Interviewing a Musician Couple and Getting Ready for a Trip to Matheran

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Bombay

  

Interviewing a Musician Couple and Getting Ready for a Trip to Matheran

     Namaste from Bombay!

     I knew it would be a crazy day even before it began—as I had so much to do before I left for Matheran tomorrow—and I was right!

     Awake at 6.30 am, I blogged quickly, had a quick convo with Llew and caught the bread man for a broon for my breakfast with spreads and coffee before I jumped into the shower and got dressed. I headed off by bus for just a few stops, alighting at Moti Mahal Restaurant to meet my friend Ninaz who was giving me a ride to my two interviews of the day. She has a driver who often drops her to work at the Taj in town. Since my interviews were at Carmichael Road—a part of the city with which I am not familiar and which is difficult to reach by train—I was grateful for the ride. Accordingly, I met Ninaz at the street corner as planned at 8.30 am and was at my destination by 9.15am. I asked Devika by phone if I could possibly come early but she declined as she pleaded a bunch of domestic duties to fulfill before she could see me. 

     Luckily for me, not too far from Devika’s building, I spied an Irani restaurant called Light of Persia and I asked her driver to pull over so that I could get off. I would while away about 45 minutes there, nursing a lassi, as I killed time.

An Interview with the Bhojwanis:

     I found the Bhojwanis’ home easily based on the excellent directions that Devika gave me. When she told me that it was in a building next door to Usha Kiran, I knew I would find it easily. As it turns out, Usha Kiran is shrouded by scaffolding and fabric sheeting as it is under renovation. At one time, it was the tallest and best-known skyscraper in Bombay and I used to be able to spy it from my sixth floor flat when I lived in the Reserve Bank of India Quarters in Bombay Central, as a little girl. 

     Ruchilla, which is the name of the Bhojwani’s building, is in a private compound with a lovely garden. In a sprawling flat on the second floor filled with stunning accessories, oil paintings and wonderful greenery, the President and CEO of Brite Brothers, makers of quality plastics from the time of my mother’s generation, Suresh, lives with his wife Devika. In addition to being the chief executive of a huge and thriving corporation, Suresh was one of the first Bombay ‘rockers’—he played bass guitar for a legendary beat group called The Jets and after he met Devika, in 1974, formed a folk singing duo with her called Devika and Suresh that took Bombay by storm. I can remember, as a mid-teenager, listening spellbound to them as they harmonized the songs of Dylan and Leonard Cohen while playing two acoustic guitars simultaneously. As if this were not enough, Devika had played the role of the Virgin Mary in Jesus Christ Superstar under the direction of Alyque Padamsee and had reprised the role, three years ago, becoming the only member of the original cast to be present at the revival. 

     Interviewing them in this impeccably-appointed home was a true privilege and a real delight as I strolled along Memory Lane with them and relived my own teenage years when I had a subscription to JS (Junior Statesman) Magazine in which there were frequent write-ups about their performances. Although Suresh had to rush off and go to work, he gave me generously of his time and after his departure, the narrative was picked up by Devika who then talked about her theatrical career. It was truly a morning well spent and I felt so grateful that I had the chance to meet them.

Getting Home for Lunch and a Nap:

     I was waiting at the bus stop on Peddar Road for a bus to take me back home to Bandra when Devika called to ask a special favor of me. She had just heard from Raell Padamsee who wanted her to provide some quotes on her working life with Alyque. As Devika had just given me all the information, she requested me to email her own responses to her, as soon as possible, so that she could relay them to Raell. I told her that I had commitments for the rest of the evening and could only oblige in a few days—but she needed them by the evening. As the Bhojwanis had been so kind to grant me their time, I decided to go out of my way to oblige her.

     The bus ride was amazing. The 86 bus took me on a See Bombay route that wound in and out of the smallest neighborhoods such as Shivaji Park and brought me eventually right up to the Yacht Restaurant on Hill Road—this was super convenient as I could thenmjust walk up St. Paul’s Road and get to my building. 

     It helps to have air-conditioning which I instantly switched on as I had my lunch. I finished off my chicken in green masala with a chapatti and beans and had the last of an Alphonso mango for dessert. Then, I curled up and had a wonderfully refreshing power nap. When I awoke, it was still only 2.00 pm and I got to work transcribing Devika’s interview and emailing it immediately to her. Having begun, I carried on—this time I transcribed the interview with Suresh. 

     It was while I turned to transcribe my interview of yesterday with Joe Cordo that my Dad called to tell me that Russel’s blood test reports needed to be picked up from Holy Family Hospital. As I did not want to give Dad the trouble of going to pick them up, I told him I would do so. But I could only do so after 6.00pm when the counter opened. I only managed to transcribe half of my interview with Joe when I stopped so that I could get my backpack packed for my trip. 

     I started to feel overwhelmed as I put together my meager needs for just an overnight trip. However, I still had to go to Dad’s place to pick up the blood test receipts, I had to return to his place to drop them off, meet Michelle, who was coming across to take last-minute pictures with Dad and Russel and drop them off a small gift before she left, then go to Mass as I was appointed to be the Lector at Mass, then pick up my bag from Dad’s and then go off to my friend Nafisa’s place in Byculla where I was spending the night as we were leaving early in the morning for Matheran. Phew! All these different elements of my evening had to fall neatly into place if I was to stay on track and meet all commitments.

     And, miraculously, they did.  I went to Dad’s, picked up the receipts, found a rick right outside his gate, got the blood reports in a jiffy, found a rick to get back to his, delivered the reports, realized I had not packed my medication (this would involve returning to my place to get them), met Michelle who had a gift for Dad and Russel and a gift for me (magnets of the capital city, Saipan, of the Polynesian North Mariana Islands from where she hails). Michelle did not join us for Mass today, so Dad and I left after saying our goodbyes to her, I did the Reading at Mass, neither Dad nor I stayed for the Mission service, and I returned to Dad’s to pick up my back pack. I then walked to my home, grabbed my tablets and threw them in my bag, then called for an Uber which came in six minutes and at 8.15 pm, made my way to Nafisa’s place.

Dinner and Bed at Nafisa’s;

     Nafisa’s offered me dinner which I was happy to have as I was starving by the time we braved traffic and reached Byculla. There was dal chawal palida, kheema mattar with rotis and mango for dessert. As Nafisa got on with her packing, I got ready for bed and not too long after, she set the alarm for us to awake at 5.30 am so that we could start our short trip into the hills of the Western Ghats on a very excited note.

     Until tomorrow...