A Crazy Sort of (All Souls) Day!

Friday, November 2, 2018
Bombay

A Crazy Sort of (All Souls) Day!

     Today was the sort of day that was chopped up into neat segments to make way for a number of items that needed sorting. Awake at 5.30 am, I blogged, caught up with email and Twitter and decided to skip the gym.  I re-read drafts of my October newsletter and decided to mail it off soon.

Off to St. Andrew's Churchyard:
     However, since today is November 2 and All Souls Day, I decided to join Dad on his annual pilgrimage to my Mum's niche which is located in the churchyard of St. Andrew's at Bandra, where her remains lie lapped by the soft waves of the grey Arabian Sea. My Aunt Anne and Uncle Alex (my late godparents) lie in niches close by.  I had never been to an Indian cemetery on All Soul's Day and I have to say it was an experience of sorts.
     First of all, the day is marked in a huge way among Bombay's Catholics. Multiple masses are held in local churches as everyone goes to Mass to pray for their dear departed. The 7.00 am Mass was going on when Dad and I arrived at the church premises.  I was amazed to see that people were pouring out of every entrance of the church. Flower sellers were doing brisk business outside the church gates as they sold flower garlands made of orange marigolds and red roses. These, with lilies, made up perfect autumnal colors that were appropriate for the season.
     Dad told me that in addition to flowers, people also decorate their graves and niches with candles; however, this year, the church appealed to its parishioners to refrain from lighting candles in an attempt to curtail air pollution. Hence, while formerly the graves were carpeted by lighted candles, today, there were only a few--I saw no more than half a dozen.  People had heeded the church's call superbly. But the graves had to be seen to be believed.  Clearly, the next of kin of those who lay quietly in repose in this spot might have stayed up half the night bestowing their loving creativity on the graves.  They were all beautiful. We threaded our way through the crowds and arrived at the graveyard.
     As Dad is very familiar with the spot in which Mum lies, he led me there directly.  I put the two garlands around Mum's niche--one on behalf of Dad, one of behalf of Mum's three children (Mum was a great lover of flowers, plants, nature and gardening and had a beautiful container garden which is now only a shadow of its former self). Next, we paused at the niche of my godparents and then at the niche of one of Dad's closest friends, Joe Rodrigues and his wife Celine.  We said prayers, offered flowers and filled our minds with lovely memories of these loving and generous relatives and friends whom we continue to remember with the utmost love and affection years after they have left us.  Although I am not usually one for rituals, I have to say that I think the practices and customs associated with this day are both moving and therapeutic.

Buying Breakfast:
     On the way back, Dad took me to a small wayside stall that served puri bhaji, a traditional Indian breakfast, that was being made freshly in front of us and served (like British fish and chips) in newspaper cones hot off the stove. Dad took some home for Russel and himself and I decided to buy one lot for myself.  With hot coffee, it was a truly tasty and very filling breakfast that consisted of 8 superb puris and a small portion of spiced potatoes--all for the pricey sum of Rs. 10 a serving!!! It simply beggared belief.

Back to Work followed by Lunch with a Friend:
     I got back to work for the next couple of hours. I did email off my October newsletter and then sat down to re-read and revise my essay on the 'New Cosmopolitans' for publication on the NYU Liberal Studies blog.  I found a few more typos but after about an hour of editing, it was ready to be emailed to New York.
     This left me enough time to jump into the shower and get dressed. Just then I received a call from my friend Celia who was meeting me for lunch at the Bandra Gym next door. The air-conditioned restaurant was closed for a couple of weeks as a new air-conditioning system is installed. We sat in the corridor facing the badminton court and ordered chicken lassoon (garlic) kebabs with green mint chutney, a serving of Pasta with Pesce (Seafood--which included prawns, calamari and fish fingers) and a Greek Salad that was simply fabulous with wonderful pieces of creamy feta in it. Both of us had virgin mojitos to drink--basically lemonade with a lot of lime and crushed mint added to it.
     It was grand to catch up with Celia who is a very old friend of mine--we did our Masters in English together, many years ago, after which we both became professors in Bombay colleges--she at Ruia and me at Jai Hind College. We have stayed close friends over the years and really did enjoy catching up. After lunch, she came to see my place as she was keen to find out what sort of a place I had found to live in.  I switched the air-conditioning on for her which was a huge relief.

Off to Procure a Number at Holy Family Hospital:
     However, fifteen minutes later, I had to push her out as I headed to my next appointment--I had to reach Holy Family Hospital by 4.00 pm so that I could pick up a number for our intended visit with Russel's orthopedist, later in the evening. Celia went off to Crosswords, a book shop down the road in which she busied herself until her husband Eddie joined her, while I walked briskly to the hospital.

Off to Mass:  
     I picked up the number and got back home again for a short nap. Since lunch had finished late, I did not have any tea. Instead, I went to Dad's to pick him up as the two of us were headed to the earlier Mass--there were two evening masses in our church and we thought we would catch the 5. 45 pm one. That was exactly what we did. I found that Dad was exhausted from the various tasks that had unexpectedly descended upon him today and which he had undertaken without asking for my help. Thus, after Mass, as we had about 45 minutes before our next appointment at the doctors (to which he insisted on accompanying me even though I offered to go myself), I insisted he have a lie-down.  He complied while I chatted with Russel and kept him company.

Off to the Hospital Again:
     At 7.15, we left by rickshaw and arrived at the hospital where we had a very fruitful meeting with Dr. Derick D'Lima.  He looked at Russel's x-rays and told us that his leg would need to remain in the fiberglass cast for at least another month or two.  However, he told us to bring Russel back at the end of November to change the plaster so as to avoid any infection. Thus, our next appointment with him in the Endoscopy Department of the hospital will be November 26. That done, Dad and I crossed the street to the American Express Bakery so that I could pick up some savory goodies for Anil and Ninaz as I was headed to their place for dinner--I ended up buying them 2 Quiche Lorraines and 2 quiches with spinach and mushroom. Then, we looked for a rickshaw to take us home.

Dinner with Friends:
     I was off for dinner to the home of my friends Anil and Ninaz who had asked me to join them for a very informal Friday evening meal.  It is always a great pleasure to see them as we enjoy chatting about everything under the sun.  Anil put a lovely gin and tonic into my hand which I gratefully accepted as I really needed to unwind after what had been a lovely, busy and very productive week. For dinner, we ordered in thin crust, super crispy pizza with barbecued chicken, sun dried tomatoes, rocket and a couple of other delicious ingredients plus a serving of Chicken wings--all superb.  For dessert, there was a wonderful dark chocolate covered chikki studded with almonds called Chocolove that is locally made. I loved it so much that Ninaz insisted I take a bar home with me! It was a simply brilliant evening and a grand way for me to ease into my weekend.
     Anil and Ninaz dropped me home by rickshaw at 12. 20 pm after which I brushed and flossed my teeth and went straight to bed.
     Until tomorrow...