Giving the Inaugural Lecture of The Literary Association at Mithibai College

Friday, July 12, 2019
Bombay

Giving the Inaugural Lecture of The Literary Association at Mithibai College

     Namaste from Bombay!
     It felt good to be back in the classroom again--if not literally, at least metaphorically.
     Awake at 5.30, I did some reading, blogged ad planned my day. First of all, I needed to find out where Mithibai College is located and how I could get there. I was scheduled to give the inaugural lecture of their new Literary Society which is named after Girish Karnad, the playwright and actor who died just a few months ago. I had been invited by Prof. Sanober Hussaini who is a good friend of my professor friend Margaret Fernandes who was a year senior to me at Elphinstone College and who retired from a long career as a Professor of English herself in Bombay. I was looking forward to being back in the classroom again--if not literally, then at least metaphorically.
     After breakfast of birschersmuesli and coffee during which time I watched Escape to the Country after a very long time, the time crept to 10.30 am. I was dressed and calling an Uber to get me to Mithibai College as I have no idea where these fairly-new suburban colleges are located. The Uber came on time and I was there in about 40 minutes. Sanober met me at the entrance to the college and took me to the Faculty Room--which was quite startlingly strange to me. Faculty-members in India do not have their own offices. What they are usually given is a large common space (sometimes called the Faculty Common Room) where they congregate when they are free for a good natter usually with their colleagues. It promotes collegiality (I will give you that) but it is not conducive to meeting students one-on-one which is such a big part of our lives as Faculty members in the West (holding 'Office Hours' to meet our students is mandatory in our schedules). Here, I am told, that students rarely come to meet their professor privately--there are simply too many of them! Anyway, we sat around and I was able to load my Powerpoint presentation on to the laptop that would be used during my talk (manned by an assistant as I would be at the podium).
     
Giving a Talk at Mithibai College:
      As in all such situations in India, everything is very formally organized. As I was the guest called to deliver the inaugural lecture of the new Literary Association, we had to wait until the Principal of the College arrived--he turned out to be one Dr. Hande (who told me he was a Science man). After his arrival (apparently, he was busy conducting interviews for open positions in Junior College), the proceedings began. I was called up to the stage and from there to the side of it where an oil lamp had been set up. I was then invited to light the oil lamp which is symbolic of initiating the event. Then followed the wonderful felicitations--I was given a bouquet of flowers and a small crystal memento of affection. Next, the Principal said a few words to give the new society his blessings and to welcome me and I was being introduced by the Head of the English Department, Prof. Vidya Premkumar. Both she and Sanober turned out to be lovely people and I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with them. Every time I meet professors of English in India, I learn something more from them about how the state of the profession has changed since the time I was a professor at Jai Hind College. 
     My talk on 'Dilemmas of Race, Caste and Gender Among Britain's Anglo-Indians' was delivered to about a hundred listeners in a wonderful air-conditioned auditorium. You should see these new spaces that Indian students are fortunate to call their own. They have these brand-new, state-of-the-art buildings that are fully equipped with all the bells and whistles. I projected my slides on Powerpoint and gave examples of the kind of responses I had received in England during my field research.  There were some very interesting questions asked at the end of it and I was delighted. Of course, I did not get the rock-star reception I received at the University of Nagpur following the same talk there--but that is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and that is what will always remain special for me.
     Following the talk, there was lunch with Sanober, Vidya and myself in a small room. A sampler tray containing vegetarian snacks was brought up to us: idlis with coconut chutney, two potato tikkis with tomato ketchup, a 'mayonnaise' sandwich, a spring roll filled with paneer (really strange but very tasty!)--all washed down with freshly squeezed sweet lime juice which, I thought, was amazing. I was very grateful for the offering as it was almost 2.00 pm by this time and I was ravenous. It was during this time that I had the opportunity to talk to the two professors about the state of the profession with regards to Indian professors in India. It is amazing how much things have changed since my days at Jai Hind College especially with regards to recruitment policies and practices.     

Home to Relax:
     I took an Uber home--fortunately, it has stopped raining (at least temporarily). I went straight to Dad's where I dropped off my bouquet. It will come in handy for the center table for Russel's birthday party which is on Sunday afternoon. I also picked up my bank book from Dad as I need to get to the Bank on Monday to do some follow-up work on some accounts I hold.
     By the time I got back home, all I could think of doing was having a nap. And I slept for quite a long time. Then feeling thoroughly refreshed, I finalized by appointment for tomorrow (I will be doing another interview with a member of the Paranjoti Choir) and continued reading.
      I spent the evening making a quick stop to say Hi to Russel before Dad and I left for Mass.  Dad was extremely tired and although I told him to take the evening easy and not come to church, he insisted on going to Mass--frankly, I was worried that he would collapse with fatigue, he looked that bad!
     On our way to church, he actually had to pause to get his energy back after climbing up a sloping gradient. But he did make it through the Mass and he got home OK. I got back home to his place with him to make sure he was holding well and I spent some time arranging the flowers in the same glass pitcher I had used last week for my flowers. That done, it was time for Russel's dinner and I said Bye as Dad busied himself with that. He told me that he would go to the doctor tomorrow to find out why he is feeling so tired and so lacking in energy.
     Back hime, I watched Caught On A Train--a rather strange film written by Stephen Poliakoff that starred a very young Michael Kitchen (of Foyle's War fame) and the late Dame Peggy Ashcroft (Of A Passage to India fame). It was a bit like Murder on the Orient Express--except that there is no murder. It deals with a group of passengers on a trans-Continental train in Europe.
     I did some more reading and then fell asleep. Tomorrow, I think I shall begin some packing....
     Until tomorrow...