16 Visitors at Krishna Sadan

Our home at Krishna Sadan was always teeming with guests, with both friends and relatives regularly visiting us. There was never a boring moment with all these interesting people dropping in at sundry times. In those far off days when a phone at home was a rare commodity, many of our guests would just walk in without any prior warning. And the hospitality at home was outstanding with our kitchen operating non-stop, especially with my grandmother endlessly churning out delicious dishes – she was a legendary cook! Those were also the days when middle class homes did not have modern cooking appliances like gas ranges and refrigerators. So it was quite an effort for my grandmother and mother to look after all these guests but nevertheless, they did it!

I have earlier mentioned the names of some of the regular visitors like Dinna, my Mother’s cousin who came and stayed with my grandmother and my Brother and Sister when we had gone on our southern pilgrimage. Dinna regaled us with many interesting tales whenever he came, and as a bachelor was always persuaded to stay for dinner. Then there was Baldev, a distant relative who dropped in once in two months – I remember he always wore white and had a knack with children; and kept us all amused with his anecdotes.

And of course in Krishna Sadan itself, staying on the top floor, were my cousins Sudhir and Arun and their Mother Mira Shenoy – we had a great time playing together and very often we would gather around Mirakka, a wonderful raconteur who read out to us gripping fairy tales and stories from Brothers Grimm and Aesop’s Fables!

But of all the visitors and guests that poured into our house, there was nobody as interesting as my grand uncle Shrinivas Rao whom we affectionately called Shinapmam. He was a maverick and considered to be the black sheep of the family – Shinapmam was a divorcee who had lived a long time in the Persian Gulf and whilst in Mesopotamia he had married a Russian Cossack lady. Finally when he decided to return to India, his wife refused to come. They separated and Shinapmam landed in Bombay. He traveled for a while across the country but finally decided to settle down in Bombay with his nephew Dr A.P. Pai and his family.

Whilst in Bombay, he would regularly visit us in Mahim and often stay overnight – we all looked forward to these visits where he recounted tales of his journeys in the Middle East including exotic places like Basra and Shiraz! More about Shinapmam and his tales as we move forward in the narrative!