Times LitFest at Mehboob Studios and Christmas Bazaar at Bandra Gymkhana

Saturday, December 15, 2018
Bombay

Times LitFest at Mehboob Studios and Christmas Bazaar at Bandra Gymkhana 

     Namaste from Bombay!
     Whew! I had a day and a half. When I think of how much I managed to squeeze into it, my mind boggles--yes, even mine!
    So, up at 6.00am, I blogged, checked Twitter and caught up with email.  Then, without wasting any time, I began sending out my Christmas letter--I have found my Contacts on Gmail, transferred well from Optonline.  However, whereas previously, cut and paste made sending these letters out a quick breeze, Gmail makes it really difficult to send mass mail. It is painful, it is monotonous, it is time-consuming. It is almost as bad as having to hand write hundreds of cards as we once used to do. I worked in small increments of time and rested in-between to ease my aching butt!
     Breakfast was the last of my apples throw into my birschermuesli but I was so rushed today, I forgot to have any coffee! Then I showered and started packing for my trip tomorrow. I hauled out my little stroller from the stack of suitcases that are out in my balcony and for the next hour, I whittled down the things I would need to the barest minimum. Orissa and Calcutta are colder than Bombay is--so layers will work fine. I have thrown in the down jacket I carried as I do recall really chilly nights in Calcutta in December over the past few times that I have been there for the same conference--the gathering of international Anglo-Indian scholars.
     When I was done with most of my packing, I realized I needed to carry enough underwear--so I washed a lot of them and put them out to dry. By the end of the day, they would be as dry as a bone. That done, I got ready to leave my house for the plans that lay ahead. I felt tremendous peace of mind to know that my packing was almost entirely done but for a few last-minute items that would go inside. I checked my itinerary and realized I needed to update it. So I sat on my laptop and did that.
 
Off to the Times (of India) LitFest at Mehboob Studios:
     As Dad had said he was interested in attending the session with Minister of Parliament and my friend Shashi Tharoor at the Times LitFest, I went over to his place where my cousin Blossom was also meeting us. We left at 11. 50 for the 12. 30 session as I knew that it would be mobbed (Shashi is probably India's most popular speaker) and I wanted Dad to get a good seat up in front so that he could see and hear well.
     We found a rickshaw easily and were at Mehboob Studios ten minutes later. Gosh! Were we amazed by the crowd! So many people come from all over to attend these events. India's intelligentsia is simply thirsty for events like these and they patronize them enthusiastically. For me, the events are as much a lesson in Cultural Studies as they are a form of enlightenment and entertainment.
     Our ploy to go early really paid. It meant that when we reached the place called Times Hall, we had to sit through a discussion mainly in Hindi about the waters of the Ganges that was at its fag end. When it ended at 12. 15, you would expect that those right in front would leave  You would be mistaken! They were all there for Shashi.  I found seats for us in the fourth row--really great--plus the podium was on our side. This meant that when Shashi began speaking, Dad (and we) could both see and hear him clearly. Furthermore, they had these giant TV screens on both sides of the stage so that the image of the speaker is magnified several times over--this made it really easy for Dad to see. Plus, the sound system was so good that he could hear everything.
     Needless to say, Shashi was compelling. He spoke about his latest book and the profile that he has created of a Prime Minster that continues to remain an enigma around the world. After giving us a succinct introduction to the book, he read an extract from it.  This was followed by a discussion that was conducted by the veteran journalist Bachi Karkaria who did a very competent job considering that she was filling in for the comedian Cyrus Broacha who was apparently stuck somewhere in Malabar Hill--one would think that Bombayites would know, by now, that they live in a city that is notorious for its traffic and would make allowance for getting stuck in it, no? No. He was not there and she had to take his place.
     Overall, Shashi's session was very good indeed and Dad was very glad he came --as were Blossom and I too. It was impossible to try to chat with him after the session as security around him was tight--there was a cordon of men protecting him from any interaction with the public.
   
Lunch Time with Kamal:
     Dad was keen to get home for lunch and come back for the 3.00pm session with the politicians Smriti Irani (BJP) and Milind Deora (Congress) duking it out with Nidhi Razdan of NDTV as Moderator. By this time, I had made contact with my friend Kamal whom I had decided to treat to lunch at the Bandra Gymkhana.  We soon realized that there would be no time to drop Dad off (even though Kamal had her car and driver) to his place, go to Bandra Gym, get our meal, then go back and pick Dad up and still make it to the venue on time. Some tweaking had to be done--and so Kamal lent us her car and driver to take Dad and Blossom off for lunch to Dad's place while I stayed behind to treat Kamal to lunch at the cafe that was on the premises--called Sodabottleopenerwala: An Irani Cafe and Bar!
     We settled down at a table under the trees to eat Parsi style nachos which was nachos, patia and a cream sauce (delicious) and Mutton mince with Pav accompanied by raspberry sodas--which was a tad too sour for me.  The nachos, however, were good and they made a great meal.  It gave Kamal and me a chance to gab about the session she had attended--she did not come to the one with Shashi but went to listen to Chief Inspector Maxwell Pereira of Delhi talk about this book on how he nabbed the Tandoor Murders--yes, it is as grizzly as it sounds. A restauranteur had murdered his wife, dismembered her body and cooked it in the tandoor in his restaurant (if you can believe!) Hideous!
     Anyway, we hurried through lunch so that we could find room for the next session which we realized would also be mobbed.

The Political Session:
     This time we found room on the tenth row--a little further behind but with those huge screens, things were not too bad--not even for Dad who was my biggest concern.  I wanted to make sure he could see and hear adequately. About ten minutes later, Dad and Blossom joined us.
     Needless to say, when the politicians are involved, there is a delay. And a huge one at that. When the session was 30 minutes behind schedule, the participants who had filled the hall began to clap.  The organizers then finally had the sense to come to the podium and apologize and announce the start of the session.  Deora had been not just on time but early--he was seen entering when Blossom and Dad did. It was Madame Irani who was late!!! However, Razdan began the session with just Deora responding to her questions (many about the Congress' recent victory in four states).
     When she did appear, it was 40 minutes behind schedule--and guess what? Not a word of apology to the crowd for her churlish behavior.  She did not even bat an eyelid as she entered the discussion and then proceeded to hog the mike entirely. Such an obnoxious creature! She seemed to think she had come to a session where the audience had come to listen exclusively to her monologues. She did not realize she was on a discussion panel--she simply would not give anyone else a chance to speak. Revolting behavior! Had it not been for the fact that the others wanted to stay through it, I would have left as I simply cannot take the lack of manners displayed by Indians when on panel discussions with others. The worst sides of their personalities are revealed in a most appalling manner. There was much booing and heckling from the crowd that was clearly disillusioned by the BJP and its methods of functioning. It will be very interesting to see how the Indian electorate will vote five months from now. I am so pleased that I will be here to witness it first hand. No doubt, I too will become swept into the spirit of political partisanship that will be displayed.
     Blossom badly needed a cup of coffee as did Dad and since I have my caffeine intolerance, I could have nothing when we got to the cafe. We thanked Kamal profusely for the loan of her car without which we would never have managed to take in both sessions.  She was extremely gracious about it.
     At the cafe, on my phone, I managed to make contact with my friend Celia who then joined us in the cafe followed by her husband Edwin as each of them had been attending other sessions.  Celia is a professor of English too and the two of us have been friends for decades as we are contemporaries who did our Masters' degrees in English at the same time. It is always a joy to meet Celia who never misses such events as our mutual love of books and reading draws us to such venues. We visited with them for about half an hour and then left.
     
Shopping for Gifts for Domestic Helpers:
     Right from the LitFest, Dad and I went off to the market off Hill Road to buy gifts for the maids, the ward boys, etc. We hailed a rick that took us there and we easily found the shop that Dad frequents each year at the same time. We bought our purchases quickly enough and the shop keeper told us of a place where the gift wrapping was done for us. We then proceeded there but when I found that Dad was in a hurry, I told him to go ahead with Blossom to the other place to buy shorts and vests for Russel and the ward boys while I waited for the gift wrapping to be done. I then joined them at the store where they had almost finished buying their items.
     We took a rick back and Blossom and Dad dropped me off at my place. I had a cup of tea and a slice of cake while finishing some more bits of my packing. Then, I grabbed the food in my fridge and took it to Dad's with the idea of eating it after Mass--I had to attend Saturday evening Mass as I would be flying off early on Sunday morning.
        After 7.00 pm Mass, I picked up The Examiner--the Christmas issue is out today and my article is very much in it. I was delighted to see my name in print--that thrill never gets old nor does the excitement ever get jaded! My essay is entitled, "Taking a Holiday from Christmas"! I also picked up Russel's issue to take back to him.
     After Mass, I also tried to get my revised itinerary photocopied, but I had run out of juice on my phone and to access my NYU email, I needed multi-device authorization. So that was it. I left the photocopy place and headed back to Dad's for dinner. I ate speedily as I had yet another thing I wanted to do--go to the Christmas Bazaar at the Bandra Gymkhana.
 
The Christmas Bazaar at the Bandra Gymkhana:
     Like I said, I simply did not stop today! And funnily enough, I really wasn't tired at all! I do believe that I run on adrenaline!
     About twenty minutes later, I left Dad's and walked to the Bandra Gym. I had no idea what the Christmas Bazaar was as I had never attended such a thing before.  I found the place simply crawling with humanity.  The tennis courts of the gymkhana are turned into an open-air mela (fair). There are stalls all around the periphery selling foods, crafts, etc. In the center, there are chairs and tables at which people can sit, eat and drink. Thousands of people skirt around the stalls buying and eating and drinking. I joined the throngs and entered fully into the spirit of the occasion.
     I enjoy the fact that I am completely anonymous in these crowds.  No one knows me and I know no one! It is a very comforting thought, actually, and makes me remember how I felt when I first moved to New York--that sense of anonymity was actually quite wonderful, as I recall.  Blossom was supposed to join me at the Bazaar but she had become tired and her knees were aching and she simply could not cope with any more activity--so she had returned home right after our gift-shopping spree. In a while, I met Glen, a guy I usually see at the health club when I work out and I met my friends Denzil and Ruth who were manning a stall of oil paintings.
     I stayed there for about an hour and then my legs started feeling fatigued. It was 10.00 pm when I walked home as the bazaar was rocking. Back home, I made sure my devices were all charged and ready for the long journey tomorrow. I ate figs with ice-cream, chatted on video with Llew, texted Chriselle who is excited about her departure from California and arrival in Bombay via Zurich on Swissair.
     I have to strip my bed and bath linen and take them off to Dad's for laundering early tomorrow morning, before returning home to pick up my bag and leave for the airport. But I will worry about that tomorrow.  
     Until then...