An Interview with Shyam Benegal, Visit to the Museum and Drinks with Fulbright Friends

Tuesday, December 4, 2018
Bombay

An Interview with Shyam Benegal, Visit to the Museum, and Drinks with Fulbright Friends

     Namaste from Bombay!

Waking Up on Pali Hill:
     I awoke at 6.00 am at Shahnaz's place--felt odd to wake up with windows wide open overlooking the other rooftops and terraces of Pali Hill apartment buildings and the wide open Arabian Sea in the distance--though shrouded in smog at this hour of the morning.  The air is lovely and cool at dawn and dusk in Bombay now and there is no humidity at all.  In the afternoons, it can still feel a tad too warm, but I am enjoying it all the same.

A Wedding Next Door:
    Shahnaz dropped me off at my place at 7.10 as she had her aqua class at Otter's Club at 7.30 am--as she does every day. I reached home to the realization that today was D-Day for my neighbor Forum next door.  It is her Wedding Day and I could sense the calm before the storm.  What are the odds that I would arrive in India on a Fulbright Fellowship and be witness to a real live-7-night long Hindu wedding occurring next door!!! I mean, what are the odds? Sadly, the reception is too far away--so although I would have loved to have attended it, I had to bow out.
    I blogged and made myself my breakfast of muesli and coffee. Then, I showered and left my home just a wee bit earlier than usual. I had an interview with India's best living film-maker Shyam Benegal scheduled at his office at Tardeo at 11.00am--which meant that I could catch a later train as Tardeo is half way to my usual destination of Nariman Point.
     I stopped at the florist before I caught my bus to the station and I ordered a large basket of red roses to be delivered to Forum's place with a card that I signed--for her wedding! I believe it would be the first of any floral tributes she would receive.

Drowning in Nostalgia:
     Then, I jumped into a bus and then a train (I took a slow train--not a Bandra local today) and that too was a very pleasant experience. When I hopped off at Bombay Central, I was taken sharply back about forty-two years ago to the time I used this station frequently. It used to be my regular station when I lived in the Reserve Bank Colony in Bombay Central where my Dad had a flat allotted to him and where I grew up. So very much had changed in the intervening years--it was unbelievable. The spot from where we booked tickets for the local train had changed--there is a the Belasis Cafe there now--the road outside is still known as Belasis Road! I can clearly remember my Dad putting his hand into his pocket to get out his wallet to buy us tickets and finding that his pocket had been slit and that his wallet had been picked--this was in 1986!
       Anyway, I was headed on foot to Tardeo to find Everest Building right opposite the BEST Bus Depot where Shyam Benegal has his office. And who should I run into??? But my friend Nafisa, heading into the station to get to her dentist in Ville Parle (I still have to understand why this station is called The Town Speaks--in French!). Anyway, she had wanted to join me in the afternoon at the museum and told me that she would still text me if she could make it. I rather doubted this would happen as she was headed in the opposite direction.

An Interview with Shyam Benegal:
     A swift ten minute walk later (during which I marveled as I took in all the changes that have occurred in Tardeo since my college days), I was at Everest building and at 11.00am, Shyam Benegal walked in.  We had a lovely chat together as he reminisced about the days when he did backstage props and make up for all the English language theater plays produced by Theater Group.  This was long before he began making independent feature films and became the country's most decorated film-maker. I spent my college years watching his films such as Ankur and Manthan and Trikaal--films that introduced us to such brilliant actors as Shabana Azmi, Naseerudin Shah and Neena Gupta. There was not a bit of self-promotion of his work as he spoke. In fact, we did not even mention his work as a film-maker.  He stuck with my subject--which was the contribution of minorities to Western performing arts--and he was simply brilliant.  His responses were thoughtful and entirely sound and he offered me perspectives that no other respondent has done so far. I was simply thrilled by the quality of the interview and the data it unearthed for me.

Bus Ride Downtown:
     I then found out what bus would take me from Tardeo to Kala Ghoda as I wanted to get to the museum to continue my exploration of the second floor. I loved every second of my bus ride on the No. 133 bus. It is amazing how much one sees of Bombay on the buses. It wound its leisurely way through Haji Ali, then Peddar Road, Warden Road, Kemps Corner and then on to Opera House where it took me into the bylanes of some of the oldest parts of colonial Bombay with their old tenement buildings and crowded bazaars. It was amazing and I loved it--so sensual; so full of visual and aural delight.  Throughout the bus ride, I was talking on the phone to Dolly Thakore who so kindly called to find out how I was getting along with my work and if there was anything more she could do to help me. I told her about the many people to whom I had spoken and the amount of invaluable information I have been receiving. In a little while, the bus arrived at Kala Ghoda past Marine Lines and Churchgate.

Lunch at Copper Chimney:
     I was really hungry by then so I went to what has become one of my favorite places in Bombay for a quick, delicious and very reasonably priced lunch--the Soup and Salad Buffet at Copper Chimney.  And I realize that I have completely conquered my reservations about sitting and eating alone in a restaurant. It simply does not bother me at all--especially not if it is a nice place. So there I was seated at a table and tucking into Tomato Soup, green salad with a coriander dressing, sprouted bean salad, a Greek salad and the most delicious pepper Chicken Salad--yummie!!! Then feeling fully sated, I crossed the street past the Kala Ghoda statue and arrived at the Museum.

Visit to the former Prince of Wales Museum:
     This time, before I bought my ticket, I actually visited the Museum shop. I found it filled with very interesting merchandise--some of which I shall definitely be buying before I leave.  I found delightful coasters depicting my gorgeous Elphinstone College with the adjoining CJ Hall where we used to have our college socials--right next door. There were also old photographs depicting Bombay's landmark buildings.  There were lots of stoles and Indian scarves in cotton and silk and really nice jewelry. It is amazing how well these shops are now run--we have learned so much from our counterparts in the West and are incorporating their ideas of marketing so brilliantly.
     Once I bought my ticket (Rs. 60), I walked into the museum and took the elevator straight to the second floor. I skipped the first European Paintings Gallery (as I had studied it on a previous visit)  and went into the one opposite--which contains works that were collected by Sir Ratan Tata.  I do not believe that the second floor of the Museum could possibly exist without the collection of Sirs Dorab and Ratan Tata.
     Of particular note on the second floor was a painting by John Quincy Adams, the grandson of the sixth American President who was named after his erstwhile forebear. It is a ratter maudlin painting in dark colors that depicts mourning customs in early America. There is also a set of four beautiful landscapes by John Constable of the Stour Valley and of Dedham Vale in particular which bears careful examination.  As someone who had once led students on a field trip to Suffolk just so that we could walk in the footsteps of Constable and his brilliant landscape paintings as well as see Flatford Mill which he depicted in his most famous painting The Haywain, I was particularly thrilled that we, in Bombay, can boast a set of landscapes by Constable. Who knew????!!!! There was also a large landscape of the Scottish Highlands depicting the spot where Bonnie Price Charlie began his revolution. It is entitled "Waes Me for Prince Charlie" and is by Charles Edward Johnson.  The curatorial notes that accompany each painting are available on laminated sheets and using those, I found a great deal of information about the collection. It is amazingly good! Small, but so good!
     Next I wandered into the huge hall that contains Chinese and Japanese Ceramics that were collected by Ratan Tata.  Now this collection is enormous and almost as huge as that of Jalar Jung III in Hyderabad. Every conceivable sort of Far Eastern porcelain and china ceramic craft is on diplay--from the common blue and white pottery that was traded vastly across the planet to rare gold lacquerware. I feasted my eyes on such a huge variety of Asian porcelain that it was hard to drag myself away. There was celadon porcelain as well that has a delicate green color. In addition, there was jade and rock crystal and rose quartz--semi-precious stones that are all intricately carved and beautiful polished. It was just such a breathtaking collection that I realized why they have whole books on the subject for sale in the museum shop--all splendidly reproduced.
     When I'd finished with the jade, I spent some more time examining the snuff bottles collection really closely. Next, I descended one floor below and walked around the periphery of the hall on the first floor to take in the very succinct collection of work by Bombay painters from the turn of the twentieth century starting with the time of M.V. Dhurandhar right up to the Progressive Artists' Movement represented by Raza, Ara, Souza, Bakhre and Hussain.  All brilliant. I had seen a lot of Souza and Bakhre's work in London, of course, two years ago, during the retrospective that had been organized by Marcia Ribeiro, daughter of Lancelot Ribeiro, half-brother of F.N. Souza, at Burgh House in Hampstead. But to see these works in the company of those by their friends and contemporaries was deeply moving and I loved every second of my visit--whether I was looking at a charcoal drawing, a pen and ink work, a pastel, a water color or an oil painting. There were also tributes to the earliest founders of the J.J. School of Arts in Bombay that nurtured these indigenous Indian artists by recognizing their talent and bringing it to fruition. The name of Principal Solomon was prominent among these--M.V. Dhurandhar replaced him after Independence. Such a lovely historic walk down Memory Lane in a permanent exhibition that is curated by Suhas Bahulkar for whom I have great (new) respect as an artist and a scholar.
     By 4.15, I was tired and decided that I would continue my forays into the museum another time. I love that I am able to spend about two hours quietly and peacefully by myself contemplating these works and learning so much about Indian art.
     Across the street was the bus stop and as soon as a 133 came again, I jumped into it and got to Churchagte station in a jiffy.  A quick train ride and I was home for a cuppa and a slice of cake. I have to tell you how blissful it was to have the entire floor of my building to myself for the first time since I moved in here as the noisy family next-door were at the wedding reception.  In fact, I do wish I had simply stayed home to savor the peace and quiet and to get some work done without having to listen to the constant shrillness of Forum's voice. But I had to go...so I left for Dad's and spent most of the evening chatting with Russel before Dad and I left for the 7.00 pm Mass.
 
Drinks with Fulbright Friends:
     My day continued as I had evening plans with Fulbright friends. I had enough time to go home and relax a bit for about 20 minutes and then walk to Bandra Gym where my Bandra-based Fulbright friends were scheduled to meet at 8.00 pm for drinks. Michelle, Meghan, and Petra were already there and soon Hailey (whom I was meeting for the first time) and Monica followed.  We spent the next couple of hours in the bar upstairs where they were stunned at the low low prices for drinks and eats. We had Planters Punch, Tom Collins, Bloody Marys and bar food that included Veg Manchurian, Paneer Achari and Chicken Lassooni with crostini--in case anything got too spicy. Everything was super delicious and we really had a blast as we got to know each other better. At the end of the evening, when the bill came, we were astounded to find that that it was only Rs. 265 each--that is a little over $3! Unbelievable!
     I walked back home and got there in five minutes.  I had some dessert (Pralines and Cream ice-cream) while I watched Come Dine With Me.  I was still savoring every second of the quiet next door--believe me, you don't realize how precious that is to me having put up with so much yelling and screaming all the time from next door because my neighbor does not speak--she yells!
     It was about 12 midnight when I went off to sleep, dreading to think that I would, no doubt, be awoken by the noise, in the middle of the night, from the return of the wedding party!
     Until tomorrow...