MUMBAI’S MONSOON MAGIC & MEMORIES OF ANOTHER ERA

Felt a bit awkward. After all, I was in the company of some truly legendary names.

For starters there was Vimal- Only Vimal. The greatest Indian brand name ever. Then there was Seetha. Even with an extra ‘h’ it’s a name of truly epic proportions. To round it off (no puns my dear classmate) there was Jhansi. And as if the “1857-mediaeval-queen-on-a-horseback-flashing-her-sword-against-the-goras” image was not enough, her parents gave her a second name- Lakshmi. Good God there were enough reasons to feel that somebody who responds to a pedestrian name like Arun was a misfit in this illustrious company. Only an imperial name like Ashoka or maybe Alexander would have done justice to the trio!!

The arrival schedule at the meeting point too did justice to the names. Poor me, I came 20 minutes early. “Only-Vimal” was off target by five minutes. Jhansi-Lakshmi was 20 minutes late. This meant the trio reached Seetha’s Chembur vatika 25 minutes beyond the appointed hour. “Blame it on the monsoons”, I muttered. Vimal’s matter-of-fact reaction was more logical, “Seetha should get used to the IST.”

We had come to meet Seetha but before that her uncle (dad’s elder brother) and aunt held centre stage. At ninety, he is truly a grand old man. He began his career when India became independent (1947) and retired just around the year we started off with our careers (1984). He sat upright on his chair. Wanted to know just exactly which restaurant we were going to, the size of the car and the departure time to the airport. After satisfying himself on all three counts he relaxed a little. Then there was Seetha’s aunt. A pleasant smile played on her lips permanently. She did not sit in the drawing room but stood just a reverential step behind her husband- a wonderful throw-back to the bygone era. I was truly impressed.

The lunch proper was memorable. Soup, beer (for yours truly), non vegetarian platter, vegetarian platter and of course plenty of chatter. For starters Vims wanted each one of us to update on what happened with our lives after 1970’s.

Seetha spoke about her house at one end of Giri road and then the shift to Church road. She recollected Miss Shameem and her legendary handwriting, her friend Tasneem, a naughty boy in her class called Faiyaz, re-location to Trichy, her dad’s sudden death after being diagnosed for cancer.

She also relived the horror of her kidnap attempt. This narration had a twist which is not mentioned in the blog. “After seeing slumdog millionaire I told my children, look even I could have ended up as a beggar if the attempted kidnap had been successful. This is what happens to many beautiful girls.”

I cleared my throat and announced, “So the bottom line of the story is - thou art beautiful”

Without batting an eyelid over her beautiful eyes she said, “That’s what many say.”

As if on cue, Vimal decided to spend the next ten minutes describing Seetha’s eyes, her B&W pix in FB. It could have gone on and on had I not gently reminded him that in a couple of hour’s time I would be meeting Vani!!!

Jhansi spoke of her early marriage to Gopal, his supportive nature, about acquiring degrees even after marriage. She has a healthy (no puns my dear class mate) sense of humour too. Here is a sample. “Every time I had a major exam, I was pregnant. During Intermediate I was expecting. During Graduation too I was pregnant. When a few years later I enrolled for my PG in Economics my friends said, Oh my god you are pregnant again!!” She still breaks into a hearty laugh when she recollects the importance she used to get in the office because of her mastery in WordStar and later WordPerfect.

Magic moments were galore. Sample this opening conversation between Seetha (just landed from New Jersey) and the waiter:

Seetha: What exactly goes into the making of this mushroom soup?
Waiter: Mushrooms
Seetha: I know but what are the ingredients?
Waiter: Musshhrooooms (Now if you have heard Russel Peters you will understand this pronunciation better)
Seetha: Yeah. But how do you kinda make it?
Waiter: White in colour
Seetha: (Closes the menu card) OK Vimal you order!!

Probably the best one was the conversation between Nargis and Seetha. Vimal connected her number and quickly handed it over to Seetha. “Surprise her, surprise her,” Vims egged her on. This is how the conversation went:

Seetha: Hello. Could you recognize me?
Nargis (probably): You must be Seetha.
Seetha: Oh! Wow!! How nice. You could recognize my voice.
Nargis and Seetha then go on to talk for about five minutes.

Then…..

Seetha: But my health is ok.
Nargis (probably): But you were sick.
Seetha: I am fine. I just traveled all the way from New Jersey and now I am off to Chennai.
Nargis (probably): But last week you were sick
Seetha (firmly): No I wasn’t. I would know if I were sick.
And then the penny dropped.
Seetha: I think you are talking to the wrong person
Nargis (probably): Of course not Smita
Seetha: Whaaaaat? Now who is Smita?
Nargis (probably): But when I said Smita you said yes.
Seetha: But I thought you said Seetha so I said yes.
Nargis (probably): So Seetha how are you?

The conversation then went on for another five minutes!!!

The drop off at the airport was very quick and haphazard. The heavy monsoons meant we were scurrying for proper information and the trolley. We hugged each other and as we drove back through the heavy rains wondered whether destiny will ever bring us all together again.

Till then it will have to be on a Post Card from Vimal.

Thanks friends for the monsoon magic.