Applying for an Aadhar Card, Lunch with my Doctoral Mentor, Tea with a Friend and Inauguration of Eunice de Souza Library Collection

Friday, July 26, 2019
Bombay

Applying for an Aadhar Card, Lunch with my Doctoral Mentor, Tea with a Friend and Inauguration of Eunice de Souza Library Collection at St. Xavier's College

     Namaste from Bombay!
     Whew! I had a full and very tiring day together--so let me put you through it all.
     I awoke at about 7.00 and raced through a blog post and breakfast (Muesli and Coffee--I finished up the last of my home made granola and the yogurt in my fridge--but I still have some almond milk left) and I jumped into the shower. I was out and dressed and ready to leave for the city by 9.10 am.

BEST Buses are Updated:
     The 220 bus came along in about five minutes--it is amazing that with the BEST having dropped their bus ticket rates to half (just Rs. 5 now, as opposed to Rs. 10 to get to the station), the lines are longer, the buses have all seats occupied and the poor 'shared' rickshaw drivers stand sadly by and watch their thriving business dry up. Good for the BEST! If these moves will save the company and its business, more power to them. I am emotionally attached to the BEST--it is the public transport system of Bombay with which I grew up (akin to London's red buses) and, humble though they might be, they have iconic status in my psyche. There are now a fleet of yellow air-conditioned BEST buses as well--I have no idea what the fare is (probably higher) but they are few and far-between and I hope I will have the opportunity to ride in one of them before I have to leave Bombay. 
     I was at Bandra station in no time and buying myself a First Class one-way ticket from the ticket window as my monthly pass has long expired. I then waited for about 15 minutes for the Bandra local train and when it came along, I went into the First Class General compartment (which remained mostly empty) all the way to Churchgate.

Browsing at Kitab Khana:
     From Churchgate, I walked towards Flora Fountain. En route, I passed by the Bikha Behram Well which dates from 1725 and is open to Parsis only. I took a picture and crossed the street to get towards Flora Fountain. Then, quite by chance, I found myself at Kitab Khana, the very popular book store that also has a cafe at the back and has become quite the most popular local hang-out spot for the city's English-speaking elite. I browsed through the shelves and chanced to come upon some personalized book marks in metal. I decided to pick one up as a small gift for Vrinda, my mentor, who was treating me to lunch.  I was really happy to find one with a V on it--what better gift to give one's doctoral mentor than a book mark, right?

A Visit to St. Thomas' Anglican Cathedral:
     I then asked for directions to Bombay Samachar Marg where the Bank of Maharashtra is located--so that I could at least see exactly where to find it. I was directed towards Horniman Circle and found myself passing right by the Anglican St. Thomas Cathedral. So, then, of course, I had to go in as it is one of my favorite places in the city of Bombay. I simply adore its quiet, serene interior, the ornate wrought-iron black ceiling fan suspenders that are unique to this church (I have never seen anything like them in any other church any where in the world), their teak wood pews with holes for the colonial regiment standards that the young sub-alterns would carry in and out of the church, the ornate marble font. Plus, there is the most glorious Victorian mortuary sculpture you can find anywhere in the city and I love to read the dedications on the marble plaques that speak of deaths in military battles, of falling off an elephant's back, of dying by bites from poisonous snakes and tigers. My eye was caught for the first time in this church by a stained glass panel that features three saints and which reminded me immediately of the style of the Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones. I took a picture of it and sent it, through Twitter, to my friend, Fiona Mann who teaches Art History at Oxford Brookes University and she responded immediately. She told me that it was the work of the English Henry Holiday (1839-1927),  a design he did for the firm of Thomas Kempe that was then shipped out to India! So it was very much by a contemporary of Burne-Jones and I felt chuffed to know that I had guessed correctly.
      
Looking for Bank of Maharashtra:
     The clerk who deals with applications for the card only arrived after 12.30--so I would actually be applying for it after my lunch appointment. But I wanted to make sure I knew where to go as the lanes in the Fort area as a real colonial maze and it is not easy to find a building without good directions.  By asking around, I did find the place and then walked swiftly towards Rampart Row. Vrinda had told me to meet her at The Irish House at Kala Ghoda.
     A quick five minute walk took me to the venue and Vrinda had just arrived there too. The restaurant did not open until 12 noon, so we browsed around in a gift shop next-door and both of us ended up buying a beautiful white metal cuff that cost just Rs. 160--that is about $2! It is such a statement piece that I simply had to buy it! A few minutes later, we found our way upstairs to the Irish pub.

Pub Lunch at The Irish House:
     And how delighted I was by it! It is such a lovely place--as authentic an Irish pub as you might find in the heart of Bombay. And because it is a chain, it also has many branches--including one in Bandra. There were a variety of cocktails as well as a number of draft beers on tap. And the menu was authentically Irish: they had fish and chips that actually looked like it does in the UK--not like the disappointing fish and chips I had at Bandra Gym the other day!   
       They also had a great Lunch Menu Deal for Rs. 495--one had a vast choice of (non-alcoholic) drinks (I had a virgin mojito), a starter (I chose sweet potato fries and Vrinda had Moroccan chicken skewers), a main (I had lasagna which was fab and very Italian with real ricotta cheese, while Vrinda had the Grilled Chicken with Pepper Sauce that came with Pasta Pesto; a side: I got a Caesar Salad while Vrinda chose Spicy Potato Wedges and finally, for dessert, I got a Hazelnut Chocolate Dome while Vrinda got the Honey-Walnut Apple Tart with Vanilla Ice-cream!). Can you imagine having so much great food? We shared everything, so we got to sample an enormous amount--and, of course, since we are both small eaters, we took large portions of our meal home in doggie bags! Best of all, we got to reminisce about old times, the people we knew then (some of whom have passed away), the common friends we still have, members of our families, our travel plans, our writing assignments, etc. Apart from having once been my professor, Vrinda is a dear friend and I always enjoy her company on the rare times that we do get together.

Applying for an Aadhar Card:
     She dropped me off in her car close to the Bank and I was able to get back to it to meet the clerk who put me through the procedure. The documents I carried along were inspected and verified by an officer of the bank and I was asked to fill out a form. My picture was then taken and I was finger-printed and I was told that I would receive it in the mail in the next 8-12 days--hopefully before I leave. So, all the research I did online to try and find out how and where I could apply for an Aadhar card paid off. If I do get it before I leave, it will be fantastic. The Aadhar card is the Indian national identity card and I am very pleased and proud to be the holder of one as I have dual citizenship (American and Indian).

Off to Spend the Afternoon With Marianel:
     By the time I got out of the bank, the sky had darkened vilely and the threatened downpour appeared imminent. Instead of traipsing through the city museums as I had intended to do, I texted my friend Marianel and told her that if she was free, I would like to go to her place to kill some time as my next appointment in the city was at 6.00 pm. She was delighted to hear from me and told me that I was most welcome. So I hopped into a taxi and was at her place in 20 minutes.
     And not a minute too soon! It came crashing down and as I sat with her salmon cream cheese spread on crackers with a cold lemonade, the rain drummed on outside. We were just wondering whether or not, I should go or re-think my evening plans, when the rain stopped, just as suddenly as it had started. What was great was that Marianel said that she would accompany me as my friend Celia (who was supposed to come to town from Kurla) chickened out, due to the rain, and cancelled on me.

A Memorial Function at St. Xavier's College:
     It was not long before Marianel had a shower, got dressed and joined me in a cab to St. Xavier's College. I was headed to a function in the library to inaugurate the personal collection of the late Prof. Eunice de Souza who passed away exactly a year ago. As a tribute to her, her doting ex-students decided to have this small anniversary memorial function at the same time that the librarian Medha was able to collate and catalogue a cupboard full of books that had personally belonged to Eunice. As I did not graduate from St. Xavier's College (I was an Elphinstonian), I did not have Eunice as a professor--but I knew her as a colleague after I got my Masters and began teaching at Jai Hind College. The members of English Departments all over the city of Bombay were well known to each other as our circle was small and we would meet regularly at events at the British Council, the USIS, etc. That was how I knew Eunice. I was still in the States last year when I received the news of her sudden passing and I was glad that I happened to be in Bombay where this function is being held.
     A small section of the library was dedicated to this function that included about 75 alumni who had gathered together on a very wet evening indeed to pay tribute to a professor whom they clearly revered. There were a number of speeches and readings from her poetry, including a short tribute from the current head of the English Department, Pearl Pastakia (my Fulbright Fellowship Mentor and now friend) who also inaugurated the collection by cutting a ribbon that led to the cubicle in which the cupboard containing her books is kept. And what a shock I had to discover that this was the cubicle that had served as my Fulbright office! So I was the last individual occupant of this office space before it was turned over to become a dedicated space in which Eunice's personal library of books could repose forever. I thought this too was a most coincidental end to my Fulbright year in Bombay and my professional stint at St. Xavier's College. 
     There was tea with sandwiches and cake following the event and I had a chance, at this point, to meet a number of Eunice's former students. One of them (also a speaker of the evening), introduced himself as Russel and said that his mother used to be the Head of the English Department at St. Andrew's College. I guessed then that he was the son of my late friend, Prof. Lorna Barrett, who died a few years ago. Lorna and I used to meet on every single trip that I made to Bombay and I always found her such a lovely person--so I was really happy to meet her son.
      After the speeches ended, I went up and spoke to Russel and told him that I was his Mum's friend. He said he remembered my name well although he was much younger when Lorna and I used to meet. As it turned out, Russel who was present with his wife, Janice, then said that he was able to give me a ride to Bandra as he lived close by. I also met an old friend Mario Poppen with whom I had once studied French at the Alliance Francaise de Bombay. Mario and I too go back decades--it was he who shared a cab with Marianel and dropped her right to her doorstep.
        And so I got home in pouring rain, in the comfort of a car and in the company of young folks with whom I found so many other connections with other people with whom I have made contact during the past year. It was about 9.30 pm when I got home, called Dad to tell him I had reached home safely, and had a cup of soup with cheese, crackers and fruit (mango) before calling it a day.
    It had been an eventful and most productive day and I was absolutely delighted by its outcome.
     Until tomorrow...