A Morning at Dad's and Musical Entertainment Through 'Celebrate Bandra'

Friday, November 23, 2018
Bombay

A Morning at Dad's and Musical Entertainment Through 'Celebrate Bandra'

     Namaste from Bombay!
     Bombay may not have an autumn season...but it is clear that the year is closing in on us.  It gets bright later in the day and night falls faster--by 5.45 we have lost daylight and by 6.00 pm, it is positively dark!

Thanksgiving in the US:
     I awoke at 6.30 am and began blogging. Just then, the calls with the US began--it was still Thanksgiving there and Llew reached out to me while the group was around the Thanksgiving table ready to begin their meal.  I had a chance to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving which was a lot of fun--my brother Roger's family were present as were the Seqeuiras with their nieces Tara and Priyanka, Llew's niece Katherine and her wife Sharon. I also had a chance to get a quick glimpse of the laden table which, thanks to Llew's prowess in the kitchen, was beckoning. He had clearly killed himself to put on a good show and all credit to him for pulling it off so well. When I finished chatting with him, I chatted with Chriselle who was celebrating Thanksgiving in Los Angeles at her friend Nandini's house and some more friends in the Hollywood Hills. Everyone seemed happy and joyous--so it was great to be a part of the festive celebration, although I am miles away from my American home.

At Dad's...with Ewell:
      Then, I had my breakfast of a chocolate croissant, bread and spreads with coffee and left for the gym. I only managed a short workout today as I arrived there much later (at 10.15) and the gym closes at 11.00 am. A quick shower later, I left for Dad's flat as he had requested me to come over. Our family friend Ewell who helps Dad with all his accountancy work was coming over at 11.30 am and Dad wondered if I might be required to take something down. I went there with my computer, met Ewell and Russel and spent the morning there as Ewell went over Dad's papers. I was mainly redundant but I used my time fruitfully to read a chapter on his early life in theater that the actor Gerson da Cunha had emailed me in preparation for my interview with him later next week.

Lunch and a Movie at Home:
     Back home, I had my lunch (another tiffin had been delivered: shrimp curry with white pumpkin, red pumpkin and tartlets--which were leftovers from my earlier tiffin--I now have so many leftovers in my fridge as I tend to eat out so much). While eating, I began watching Suite Francaise on Netflix--a novel that I had read a few years ago in the States.  It is amazing how there are so many works about German soldiers who were posted in French homes during the occupation of World War II and who got involved with their hosts. Again, I had the vague feeling I had seen this movie before---but that was probably because I had read the novel. Wonderful performances by Michelle Williams and Kristin Scott Thomas and I was delighted to recognized an aged Clare Holman with whom I became familiar in the Morse and Lewis TV series. In fact, I recognized a lot of British actors (Harriet Walker, for instance).

Work...again:
     Then, I took a short nap and upon awaking began transcribing my interview with Jinx Akerkar. It was great fun going over the information she had shared with me--a great deal about her personal life. At this point, Shahnaz got in touch and asked if I would consider making a change in our evening's program--we were supposed to go a play called Death of an Accidental Anarchist by Dario Fo which is part of the Celebrate Bandra Festival--but I am pretty sure I have seen this, many decades ago. She had received an invitation to see a Musical show that featured a folk group called Ankh Micholi and a  quawali group called The Shabri Brothers.  This meant that I had to go online to try to get tickets too and the juggling of my set evening's schedule at the last minute irritated me. Still, had I not seen the Dario Fo play before and had I not enjoyed quawali as much as I do, I would have gone alone to the play.
     I had a pot of tea with half a guava and an orange (as I am trying to cut down sugar) and then saw that it was already 6.00 pm. It would be too late to go to Dad's and I had already seen him and Russel in the morning. So I merely got dressed, met Shahnaz at the corner where she and her friend Jyoti picked me up.  We were dropped off at the Bandra Fort amphitheater where we sat with several friends of Shahnaz.

Musical Evening as Part of Celebrate Bandra:
     The second half of the evening's entertainment was very good--the first was simply not my cup of tea: Fusion melodies consisting of heavy rock music with Hindi songs that were meant to be interactive--it sounded like a lot of rubbish to me. The quawali group that followed was very different from the scintillating one I had enjoyed in Hyderabad last month when The Chisti Brothers had regaled us with an unforgettable performance. This one used more than the traditional quawali instruments: usually just the voice, the chapping of hands, a tabla and a harmonium.  These guys used electronic synthesizers which changed the sound completely. They have provided a lot of Bollywood music in recent years and the audience was well aware of their hits and enjoyed the entire evening enormously.
     Back home on the bus, I had my dinner (a mishmash of the leftovers in my fridge) and finished watching Suite Francaise--very sad, very good. It was after midnight when I called it a night.
     Hopefully, I will have something of a more relaxing weekend although I still have to transcribe two very long interviews I did this past week--with Yohan Jeffereis and Jini Dinshaw. And then I will need to get ready for my interviews next week: with Sharon Prabhakar, Sam Kerawala and Geron da Cunha. I also hope to make appointments for a few more interviews which will take me into December...
     I hope my American readers are enjoying their long holiday weekend as we swing into the festive season.  My friend Delyse from Connecticut informs me that there are already Christmas songs on the radio!!!
     Until tomorrow...