Ladies we love in the Bombay they loved

She got me thinking When Neeta Premchand recently walked us through her curated show on early feminists of Bombay Presidency the mind flew to recollections of women I have been blessed with in my life Perhaps less epic than the legends featured on the walls of the CSMVS Museum here are the first four names that cropped uplsquoAa sheher ni khoobi toh jorsquoI miss those kohllined eyes flashing bright beneath her trademark big bright bindiAmong Bombayrsquos more iconic figures she was one of its oldest freedom fighters as well as a theatre thespian textile conservationist ace photographer mountain trekker and nature lover Serendipity gifted me the chance to interview multifaceted Malati Jhaveri in all these avatarsI could drop in on her any hour of the day without asking ldquoWill you be restingrdquo Despite painful arthritis noon naps were strictly nonomdashthey cut into hours spent meticulously translating classics from Hindi to Gujarati My nonagenarian inspiration finished 20 such books taking the occasional breakJailed three times in 1942 alone on August 8 that year she ironically the daughter of the silk merchant Sir Shantidas Askuran draped a red khadi sari given to volunteers attending the explosive Congress session at Gowalia Tank Teargas was released for probably the first time in India When a piece of shell fell on her she lobbed it right back at a British soldier Burnt but triumphant she was whisked off to jail but managed to even win police sympathy on bursting into nationalistic songsA similar rootedness saw Malatiben tirelessly promote indigenous textiles Her sister Prabha Shah and she ran the Sohan Sahkari Sangh a pioneering effort in the nongovernment sector to create a thriving market for handlooms and handicrafts They did this for 40 dedicated years with a combined rare sensibility for discerning and developing design within the rural cooperative networkAlso read A case for embracing failuresAn abiding passion was theatre The constitution of the Indian National Theatre INT was inked in prison by patriots like her husband Damu Jhaveri Chandrakant Dalal Rohit Dave and Mansukh Joshi Malatiben introduced me to the repertoire of INT stage stalwarts from Adi Marzban to Burjor Patel ldquoWe are two communities with great talents besides a common language Gujarati and Parsi drama made magic togetherrdquo she said ldquoAa sheher ni khoobi toh jomdashhow special this city is You really must keep writing about itrdquoAnother book that took me to her was an oral history of the Sherpas from Darjeeling Her Shanti Sadan apartment at Babulnath hosted the brave climbers who taught courses in 1950s and rsquo60s Bombay I remember a refrain She often liked to say ldquoThe sherpas are loyal to their last breath They donrsquot make men like them anymorerdquoNor women like you MalatibenlsquoSharpen the Marathi enjoy your cityrsquoThe older I get the more I resemble my mother Irsquom told by those of her generation Irsquom privileged to still interact with The prouder I feel Kind practical the perfect nononsense partner to her dreamer husband Homai Dastoor held together a joint family with good sense and grace This despite its unusual dynamic Three of dadrsquos unmarried sisters lived with us till the end of their daysmdashcloser to our grandmotherrsquos age because he was the youngest of eight siblingsHomai Dastoor with baby son PhirozeWith seven people to cook meals for in a large rambling home mum found hours to beautifully sew her clothes and mine enjoy a wide friendsrsquo circle and pack in other activities amazing my brother and me Enrolling for twiceweekly New Math and Marathi classes she became a selfappointed conduit directly demystifying this pair of subjects for us Saving us the trudge to tuition teachers and the family some money We learnt with her and ran off to play in Almeida Park down the roadEncouraging our house help Vimalrsquos kids to study in peace at our place away from disturbing interruptions from drunks and pimps populating their rough shanty beyond the bazaar she served a daily evening snack with milk and asked in return that they respond only in Marathi while we spoke in English All of us benefitted from the simple brilliance of the idea helping pick up each otherrsquos languageTo prevent the barter slip to being boring Mummy kept the arrangement funflowing She engineered this with subtle strategising Spotting me read a review of Manmohan Desairsquos action saga Dharam Veer she suggested Vimalrsquos daughter Meena narrate me its story in Marathi What ensued was a most exciting rendition of Dharmendra and Jeetendrarsquos exploits in that bloodandthunder 1977 screen spectacle ldquoSharpen the Marathi enjoy your cityrdquo mum urged From ldquoListen to what the cobbler is saying to his customerrdquo to ldquoNext week the rain will sweep away these gulmohar flowersrdquo she thrust meinto the buzz and thrum of everyday life as we walked summers through the zigzagging Bandra lanes around Hill RoadThanks ma for pushing me toward the twin joys of local lingo and quick perception They have blended beautifully meaningfully to enhance my experience of a city that isnrsquot always easy to love lsquoTherersquos someone for everyone in BombayrsquoOurs was a wholly remarkable relationship Lulu Mehta worked with my father half a century ago at Bombay Housemdashshe in public relations he in Tata Textilesmdashand then with me at Marg Publications in the 1990s When Irsquod visit dad at the office after school on Fridays she never let me leave without pressing a foilwrapped chocolate fish from RTI in my hand whispering ldquoSome mitthoo sagan for luck to our little girlrdquo Twenty years later she did the very same for my kids except she turned up at home on their birthday and Navroze mornings bearing small boxes of mawa ni machhi ldquobecause their generation eats too much chocolate anywayrdquo More mother than colleague she fussed endearingly through my pregnancies though Irsquod mockprotest ldquoStop spoiling merdquo The firstborn was at risk of emerging feetforward in a breech birth if I did not engage in certain bentover asanas to lock the tiny head correctly south With less than a month to delivery these were docrecommended thrice a day How to manoeuvre such impossible unprofessional moves in the middle of the editorial room I fretted Trust Lulu to stand guard at its door for my privacy and comfort She also insisted on regularly plying me with her homemade ldquoghau nu doodhrdquo a traditional blancmangelike pudding supposed to build solid baby bones Choosing her tenderness over the tastelessness I gulped down portions Single sensitive ever interesting Lulu was outwardoriented if a bit opinionated You never guessed she lacked family of her own the way she reached out related to and stayed in touch with people Of modest means she unfailingly remembered individual tastes as she exchanged books and notes on music concerts cheered up the unwell with her sprightly presence and participated in friendsrsquo glad and sad moments with an attention that redefined the words ldquoloverdquo and ldquocarerdquo Neighbours in her Tardeo block of flats always dropped in to check on her ldquoHave faith There is someone for everyone in this cityrdquo shersquod say jauntily when we worried about her lsquoStay curious find outrsquoThese were her buzz phrases which Irsquove made mine She is a major reason why I write this column Who else but Sharada Dwivedi so exquisitely scrutinised and shared the untold delights of a beloved city from precolonial to present timesSharada Dwivedi at Kala GhodaMoons ago when Lintas commissioned me to start a features magazine for ITC she and Rahul Mehrotra contributed essays for the inaugural edition Interacting on hers I discovered she knew my father quite well GS Mhaskar and Co her family firm at Dadar was a stockist of Tata Textiles the firm he was with for almost 40 years ldquoHowrsquos Homirdquo shot the fond question the minute she hugged meThat affectionate connection apart I grew to respect her rigour of thought and hope to have absorbed not just appreciated it Campaigner and chronicler extraordinaire she crisply condemned dialaquote journalists whose lazy insouciance spelt disaster in print ldquoThey should call themselves misreporters not reportersrdquo she fumed Lucky for me she did offer information on the phone freely and fully engaged with whatever I worked on ldquoStay curious find outrdquo she constantly advised Herersquos looking at you Sharada up where you are in the celestial firmament above No doubt mapping niches there for those fortunate to follow your favourites on earthAuthorpublisher Meher Marfatia writes fortnightly on everything that makes her love Mumbai and adore Bombay You can reach her at mehermarfatiamiddaycomwwwmeher marfatiacom