Writing an Article for a Guest Blog Column and Beginning to Pack

Monday, July 22, 2019
Bombay

Writing an Article for a Guest Blog Column and Beginning to Pack

     Namaste from Bombay!
     I did it! I actually hauled out my three suitcases (four, if you include my smaller stroller) and actually began packing up my little studio today. Sob! The time has come for me to leave this tiny haven of my own making and I am deeply sorry to depart.

Drafting a Guest Blog Column:
     But, first of all, the morning had to be grasped and after blogging, breakfasting (on muesli and coffee) and listening to a bit of my book (The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith aka JK Rowling), I got down to the writing of a guest blog column. This had been requested of me by Lavina Melvani of New York, a freelance journalist whom I follow on Twitter and whom I meet frequently at New York City events. A year ago, soon after I had arrived in Bombay, she had asked me to write a guest column for her blog called 'Lassi With Lavina' detailing my observations on living in Bombay after three decades. I figured that it made sense to wait until my year was out before I could really sink my teeth into the topic.
     And so, I spent the entire morning drafting the column and by lunch time, it was ready. I then stopped to stretch and eat: Valerie's meal of chicken curry with potatoes, gherkins and dal with one chappati with a fresh mango for dessert was simply perfect. After lunch, I sat listening to my book but I have this awful tendency to drop off while I am listening to something and lying down at the same time. By the time I awoke, I found it hard to find my place in the book, but it was time to go to the bank anyway.

The Saga Finally Ended:
     So finally, the saga that had begun last week when I had discovered at the bank that a public provident fund that I had started thirty years ago had matured and needed to be closed to the time I was able to finally get my funds released from the bank, ended. In the process, I went through the Kafka-esque corridors of Indian bureaucracy--from the municipal ward office in Bandra to the state marriage registrar's office in Khar--through the spiffy air-conditioned office in a high-rise apartment building of an attorney friend to the decrepit cottage of a Dickensian notary public in a tucked-away Bandra village that time forget. And so I was at my bank this afternoon, dealing with Jayant who surveyed the notarized affidavit I took to him and finally pronounced that everything was in order. He then passed on my file to another clerk who received instructions from him to change the name on the fund and then transfer them to my current accounts. Oh boy! Was I pleased that my mission was finally accomplished!

Finally Beginning my Packing!
     Back home, I began my packing. I hauled my three medium-sized suitcases and my small one (stroller) out of the balcony where they have reposed for the past 11 months and laid them out on my bed. I packed the stroller with the clothes I will need for London as it is my plan to spend one week in my favorite city en route to the US as a way of giving myself a little treat as well as breaking the vice-like hold that jetlag caused by the ten and a half hour difference can have on me. Let us hope that my accommodation arrangements work out--after which I shall plan my itinerary and visits with friends. Spending that week in London will, no doubt, soften for me, the deep wrench of leaving Dad and Russel after a year. I cannot even begin to imagine how wretched the parting will be after having spent one year so closely involved with their lives. 
     The packing took a good two hours as I judiciously divided the weight between three suitcases. The weight comes mainly from what seems like tons of research notes, interview jottings, programs, tickets and reviews of cultural programs I have seen, plus literature relating to the various conferences to which I was invited, etc.  I also kept aside a lot of clothes (mainly sleeveless summer dresses that I wore to church) to be left behind at Dad's. This will mean that I can bring fewer clothes with me when I return to Bombay on my usual winter visit in a few month's time.
     When a good portion of my packing was done, I stopped to go in for a shower and shampoo and then got dressed to spend the evening at Dad's before going off to the Novena and Mass. Dad was feeling much better and had just had a shower. He told me that the tiles in the new bathroom are not as skid-resistant as one would imagine and that the skid-proof bathmats are definitely needed. I stepped into the bathroom, took my sandals off and tested the wet floor for myself--only to find that Dad was right. Let us hope that Russel will cope okay when it comes time for him to use it.
     At 6.45, I left for church and was happy to find that our family friend, Fr. Austin Norris, was the guest celebrant for the Novena week. After Mass, I went off to the sacristy to meet him and chat with him and invite him over to Dad's for a visit--but he had already made other plans.
     As Dad needed me to pick up some medication for him, I stopped at the pharmacy on my way back and bought the tablets, then stopped off briefly at Dad's place to drop them off.
     A little while later, I was home (much later than usual as the novena followed by a full Mass with a sermon elongates the service) and ready for my dinner. I watched a whole episode of Wycliffe while eating a plate full of assorted salads from Candies, a cup of soup and a mango for dessert. I did not waste too much time in getting ready for bed and knocking off for the night.
     Until tomorrow...