Catching Up - November 16, 2013

I have been so remiss of late.  My last post was at Diwali and here we are, with
Thanksgiving just around the corner.  I'm experiencing a mixture of emotions, joy
at the thought of seeing my family again, especially when I think of getting to know
 that bubbly chubby Harper but sadness, also, when I face bidding farewell to this 
India I've grown to love with all the friends I have here.  It is always hard because 
I don't know exactly when I will return but God - and Ganesha willing - I'll come back - 
though not for so long a stay in the future...a max of four months, I think.  

I've been a bit under the weather for a few days.  I got up to Pune to visit with Ralph
DSouza, his wife, Belle, litte, Sofia, and her brother, Wilfred, and the rest of their
wonderful family.  It brought back such great memories of Royal Caribbean Days.  I
met Ralph fifteen years ago when I first began cruising and he was one of my first
Indian "sons."  He, Ode Santos, and Milind Sawant are the only ones I've actually 
gotten to visit.  Belle and Sofia came from the Philippines, both with colds and I 
seem to have acquired one, as well - either from all the kissing going on or from 
my bus ride each way.  I finally ended up going to see wonderful Dr. Margaret here 
in Mumbai ( who went to medical school at Johns Hopkins in the U. S. ) and she gave 
me a whole slew of meds, including antibiotics )

Ralph, Belle, Wilfred & Sofia with Ralph's sister, Dawn

Ralph and his two little ones, Sofia and Wilfred

Wilfred and Sofia keeping cousin Scottie from sleeping

Princess Sofia

One night, Terence DSouza decided to take me out to dinner for Kashmiri food

at a restaurant owned by his former boss  - one of three places owned by his boss/

friend.  We chose Janaab, a considerable distance from their home and agreed to 

meet for a taste of kebabs at the new place and end up for cocktails at Northern 

Frontier where Terence had been restaurant manager.  I had never eaten Kashmiri

food before but I already knew I had to try the ran, a whole leg of lamb marinated

24 hours in special Kashmiri spices.  I decided to try a number of starters so we

would have plenty to take back to the family at home.  Good grief, did we have a

giant doggie bag!

We had tabak maaz, deep fried, double layered mutton ribs - very crisp and tasty, 

finished in a flash.  Next came chicken kanti, chunks of chicken marinated in Kashmiri

red chili paste and crispy fried.  Followed by that was fish tikka, barbecued over

charcoal, then mushroom tikka.  Everything was delicious but the ran was absolutely

incredible.  I had to pick up the bone and eat every bite of the meat.

Crispy & scrumptious tabak maaz - fried double layered mutton ribs

Fish....from Australia

Mega mushrooms

A fabulous HUGE plate of ran or mutton leg

Roti cooking in the tandori

Enjoying every last piece of meat of the ran

The aftermath!

Terence, with his friend, owner of the Northern Frontier, Janaab, and another new spot

Ali, photographer and creator of the marinades of the great kabobs 

at the new restaurant

Finally, we made it back home, after stopping briefly at the Northern Frontier

for a drink, then had a nightcap and leftovers with the family.

Next morning, of course, the children were up bright and early.  Uncle Darrel and

Papa were ready for a photo shoot before breakfast.

All I can say is, it sure  is quiet and lonely without my Dsouza family and the little

ones around.  It was such a special three days being back in Pune with them again,

especially to have Belle and little Sofia part of it.  Thanks to all that clan for always

making me feel so special.  Danyivad!!! I love you all.

How India Began ( for me ) - August 29, 2013

I can remember, eighteen years ago, when India, for me, was just a mysterious 
country, far down on my list of places I wanted to visit.  I knew the beautiful Taj
Mahal was there and I'd read novels about the country but I'd never even seen a 
Bollywood movie.  I had, of course, been eating wonderful Indian food for most
of my life but I didn't have even one friend from that part of the world. 

On April 16, 1995, when I boarded the Monarch of the Seas, for a seven day
cruise from San Juan, all that changed.  I stopped by the ship's library to donate
the book I'd finished reading on the long flight and noticed the Champagne Bar
across the corridor.  I decided a drink was in order and that is when I met its
bartender, Odelio Santos.  No one else was in the bar so I stayed for a glass of
wine and a chat.

Much to my surprise, Santos, as  his name tag read, was from India.  I thought
he was from the Philippines.  We chatted about Mumbai, his life and family 
there and a friendship was formed.  Throughout the cruise, I went back to that
lovely, peaceful bar and got to know him better.  Besides that, he introduced me
to at least a dozen more Indian crew.  As I wandered about the ship, I realized
several hundred crew members were from India.  I thought how difficult it must
be to leave their families for six months at a time, to work so far from home.
I learned a great deal about India, its culture, and its problems from the crew,
many of whom have remained dear friends to this day.

In February 1997, prior to cruising from Thailand to Singapore, I spent ten 
days in Mumbai, at the home of Odelio Santos and his wife, mother and family. 
 I had really not foreseen visiting India and, had I not been invited, I might never 
have come to what I now call "the country of my heart.".  It was a wonderful ten 
days, passing much too quickly.  It was exciting for me to experience living at 
Sahar Village.  I was overwhelmed by the generous hospitality of the Santos
family and other people in the village.  I also got to see two other crew members,
Edsel Toscano and Sudhir Pillai, who were home for two months on leave. 

The grand finale of that visit was a trip with May Santos, the family matriarch, 
to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, one of the loveliest events of my life.  Words
cannot describe the magic of seeing its splendor for the first time.

Over the next eighteen years, I sailed eighty times with Royal Caribbean,
renewing Indian friendships every cruise.  Those crew members felt like
family and, indeed, they dubbed me "the American mother of the Indian crew".

When I decided to come to India again after my twenty-one year forensic 
nursing position ended in massive budget cuts to Public Health, Ode 
insisted that I stay with him and his family.  I spent four months at Sahar
Village, where people still remembered my first visit.  It was great to get
to know Nick, Ode and Lorna's twenty-year-old son, and Jake, who was then 
fourteen.

I am now back in India for the third time since my stay at the Santos household.
I spent five months living in Jaipur and, this time, I will be in Mumbai for six 
months, living with Rosy and Norman Toscano, Edsel's parents.  Never did I
dream that going on a cruise would afford me hundreds of very special friends
and new ones that I've met during my India stays.

I was just over to see Ode, Lorna, Jake ( Nick is working in Dubai ) and, of
course, their dog, Skip.  I couldn't believe the welcome I got from him.  I
thought he would not remember me but he greeted me so happily, almost
doing flips.

The years have been good to us, in spite of physical changes, of course.  Ode
and the whole Santos clan are my first Indian family and I love them dearly.  
Because of that fateful day in San Juan, I have actually gotten to experience
India as my home,  a place that has firmly embedded itself in my very soul.

Namaste.

Carmen & Ode, a friendship that has spanned almost two decades!

I wish I still weighed what I did when I took my first Royal Caribbean cruise...

but I'm working on that!  After 80 cruises and thousands of meals, Love

Connections ( my favorite ship board drink ) and midnight buffets, I'm glad

I've managed to discard forty of those pounds.

With beautiful Lorna, who always worried I wasn't eating enough!  She said 

Ode told her how I used to eat on cruises!  If I had kept that up, I would have

taken two seats on my flight to India!

With my nephew, Jake, who is now in college.  When I first visited Ode

and Lorna, he hadn't yet arrived on the scene!

Father and son

Mother and son

Jake Santos

and, of course, last but not least,

Skip

Thanks to One and All - Slowly But Surely, A Home Is Finalizing - Home, June 12, 2013

I cannot believe my stay at the J. K. Regency is now into its 8th day.  Two days
ago, the phone went out, supposedly because of the monsoon rains.  When
I want room service ( no restaurant here in which to eat but, somewhere in the
bowels of the hotel, someone cooks ), I have to call the front desk on my mobile!
I did my Trip Advisor review and I haven't really changed my opinion.  I would
never again stay here.

I've been out with two different brokers to see properties.  I specified, very 
clearly, my needs...among them, ground floor, or a lift.  The man, with whom 
I was out yesterday, took me to four places.  Three of them were on the 1st 
floor.  I can manage one flight of stairs but, when we came to the last place
and it was on the 2nd floor, I was furious and told him to get out of the rickshaw
and I headed home.  Besides, every property was disgusting - filthy, holes in 
the walls, trash on the floors.  I can't believe owners would show places like
that!  

The day before, the father of Edsel Toscano, a dear friend from Royal Caribbean
cruising days, went with me to see some places in Bandra where he lives.  He 
and I were both appalled at what we were shown, especially since Bandra is 
quite an upscale area.  Yesterday, Norman called and said his wife had been
asking around and their neighbor had a friend with a room to rent.  He came all
the way from Bandra to go with me to see the place which was in the home of a
lovely lady named Norma, a 67-year-old widow with a very nice home in a good 
location in Andheri West, one of the areas in which I was interested.  It is perfect
for me - bedroom with its own bath AND a separate entrance, use of the kitchen,
if I like, a washing machine and her company if I'm lonely.  We have much in
common and she was in the work force for many years and speaks perfect 
English ( though I need to learn Hindi ).  The only hitch is that the place isn't 
available till July 1.  Once again, the Toscanos to the rescue.  Their friend, who
lives next to them, offered a room in her place ( she is in Australia ) until the
first.  I don't know what the rent will be ( reasonable, I'm sure ) so I am out of this
hotel tomorrow.  

I need to do something special for Edsel who is also in Australia with his lovely
wife, Gisela, and their sweet little boy - and for his parents.  I will so much enjoy
spending part of the next two + weeks visiting with Norman and Rosie.  I was 
supposed to meet them last time I lived in Mumbai and I really regret that I 
didn't.  Now I will make up for lost time, being right next door.  I can see now why
Edsel is the sweetheart he is!

So, thanks to all of you who cheered me on, prayed, encouraged and kept the 
faith.  I was almost ready to give up.  I know this may well be my last time in India...
in spite of my ten year visa, I have to acknowledge I AM getting old!  I do hope to
visit my friends in Jaipur, Chandigarh, Delhi, Pune and Bangalore and to add a few 
new places to the list.  I may be going by bus or train, though, since it is so much
more economical.

Road are in great disrepair and flood easily during the monsoon rains

Business goes on as usual

At least, his umbrella isn't inside out!

Sweet children, living on the roadside and trying to stay dry

A common sight in front of shops as people clean their drains in 

an effort to prevent flooding

Fallen flowers everywhere

A yummy lunch to restore one's soul

I don't know what this is called but it was great!

An Ailing Nurse Finally Bites the Bullet and Sees a Doctor in India - September 30, 2012

This last week of September has not been my finest in India.  I'm sure 
you don't want to hear a full description of all my miseries but I'm bored.
It started with "motion" which is the term used for diarrhea, in this fine country.
It certainly is a description word.  I was in motion, internally and externally!
I started out taking my Immodium and offered thanks to all the gods
and goddesses that the distance from my bed to the bathroom was 
only about ten feet.  When Sangeeta came for my massage, she 
commented that my body felt "very hot".  My good friend, Ajay, at the
Umaid Mahal Hotel and another friend, out  of town, kept insisitng I
see a doctor.  With equal force, I said, "no way".  I did ask my landlady,
Madhulika, for advice and she provided me with "motion" medication
from her doctor.  After a few doses, it did the trick.....much too well.  I
now had the opposite problem.  From motion,  I went to slow motion to
no motion at all.  And my masseuse kept telling me, "Your body feels
very hot."

FINALLY, I did go to the bathroom.  Had I really eaten boulders?  I was
feeling very weak and dizzy.  When Sangeeta came for my massage and
commented that there was bright red blood dripping down my leg, she
grabbed a towel and made me promise to see a doctor.  I didn't need 
any more convincing.  Ajay Shekhawat, at the Umaid Mahal Hotel, told
me that Dr. Galundia treats the royal family of Jaipur.  "Okay, okay, I'm
going," I said.  My friend, Ranjeet Bhati, sent one of his drivers and I was 
soon on my way to Galundia Clinic, "Travallers Panacea" said the sign over
 the door.  I had my doubts as I walked down the dark hallway and then down 
some stairs, into the waiting room.

A pretty lady had me fill out appropriate papers, copied my passport and

insurance cards ( though I didn't have traveler's insurance and Medicare

and Blue Shield won't cover my visit ) and I sat down to wait.  Dr. Galundia

( I assumed it was him ) sat directly across from the waiting room, in a

far-from-fancy office ).  While I waited, two beautiful women in colorful saris

came in with the cutest little girl who smiled shyly at me when I tickled her

toes.  

The above is the "sister" - the office nurse.  I have had a headache rarely

in my life but I had a splitting headache that day I told Dr. Galundia I had been

off one of my antihypertensives, the extended release calcium channel blocker, 

for ten days, having just restarted it about a week previously.  I had been on

my other antihypertensive continuously.  My BP was 180/90, not good ( losing

that twenty-five pounds didn't help in the BP department! ).  Dr. Galundia had 

the nurse give me a sublingual med which brought it down immediately to 

158/80. I've been an RN forty-five years but I am still blown away by the "magic"

of medications and the brilliance of health care professionals who can keep

up with them!

This is the clinic's exam room with two beds.  It is certain different from those 

fancy places in the U. S. that are unaffordable for the average patient who

doesn't have insurance.  I didn't really feel well enough to look around but

I might ask more questions when I go back Monday for my follow up.  I am

sure I will feel much better then.

Here I am, waiting for my examination.  What excites me so much about this 

picture is that I can actually see my feet!!!  The stomach isn't in the way 

any more, thanks to my visits to India.  Amazing.  I really do have feet.

And here is the man himself, Dr. Galundia.  I told him, right off the bat, I didn't

like seeing doctors, though all of mine, in the U. S, were wonderful.  I also said

that, for 21 years, my nursing experience was in forensics so I wasn't very up

to date on regular nursing.  I did have, with me, my most recent labs, a list 

of all my medications, and two gifts.  One was a poem I'd written a number of

years ago, after my first visit to India ( 1976 ) - "Travel Thoughts" and the other

was a CD, "Sansoucci" by my very favorite singer of all time, the lovely Sony

Holland.

We talked a bit and then he did an exam - my favorite of all exams ( just

kidding ) - a rectal.  The source of the bleeding was identified, he put me

on antibiotics, had blood work drawn, looked at my conjunctiva and told me

he thought my hemoglobin might be a little low.  

He also told me his daughter lives in Orlando and he did his first cruise last

year.  "Out of Miami or Port Canaveral," I asked.  "Port Canaveral," he replied.

"On the Monarch of the Seas?" I wanted to know.  "Yes," was the answer.  I

told him that was the first of my 78 Royal Caribbean cruises, beginning in 1995

when it did seven day cruises out of San Juan.  Within an hour after I boarded,

I met Odelio Santos, Champagne Bartender from Mumbai and that is the 

beginning of my love affair with India.  That whole week, I visited with Santos, met

many other Indian crews and it went on from there.  In 1997, I spent 10 days with

Lorna, Santos and their son, Nick, and, when I came back for four months and

stayed with them last year, Jake, their second son was part of the family.  

So my treating doctor here in Jaipur sailed on the same cruise ship I did -

the wonderful Monarch of the Seas - 16 years later - and he was just ast delighted

with it as I was.  I told Dr. Galundia I had written an "Ode to Royal Caribbean" and

I would email it to him...but I am just going to finish this blog by adding it here.

My beloved Monarch of the Seas, with that very special crew goes out of service

in 2013, much to the regret of so many passengers and crew who love it.  I sailed

on her 26 times and I hope I will again!

Ode to Royal Caribbean

I love Royal Caribbean

 And it’s many splendid ships,

With all the dining venues,

That do define my hips.

The crew from many nations,

Are the best that one can find,

Working day and night,

To help the guests unwind!

Exotic drinks are served,

At a vast array of bars,

But the smiles of staff mixologists,

Truly are the stars.

Activities keep one busy,

Variety for each guest,

From things like napkin folding,

To more x-rated like, “The Quest.”

The various destinations,

Are some of the planet’s best,

Enough to cruise a lifetime,

With little pause to rest.

From Caribbean beaches,

To Norway’s grand fiords,

To Sydney’s lovely Opera House,

Cruising offers life’s rewards.

As one sails about the oceans,

Great friendships form so fast,

Among the staff and passengers,

Treasured connections last.

New ships debut so often,

Each grander than the last,

But I cannot forget the ones,

That were built far in the past.

Welcome to the Oasis,

The grandest ship of these,

But, no matter what may come,

I love the Monarch of the Seas!!!

Carmen Henesy

1-29-09

Copyright © 2009 Carmen Henesy. All Rights Reserved.