On the Seventh Day, We Rested!

Sunday, September 16, 2018
Bombay

On The Seventh Day, We Rested...

      Namaste from Bombay!
      With Russel's surgery behind us, I was able to rest a bit easy and, surprisingly, slept well--till almost 6.00 am (which is a lie-in, by my standards). Then, I blogged, took care of email queries and responses, washed and breakfasted. With Netflix being the only entertainment I have for the moment, I have returned to watching Escape to the Continent (as I used to do when I was still in the States) which is truly my mental escape. In this program, a host takes a British couple from the UK to some corner of the Continent where they would like to buy a home to resettle.  The program is about their quest for a home in this new location--and since the locations are European, it is a program after my own heart. Escapism and entertainment in one lovely package.
      I called Dad who was already at the hospital to tell him I would be arriving a little later. Then I showered and dressed and walked to the hospital and was there at 10.00 am. What a treat it was to see that Russel is rapidly returning to his old self.  Gone was the moroseness, the remorse ("Why did I go to the bathroom? Why was the washing machine in my way?" etc. etc), the slight depression, the quietness. In its place, was his usual chattiness. He told me what he had done in the morning ("I read my Daily Flash, I read CharisIndia, I had a nice breakfast", etc). For the rest of the morning, it was good to see him interacting with the folks in the next bed. In his usual hospitable way, he invited Priyanka, daughter of the patient next-door, to visit his home--"You come to our house." She has really taken to him (as does almost everyone else) and is chatting back with him. I can see that his mood has brightened considerably and both Dad and I take heart from his change of heart.
     I left at 12.45 pm to buy lunch for Dad and myself from Hearsch Bakery. The line is always daunting and the snail's pace at which it moves makes me believe that the staff could all profit from a stint at McDonald's. As usual, there was one Goan Aunty who tried to break the queue. But then she ran into Monitor Rochelle! "Excuse me," I said, and with my thumb, I gestured behind me and said, "Queue." She pretended as if she was looking for someone in the queue ahead. And I said, "If you want to join someone in front, please go ahead. If not, the queue is behind you." She did not budge. Two seconds later, the owner arrived and asked her why she was forming a double line. "There is only one queue," he said. And she was shoved off to the back. Double humiliation for her ! From me and him!!!!
     I picked up two mutton hog dogs for Dad and me (as there were no mutton samosas) and two lemonades, ate my own under the shade of a tree and took Dad his meal. Then I returned to the ward as he ate his meal downstairs. The attendant had almost no work to do today as Russel still has a catheter and a tube with a bag attached to it from which his knee is still draining. So it is a day of rest for him. Sr. Sevika (who is a nun and a qualified nurse) comes in occasionally to change his intra-venous bottle through which he is receiving pain-killers and anti-infection drugs. Russel wants to go back home. He told Dad, "I am missing my home." He feels like a fish out of water when he is taken out of his regular milieu. However, all that said, he is coping bravely and there is a positive, upbeat mood to him now that has been missing for the past few days.
     When Dad came upstairs at about 2. 30 pm, he told me that he had boiled milk in the morning and had left it out to cool. He needed it to be put into the fridge so that it would not go bad. I volunteered to go home to his place to do it. He gave me his key and told me not to come back. He would stay until about 8.00 pm and return home, he said.
    Off I went to Dad's flat. I put the milk away, took my washed clothes off the line and threw some of mine into the laundry basket.  As luck would have it, the week of Russel's hospitalization coincides with Ganpati--the week most Hindu maids take off to celebrate with their families. My dad's housekeeper, Satyavati, will not come back until Wednesday--this means that before he gets to the hospital, Dad throws laundry into the washing machine, boils milk and does other housekeeping chores that she would normally do. He also puts the washed clothes to dry, then folds and puts them away. In the manner in which he conducts these tasks, I learn a great deal about human devotion.
     Likewise in his interaction with Russel: I see the flow of human affection and parental love with such immediacy that it is exceedingly moving. People in the next bed are marveling at Dad's energy, his devotion to his son, his involvement in every aspect of Russel's well-being. Russel's attachment to Dad is equally touching. If my Dad is not in his line of vision, Russel asks me, "Where's Dada?" He wants him around--just Dad's presence is deeply comforting to him. At times like this, when he is at his most vulnerable, Russel also misses my Mum. A few days ago, he told my cousin Veera, "If my Mummy was here, she would look after me." He also told Dad, "I am missing Mummy." I am convinced that the more family members he has around him, the more emotionally secure he feels. To that extent, I am hoping that my presence is making some positive difference to him.
     As for me, I spend a lot of time in Thanksgiving prayers. All these observations I make are also ways in which I see the power of the hand of the Lord and His Mother at work. They are working--in forms that I cannot explain, but they are answering our prayers in the quietest ways.
     The rest of the day was quite restful for me. I walked back to my studio first, left my backpack there, then walked to Dad's place. I got a call from my cousin Blossom in Chennai to inquire about how Russel was doing. We had a long chat . At Dad's, I did my errands and returned to my studio. I had a short nap, then woke up for a cup of tea and some more TV. At 5.30, I got myself ready for 6.00 pm Evening Mass at my church. After Mass, I spent a long while chatting with my friends Ewell and Nina who are staunch Charismatics.  They told me that they would come to the hospital on Tuesday evening to pray over Russel.
     They gave me a ride back home to my studio where I took a call from my cousin Laura who has just returned from the States and had heard about Russel.  She wanted an update which I provided. I had a G and T, then fixed myself a plate of dinner, ate it while watching Line of Duty, then brushed and flossed my teeth and went to bed at 10.00pm.
     It was a Sunday of Rest for all of us--except poor Dad! And we really did appreciate the opportunity to step back from our worries and anxieties and take a little break.
     Until tomorrow...