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| Basheer's family and ours at his place. |
When we arrived at Basheer's house, in Zuarinagar near Vasco, after the traditional Eid greetings, he seemed perplexed. He was wondering how to arrange the Dastarkhana for the lunch which was soon to be served.
We were more comfortable sitting, so Basheer served each of us the specially prepared, rice, chicken curry and chicken fry. All this was prefaced by the sweet dish sevia. Dwayne sat on the carpet with a small stool placed in front of him. Neighbours and friends kept dropping in to wish and joined us for lunch.
When I look at our house in Porvorim I never forgot how Basheer did all the woodwork for us. The cupboards, the cabinets, the shelves, the fittings. In a sense it was his gift to us when we moved from Vasco to our own home in Porvorim. But we continue to keep the links and go to wish him and his family across 30 odd kilometres and catch up with the news.
We learnt about his son who is based in Navi Mumbai and that Basheer was in Mumbai lately to be with him. We regretted we had not known this or else we would have arranged to meet up.
Two daughters are in Bangalore. One is working in a good job and the other is studying. Both came down for Eid.
The previous day I was on AIR duty in Panjim. I had made it a point to go to the Jama Masjid in between my shifts to savour the iftaar spread. However when I landed up around 9 p.m. there was not a crumb left. Several others who had come, had to turn away disappointed. I imagined 9 p.m. would be a good time to go, considering our experience at Mohammad Ali Road, Mumbai during Ramzan. The place was so packed you could not even move!
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Pix taken on Eid-ul-Fitr at Basheer's place near Vasco, Goa on 5th June 2019. Basheer succumbed to COVID in 2021. Updated 29/6/23.
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