Three Interviews, A Library Session and a Dinner Party in Navy Nagar

Thursday, April 4, 2019
Bombay

Three Interviews, A Library Session and a Dinner Party in Navy Nagar

     Namaste from Bombay!
     What a day! Honestly, it could not have been more packed or more productive!
     Awake at 6.30 am (I am finally waking up at a decent hour, have you noticed?) I blogged, checked Twitter and my email feeds, had breakfast of a broon with spreads and coffee, showered and left for my first appointment in the city--an interview in Churchgate with Dhun Khandalavala, widow of Pesi Khandalavala who was once a prolific producer on the Bombay stage.
     I took a bus to Bandra station, then a train to Churchgate and since I was very early, I killed some time at the Burger King right outside the station. Ten minutes later, I left, found Dhun's place at Nagin Mahal opposite Gaylord Restaurant and spend a wonderful hour with her. My new friend Sam Kerawala who had put me on to Dhun, also happened to be present and together we ended up having a lovely chinwag.
   My next interview was at the library of the NCPA with the head of the Opera section, Jimi Bilimoria. Sam happened to be going to the same place and so we took the shuttle bus that stands outside Churchgate station and in ten minutes, we were at the venue. My interview with Jimi was a laugh riot as I have gotten to know him really well and now consider him a good friend. He joked his way through our interview which ended up being a load of fun.
     That interview done, I took a bus and made my way to Tea Villa near the CCI where I had my next interview scheduled at 2.00 pm with a lovely young actor, writer, producer and director called Faezeh Jalali who is very highly regarded in Bombay English theater circles. It was a pleasure chatting with her too. I was deeply impressed by her body of work, her superb training in the States (BFA and MFA in Performance) and the manner in which she is conducting a full-time professional career in Bombay through Acting alone. She gave me a whole load of information about the changed scene in Bombay with regards to theater, the amount of opportunities that are available as so many internet possibilities are opening up for actors and about the compulsion to be involved in every aspect of theatrical production--from writing original material to seeing it performed on stage. What's best about doing these interviews is how much I am learning in the process of data-collection. It is really gratifying in every way.
     My next appointment was at 7.30 pm at Navy Nagar where my friend Angie who is visiting from Connecticut had invited me to join her and a few other invitees for dinner at her brother's place where she is staying. As I had about four hours to kill in-between, I walked to the Library of the NCPA (where I had been in the morning) and spent about two hours reading. I have found a brilliant book by Shanta Gokhale called The Scenes We Made which is offering me invaluable information and corroborating a lot of what the various interviewees I have spoken to so far have told me. I found the book compelling. In fact, I believe that I shall try to find a copy of it and shall buy it.
     At 5.30 pm, my friend Sam called and told me to come over to his place at Cusrow Bagh on Colaba Causeway to relax and freshen up before going for my dinner appointment. I decided to take him up on his offer, so I cabbed it from the NCPA Library to his place and had the pleasure of a short power nap in his home (he made me very comfortable indeed) and then a quick wash which made me feel ready for my dinner date with a very dear and very old friend.
     I left Sam's while it was still bright as I did not want to have to search for Angie's brother's place after dark--as I was not familiar with that part of Navy Nagar. I have visited Angie in this place before--but it was several moons ago and I had no recollection of how to get there. Sam had told me which bus to take and I jumped into a passing 123 that dropped me off at Afghan Church from where I had directions to walk down a lane, past a Parsi Agiary (Fire Temple) to get to the waterfront where the building, Oyster Apartments, is located.
     What a lovely reunion I had with Angie! How great it was to see someone known and familiar from my life in Connecticut! It was just fantastic! I also spent a long while chatting with her brother Tony who is just as much fun and equally gregarious. And then the guests came trooping in--most of them Parsis and most of them classmates of Angie from her days as an undergrad at St. Xavier's College in Bombay or from her days in the Xavier Institute of Communication. They were an extremely friendly lot--mainly ladies with a few of them bringing their spouses--and before long, I felt very much at home. Although all of them knew each other, I ended up chatting with a few with whom I had so much in common.
     Food-wise, you cannot be anything other than impressed when you go to Angie's as her hospitality is bountiful. This time round, however, as she is a visitor herself to Bombay, she ordered all the food from a place called Charcoal Kitchen--mutton biryani, three different kinds of kebabs, raita, salad and chutney. And as if that were not enough, Angie made pea pullao and dal for the single vegetarian in the group and a lovely baingan bharta. Dessert was mango cheesecake, Indian mithai and chocolate--just a wonderful spread of food eaten in the company of wonderful people.  
     I had wanted to leave by 9.30 so as to reach home no later than 10.30, but guests at the party offered to give me a ride as far as Peddar Road and then put me in a cab. I thought it was a good idea and that was what we did. When we finally left, after a fab evening, it was 10.45 and close to 12 midnight by the time I reached home.
    What a long day it turned out to me! But like I said, how productive too! I did nothing more than brush and floss my teeth and take my medication before I hit the sack.
     Until tomorrow...