-Brian Mendonça
28
August 2017, Mumbai
Prior to our visit to Mumbai during the Ganesh break our
enthusiasm was a bit dampened hearing of the incessant rains which were lashing
the city. As I sit at my laptop, I gaze at the gentle drizzle outside my
balcony in Navi Mumbai.
It has been a lovely holiday so far -- a welcome respite
from the duties of Goa. Though nestled in Kharghar, news of SoBo or South
Bombay, always entices readers this side of the Thane creek. I am sorry to be
leaving before Naseeruddin Shah’s staging of Father. Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and her Children is also making
a comeback.
At Colaba we devoured a Mughlai lunch of chicken boneless
boti fry for starters, butter chicken, mutton pulao and their signature chicken
masala. The tandoori rotis were enormous, like saucepans. What I liked was the pièce de résistance,
a
delicate firni served in a clay khullar, laced with slivers of almond. We were at Bagdadi restaurant,
in a warren of lanes, a stone’s throw away from the majestic Gateway of India.
In the distance the grey sea lashed the promenade along Marine Drive.
This has been a rather quiet Ganesh holiday because there
has not been so much noise pollution. The debate about silent zones of Mumbai
is now hanging fire in the Mumbai court.
One morning I saw a posse of ladies stride their way to work
-- one hand holding their noses, the other chucking their plastic bag of waste
on the roadside.
13
September 2017, Goa
Before dawn today I finally had a precious 11 minutes to
take a look at the newspapers. I had
gaily gathered these gratis from the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport
(Domestic Terminal) while waiting for SJ 455 at 15.50 to Goa on 30 August 2017.
A flight ticket back to Goa, setting us back by a five-figure
sum was never on the agenda. The plan was to board the 12223 LTT-Ernakulam Duronto
Express from Kurla at 20.50 hours on 29th August. Schools and
colleges opened in Goa on 31st August.
And
then the rains broke on 29th August!
Everywhere TV channels were screaming about the deluge. I
felt sick inside. Even if we were to venture out in an Uber or Ola cab which
was highly unlikely, we ran the risk of being stranded with a small child. We
stayed put and prayed. At 5 a.m. next day I chanced to see an SMS saying that
our train has been rescheduled to leave at 08.05 hours that morning.
We bundled ourselves out and reached the station with
fifteen minutes to spare. There was no announcement about our train – even till
11.30 a.m. The crowd was swelling. There was nothing to eat on the platform. The
railways internet site, which was the only means of communication, was
constantly misguiding travellers by giving wrong or no information.*
We decided to ditch the train. We learnt it finally left
around 3 p.m. and reached Margao station at 3 a.m.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*https://enquiry.indianrail.gov.in/mntes/. Published in Gomantak Times, Weekender, St. Inez, Goa on 17 September 2017.
Comments