A Dripping Monday Keeps Me Indoors

Monday, July 1, 2019
Bombay

A Dripping Monday Keeps Me Indoors

     Namaste from Bombay!
     My birth month began today and although I am excited that I will be in Bombay after absolutely years for my birthday, the fact that it is pouring rain so steadily that one's spirits feel dampened, makes me refrain from making any plans.
     I know that the rain began at about 1.30 this morning (as I was still awake) and when I awoke for the new day at 6.30 am, it was still pouring.  There is nothing quite as loud as Bombay rain, especially as it drains down a sliding projecting tin roof that was installed by my landlord to keep rain out of my balcony. It works insofar as it keeps the balcony dry but, as he had warned me in advance, it makes an awful din.  I actually made a short video of the rain and posted it on Twitter--since the sound and the fury were so great. I had completely forgotten how stupendous it can be!
     In fact, I had invited my Fulbright mentor at St. Xavier's College, Pearl, to have dinner with me at Bandra Gymkhana this evening at 8.00 pm together with her husband...but she emailed me to say that since the rain is so heavy, she will be spending the night with her mother in the city and will not be returning to Bandra tonight. I also have dinner plans with two young people in their 20s tomorrow night--I am taking Llew's godson Brett to dinner as well as Azra, my friend Shahnaz's daughter, to celebrate her graduation with her Bachelor's degree in the Humanities from Ashoka University in Delhi. Those plans might also be postponed if it continues to rain this hard.
     After breakfast (muesli with coffee), I decided that I was staying dry indoors all day--nothing could induce me to go out in the deluge. I blogged, read for a good part of the day, sent out my newsletter (a combined one for the months of May and June 2019) and made one call to my friend Marianel and another to her sister Bulu to thank her for hosting me at her place for lunch, a few days ago.
         At lunchtime, I ate leftovers from a sizzler dinner with Nafisa at Kobe Sizzlers (I had frozen them) with the last of my sambhar and a chapatti and had fresh mango for dessert. I took stock of my fridge and have in mind that I have to finish everything in it in the next month as I shall be vacating this studio by July 31.
      After lunch, a short nap followed. I spent a lot of time watching a Netflix show called Collateral (which I realized after watching a whole episode that I had watched it before). It is written by David Hare and is so compelling (and my memory about these things is so poor) that I watched it all over again. It is fantastic!
     Rain hammered on, all day, with no relief, at such a steady pace that it was at times pretty terrifying. It reminded me very much of the kind of winter blizzards we have in Connecticut where life comes to a virtual stand stand and all you want to do is stay warm and safe and dry at home watching boxed sets on the telly.
     I did carry out some chores on my laptop (such as reminding folks who are writing endorsements for the back jack of my forthcoming book to submit them to me by July 15) and I did make a call to Dad to find out how he and Russel are doing. I told him that I would not be venturing out today--so would not be visiting them or going to church. And he told me he had no intentions of going to church either in this weather.
     When evening came, I had a pot of tea with one biscuit and a small slice of cake and continued watching Collateral.  Then I went out into my balcony, pulled out my stroller bag and went through the contents of some bags I have accumulated with the idea of getting rid of a lot of things that I do not intend to carry back to Connecticut with me. I have begun keeping things aside in small piles to give away to certain people whom I think will actually be happy to have them. Each day I intend to make a small dent in my packing so that I am not overwhelmed at the very end. Today, I got rid of a lot of accumulated empty plastic containers (ice-cream tubs mainly) and a lot of hotel paraphernalia that I have accumulated in my many stays in nice hotels on my travels during this past year.
     I had a shower and shampoo before dinner and feeling very fresh and clean, I sat down to watch the last episode of Collateral. It was about 10.00 pm when I washed up my dinner things, changed, brushed and flossed my teeth and went to bed.
     The rain is still copious and as I fell asleep it drummed on my tin roof like a steady tattoo. I feel blessed that I am in a warm and comfortable home. Just imagine what life must be like if one is homeless or lives in one of the slums of which Bombay is so full! We have so much to feel grateful about for we are so blessed!
     Until tomorrow...