Easing into Routine and Partying Among Strangers

Saturday, January 26, 2019
Bombay

Easing into Routine and Partying Among Strangers

     Namaste from Bombay!
     As I said, having that delicious caffeine-loaded Americano with Ashley at Cafe Bodega in Panjim did a number on my sleep pattern and I was wide awake until 2.00 am--during which time I actually put on the TV again in the hope of it lulling me to sleep! Naturally, my entire day appeared screwed up. I awoke at 6.45 but still felt sleepy and sluggish. Blogging, eating brekkie of muesli and coffee during which I watched Midsomer Murders eased me into the day. It was good not to have anything really pressing on my calendar. About an hour later, I felt sleepy again and took a half hour's nap! Today is Republic Day, a public holiday in India, and everything felt very quiet as the rest of the city took it easy too.  
     I stopped to take a shower and bring my home back to normal after all my unpacking had been done--although I still have to put my little stroller bag away. It gets tucked into my other stacked cases that are covered with plastic and lie in the balcony--thank heavens I have that balcony. Although I barely use it, it is valuable extra space for which I am really grateful.
     I had email to which I needed to respond and that took me more than an hour. It was not long before I continued working on the lesson plan for the Travel Writing Workshop I have been invited to teach at the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies by my friend Celia Rodriguez who is the lecturer there. This is scheduled for next Saturday but I need to send the students some things to read prior to the class.

Receiving Sad News:
     At this point, I received a call from Dad telling me about the passing away of a dear family friend who lived in the building next to his--Lieutenant-General Francis Dias who happens to be the father of my dear friend Sharon (now Rau) who lives in Toronto. I was so sorry to hear the news as he really was the nicest man and his wife, Selda, is such a lovely person and such a good friend to my late Mum and now my Dad.
      Dad went across and spent about two hours with Selda as she and her daughter Fiona together with her husband Lewis began working on the funeral arrangements. The funeral will occur this coming Tuesday at 4.00 pm at our church where he will be interred with full military honors as a man who proudly served the Indian nation. The main celebrant at the Mass will be Cardinal Oswald Gracias as Francis' late brother was also a Cardinal--Cardinal Ivan Dias.  In fact, if you can remember, during the time of the election of the current Pope, Ivan was tipped off as being the possible next Pope! No doubt, the church will be packed and for me, at least, it will be a very different sort of funeral to attend as I have never been to such a one.
     Tuesday at 6.00 pm happened to be the time slot in which my friend and colleague Filipa Lowndes Vincente would be giving a talk on Jose Gerson da Cunha at the Prince of Wales Museum and I was keen to attend it. But, I have now decided not to go to the talk but to go to the funeral instead. The evening following the talk, I have been invited to dinner by actor and retired advertising man, Gerson da Cunha whom I have interviewed and who is the grand-nephew of Jose Gerson da Cunha who will be the subject of Filipa's lecture. She will be talking about his work as an accomplished Orientalist and her chapter in the anthology on Goa that I have edited is on the same topic. Fortunately, I also heard her speak on the same subject at the conference in Goa.

Getting on with  Shopping Chores:
      I then nipped out to the corner shop to pick up a loaf of multi-grain bread, some cookies, two packages of powdered Batchelor's cream soups, a packet of Maggi Masala Instant Noodles (I wanted to taste them)  and some apples to set myself up for the coming week. Back home, I made myself lunch out of the Maggi Noodles, spread two crackers with blue cheese and ate those with a cup of soup! Lovely! Probably an extremely unhealthy, carb-filled meal...but I don't do this too often.
     Lunch done, I continued corresponding by Whatsapp with my publisher--because yes, I have found a publisher for my next book (my non-fictional memoir of the year I spent in London, ten years ago). He is young Ishaan Jajodia who owns Bombay Kala Books. It is nice, for a change, to have a publisher who is wooing me! Ishaan is keen to get his hands on my book and to publish it and I am quite thrilled to meet with him on Monday and see what he can offer. I find him energetic, dynamic and very personable. And get this...he is all of 19 years old and an undergraduate at Dartmouth where he is majoring in International Relations. He is skipping the spring semester and will be in Bombay till the end of March and wants to finalize a deal with me before he returns to his studies!!!
     I then sat down with my phone and began making all sorts of appointments for the interviews I will need to do in the month of February. Thankfully, most of them will be in the Bandra area and I do not believe I will need to return to the city as much as I did during the early months of my research. I will be devoting the coming month to work on the Bandra Zonal competitions and drama groups such as Motley and Rage. In March, I shall begin work on the Prithvi Theater Company. So there you have it...making these calls and putting dates down on my calendar felt very fulfilling as I get into the swing of my research routine again after my long break for Christmas and after.
      It was after 5.00 pm when I stopped for a cuppa and a slice of cake and then I was out the door after getting dressed for a party. It would be a weird sort of evening as I had to make a condolence visit to Selda and attend a party right after it!

Making a Condolence Visit:     
     I stayed with Selda for about half an hour, during which time her daughter Fiona and her husband Lewis arrived. Everyone was very calm as they have reconciled themselves to the news. Selda told me that Francis has been ailing since last July although he was in Canada then and returned to Bombay in September where he was so relieved to be treated at Holy Family Hospital amidst doctors who are dedicated, caring and known to him. He found the Canadian socialized medicine system so appalling--the fact that he had to wait so long for an appointment and that only the minimum level of treatment is given in any case to avoid unnecessary burdens on the Canadian tax-payer who support the system was not something he could fathom, she said! Here, in Bombay, he was under the care of Dr. Ian D'Souza, at Holy Family Hospital who had treated Francis with nothing but the utmost care and devotion. As Ian had also treated my Mum, I am well aware of what a great doctor he is and how dedicated he is to his patients. His wife Vanessa happens to be the sister of my friend Louella (now in Vancouver and who was here in Bombay recently). I can still remember how eagerly Louella had stepped up to help me if calling her brother-in-law Ian in Bombay to introduce me to him would help my Mum's treatment. The inter-connectedness of my stay in Bombay is always very interesting to me.
     After the condolence visit, I went to Dad's--he was at Mass but I spent an hour and a half with Russel discussing all sorts of things with him (mainly cricket, old neighbors that we remembered, that sort of thing) as I kept him company. Dad returned soon after and I took my leave of them as I had a party to attend.

Attending a Party Amongst Strangers:
     Sometimes I quite marvel at the strange situations in which I find myself because of my willingness to embrace the unknown! So, this morning, I received a whatsapp message from Radhika, a new friend I have made here in Bombay.  Radhika and I began chatting at Calcutta airport, about two months ago, when we were going through the security line. At Bombay airport, she ended up giving me a ride home in her father's car as she lives very close to me. The number of coincidences and similarities in our current lives was so amazing to us that we felt we were fated to become friends--she too is from the States, she too is in India for a year, she too is a teacher (at the American School), she too has a husband from whom she is parted for a year, she too lives in Bandra at Perry Cross Road where both she and I grew up! Well, that was it! We have been trying to meet again since then, but both she and I have also been traveling so much that meetings were proving elusive.
     This morning, she told me that it was her mother's birthday today and she invited me to join the party at her brother's place at Mount Mary. I was game! And so I found myself partying among strangers!
     But, of course, in Bombay, no one remains a stranger for long! It is very easy to make friends as everyone is so hospitable and welcoming. Ten minutes into the party, I felt as if I knew the hosts forever. Radhika introduced me to her mother Seema (whose birthday it was), to her brother Suraj, his wife, Manmeet and a bunch of friends including her college classmate, also Radhika, who then gave me a ride home. It was a fun opportunity to get to know a bunch of new folks and to admire a really gorgeous apartment--Manmeet is an interior designer and her apartment is flawlessly decorated!
     The entire evening was catered by Olives, the restaurant at Union Park which is reputed to serve some amazing food--and indeed everything was spectacular. From the starters which included melted truffle brie on toast, chicken and prawn tikka, bruschetta of mixed peppers and tomato with goat cheese, they were stunning. I had a G and T--a really stiff one made for me by the bar man--and so many starters that by the time dinner rolled on, I (together with every one else!) was simply too full. Still, I found room for cod in oyster sauce, lamb tagine and two superb salads: Ceasar Salad with grilled chicken and a beetroot, goat cheese and orange salad (so yummy!). Desserts were the cheese cake which Seema had cut plus chocolate mousse and tiramisu (the latter two in tiny cups). Boy oh Boy! You can just imagine how floored I felt by the evening as I had expected only a small gathering of Radhika's family members and I ended up making friends with a whole bunch of great guys who were friendship personified and who really spared no expense to throw a scintillating party! We played housie together (which was also fun and a great thrill for Radhika's kids who called out the numbers) and amidst a great deal of ribbing, we really had a blast.

An Unexpected Thrill:
     For me, the biggest thrill of the evening occurred when a lady came up to me, about an hour into the party, and asked me, "Excuse me, but did you ever play the piano and teach Singing and Music in a Catholic school?" I said, Yes, I did. And she said, "You know, you were my teacher! You taught me! I was in the 5th standard and you were my Singing teacher at St. Agnes' High School in Byculla." Good Lord! You could have knocked me down with a feather--I was so stunned! It turns out that she was 10 years old, I was 17! I was an undergraduate student at Elphinstone College working part-time from 1.00 to 3.00 pm four days a week at the school after I had responded to the ad it had carried in The Examiner asking for a Music Teacher! The lady who recognized me is called Tehseen Merchant. I asked her how she could possibly recognize me after all these years and despite the fact that she was only a kid when I taught her. And she proceeded to tell me that I have not aged one day since then!!! Of course she made my day! But, compliments aside, I am still marveling about coming face to face with someone I taught when I was 17 and who still recognized me without any difficulty! How glorious an experience it was is not something I can express in words!
     So, you can see, it was a brilliant party! Tehseen and I exchanged phone numbers and will meet again to talk about old times at St Ag's--which incidentally, is celebrating its annual day for ex-students tomorrow and which I will be attending.
     So there you have it. Radhika dropped me home and as I was making my way back to my building, I took my eye off the road ahead for a minute to peep into a passing garden when I had a spectacular fall! I went sprawling on the ground...but, thankfully, I was more embarrassed than anything else (although there was no one around at that hour--after midnight--to see me ). I was left completely unhurt. I thank God that I did not end with any broken bones or a foot injury or anything. I picked myself up with difficulty and got home to simply brush and floss my teeth and go straight to bed!
     What a weird day!
     Until tomorrow...