A Day of (Frustrating) Errands.

Thursday, July 18, 2019
Bombay

A Day of (Frustrating) Errands.

     Namaste from Bombay!
     They say Well Begun is Half Done! But in my case, Well Begun is Left Undone! I started by sorting through my papers, files, etc. to get organized to begin my packing...but for the past four days I have done nothing in that regard. So, tomorrow for sure I need to get back to it again...
     I awoke at 6.00 am and began blogging and reading world news on Twitter and The Times. A quick brekkie later (muesli and coffee now as I attempt to finish supplies in my fridge), I sat down to find an email I received a few weeks ago. For some reason, I simply could not find it on my laptop (although I found it easily on my phone!). It took me a while to retrieve it, but once it was done, I spent some time reading through it. It was a call for applications for another grant that I believe I stand some chance of getting. So I sat down to give my project a thought. I also reviewed the online application form and found out that I need to attach a CV that is no longer than 2 pages--this means trimming mine and while I was in the process of doing that, I got a text from Himanshu, my computer geek repairman, informing me that he would be at the Bandra Gym very shortly and wondered if I would like to come there to pay him.  This would certainly simplify matters for me, cut short my journey to his office and make my life easier. But it also meant that I had to leave what I was doing to make this detour.   
     I told him I would be there soon and, getting dressed, I walked to Bandra Gym. I decided also to get to the Bandra Municipality Ward Office to find out where I could get a municipal marriage certificate as the ones issued by the church are no longer valid in India. I carried my passport and my church-issued certificate and set out.
     It was nice to visit with Himanshu and his wife for a little while over a lemon soda as I handed him the money and he handed me the receipts for the services he provided. We sat together for about a half hour and then I took my leave.
     I walked along the lovely leafy bylanes of Bandra and arrived at the ward office, only to be told that if I needed a marriage certificate and was a Christian, I needed to go to the Khar Telephone Exchange! Annoying! Of course, it was about 12.00 noon then and I decided to go there tomorrow.
Since the ward office was right by Marks and Spencer on Hill Road and since there were signs screaming in the window about their 60% Off Sale, I decided to step in there and see what I could find.
      Of course, I need to purchase new clothes right now like I need a hole in the head! At a time when I am actually giving things away as I am having nightmares about how I am going to fit everything in my studio into three small suitcases that do not weigh more than 60 kgs in total, absolutely the last thing I need to do is shop. I could not resist looking at the Sales and Clearance racks though and, honestly, had I just arrived to live in Bombay, these items would have been such a boon as they were in pure cotton and linen and would have been perfect for the year I have just spent here. As it turned out, they did not have the designs I liked in my size--which was just as well...
     I did go to the lingerie section though and I did buy my stock of underwear for the next year. For the past 35 years at least I have bought all my underwear from Marks and since I have my favorite styles and I am a creature of habit, I know exactly what I want and exactly where to find them. It was not long before I was leaving the store with my annual stock and then I was out on Hill Road again.
    By then it was 2.00 pm and I was dying for food. I could not possibly pass by Elco without going upstairs to the air-conditioned restaurant for my kesar-pista kulfi falooda and because it was lunch time, I could not have dessert without chaat--so I had a dahi batata puri. Both of them were fabulous and I think I ought to return there one more time before I leave to have just the kesar-pista kulfi without the falooda as it is so amazing.
      I then decided to digest my meal by walking home and I did so at my leisure admiring the lovely high-rise apartment buildings of this suburb and the affluence that surrounds me. Back home, feeling as if I had accomplished two important tasks (paying Himanshu and shopping at M and S), I sat down to do a bit of reading. As I could not download the printed version of The Silkworm which is the next in the Robert Galbraith detective crime series after The Cuckoo's Calling written by J.K. Rowling, I downloaded the audio book. It is brilliantly read and I am enjoying it but the problem is that I keep nodding off and then it is difficult to rewind and find the spot at which I lost track! So much easier with a printed book!
       A pot of tea, a biscuit and a slice of chocolate-almond cake later (during which I watched Joolz Guides in London's Mayfair and Belgravia), I had a shower. A little while later, I got dressed and went off to Dad's. He is a little better (there is no longer any fever) but he is still rather weak. Russel, meanwhile, is allergic to the dust that is being raised by the reflooring of the bathroom and the re-seating of the dining chairs (which is a job Dad has also given to a carpenter) and is most disoriented by all the turmoil in their flat. He has developed a terrible cough that then causes him to throw up as the dust gets lodged in his throat and he tries to expel it. Hopefully, it will all be finished tomorrow and life can return to normal at Dad's flat.  Hopefully, also with the alteration made to the floor, Russel will be able to use the bathroom and the toilet and go in with his walker and not feel intimidated. Fingers crossed!
     I stayed there for about twenty minutes and then left for Mass. Dad decided to take it easy as physical rest is basically all he needs. Right after Mass, I returned to Dad's place to pick up his electricity bill and his check as he needs me to go to the bank tomorrow to pay it for him. I was just about to heave when our friend Jon Ken and wife Sonam walked in to see both Russel and Dad. I sat visiting with them for about twenty minutes and then I took leave of them all.
     Back home, I got my dinner organized (paneer tikka masala, meat lasagna, mashed potato--yes, they are the strangest meals based on the odds and ends in my fridge right now) and watched another episode of Wycliff. I also did a bit of listening to my new book and made good headway with it before I was ready to drop off.
     Until tomorrow...