Planning a Trip On my Laptop and On My Phone...a Mundane Day

Wednesday, December 5, 2018
Bombay

Planning a Trip On my Laptop and On My Phone...a Mundane Day

     Namaste from Bombay!
     Quite contrary to my expectations, the wedding party next-door did not return to rouse me in the middle of the night. So I did sleep well and awoke only at 6.30 am to begin blogging, responding to email, etc. They actually only returned home mid-morning and without the noisy daughter (now off on her honeymoon, one presumes) there is heavenly quiet on my floor. Good job I was going to be working from home all day.
     I had an interview scheduled with Ayesha (Pooh) Sayani at 3.00 pm at the NCPA but since I have one with Khushroo Suntook at 11.00 am the day after, I called to ask if I could schedule her's on the same day at the same time (3.00pm). Luckily, she was free and amenable to change. So, I had a blissful day in my own house on my laptop with not a squeak emanating from the flat next door. Sheer bliss!
     I had my breakfast of muesli and coffee--I do not need to have the lemon-ginger-honey tea any more as my cold is now history--thankfully! I still have the remnants of a cough, but it is not oppressive. Then, I showered and feeling fresh and ready to tackle my day, I got down to working at home.
     I have simply no idea how the day passed while I was chained to my laptop. I tackled my To-Do List and one by one, ticked items off it.  A lot of the day was spent on the phone and off it talking to my cousin Blossom in Chennai (formerly Madras) where I shall be heading in January to make a conference presentation at the International Anglo-Indian Reunion. I will be there for a week and shall be staying with Blossom at her flat.  Her daughter Menaka will be coming from Bangalore where she works, for a long weekend, so that we can do some travel together in Tamil Nadu.
      So far, our itinerary encompasses Kalpakkam where the Atomic Energy headquarters of India lie and where Blossom's late husband Placid was Director of the Atomic Energy Commission and one of India's leading nuclear scientists. Then, we will be going to the former French colony of Pondicherry which I last visited about 35 years ago. Then on to Auroville, the glorious settlement that was founded by Sri Aurobindo Ghosh and his French partner who was always referred to as The Mother. We will also be visiting the fabulous old Chola township of Mahabalipuram where exquisite rock-cut shore temples and carvings are a highlight of the South.  Needless to day, we shall be spending time in the wonderful old Fort St George which was the British colonial headquarters from 1603 onwards even before the city of Calcutta (with Fort St. William) was constructed. I am so looking forward to my travels with my relatives as they too are thirsty history buffs and because we all get along famously. It is going to be such a blast.
     Once we had discussed our itinerary on the phone, I typed it up on my computer.  Next, I sat down to book my air tickets to Chennai and back.  I shall be gone from Jan 9 to Jan 16--so hopefully Russel's plaster cast will be removed before my departure or else we will have to wait until my return on Jan 16. Of course, I now have to start work on my paper--but then before that, I have to finalize the paper I shall be delivering in Calcutta in just two weeks from now! So I do have my work cut out for me.
     I had two more tasks to accomplish before I started working for the day--I needed to pay my Electricity Bill online and I was delighted that I was able to do that in no time flat using my credit card! What joy! And I had email correspondence to follow up on--as the mail continues to come on my NYU account with all sorts of things happening in New York to which I need to respond--for example, we have a big send-off planned for one of our beloved administrative support staff members. As she was exceptionally kind and helpful to me at a time when I was battling the challenges of the aftermath of cancer and the loss of my voice, I will be eternally grateful to her.  I wanted to contribute and I wanted to sign her card--and I had to arrange to have one of my colleagues do that on my behalf. So, as I said...there is always a lot to do.
      When I did eventually tick off all the pending items from my To-Do List, I sat down to transcribe the interview I did with Sam Kerawala--a very long interview as I had spent almost three hours with him. I stopped for lunch as I became famished and ate bits and bobs lying in my fridge--Chinese noodles, Italian pasta, spinach with dal, two koftas, papri (a strange vegetable whose English name I do not know) and half a guava for dessert.  All the while, I watched Come Dine With Me.
     After lunch, I read The Times on my IPad for a bit and then took a 20 minute power nap. I awoke to finish transcribing the interview--which took forever,--and then sat down to proofread it. By the time I finished, it was tea time and I made rather a pig of myself as I ate a cookie, and two slices of cake with a single cup of tea. It would have to be a light dinner, for sure...
     Dad had called me to his place by 5.00 to help him with some paper and that was what I did. By the time I reached there, it was 5.15 pm and he was showering.  This allowed me to visit with Russel for a bit until Dad was ready to get to work.  We worked for about half an hour but then he had to leave early for church while I continued to chat with Russel for another 20 minutes. Then, I left for the Novena and Mass and got home for dinner.  I thought I would watch a movie and as Muriel's Wedding popped up on my You Tube screen, I decided to watch it. I had last seen it ages ago--so it made sense to revisit it. And anyway, who does not love ABBA?
      I could not finish it as I began whatsapping and texting with my family members and Ephinstone College friends--it is exactly a month to the great Reunion and we are so excited as we reminisce about our college years--so many batches from the 1970s to the 1990s are texting and talking about places they remember, food we used to eat in our college years, the naughty things we did to vex our professors (who were, by the way, among the best in the country--such sterling scholars from whom I have imbibed so much as a scholar-professor myself). The older we grow, the more we realize how indebted we are to the best teachers in our lives.  I am now old enough to have former students tell me how much of a mark I have left on their own development as human beings--and, believe me, it never ceases to hearten me. As they say, if you teach, you touch a life forever!
     I went to bed at about 10.15 pm--still delighted at the silence around me.
     Until tomorrow...