Giving a Talk at St. Xavier's College, Another Interview and Shakespeare at the NCPA

Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Bombay

Giving a Talk at St. Xavier's College, Another Interview and Shakespeare at the NCPA

     Namaste from Bombay!
     Another full, exciting day...another reason to feel grateful for this incredible Fulbright opportunity that has brought me to the city of my birth to enjoy all of its stimulating intellectual and cultural offerings. The sheer joy of having the leisure, the time, the access to so much exciting activity and to have found a close circle of like-minded friends while still having easy access to my family-members and being able to tend to their needs--none of these blessings can be taken for granted. And I do not.  Each morning when I awake and each night when I drop off to sleep--usually so beat that I can barely stagger into bed--I say a prayer of gratitude at the position in which I find myself.  It is priceless and I am not unconscious of the privilege.
     That said, my body clock seems to have returned to its original calibration--I am getting up at 5.00 am! Still, although I try to fall back to sleep, it does not always happen. I soon give in and get up and start to work. And, of course, I get a lot done while the sharpness of my Morning Brain is at its most efficient.
     I blogged and I read previous blogs (it is amazing how many proof-reading errors I find). Then, I was pleasantly surprised to get two calls--the first, from my friend Delyse in Connecticut. We have been chatting on average about once a week on free whatsapp calls (the reception is simply stunning), but for one reason or another, we were talking this time after almost 3 weeks (so we had a lot to chat about). No sooner did I put the phone down than I got another call--this time from Toronto, Canada, from my Elphinstone College classmate Delilah--and with her, it was after simply ages.  We used to chat on the phone very frequently indeed when I was in the US, but somehow we simply lost touch. We resumed contact after our mutual friend Sunita (Sue) Hariharan returned from Canada and the US, two weeks ago. She had met Delilah and had brought back pictures of their lovely times together.  And that was what initiated contact again between Delilah and me.  Sadly, Delilah is recovering from treatment for breast cancer--she is doing fine now but still dealing with the residual fatigue and weakness that accompanies prolonged chemo. Gosh, what a lot we had to gab about! Time flew and before I knew it, I had to excuse myself to get on with my day.

Dallying in an Irani Restaurant:
     I speedily made up my bed, washed and put the kettle on for a cup of coffee and my muesli breakfast that I ate while watching Still Game on TV. Next, I jumped into the shower, got dressed, packed my bag (I made sure I took the flash drive along with my Powerpoint presentation and the printout of my talk), packed my lunch (two potato chops) and I was off.
     I missed my Bandra local train which meant that I had to travel standing for most of the way even though I was in the Ladies First Class compartment--yes, it only really gets comfortable at Bombay Central if one is taking the regular fast trains that arrive from further up the line. Still, it was not too bad and I did get a seat for the last couple of stops. En route, while walking from Marine Lines station to the campus of St. Xavier's College, I passed by one of the last relics of a bygone Bombay--the Irani restaurants with their round marble-topped tables, bentwood chairs, glass cases filled with cakes and pastries. This one is called Kyani's and it is a Bombay institution. I stepped in, bought two packets of Hazelnut Biscuits (as they sounded good--one for me, one for Dad and Russel), a mawa cake (Irani restaurants made them famous) and a chocolate eclair--the latter two for later snacking!

A Meeting at St. Xavier's College:
     I hopped off at Marine Lines as I was headed directly to St. Xavier's College where I had a 10.30 am meeting with Prof. Pearl Pastakia to go over the outlines of the postgraduate courses in English  that I am designing for St. Xavier's proposed new M.A. program. I then raced off to take a look at my new office that has been well cleaned and furnished in one of the cubicles of the library. Next week, I shall go back to the library, get my library card and my wifi connections and shall, hopefully, be able to work there. Since most of my current work is in the 'field', however, I do find that there is not much need at this time for me to be there.

Giving a Talk at St. Xavier's College:
    I sped back to the Multi-Media Room where my talk on 'Film Adaptations of Raj Revival Novels' was to be held. I was very pleasantly surprised to discover that Ryan Pereira of the USIEF (United States India-Education Foundation--basically my Fulbright contact in Bombay) had actually made the time to attend it! I had informed the office that I would be giving the talk and had invited the personnel there to attend--how wonderful to find him there!  What's more, my darling friend Marianel, who lives close by, was also present! I had casually mentioned my talk to her a couple of days ago, when I was killing some time at her place--and there she was! How heartwarming to find such support of my work!
     The room was packed solid! There may have been about 400 students there, it was that full. Probably one of the biggest audiences I have ever had for one of my talks and I was just delighted to have the privilege of speaking in this august institution to undergrad students who hung on to my every word. Pearl introduced me, Ryan took pictures of the event as my talk happens to coincide with US International Education Week! It was a splendid opportunity for me to showcase some of my past work to my peers and I was delighted to have the opportunity. It went off really well with students deeply engaged in the Powerpoint visuals and my companying comments.
     At the end of it, although we did not have the time for too many questions, I did have students come up to me to discuss some of the points I had made. The result was that I did not get to say bye to Ryan, just managed to thank Marianel and I was off again to my next appointment. It was great to have one of the students come up and tell me that NYU is her dream school--she hopes to go there for grad studies. She told me that I was "living" her "dream" in being an international academic with NYU credentials! I thought that was very sweet of her indeed! She asked if I was currently doing my Ph.D! I told her that I had finished that a very long time ago! I suppose I should be flattered because if I search hard enough, somewhere in there lies a compliment, I believe!

An Interview with Dolly Thakore:
     Right across the street were a line of black and yellow cabs (that are picturesquely referred to as "kali-pilli" (black and yellow) cabs! I jumped into one of them and sped off to my next appointment at Peddar Road. En route, I ate my potato chops as I knew I would be really hungry really soon!
 I had an appointment with Dolly Thakore, once a TV newscaster, actor, casting director (she was India's first and cast all 300 Indian roles in the film Gandhi), voiceover professional, social activist and volunteer. She is also the mother of Quasar Padamsee from her former relationship with theater doyen Alyque Padamsee. I had interviewed her about 35 years ago for a column of high achieving women that I used to write for Eve's Weekly and I had been to her flat before too when I had been a mere rookie reporter at the infancy of my second career in freelance journalism. It is amazing to me how the skills I developed as an interviewing journalist are working for me now as an interviewing scholar in the field.  All those memories came back to me as I sat and faced Dolly--but for the fact that her hair has greyed, her face is exactly the same and she still carries the signature trademarks of her appearance that she made her own--a huge red bindi and an armful of solid sterling silver bangles that run from her wrist to elbow!
     We had the best conversation! She was articulate and forthcoming, she was full of stories of Theater Group's adventures through the ages, she was so easily accessible. It was simply a joy to reconnect with her and have her answer the questions that I had in mind for her. Best of all, as is happening frequently, she gave me the names and phone numbers of half a dozen more folks that I "should be talking to"--and so it goes on. My list of interviewee contacts is lengthening by the day. I have decided to devote November entirely to Theater Group members and will turn to other 'organizations' and their personnel in due course.

Killing Time:
     I finished with Dolly at about 2.30 and since my next appointment was only at 6.00 pm at the NCPA (to see Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale), I had ample time. I could do two things: go to the museum and finish up a couple more galleries in detail or get to the NCPA library and continue reading.  The latter I nixed when I realized that I was not carrying my iPad and keyboard and would not be able to take notes. The former seemed like a distinct possibility--so I got into an 83 bus only to discover that it was going only as far as Opera House. There, I waited for about ten minutes for a connecting bus and, losing patience, got into a bus that was headed to Nariman Point. I had about an hour to kill and decided to do some window shopping in the posh arcades of the Trident Hotel (the former Oberoi-Sheraton Hotel).
     Up there, I was so disappointed.  The shopping concourse (to which two whole levels have been devoted) is barely functioning. And those shops that are open are filled with Arabs selling products that one would typically find in a Middle Eastern souk--heavy perfumes, Turkish carpets, embroidered pashmina shawls, Indian handicrafts, gemstone-studded jewelry. Each shop looked exactly like the other and carried the exact same merchandise.  There were none of the leather shops that used to be there and from where I had bought a ton of really fabulous leather items over the years. Has the leather industry dried up with the end of cow slaughter in India? It is very possible. Puzzled and disappointed, I sat in the lobby of the hotel, enjoyed its coolness and its stunning view over the Bay of Bombay all the way to Governor's Point, rested my feet and ate an eclair. I had to kill time until 4.45 when I would be meeting my friend Firdaus for coffee before the show began and I had to use the facilities.

A Tete A Tete with Firdaus:
    On cue, Firdaus beeped to let me know he was at our appointed spot--the Godrej Theater--and together we walked off to the coffee shop at the Trident Hotel where he had a cappuccino and I had a cold lemonade. Needless to say, we chatted about the upcoming NCPA Literary Festival and the sessions that we would like to attend--novelist Alan Holinghurst's is one of them. I am disappointed that my friend Shashi Tharoor will not be in attendance--he probably cancelled as he was supposed to be there. I am not exactly sure what my upcoming weekend will be like as I have some commitments with Dad and Russel--I am, therefore, loathe to make too many plans.

Enjoying A Winter's Tale at the NCPA:
     At 5.45, we made our way to the theater where my friends Shahnaz and Nafisa had both driven up in their cars from their respective homes. We had a lovely reunion also with my friend Kamal who is a regular attendee to these shows--she was accompanying Firdaus. And then the show began. I was delighted to discover that it was being beamed not from the National Theater in London but from The Globe! As soon as it began, both Shahnaz and I gasped--as we had been in that venue together ourselves, a few years ago, when we had seen A Mystery Play cycle. I have, of course, seen umpteen shows at the Globe (as has Firdaus)--so it was grand: a little bit like actually being there in person.  And what's more, my British friend Emma Freud was the commentator and she was the one asking questions of the actors between Acts. I was also pleased to meet my former professor (and now friend) Shireen Vakil who had arrived with a friend of her's. The house was not full, but there was a substantial attendance.
     During the interval, I spied Jinx Akerkar (an American actor who married a Maharashtrian and has lived in Bombay for over half a century). I went up and asked her if I could call her for an interview as she has acted on the Bombay English stage since the 1940s--she is now in her late 80s. She was delighted to discover that I was a professor at NYU as she got her degree from there! What a great coincidence! She was more than willing to chat with me--so I have another person to call immediately! See what I mean? It has gotten a bit too busy for my own liking!
     The show was good and but for a bit of overacting in a couple of the characters, I thought it was an excellent production. I will never forget that I saw Mark Rylance, about 35 years ago, when he played Hamlet in his first ever performance at the Globe. Today, he is considered the world's finest actor! So, as I scrutinized the performers, I was not unaware of the fact that one of these actors could be a thespian of the future.
     We were all done by 9.00 pm. and off we went in Shahnaz's car. I was home by 10.15 when I called Dad to make sure all was well. I had a late dinner while watching Still Game and then fell asleep at about 11.00 pm after a very full and exciting day.
     Until tomorrow...