Tuesday, June 18, 2019
Bombay
Limping Back to Normalcy After Russel's Discharge: Memorial Lunch for Mukaram
Namaste from Bombay!
Having been away from routine for so long (trip to Latin-America followed by Russel's second major bout of hospitalization at Hinduja in Khar), I am having difficulty getting back to routine again--despite my best intentions to catch up on pending work.
Whatsapp Video Call with Fairfield Friends:
I was up at 6.30 this morning and remembered that I was supposed to have a scheduled free Whatsapp video chat with my Fairfield Book Club friends in Connecticut at 7.00 am Bombay time (which would be 9.30 pm on the US East Coast). Still, I found it difficult to haul myself out of bed and make myself halfway decent for the call. It was fun seeing my friends on screen and I will be eternally grateful to Whatsapp for the free voice and video calling facilities that it has provided throughout my year in Bombay.
As one of our long-time Book Club members Trish was leaving Fairfield, Connecticut, to take on a retired life in South Carolina, our Book Club members were assembling at the home of Bonnie for a pot luck dinner to bid her goodbye. As I would be the only one missing from our farewell dinner, I suggested to Bonnie that I do a video call during the dinner. The miracle of modern technology did permit me to do just that!
Being that I was up, I then decided to try to call my friend Delyse and see if she was free for a video chat. And indeed she was! She was getting ready for bed...but she was more than happy to chat. And so we caught up on so much that has been happening in both our lives through the past few weeks. I was in the middle of our video chat when I heard the bread man ring his bicycle bell loudly and, of course, because it has been ages, I did beckon him upstairs from my balcony so that I could buy a broon for breakfast.
Dealing With This and That...
By then it was almost 8.00 am and after taking a look at Twitter and drafting my blog post, it was about 9.00 am. I had my breakfast of a broon with spreads and coffee and I then made a call to Dad to find out how his night and Russel's had gone and discovered that all was well. So as their home in returning to normal, I too had to find a way to get back to my pending work as I still have about 8 interviews to transcribe (these were the ones I had lost when I deleted Documents on my computer) and I pulled out one interview based on my handwritten notes. I read through them and was ready to get down to transcribing when I turned instead to respond to pending email--work-related and personal. This caused me to get side-tracked and I could never pick up momentum again to get started.
Shanaz's Memorial for Mukaram:
By 10.30 am, I remembered that today is the first death anniversary of our friend Mukarram Bhagat who passed away in Lima, Peru, when the Bhagat family and our family were on holiday in South America--some of you might recall this tragedy that left all of us traumatized. Well, Mukaram was the husband of one of my best friends in Bombay, Shahnaz. She decided to hold two gatherings of close friends to help her get through the day. The first was a lunch at her place that she catered and which included about nine close friends--she had invited me to join that one. The second was a Pot Luck dinner gathering of her Book Club--about 15 women who have sustained her through the tragedy and this past year.
Accordingly, I showered and got dressed and took a rickshaw to her place on Pali Hill. We had a very nice afternoon indeed as close friends remembered their long association with Shahnaz and Mukaram over decades--in my case, over four decades, as Shahnaz and I were in high school together. We paid tribute to Mukaram and his warmth, gentleness and humor. Hasan, their son, was also present and it was fun catching up with him as I get to see him rarely.
After drinks were served, Shanaz called us to the table. Her cook was busy at work at the stove assisted by her maid and together they made idlis and dosas served fresh off the tava with sambhar and chutney. This was followed by khichda, a Muslim Bohri concoction of wheat and lamb that is left to simmer for hours so that it turns thick and glutinous and you have meat so tender it just falls off the bone. There were also dahi wadas which Shahnaz had ordered and her own raita made with dates which I thought was awesome. Finally, there was a whole leg of lamb that had been marinated in a spicy curry and placed in foil to bake in the oven. Nothing could have been more delicious. These happened to be Mukaram's favorite dishes--so the menu was very carefully chosen in his memory.
For dessert, Shahnaz had three types of ice-cream--vanilla, mango and roasted almond--and they were all very good. I have not eaten such a large lunch in a very long time and I felt stuffed by the time most of the guests left and I sat down to catch up with Shahnaz and another friend named Sonal. Finally, at 3.45pm, when Sonal got up to leave, she offered me a ride and I decided to go to Dad's place. I was really glad that I was with Shahnaz when she was marking Mukaram's first anniversary as I was there in Peru with the family when he passed away and Russel was discharged in time for me to be with her in Bandra, one year later. Had Russel still been in hospital, I would have been on day duty and unable to be there for her. I felt my presence was meant to be...
Assisting Dad with Russel's Medication:
Dad and Russel had woken up from their naps by the time I arrived at their flat. I was very sleepy and had a short nap inside before I too woke up to assist Dad is sorting through and organizing the vast slew of tablets that Russel has to take as part of his post-hospital care. This involves a bunch of antibiotics to be taken until the staples on his surgery incision are removed and a bunch of tablets he needs to take for life. I did the best I could as we organized the tablets into envelopes that we marked and then put them into separate tins for different times of the day (Before Breakfast, After Breakfast, After Lunch and After Dinner). Poor Dad! He rarely complains but he told me that he thought this was the most cumbersome part of his care of Russel.
Russel Has Visitors--Nafisa and Jon Ken:
We had just finished the task we had undertaken when my friends Nafisa and her husband Husefa arrived to see Russel. Dad excused himself to go for a shower and to get ready for Mass. I was on the tired side as I had been away from my home for most of the day. I, therefore, decided to skip Mass today and Dad decided that he would go alone. I brought my friends up to speed on Russel's condition. They too had a chance to chat with him and answer all his questions. Dad left for Mass and a little later, my friends decided to leave to meet another friend close-by. But before they left, they told me that they were going to have a short light dinner at a local salad place and asked me to join them. I thought it would give us some more time together and so I agreed.
After they left, I stayed on with Russel to chat with him until he had two more visitors--Jon Ken and his wife Sonam. All of us sat talking in Russel's room. About a half hour later, Dad returned from church and Nafisa and Husefa called to tell me to meet them at Dad's gate.
Dinner at Bombay Salad Company:
Together, we drove for about ten minutes to arrive near Linking Road where we went to the Bombay Salad Co--it was a place discovered by their daughters and now embraced by them. We settled down to look at the extensive salad menu--the place looks exactly like Fresh and Co. or Chopp'd or any one of the Western-type salad places that are so popular at lunch time in the US and UK. They chose a Grilled Chicken and Couscous Salad and I had an Avocado and Feta Salad. Both salads were absolutely delicious and we really did relish them. For someone like myself, who has subsisted almost entirely on curry and chapatis (not my favorite cuisine), it was such a welcome change to sink my teeth into unusual ingredients such as avocado, feta, olives, cherry tomatoes, rocket, etc that you do not usually find in an Indian bazaar. I loved it and was really glad to have discovered this place as I can easily stroll down from my studio to have a nice salad.
About an hour later, they dropped me off to my place and went off for a meeting at their Bandra building while I got home and thought I would end my day with a movie. I had done no work at all today and had spent it instead with two of my closest friends in Bombay--Shahnaz and Nafisa. But once I got home, I took a look at my email and whatsapp and Twitter and time just flew. I also took a look at some documents on my laptop and ended up not watching anything at all. All I did was turn the light off at 11.00 pm and go off to bed.
Until tomorrow...
No comments:
Post a Comment