A Wonderfully Productive Wednesday

Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Bombay

A Wonderfully Productive Wednesday

     Namaste from Bombay!
     Time is marching on and I am conscious of the tasks I need to complete before I am no longer on the Fulbright Fellowship--which technically ends at the end of this month.
     Awake at 6.30 am, I began blogging and made my To-Do List. After my breakfast of muesli and coffee, I sat down to tick items off it.
     I started off transcribing my chat with Anthony Gomes. I also discovered that I had left my cardigan at his office--he volunteered to send a man to return it to me. He was expected at Dad's at about 12 noon--the same time that I wanted to get there in order to deliver to Dad a container of Paneer Makhanwala--as he liked it and it is one of the soft things he can eat at the moment as he awaits the insertion of his implants.
     I was done with the transcription and saw that it was 10.00 am--a good time to phone my new agent in Jaipur, Mita Kapur of Siyahi, who will be marketing my memoir on the Indian sub-continent and trying to find me the best publisher for it. I already have a publisher in the US and the manuscript is currently under production there. She and I were able to resolve the parts of my contract that needed discussion and all was well. All I had to do was print it, fill in the information she required and we were good to go. Finding an agent of her calibre and receiving such positive feedback from her has really made my day and I am deeply grateful to the Lord that this opportunity has also been a happy outcome of my Fulbright stint in Bombay
    I then found that it was time for my phone chat with actor Benjamin Gilani who lives too far away in Bombay for me to meet him personally. Despite all attempts to try to find a place that would be mutually convenient, we did not succeed. A telecon seemed the best solution. It was an hour-long chat in which he talked mainly about the origins of Motley, the theater company that he founded with actor Naseeruddin Shah. As Motley turns forty this year in July, a series of events are being planned. Hopefully, I will be still be around for at least some of them.
     That done, I left for Dad's. I delivered the paneer and received my cardigan from the man from Furtados who delivered it on cue. I then moved on to my photocopier Jay. I printed out the contract from my agent and also scanned some documents that needed to be sent to the Fulbright office in Delhi. That done, I got back home and had a shower. The freshness rendered by something as simple as a shower cannot be under-estimated during the heat and humidity of the month of May in Bombay. Lunch beckoned and I sat down to consume more leftovers. I have instructed Valerie not to send me any meals until she next hears from me as my fridge and freezer are bursting with food. Watching Morse again after ages (The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn) was fantastic--the best part is that I can never remember who dun it--so although I watched repeatedly, it is still a great pleasure for me. Not to mention that I get to feast my eyes, all over again, on my beloved Oxford through some brilliant camera work.
     A quick 20-minute nap followed after which I proofread the Anthony Gomes interview and saved it. It was time to review the first few chapters of my manuscript in keeping with the editorial changes carried out by my editor in the US, Brooke. Those bits done, I found that it was time for a quick cuppa and half a cupcake. Dad had given me one that was sent to him by one of his neighbors. I left my studio soon after and walked rapidly to church for the Novena at 6.45 which was followed by Mass at 7.00 pm where I was the Lector.
     Dad and I walked home together--we parted at his gate and I returned home to eat my dinner--more of the same lunch fare and finished watching Nicholas Quinn.  Then, I finally finished reading Falling: A Love Story by Jane Green and I have to say that I was completely taken aback by the end. I absolutely did not see it coming. A really good read, the novel had kept me company in Uzbekistan where I had no TV, no internet or other distractions. Being able to download books on to my tablet through my local library has been my biggest boon while living here in Bombay. I am just thrilled I was able to do that--thanks to my librarian friend Leslie Mahtani who taught me how to download the app. I have now downloaded Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner...a best seller across both parts of the Atlantic apparently. It is a mystery--the kind I love to sink my teeth into.
     It was later than usual when I finally called it a day--a most productive day!
     Until tomorrow...