posted at facebook
I could never blog without a picture but I do experiment sometimes here at Facebook,.. where a blog post originates instead of Flickr ,,
So I am adding the text of my old post on this image of my childhood friend Ramesh Mulchandani.. this was the second part of my childhood when we moved from Wodehouse Road to Breach Candy to Strand Cinema and my ama mater where Ramesh and I studied at Holy Name High School.
The first part of my childhood was Khatau Bhuvan ,, Jony Castle Wodehouse Road ,, my friends at that time were Keith Kanga , Vimal Patacharige , Ray Framroze ,,Ray and I survived ,, Vimal and Keith passed away.
As a child growing up at Wodehouse Road Colaba it was a Hindu lady who bought us up an integral part of our household my mother was an asthamatic and this lady took care of my sister my brothers and me .We respectfully called her Aiee which means Mother after our Mother it was Aiee who dressed us up for school fed us put us to bed.She spoke to us in Marathi as she was not conversant in Hindi and stayed with her son Tulsi at a servants quarter at Military Quarters across our house .So in a way she was part of our upbringing she molded us with stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharata and more than her own son she loved my youngest brother Zaheer he was her lifeline she carried him on her waist giving in to his whims and the other person crazy about Zaheer was Ms Akthar Baji daughter of late Nawab Kashmiri we were tenants of her royal grandmother related directly to Nawab Wajid Ali Shah.
But this memory is of Aiee and perphaps today we are what she made us my sister's brothers till this day are products of her teachings .
So now you know my fascination for Hinduism it was the second religion that lived side by side in our Shia home .After Aiees death my mother still trying to cope with her poor health bought us a new Maid her name was Mary her husband worked for Ajanta Arts of Mr Sunil Dutt sab and with Mary began our Catholic influence completely so now Jesus to came to live in our house .Mary took us to Sunday mass at St Jospehs Chapel close to my school Private European school .Mary's husband lost his job when Reshma aur Shera bombed but even after leaving our job Mary never forgot us she kept visiting our new house at 3 Mohini Mansions and her visits stopped after my mother died .
So these are early morning stray thoughts and with this I wish all my friends a very Happy Happy Hindu New Year .
I owe a lot to them and here one name stands out from the rest my childhood friend connected to me since 50 years he made me half Sindhi I spent most of my childhood at his house at Garden Road my only friend who helped me financially morally and the house I live in at Bandra is because of his help .He is my brother Ramesh Mulchandani owner of Strand Hotel opp Radio Club .Without him and his cousins and friends I would not be half what I am today .They added the goodness of Hope and Hindutva in my Shia heart .
Do I regret not having Muslim friends well I only had friends I was destined to have Anglos Jews Parsis and a Sri Lankan Buddhist and a crazy Jheovahs witness with a crazy grandmother my best friend Keith Kanga of Atomic Fores
