Memories of my grandfather

It has been exactly a month since I lost my Grandfather, Mohan Wagh who succumbed to his battle against a stroke that consumed him late last year. I cannot believe he is gone and I am going to miss him. Trips to Mumbai, India where he and my grandmother live will not be the same for any one of us without him. Knowing my grandfather though, he would want me to carry on with life and continue to happily live it and that is what has inspired me to want to create some of the best memories I have ever had with him. I am beginning from what I can clearly remember more so than between the ages of 1 and 4 since the ones after those age gaps are clearer although I have chosen to leave some years out because they do not really count the way the mentioned ones do. This is how I always wish to remember and think of my grandfather who I lovingly called ‘Azoba’

1995

When I was a little boy, the first Disney film I ever saw (twice) was The Lion King during a visit to Bombay in 1995. Even though the release date for the film was the year that went by in India it was a year later. My grandparents purchased the film on VHS and from 7:00 until 10:00 at night my parents, my grandparents and I sat down to watch the film. Back in Bangalore where my family and I lived at the time, my parents again took me to watch the film in theatres (where it had a late release, its original release date being June of the year) and I now understand that is because they were trying to get me interested in it which they have succeeded in and now Disney is a huge part of my life. During my visits to my grandparents, I would always go to my grandfather’s office where he worked and he would introduce me to all his colleagues. He retired from work in 2000.

1997

Following the birth of my brother, my knowledge and interest in wildlife motivated my grandfather to want to help me take a trip to Africa when I said I once told him that I would like to go on an African safari when he took me to the circus and we were enthralled and slightly terrified by the Lion shows. My grandfather planned a trip to Kenya for later that year. I went to Mumbai on my own for this. Just before leaving for Kenya my grandfather introduced me to the novel and film ‘Jaws’. I recall having a drink with him shortly before we watched the film, he had his Gin and I my raspberry flavoured soda. Later that evening, my grandparents and I left for Kenya. This was a truly wonderful and unforgettable experience of not only the wildlife but also its peoples, cultures, cities, cuisines and tourism. The trip ended in early 1998, a pattern occurring similar to the safari undertaken by Theodore Roosevelt in late 1909 to escape the pressures of being re-elected as President and to collect East African wildlife for the American Museum. The safari ended in early 1910. Our trip to Kenya would lay the foundation for Kenya becoming one of my seven favourite travel destinations in the future.

1999

Every trip to Mumbai was always a thrill to me because it was to visit my grandparents. In 1999, following a trip there, my grandparents almost immediately came to Bangalore to see us. It was around the time that the Star Wars film ‘The Phantom Menace’ was released. I was given a choice between going to this film or to another film called ‘Mast’ which marked the debut of Bollywood actor Aftab Shivdasani. I chose to go for The Phantom Menace instead and my grandfather took me to the theatre to watch the film which I thoroughly enjoyed and it is my first favourite Star Wars film. At the time, I used to take the bus to school and every time my grandfather visited us, he would drop me to the bus stop. I was upset when my grandparents left for Mumbai but they would always tell me that they would be back soon which they did quite often. I had more to look forward to when my family and I went to Singapore for a holiday for the first time, something that would lay the foundation in the future for Singapore becoming one of my seven favourite travel destinations. After the trip in seven weeks’ time we went to visit my grandparents again in Mumbai and my grandfather, my brother and me went for another film, Disney’s version of Tarzan which has become one of my favourite Disney films.

2003

During Christmas of the year, my mother, my brother and I tried to get to India as soon as possible because my mother’s mother was quite critical with cancer. This would mark our first holiday in India since we moved to Auckland, New Zealand the previous year. My father would join us later because of his work. By the time we reached Mumbai however, my mother’s mother passed away, much to our devastation. At that time my grandfather really consoled all of us including my mother and accompanied us to another city where my mother’s side of the family lived at the time for the funeral. While my mother was grieving with her family, my grandfather took my brother and me to his company’s guesthouse where we stayed until the ceremony was over. Every day, during this time, he would take us to visit my mother and her family. When we went back to Mumbai, my grandfather would take us to various restaurants at certain locations he knew well and had often shown them to me when I was a little boy. My grandparents, my brother and I also went to Bangalore where I had grown up and we stayed with my father’s sister, her husband and my cousin Karan. My grandfather took us to another of his company’s guesthouses that I would refer to as the ‘transit house’ which I had known since I was little and often went with my grandparents when they visited me in Bangalore. When we visited Pune to see some of my cousins, aunts and uncles who have lived in both the U.K and in India, my grandparents and I stayed at another ‘transit house’ much like the one in Bangalore. I had a great rapport with the housekeeper of the house, Swami and his family whom I had known since I was nine or ten years old. It was around this time that I paid a visit to my old school in Pune and my grandfather could not believe the number of people who gathered to see me.

2005-2006

My grandparents first visited us in Auckland, New Zealand in December 2002. They have been very supportive and always will be of my parents’ decision to move to Auckland which was one of the many elements that changed my life. Every time my grandparents visited us whether in Bangalore or in Auckland, it was always like another Christmas for us as they would bring so many gifts for all of us. My grandfather briefly visited us in May of 2005 and brought me gifts which represent my interests such as a soundtrack to the film ‘Kal Ho Na Ho’ which is one of my favourite Bollywood films. I would go out with him on walks or shopping. In December that year, my grandfather returned for a visit this time with my grandmother where we did many fun-filled activities like picnics, barbecues, get-togethers, road trips and movies. Their visit to us ended in mid-January of 2006

2007

In 2007, I visited India with my parents and brother in late March/early April and as always my grandparents came to the airport to pick us up. This time they came with my mother’s side of the family. Along the way to my grandparents’ house, he and all of us began talking about how long it had been since we had come to India as a family. We had lunch at my grandparents’ home and then began planning for my brother’s (10^th) birthday which was soon to come up. We had it at a club called Matunga Gymkhana. Later on, as was customary of me when I go to India, my grandfather took me to places that I had seen with him when I was younger, such as for a meal at one of Mumbai’s two Taj hotels, the museum and to Otter’s club a club where my family has been a member for many years. I accompanied him to a music shop where the owner knew him well and was pleased to meet me for the first time. When I was typing about the Star Wars saga, my grandfather was so impressed with the way I wrote that he asked me to write it for him which I did

2009

My grandfather celebrated his 75th birthday with us in September of the year shortly after he and my grandmother played a vital role in helping us move to our new house. We even celebrated Diwali by having a huge party of some family friends, some of whom I am close to, some of whom I am not. After they departed, I had my final exams for the year and a few weeks later, took my first (independent and individual) trip to Singapore in Christmas of the year. I then journeyed onto India where I was received by both my grandparents and my maternal uncle and aunt. We went to Otter’s Club where we had a wonderful meal and following that, my grandfather and I went to the many places he took me to as a child and we even went to two new places. One was a reserve for big cats, mainly Lions and Tigers which I had never visited before and we went on a bus that goes into the enclosures and one can then get a good view of the animals.  We also visited a science centre where my main interest was prehistoric animals. He could not believe that I have as much knowledge of animals from the past as much I have about present-day animals. When some of my younger cousins came home to visit with their parents and grandparents, he was amazed that I was able to relate to people who are much younger than me and still have a great time with them since I was showing them movies and chatting with them. During a visit to Pune to meet our relatives, my grandparents and I as well as mum’s niece stayed at the Pune Transit house. Later on during the trip in Mumbai my grandfather would take me to some of the many places he had taken me to as a child.

2013

This is the last time that my grandfather would ever visit New Zealand (though he is always with us in spirit). It was my last year at AUT University from where I would be graduating with a degree in Creative Writing. My grandparents were able to make it for the graduation ceremony and they were able to see both the graduation parade and the graduation ceremony itself. We had some wonderful photographs taken together as a family and went out to a Thai dinner that night, knowing that Asian food is my favourite. Three days after that we went to the first screening of the Bollywood film Dhoom 3, the third instalment of a franchise which is based on ‘The Fast and the Furious’ franchise

2015

In Christmas of the previous year, we took a holiday to India because my grandfather wanted to take us to the land of his ancestors which is in Karwar, near Goa. When the New Year was born, we went to Karwar and he showed us some of the many areas in which his ancestors lived and we stayed at wonderful resorts and ate great traditional food at both the resorts as well as at various restaurants. Our trip to Goa is the first time I have actually enjoyed a holiday to Goa since I don’t normally enjoy Goa trips. We also visited our family temple, the Mangeshi with all our family. It was truly special. Towards the end of the Goa trip, my parents made arrangements for me to stop off in Singapore (as was customary at the time) to stay with my parents’ college friends the Menon family and visit my father’s cousin Kedar Wagle and his family. My grandfather requested me to stay at least one more week before I journeyed onto Singapore though, in the end, this proved impossible for the Menon family would be unavailable and unable to accommodate me if I stayed on further in India. Yet what everyone including my grandfather was happy about was that I had considered his request.

2017

This is the last time I would see my grandfather in good health. In late May/early June, my parents and I made a holiday to India. Normally, it is just my father who goes once a year (depending on the circumstances) to visit our family in India though this time he invited mum to come with him and I decided to join them too. As soon as we got to Mumbai, my grandparents, my parents and I immediately left for Pune the next day where we met with dad’s sister and her family who have been living there since 2012. Our arrival in India coincided with my 27^th birthday which I am very grateful for having celebrated with my grandfather as well as so many other members of my family such as my mother’s brother and his family. His birthday gift to me was a very smart suit and bow tie which I would wear when celebrating my 27^th birthday in Auckland. I also watched many documentaries of my interest with him such as a BBC documentary on the Sloth Bear, the very bear which inspired Baloo in Rudyard Kipling’s ‘The Jungle Book’. I am fortunate to have had one last look (with my grandfather) of the many places that he took me to as a child such as the Mumbai Museum where I mainly went for the animal displays. As always we even went to book stores and had wonderful meals at Otter’s club, though the best (and probably the last) meal in a restaurant I have had with my grandfather (as well as with my grandmother and my parents) is at one of Mumbai’s Taj Hotels which has a great Chinese restaurant.