indian who is punctual!!!) and brought my TV adaptor and cable with him and made the connection.  This will allow me to watch TV on my large screen after accessing the show or program from a website on my laptop. It cost me Rs. 3,000, but he showed me how to work it and was gone within fifteen minutes.
     It was somehow much too late to have a nap, so I finally got down to some work. I transcribed the interview I did with Cavas Bilimoria of the NCPA from my notes to my laptop as well as caught up with email. I also sent off an email request with my credentials to the Director of the NCPA, Khurshroo Suntook, as instructed by his secretary Maria whom I met a couple of days ago as I am seeking an interview with him. I stopped for a cup of tea and chocolate walnut biscuits and then continued to work until I finished the task at hand.
     It was about 6.15 when I left my studio to walk to Dad's and visit with Russel.  He had a visitor--a neighbor from the next building, Selda, who came to see him. We all had a nice chat together until it was time for Dad and me to leave for Mass. Right after, I went back to his home to read him an article in the newspaper at which he wanted me to look. I then left for my own home. The hot topics in the Bombay newspapers right now are associated with the Me Too movement and (male) heads are rolling.
     I watched the next installment of Tunnel on my iPad (sadly, I cannot transfer shows from my iPad to my TV and I cannot access all apps on my laptop--some are made only for iPad or iPhone and not for a laptop).  I ate my dinner (minced chicken curry, black eyed peas and beans) with a sweet lime (a mosambi--after ages!) for dessert. I then got sad news texted to me that a relative in the US has had a stroke and needs prayers--which I then conveyed to Dad before I switched off the light and went to sleep.
    It was an unusual day because everyone was in a holiday mood. Tomorrow, I intend to resume my work schedule with another trip into the city to read at the NCPA and conduct another scheduled interview.
      Until tomorrow...