My Goa Book is Published! Plus A Visit to the Passport Office and A Scintillating Memorial Tribute to Alyque Padamsee

Thursday, November 29, 2018
Bombay

My Goa Book is Published! Plus A Visit to the Passport Office and A Scintillating Memorial Tribute to Alyque Padamsee

    Namaste from Bombay!
    I had a most memorable day that started with the most heartening news and ended with the most scintillating show I have seen in recent years.

My Book on Goa is Out!
     Awaking at 6.00 am,  I started my day with the best news in the world! My Book on Goa has been published and is out! At long last! Entitled Goa: A Post-Colonial Society Between Cultures, it consists of essays by internationally-renowned scholars on Portuguese history and culture from far-flung parts of the world such as the USA (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts), UK (Glasgow), Portugal (Lisbon), Brazil (Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro) and, of course, India (Bombay and Goa) on varied aspects of Goan history, society and culture.
     These essays began their journey as papers that were presented at a conference of the same name at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, in 2013 when the Poynter Lecture had been delivered by my friend, Ashley D'Mello of Bombay who was at that time a Research Fellow at UC Berkeley. Ashley arranged for the papers to be published by his friend, Frederick Noronha, who runs a publishing house called Goa 1556 Publications in Panjim and that was where it began and has ended. The book is finally out--there were many publication glitches that caused me to almost despair of seeing the book out in print. But it is here! Finally! What a great way to end the year 2018 for me and my band of academics who stayed the course with me, entrusted their scholarship to me (as editor of the volume) and co-operated with me at every stage to allow the book to see the light of day. This is my sixth book and I am very grateful that I have had the opportunity to publish so steadily during my long and fulfilling academic career.
     Once I got over the excitement about the publication of my book and corresponded with my contributors to give them the good news, I began blogging, reading my Twitter feed and planning my day. I did not go to the gym today either as I had a very eventful morning and did not want to have to rush through it. After a leisurely breakfast of muesli and coffee (during which I could feel the dreaded coming on of a cold), and while I watched Still Game on TV, I showered, dressed and got ready for my appointment with my Dad.

Taking Dad to the Passport Office:
     My date with Dad concerned the renewal of his passport.  Although both his and Russel's expire shortly, Russel is not in a position to get his renewed and we will have to wait until he gets a bit more mobile before we can take him to the Passport Office to get it done.
     Dad had all his documents sorted and was almost ready for me when I arrived at his place at 9.45 for our 11.00 am appointment. We took a cab to Lower Parel (with which neither one of us is familiar) to the spot where all passport formalities are now carried out.  You can tell that India has catapulted straight into the 21st century by the fact that all passport applications are now done online prior to arrival at the Passport Center. There are three such centers in Bombay but we chose Lower Parel as it is said to be the most pleasant. It is located in the compound of what used to be the former Kamala Mills.
     From the get-go, we were deeply impressed by the manner in which business is conducted. After one's documents are submitted online, they are scrutinized and checked by officials. The applicant chooses a date and time slot online and arrives at the Center with supporting documents. Dad was treated as a Senior citizen and I was, therefore, permitted to assist him throughout. I am told that in normal cases, only the applicant is allowed inside--everyone else has to wait outside. Once his initial appointment time was back checked, Dad received a token number--this would remain constant till the end of the procedure.
     We were then led into another room where there was ample seating and where the air-conditioning worked. It was a bit like waiting at a visa office for your token number to come up on a screen which then led you to the counter and the officer who would assist you.  I found all the personnel deeply conscientious about their work, polite in the extreme and very helpful.  Gone are those days of barking government officials who appear as if they are doing you a favor.  These guys (and gals) were efficient and pleasant throughout. What a joy it is to be in Bombay today! Believe me when I tell you, in so many small ways, Bombay is being run like a major city anywhere in the world. You have to experience these small things and be able to compare the country as it was run for decades previously to understand how much of a difference there is today.
     Things moved on smoothly as Dad was fingerprinted and photographed. We moved through three different desks where documents (mainly previous passport and Aadhar card--India's national identity card available only to Indian citizens) were checked. At the last desk (and there was always a seat so that when you are approaching and dealing with an officer you are never standing), his old passport was cancelled and returned to him and we were told that he should receive his new passport in the mail in about a week--this is even faster than delivery time in the USA (where it takes two weeks!). Believe me, I had barely hailed a taxi to go home when I received a text on my phone to tell me that processing of Dad's passport had already begun and by the end of the day, I received another text to tell me that the passport was in the mail! I am still dumb struck. Dad was extremely impressed by the entire process that took no longer than half an hour and then we were out. There! Done and Dusted! The ordeal of getting an Indian passport is history! Long Live India's progress.

Back Home for Lunch, a Natter and a Nap:
     We took a taxi back home and using the Sea Link, were home in half an hour. Dad asked me to stay over at his place for lunch and I agreed. Russel was thrilled that we were home by 12 noon and in half an hour, as I was feeling very hungry, we had lunch: Croquettes, gherkins, dal, chicken curry--there was a variety of items on my plate as Dad and Russel use the same meal delivery service that I do--Valerie of Bandra. We had a long natter during lunch as Dad and I had so much to discuss.
    At 2.00 pm, I left Dad to get home for a nap. Shahnaz called to let me know that she would not be able to accompany me to the Memorial Tribute to Alyque Padamsee that was to be held in the evening at 6.30 pm at the NCPA and so I made a couple of calls to find out if someone could use the ticket. My friend Marianel jumped at it and told me she would meet me at the theater at 6.15. My friend Nafisa would also be joining us from her home in Byculla.
     I took a nap and when I awoke, I decided to spend a couple of hours transcribing my interview with Nisha da Cunha which I finished by 4.30 pm. It was my intention to get out of my studio by 5.00 pm to meet my friends at 6.15 pm and that was exactly what I did.
     A bus ride, a train ride and a taxi tride took me to the theater in under an hour. I picked up my tickets from the counters that were set up there and awaited the arrival of my friends.  While there, I had the great pleasure of running into my friend Mario Poppen who had studied French with me at the Alliance Francaise 35 years ago! Mario has worked at the Taj Hotel and is now based at Express Towers at Nariman Point. We made plans to have lunch really soon.  He is a darling man and I have met him off and on through the years on my many visits to Bombay as he is also a close friend of my brother Roger who was his colleague at the Taj years ago. I introduced Nafisa to him and they discovered a common connection! Six degrees of separation!
     Needless to say, the foyer was filled with many recognizable faces including folks I had not seen in donkey's years such as former retired Chief of Police Julio Ribeiro and his wife--looking years older, of course. I said Hello to Sam Kerawala and Roger Pereira whom I have interviewed recently and then we took our seats as my friends arrived on schedule. The auditorium--the grand Jamshed Bhabha Theater--was full and when the show began, it scintillated from the first second. It was almost as if Alyque was orchestrating the entire thing from his perch in Heaven. As the emcee, one Shomit Roy said, "I bet he is raising Hell in Heaven!"
    The show had many segments which consisted of verbal tributes from his closest colleagues, short clips from his most successful advertising commercials done by the film-maker Kailash Surendranath who was a rookie cameraman when Alyque discovered him, excerpts and clips from the social service campaigns with which he has been associated such as Anti Dowry, Girl Child, etc. as an active Board Member of the Citizens for Justice and Peace. There were internationally-renowned lawyers (such as my Elphinstone College classmate Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand) who spoke, CEOs of companies such as Hindustan Lever whose advertising was handled by Alyque as CEO of Lintas, the current CEO of Lintas, loads of actors who grew old acting with him (Farokh Mehta, Roger Pereira, Kabir Bedi, Kunal Vijaykar, Cyrus Broacha, the one and only Gerson da Cunha) as they recited from Shakespeare or told of their most hilarious moments with a man who was well and truly driven, who headed an international ad agency that was one of the most successful in India and gave his city some of its biggest theatrical extravaganzas during which rehearsals continued until 2.00 am--yet he was full of beans when he returned to his desk before 9.00 am the next morning. As Shakespeare put it so eloquently: We will not see his like again...
   
     So here is an account of the tribute:
1. Dalip Tahil who had played Che Guevara in Evita opened by singing "Oh What a Circus! Oh What a Show!" and moved right into the next song, "High Flying, Adored."'
2.  A short film with clips from Jesus Christ Superstar was played with the voiceover of Madhukar Chandra Dass who had played Jesus singing the song "I Only Want to Say..."
3. Shahzan, Alyque's daughter by Sharon Prabhakar, made verbal tribute to her father and talked about Legends of Lovers in which he had directed her. It was the last stage show he did.
4. Delna Modi (an up and coming actress and singer) sang, "Life is a Cabaret" from Cabaret.
5. Gerson da Cunha made a speech and read a long soliloquy from Shakespeare's Hamlet in which Hamlet instructs the Players how to portray a scene that will enable them to expose Claudius' murder of Hamlet's father.
6. Actor Farokh Mehta paid verbal tribute to Alyque and told us that he had done at least 75 plays in his lifetime out of which at least 35 were with Alyque whom he described as his oldest friend--they had 75 years of friendship together.  Alyque's plays also led to many marriages as romances bloomed at rehearsals. Farokh married the legendary Marathi stage actress Vijaya (Khote) Mehta whom he met at rehearsals for A Touch of Brightness. 
7. Siddharth (Sid) Meghani sang "The Impossible Dream" from Man of La Mancha. Sid happens to be the son of my old photographer friend Madhu and it was the first time I heard him sing--he is known as the Elvis Presley of Bombay for he can do a brilliant imitation.
8. Raj Gupta, current CEO of Lintas, who began his career as a gofer under Alyque, spoke.
9. Kabir Bedi, Bollywood actor, who had begun his acting career under Alyque when he headed the Film Department at Lintas, came next. Under Alyque's direction, he did Othello, Tughlak and Gidhade (The Vultures) and went on to a lucrative career as an international star playing the pirate Sandokan in an Italian TV series of the same name.
10. Someone whose name I did not catch played Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar and sang, "If You Are The Christ..." Both Marianel and I recalled the original production we had seen in 1974 with Keith Stevenson playing Herod and felt deeply nostalgic for our school days--we were still in High School then!
11. Kailash Surendarnath, commercial film-maker, recalled his advertising journey from a rookie cameraman to a director of commercials.
12. A lady called Mrs. Coelho read out a tribute from her son Arun Prabhu who ghost-wrote Alyque's autobiography A Double Life. Arun has emigrated to the UK.
13.Stage actors Kunal Vijaykar and Cyrus Broacha talked about their long association as actors with Alyque.
14. Shiamak Davar came on stage to do a song from Cabaret with the large ape--"If You Could See Her With My Eyes..." I was just thrilled to see him acting and dancing on stage again.  I swear although I saw him in Cabaret 35 years ago, he does not look a day older. One of my Fulbright colleagues, a modern dancer--the first time the Fulbright has been given to a dancer--is working with Shiamak's dance studio in Andheri. Shiamak started in his role at the Emcee in Cabaret and went on to become the leading modern dance practitioner in India today.
15. Sharon Prabhakar, Alyque's ex-wife who played Eva Peron in Evita sang her signature song, "Don't Cry for me, Argentina..." She received a standing ovation.  As in the case of Shiamak, she too has aged gloriously for she is 65 if she is a day and looks about 30!
16. Quasar, Alyque's son by Dolly Thakore, spoke of his Dad and the life-long mentoring he has received from him.  
17. "Amazing Grace" was sung by Mary-Ann D'Cruz Aiman who, apparently, had wowed Bombay audiences with her role,a few years ago, as Maria in The Sound of Music. It was the favorite hymn of Alyque and Pearl, his late ex-wife. She has a clear soprano voice and provided a stirring rendition of the hymn.
18. All the artistes of the evening came back on stage to go out singing, "Hosanna" from Jesus Christ Superstar and invited the audience to sing with them as well.

The entire show was conceived by Raell Padamsee, Alyque's daughter by Pearl, and was directed by Carla Singh, an American actress and singer, whom I have also seen several times on stage in Theater Group Productions.  It was truly one of my best nights in the theater and one I will always remember.
     We said Bye to Marianel who found a ride home, Nafisa gave me a ride to Churchgate station as it was still early (the entire show finished by 9.30 pm) and I took the train home. I reached home at 10.30, had my dinner while watching The Great British Menu and went to bed after midnight.
    It was truly a day to remember--one that had started with glorious personal news and ended with such a bang!
     Until tomorrow...