Nisha’s Mumbai: Nisha JamVwal's Vignettes From A Week Of Gatherings, Bonds And Healing

Travel tales

Alfred Lord Tennyson's immortal words resonated through the evening: "Travelling leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller." These very lines formed part of my literary oration, shared alongside the incomparable Dolly Thakore and theatrical virtuoso Sabira Merchant, whose spellbinding delivery never fails to leave audiences mesmerized. Truth be told, sharing the stage with such luminaries left me rather breathless, but my most unforgiving critic—my mother—pronounced my performance "great," and since she never misses even the smallest misstep, I'm choosing to trust her judgment completely.

We had gathered for the grand release and book- reading for publisher, author, founder of Mid-Day newspaper and treasured friend Khalid Ansari's sumptuous coffee table travel tome. As Khalid recounted with characteristic wit, barely five months had passed since he and his wife Zeyna returned to Mumbai from their epic 79-day odyssey through Europe, North Africa, Asia, and the Middle East when that irrepressible wanderlust bug struck them once again.

This pictorial book chronicles their 40th-plus voyage aboard the cruise ship Encore—a Christmas-New Year sojourn through the South China Seas and the breathtaking Antipodes Australia and New Zealand. When I pressed Khalid about what drives his perpetual wandering, he quoted Patrick Rothfuss with profound insight: "Travel is the great leveller, the great teacher: bitter as medicine, crueller than mirror glass. A long stretch of road will teach you more about yourself than a hundred years of quiet introspection." Do acquire this visual feast—it's brimming with captivating tales and absolutely stunning photography.

Deep Friendships

In our world of hollow exchanges where people scan over your shoulder mid-conversation or direct orders at waiters while supposedly engaging with you, I find Vibhuti Desai's genuine eye contact and authentic interest in a conversation refreshingly rare and precious. It's an increasingly uncommon grace. So when she extends a lunch invitation, I make that extra effort to accept, even though I'm rapidly outgrowing the frenetic "ladies lunch" circuit with its predictable roster of posed photographs and conversations revolving mostly around jewelry and dress acquisitions and handbag collections.

Case in point: one well-meaning lady inquired whether Bhubaneswar was actually located in India when I mentioned my recent social service expedition there. But returning to my cherished friend Vibhu, as she's affectionately known—she was celebrating our dear friend, Salina, at the newly opened Bandra destination 'Eve' by Amit Sharma.

The timing couldn't have been more perfect: a cloudy, romantically rain-soaked afternoon that made the intimate gathering all the more enchanting. And meeting old friends has a comfort one cannot describe in words, the heart feels it magically!

Up In The Clouds

Then, like a devastating thunderclap piercing through all our monsoon revelry, tragedy struck with the catastrophic crash of AI 171, which went down a mere sixty seconds after takeoff. This stands as one of aviation's most heartbreaking disasters, claiming over 260 precious lives both aboard the aircraft and on the ground.

In response to this national trauma, Nawaz Singhania compassionately organized a therapeutic healing workshop led by ancestral healer Anuradha Ramesh.

The timing felt divinely appropriate as we collectively mourned this immense loss - praying for healing of the souls and the families and friends who are just devastated by the suddenness of this monumental loss . Nawaz chose her rooftop with its sweeping views of the azure seascape—a setting that seemed to emanate its own healing energy and warmth.

Anuradha, also known as Usha Ramesh, spoke about the fears and anxieties that can overwhelm us, emphasizing that the path to liberation lies in confronting our deepest fears head-on rather than fleeing from them. Her message was particularly profound: all our emotions are anchored in stories from our past, and we possess the power to choose which narratives we carry forward into our future.

My deepest admiration goes to Nawaz, who channeled her own grief from the recent loss of her illustrious father into creating this beautiful healing sanctuary for our wounded nation, along with friends and family who needed solace.

Classical music evening

In the early millennium years, I found myself embroiled in a particularly challenging legal battle with an errant client. Throughout that tumultuous period, one guiding light had helped me steer the course with compassion - the heroic IPS luminary Himanshu Roy, whose wisdom and support proved invaluable during those confusing days. Years later, we lost this valiant hero to a cruel cancer, and with him, I lost an irreplaceable friend.

His remarkable wife, author Bhavna Roy, together with her celebrated brothers Amish Tripathi, Anish, and Ashish, hosted an exquisite classical music evening on Himanshu's birth anniversary, also to announce the establishment of bravery awards bearing Himanshu's name, honoring excellence in three fields closest to his heart: national security, music, and medicine.

The evening struck a perfect balance between poignancy and celebration, honoring both Himanshu's legacy and his beautiful life journey. Distinguished guests of honor Dr. Anirudh Kohli and music maestro Shankar Mahadevan delivered brilliant addresses. RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale's keynote address started well but stretched on interminably, making me wish the gracious hosts had established time limits for their speakers before inviting them to address the increasingly restless audience.

Unable to contain myself, I called out from the audience, "Come on Shankar, we're waiting for you to start!" This earned me a withering glare from Amish as he scanned the crowd for the culprit, though numerous audience members later found me out to congratulate and hug me for voicing what everyone was thinking. I was beginning to feel like a hero too!

Sadly, my outburst didn't even mildly alter the venerable Dattatreya's momentum—he continued his meandering discourse, oblivious to the audience's palpable impatience.

The wait was so very worthwhile with Shankar Mahadevan wielding pure magic with his divine voice transporting every soul in that room, leaving me with tears of joy, completely enthralled by his extraordinary artistry.

Life weaves its intricate tapestry with threads of profound loss and unexpected joy, often within the same breath. The devastating tragedy of AI 171 reminds me of how fragile our lives truly are, while moments of artistic transcendence and genuine human connection offer solace. And the pain of this AI 171 tragedy colors most of my thoughts at this time. We mourn, we celebrate, we heal—such is the eternal rhythm of our shared humanity.

Write to Nisha JamVwal at nishjamwal@gmail.com

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