Friday, August 2, 2019
Bombay
Running Errands, A Visit to St. Andrew-By-The-Sea and
An Evening Spent at a Cyber Café
Namaste from Bombay!
Clearing, Cleaning, Trawling, Culling:
I am
getting used to the novelty of waking up in Dad’s home (the home of my teenage
years onwards) where the sounds are different although there is still bird
song. Breakfast was a chappati which I ate with mango jam and coffee. I then
decided to create some room by taking some of Russel’s books and magazines that
have been in the loft for so long out of there (to be disposed of) and
replacing them with others that have accumulated in the cabinets. This has
freed up space in the cabinet. Magazines that were piled in the living room
were then placed in the cabinet! This is the situation that loved ones have to
encounter when faced with someone who has OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)—which
Russel has (from everything I have observed). Rohit gave me a hand putting
things up and that was great.
Also in an attempt to free up space in the
different storage cabinets of Dad’s place, I went through a really old suitcase
that had been placed under the bed and found it full of the most unspeakable
junk. The only things I salvaged and
retained from there was a diary belonging to my maternal grandmother (she had a
variety of addresses of people she had worked with in it), a diary belonging to
my maternal Uncle Henry (it was full of the lyrics of Hindi songs!) and a pair
of binoculars (in rather rusty shape) that my Dad told me he used to take along
when he went to the Brabourne Stadium to watch cricket matches! Just imagine!
They are truly field glasses. I had no idea that my Dad used to actually attend
cricket matches! It is amazing how much one learns from a probing into the
detritus of one’s parents’ past.
I then went through a cabinet containing
books (paperbacks) that I used to carry with me to read on the long flights to
India and during my stay in India. There were about 20 such paperbacks and I
texted my friend Nafisa who had told me to pass on any books to her that I
wished to discard. She told me she would love to have them. I put them in a
giant bag and she will pick them up when she returns from a short trip she is currently
taking. Doing that freed up two shelves of space in that cabinet. I also have a
bag of books for the library of Bandra Gym and I discarded a whole lot of book
that were eaten by silver fish—a perpetual problem in India as silver fish
thrive in damp conditions. Tomorrow I shall start on some other cabinets with
the idea of freeing space.
I
then received a message from Herman, my friend the amateur historian, telling
me that he was taking a Spanish friend of his to the church of St.
Andrew-By-The-Sea for a tour of the interior. I had told him that I was
interested in accompanying them if it took place. But first, I needed to get to
the church office to book a Thanksgiving Mass for the eve of my departure from
Bombay. I really did want to offer a Mass for all blessings received this year.
It has been a terrific year for me, work-wise, and in terms of my ability to
help my family members. Plus, with the Lord and His Blessed Mother answering
our prayers for Russel and allowing me to return home to the States with a
greater sense of comfort than I have felt for months, I really did want to
offer a Massof gratitude for all favors received.
Caught In A Rainstorm:
I carried my umbrella (just in case) although it was very
dry when I left Dad’s place. Then, quite suddenly, while I was en route to the church, great, fat,
raindrops fell on me and even before I could quite open my (already damaged)
umbrella, the downpour was so copious and the wind so fierce that I actually
had to stand under a tree (as there was no other shelter anywhere) and hope it would
be a passing shower. No such luck! With
the fury of the wind, another spoke of my umbrella broke—mind you, this is the
umbrella of whose praises I was singing just a little while ago! It is the
Nautica umbrella that had been presented to me by my English friends in Connecticut,
ten years ago, when I was leaving to live in the UK. I never used it there, but
boy, have I used it here in Bombay! Now I absolutely have to find an umbrella
repair man (and apparently they are a dime a dozen in Bombay!). I really have
to splurge on a good umbrella when I am in London. I have always hankered after
a solid umbrella from John Smith And Sons, “Stick Dealers” at Bloomsbury in
London. They make walking sticks, canes and umbrellas and although each one
costs a small fortune (they actually engrave your umbrella with a monogram, if
you so wish), they are supposed to last a lifetime. With the fury of the Bombay
monsoon though…I rather doubt that claim!
After
a while (a good 15 minutes under the tree), the wind calmed down and I was
actually able to complete my walk to the church. At the church office, I met
Norma, a family friend who is the secretary. She booked me in, took Rs. 50 from
me and gave me a receipt. I sat and chatted with her for a while although she
was busy and had to continue with her work. Herman called to tell me that he
was at the church gate in his van and was ready to pick me up—but he suggested
I wait until the downpour eased—it continued in this manner almost through the
entire day.
A Tour of St. Andrew-By-The-Sea with Herman:
After a while, I did reach the van and we
did start our journey to St. Andrew’s. Herman has made quite a study of the
church’s history and was instrumental in bringing out a book on the church that
he and Vinita had presented me at dinner last night. He told us about the early
history of Santa Ana, the church that has built by the white Portuguese
colonials, in Bandra (close to where Bandra Station now stands). But after they
converted so many Koli fisherfolk (the original East Indians) to Catholicism,
they too started worshipping in the same church. The Portuguese began objecting to their
presence in the church as they smelled of fish! And so they decided to build
another church for them close to the waterfront where their shacks were located
and where their catches were cleaned. This became St. Andrew’s Church and the
year was 1616.
The rain continued to pour down in buckets as we went inside
the church to admire the glorious Baroque-style altars—the main reredos (or
main altar) which, Herman said, dates from the mid-1800s and the twin
side-altars. Recent refurbishment has
resulted in lavish gilding on the altars which are truly stunning. He also drew
attention to the choir loft (which was a new addition—in the 1960s). He told us
that the statues in the niches on the altar date from the medieval to the 19th
centuries. Of course, all of this information was passed on to us while we
looked at the decorative features inside. We were sorry to hear that the marvelous
frescoes that were in the style of Murillo were painted over, at some stage, by
a parish priest who did not value them. Probably, a layer of whitewash will
have to be stripped off to reveal the treasure underneath. Sadly, funds are not
available to carry out the refurbishment—nor does it seem as if parish priests
wish to undertake such lengthy and costly projects.
It was still coming down in a steady incessant
stream when we left the church and Herman dropped me home. It was nice making the
acquaintance of Peter who is Belgian and whose uncle was the much-revered Spaniard
Fr. Macinet who gave his life for the Jesuit missions in Nasik. He has come
down to India for a brief period to participate in the memorial service for his
uncle in Nasik. Since I discovered that he was from Ghent in Belgium, I had the
chance to speak French to him—which is always fun.
Clearing Up Indoors:
Once home, I dried myself (as I’d had a
right royal soaking because one more spoke from my umbrella had broken in the
rainstorm!) and then sat with Dad to have lunch. Lunch was chicken mince, cutlets,
cabbage and a chapatti—Dad also receives his meals from Valerie. As everyone
nodded off for an afternoon siesta, I did so too. When I awoke, I used Rohit’s
help to put a few of my things up on Dad’s loft: my electric kettle, my
microwave oven, my table lamp, my stainless steel waste-paper basket/garbage
bin (which were the few things I had needed when I first set up house, a year
ago). I made a list of the things I was leaving behind so that I never need to
bring or buy them again.
At the Cyber Café:
When that was done, I decided to go out and
get some work done on my computer at the cyber café as there is no internet connection
in Dad’s house. I went to The Bagel Shop,
which is a very cute and very popular coffee shop just one block from Dad’s
building and which is very popular with expats as they sit there all day on
their laptops. Sadly, there was no internet service there today—no idea what
technical glitch caused this. But with no choice, I walked over to Jay, my
photocopier, and there I got the work I wanted done: Dad needed a banking KYC
(Know Your Customer) form printed out for him (I got him two copies), I needed
to print out my air ticket for my return home, I caught up with some email to
NYU, etc. Subhash is supposed to come and install an internet connection…but
until this happens, I shall have to use the cyber cafe.
Cancelled Plans:
As
it turns out, I was able to do this because my plans for the evening had been
cancelled. I was supposed to take the Principal of St. Xavier’s College, Dr.
Rajendra Shinde, and my Coordinator at the United States-India Education
Foundation, Dr. Ryan Pereira, for dinner to the Copper Chimney restaurant. This was after I had attended an opening
reception for a new exhibition on the work of V.S. Gaitonde, one of the most
famous of contemporary Indian artists. He was one of the members of the famous
Progressive Artists Group of the 1950s and 60s and there is a retrospective of
his work that has just been installed at the Shivaji Museum. My friend Shahnaz’s
daughter, Azra, who is an artist herself, was supposed to accompany me to this
opening. But then, Raju Shinde emailed me to say that he was not feeling well
and wanted to reschedule our dinner and perhaps it was just as well as the rain
was quite alarming in its intensity and made me wonder whether or not I should keep
our date. When Raju pulled out, it was a no-brainer. I texted Azra to tell her
that I would not be going to the opening after all.
This
left me the evening free. I shall try to catch the exhibition early next week
when I go again to the city to meet some friends before my departure from Bombay.
Neither
Dad nor I went for Mass today. Instead, we said our family rosary and then got
down to having dinner—more of our lunch. I had a quiet evening with my laptop
before I went to bed at about 10.00 pm.
Until tomorrow…
