Sunday Slam Dunk with Bombay Classmates in Bandra and Chembur

July 7, 2019
Bombay

Sunday Slam Dunk with Bombay Classmates in Bandra and Chembur

     Namaste from Bombay!
     When it rains, it pours--and I am not talking about the weather in Bombay right now although that would certainly be true of the monsoon!
    What I do mean is that after a week in which nothing significant happened, I was suddenly deluged with invitations from friends and the get-togethers I've had over this weekend have certainly made up for the lack of interest in my past week.
     So when I awoke at 5.00 am (back to really early awakenings), I was about to start reading and blogging when I got a call from New Jersey from my friend Ian who wanted to have an early birthday chat with me.  We ended up staying on the phone for an hour and ten minutes as we free-wheeled in our conversation about everything. It was great to get this really early call which should set the tone for what would be an exciting Birthday Eve!
     Of course, I did not have any time to blog about my jaunt in Byculla yesterday as I had to gobble down my brekkie (two slices of raisin-walnut bread with Nutella and peanut butter with coffee) and then I was getting dressed to go to the 9.15 Mass in church. That done, I went straight to Dad's to deliver to Russel the batata vada I picked up for him outside church after Mass. We were right in the middle of a lovely chat together when I got a call from my classmate Rita Pinto to tell me that she was done with her appointment and was waiting for me at the Bandra Gymkhana.

Breakfast with Rita and Arun at the Bandra Gymkhana:
     I did not waste any time. In fact, I rushed off and, ten minutes later, I had a lovely reunion with Rita and her husband Arun. They had come to Bandra (from New Bombay--very far away) to attend a death anniversary Mass at nearby St. Peter's Church and wondered if they could meet me. I told them that I had plans at 12 noon to meet another classmate, Iris--but that I had about an hour to spare for them.
     I ended up treating them to breakfast at the Gymkhana--a masala omlette with hot tea and toast for Arun and an egg sandwich with tea for Rita. I had a fresh lime soda with a chicken sandwich and while we were in the middle of it, in walked the actor-advertising man Roger Pereira, who is one of the Trustees of the Gymkhana and one of the folks I had interviewed early in my research for my Fulbright Project. As Roger was alone, I invited him to join us at our table--which he did. He settled down with coffee and batata vadas and Punjabi samosas and a very nice conversation followed after I made the introductions.  Sadly, I had to hurry through our visit because I did have plans directly after with another friend.
      Rita stopped by briefly in my studio where I left part of my uneaten chicken sandwich and then she and Arun dropped me in their chauffeur-driven car to Hill Road where Iris was already waiting for me for our next appointment.

Off to Beulah's for Lunch:
     Rita also knows Iris as we were all batch mates in the same high school together (St. Agnes' High School at Byculla Bridge), but she merely dropped me off and drove away to Borivli. I crossed the street to Lucky Restaurant where Iris and I decided to buy Beulah a dozen mutton samosas--Lucky Restaurant is reputed for them and we were sure that they would be delicious.
     Once our package was ready, I called an Uber and off we went to Chembur-Mankhurd as that is where Beulah lives. I am not sure what sort of route the driver took but it was far from pleasant and it went through the narrow bylanes of Bombay past some really unsightly shanty towns. Our ride seemed to take forever although Iris kept up a lively chatter with me. Iris and Beulah are the classmates with whom I had gotten together early in my stay in Bombay--so seeing them again was like book-ending my Fulbright Year in Bombay!
   
Lunch at Beulah's:   
     Beulah is one of those rare people who actually owns what is known as a 'house' in the West, as opposed to a flat. About 22 years ago, she and her husband had bought this 'row house' (also called a terraced house in the UK). It has multiple levels (which means tons of climbing up and down stairs!). They barely stayed in it for a few years when her husband accepted a position as a civil engineer in Djakarta, Indonesia, followed by more than a decade's stint in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Now back in Bombay to repatriate after more than 20 years, her husband Ashish is back at work (he will retire in 2-3 years) while Beulah kept herself busy this last year bringing the house back to snuff again (after it had been thrashed by tenants for over two decades).
     Iris was so delighted by the house (as I said, it is rare to come across something like this structure in Bombay), while for me, the thought of climbing all those levels was most off-putting. My idea of a perfect home, at this stage in my life, having had the huge house and garden too, is a single level flat with no garden to worry about and a very compact, minimalist space with very few possessions.
     Beulah has a full-time live-in maid who also does her cooking--the housewives of Bombay live luxuriously and are waited on hand and foot--and it was she was waited on us at table as well. After non-stop nattering, we were ready for lunch and we moved to the dining table where there was an array of dishes--each more delicious than the next.  She had Egg Curry, Chicken with Mushrooms, Pork Curry, Rotis, Pullao, Pan Rolls and Cutlets. For dessert. Beulah served what she calls her "Boozy Cake" which was basically Christmas Plum Cake soaked in rum--she said she had the last few slices left. She also served rose-flavored Chumchum--which is a scrumptious Indian sweetmeat that has a spongy texture and is sandwiched with a creamy filling.
     Of course, after lunch we gabbed some more...but then I had to get down to business and I told Beulah to make some time so that I could get some work done. I had started off by contacting Beulah to ask her to give me an interview as she used to be a chorister with the famed Paranjoti Choir in the 1980s and 90s under the leadership of Coomi Wadia whom I had also interviewed a few months ago. Beulah gave me a very interesting interview with a lot of tidbits of information that she, as in insider, was privy to. She talked a lot about the European tours on which she had traveled with the choirs to churches and auditoriums in Germany, Austria, etc. It was great fun to walk down Memory Lane with her.
     By about 5.15, we finally got up to leave after what had been a most fascinating afternoon. I called for an Uber again and Iris and I were off. I dropped her off en route so that she could catch a train to go forward to Goregoan where she lives. I took the Uber driver all the way to Dad's place and then spent the next two hours just chinwagging with Dad and Russel.  Dad insisted that I stay for dinner and it was Chinese: Chinese Chicken Noodles, Chilli Chicken, Chicken Lollipops--indeed it was an overload of chicken but everything was super good and I enjoyed having a wonderful leisurely meal with Dad and Russel. I left after Dad and I made plans to go to the 6.30 am Mass tomorrow morning--my birthday.
     Back home, I basically tried to chat with Llew but he was in the midst of watching the US women's soccer team play against Netherlands and told me we would talk tomorrow.
     I read the last of my novel The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (pseudonym of J.K. Rowling) and then I went to bed on the last day of another year in my life!
     Until tomorrow...