Today Was All About Thank-Yous

Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Bombay

Today Was All About Thank-Yous

     Namaste from Bombay!
     It was the morning after my birthday bash and I awoke filled with the kind of glow that comes from knowing you are loved--the feeling, of course, is priceless no matter how old you are. The joy of being in Bombay for my birthday after so many years and being able to share the day with some of my oldest and closest friends --not to mention Dad and Russel--was profound. Having had birthdays in South Africa, Hawaii, Alaska, London, Oxford, Berlin, Connecticut and other places, it was joyous to know that I was back where my life's long journey had begun. I would spend most of the day saying Thank-You to one and all who had made my birthday so special.
     So after spending a while reading my novel and my Twitterfeed, I got on with my day. Breakfast was the last of my raisin-walnut bread with the last of my cold roasted tongue and lemon curd--slowly but surely I am finishing supplies in my fridge (but, by the end of the day, my fridge would be full again with new leftovers from my party yesterday that I brought along from Dad's!)
     I then sat down to do a bit of blogging. Writing about my birthday was a real joy. Messages kept pouring in from friends who had attended my party to tell me what a good time they'd had, how much they'd enjoyed themselves. what fun it had been to meet new folks (as most of my friends, being from different walks of my life, are not known to each other), how delicious and plentiful the spread was and what a terrific evening it had been, in general. I was super delighted to get back to them as much of the morning marched on. Rain drummed on steadily outside as I waited for it to abate.

Off to Anil's:
     It was then time to get going and I texted Anil who had recovered well from food poisoning, to let him know that I would be stopping off at his place. I then walked to Dad's where I met briefly with him and Russel and told them that I would be back to have lunch with them. I picked up the second smaller cake that Ninaz had Theo Broma deliver to my place as she thought that the one-kilo cake would not suffice. I picked that cake up and decided to take that over to their place. I had wanted to go over to their place with cake anyway.
     So off I went in a rickshaw and, ten minutes later, I was at Anil's. He was home and looked none the worse for his bout with food poisoning. Anil brewed me a tall mug of decaff coffee in his swanky Nespresso machine and we sat and gabbed for a bit--Ninaz was at work. I had taken a few books along for Anil as I am giving away the many books that have been gifted to me over the past year. I simply do not have the weight allowance to take books back.
     After about an hour, I took my leave of Anil and in another rickshaw, I returned to Dad's. There I went through all the Tupperware containers that had been so neatly put away by Rohit. It was lunch time and Russel was ready to eat. I asked him what he would like to have (from a wide range of leftovers) and he chose the mutton biryani, roast chicken and Sabzi Kohlapuri. Dad and I had pretty much the same things. After our lunch was done (during which time I thanked Dad profusely for hosting my party with such style and class, for organizing the space and for taking such good care of my guests), I made smaller containers of the leftovers so that I could take some of them over to my studio. I have instructed Valerie not to send me any food until I call her.
     I also opened up my birthday presents (as I had left all of them unopened at Dad's place). Russel was particularly keen to find out what I had received. I loved my gifts, I had actually remembered to tell some people not to bring anything and had forgotten to tell others! So many of my friends brought me little treasures while others brought nothing. 
     Back home, I had to make room in my small fridge to fit everything. This took a bit of creative juggling. My deep-frosting endeavors had succeeded and I pulled out large sheets of ice from around my freezer. With everything well accommodated in my fridge, I did some reading and then took a nap. When I awoke, I sat on the phone and sent off Thank-you notes to all the friends who had brought my gifts and, of course, I got messages back from them. So, a lot of my time was spent on the phone.
     I got a text from my friend Firdaus telling me that the screening of Small Island from the National Theater Live in London that is scheduled for July 17 at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Bombay is house full. I had intended to go for it but had not booked my ticket. However, he also informed me that the show on July 10 had several seats available. I immediately called Nafisa and asked if she was interested in seeing it--and she was. I did not waste any more time. I quickly went online and booked us tickets for the show tomorrow. Marianel, my friend, then called and invited me to go over to her place to have lunch with her. I could swing it before the show but I decided to make it a quick cuppa instead of lunch. This would leave me the morning free.
     I spent most of the evening reading and took a tea break to watch Joolz Guides--this time he was taking us on a tour of London's historic churches--and he went right into my parish--St. Etheldreda's at Ely Place, Holborn, which happens to be London's oldest Catholic Church. I was simply thrilled! It is amazing to me how, being here in Bombay, I'm taking so much delight in the times I had spent  living in London, ten years ago. I think it all has to do with my forthcoming book (my memoir) and the amount of time I have spent working on it. Sooner or later, I will be receiving the proofs and reading them through will, once again, trigger these innate affectionate feelings for the city on my part.
     I went in for a shower and was getting ready to go to Mass when it came down again. I called Dad (who was completely tied up with the World Cup cricket match) to tell him that I would be staying put at home and would spend a quiet wet evening on my own with my novel, Machines Like Us. I also posted a lot of pictures on Twitter of my visit to the Bhau Daji Lal Museum (the former Victoria and Albert Museum) in Byculla as my pictures are quite wonderful. Also, friends started sending me the pictures they had taken of my birthday--so I, in turn, sent them off to my friends around the world via whatsapp.
    Another realtor brought a single woman to take a look at my studio at 8.15 am and right after their visit, I made myself a plate (Valerie's leftovers still in my fridge--chicken curry, chole and brinjal) with mango for dessert. And while I ate, I watched The Angel, a very interesting film about a spy called Ashraf Marwan who was responsible for averting a Middle Eastern war between Egypt and Israel in the 1970s. Marianel called again and we ended up having a chat of over an hour on the phone. When I returned to the film, I have to say that after I'd finished eating, I inevitably dozed through it and really need to go back and look at the parts that I missed while I fell asleep!
    It was about midnight when I did eventually fall asleep after a day that had been spent mainly giving thanks for friends, their presents and their presence.
    Until tomorrow...