Negotiating with a Wheelchair and an Invitation to Saturday Night Dinner

Saturday, June 29, 2019
Bombay

Negotiating with a Wheelchair and an Invitation to Saturday Night Dinner 

     Namaste from Bombay!
     It is comforting and heartening to know that one has reached the weekend and as I awoke at 6.30 am, I hoped mine would be a good one.
     The morning went by, somewhat sluggishly, as I breakfasted on muesli and coffee and caught up with my regular morning laptop tasks: blogging, downloading The Times of London on my Ipad, checking through email correspondence and staying abreast with Twitter.
     I had no real appointments today except with Dad who needed my help in getting some clerical work done. But since it was pouring copiously all morning, I called and asked him I could come later in the afternoon or when there was a lull in the rain. He was fine with that.
     I did a lot of reading (The Cuckoo's Calling) and made a few phone calls to friends--Beulah, Iris, Marissa. Before I knew it, it was time for lunch and I ate the last of my meal delivery service: curried meatballs, stewed gourd, sambhar and coconut chutney with a chapatti and mango for dessert. While eating, I watched House Hunters International as they explored Calcutta in India and Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
     I continued to read my novel until I felt sleepy and then took a short 20 minute nap. Once up, I decided to make my way to Dad's place. The rain had abated somewhat and I could easily pick my way along the 10-minute walk to his place. 
     When I reached Dad's, I realized that there is not enough space in Russel's bedroom to get his wheelchair through to the living room. We put our heads together to try and figure out how we could shift furniture around to create adequate passage. A little later, Dad and I sat down to work. I helped him decipher the new medications that have been prescribed for Russel and helped get rid of the ones that are no loner needed--they were only prescribed until his stapes were removed. He now has to take a great deal of supplements such as calcium, Vitamin D and Vitamin C to assist in the formation of callus or new bone that will heal his broken leg. Dad and I merely finished that and were moving on to other aspects of insurance claim forms when Dad had a visitor--a man who represents the company that provides his Aquaguard home water-filtering system (every Indian home has one to guard against water-borne diseases). The man wanted a testimony of the efficiency of the company so that they could place it on their website.  This took Dad half an hour to accomplish during which time I tried to get Russel to sit in the wheelchair and get a feel of it.
     When the man left, Dad and I returned to work but we did not get much done as Dad's linesman arrived to fix his phone. He was warmly welcomed, of course, as Dad has been handicapped for a week or longer. He worked on the problem and after almost an hour, he came in to check if the phone was in better shape. It seemed OK--this was a great weight off Dad's mind (and mine).
       Soon, Dad needed to go for a shower before leaving for the Saturday evening Mass. I sat chatting with Russel and keeping him company when our friends Jon Ken and his wife Sonam arrived to visit Russel. They brought a whole lot of homemade momos--for Sonam is Tibetan and makes terrific ones.
     It was not long before Jon Ken and Sonam got involved in a discussion on figuring out how to rearrange bedroom furniture to make room for the wheelchair. And it as not too long after this happened that we put our energy into clearing and moving things around to make the room wheel-chair friendly. When this was done, we found more ways and means to simplify the amount of furniture in the room. Dad left for church and a little later, Jon Ken and Sonam left--followed by my departure.
     I raced home, had a shower and got dressed for my evening's appointment as I was invited to dinner by my friends Anil and Ninaz who live close by. I put together a small hostess gift for them: French pork pate with a pack of basil and olive oil crackers--and off I went.
     It was about a half hour's walk to their gorgeous terrace flat but the rain had stopped and there is a delightful freshness and coolness in the air that I now love which makes me want to walk for miles. It is also practically the only exercise I get nowadays--so I am quite happy to walk whenever I get a chance and the pretty lanes of Bandra lend themselves so well to walking.
        As always, I had a grand time with my friends. Ninaz, as usual, had a tray full of nibbles: Lays potato chips, pistachios, crackers with hummus and my pate--and Anil put a lovely cold gin and tonic into my hand. It was ultra-refreshing to sit with my friends and talk about the goings-on of the week as well as tell them about Llew and my travels in South America while they told me all about their recent travels in the UK and Portugal. Exchanging travel stories with friends is one of my great delights and I had a grand time as we laughed over our experiences. Dinner was partly cooked by Ninaz: a vegetable bake and a really fresh, colorful salad--and partly ordered from Khane Khaas: garlic-pepper chicken and tandoori fish (both fabulous). Dessert was a piece of chocolate.
     It was about 11.30 pm when we decided to call it a night. As it continued to come down in sheets, Anil pulled out his car and the two of them gave me a ride home. I used the opportunity to buy myself a tub of Belgian Chocolate Ice-cream from Huber and Holly which is in the next building and when I did get home, I did nothing more than change, wash, brush and floss my teeth and go directly to bed.
     Until tomorrow...