Bombay Brides

by Esther David

  A few days before the festival of Passover, Moses received a circular from Ezra that like every year, the women of the Jewish community of Ahmedabad were getting together to make matzo-bhakhris or unleavened bread, and bin-khameer-chi-bhakhri, and haroset or date-sheera at the synagogue for the community Seder. Men were also invited to make blackcurrant sherbet.

  Moses read the circular aloud and, in a sarcastic, taunting voice, said, ‘This is for you. You Alibaug women are used to making bhakhris … you can go if you want to. It will remind you of your village.’

  I was annoyed by his tone, for making me feel like a village girl. I controlled my temper and decided that I would go to the synagogue for the Seder preparations as an escape from him. I asked Sippora and Sharon if they would join me, but Sippora had a client and Sharon was coming later. I took leave from school and left for the synagogue. Elisheba and some other women had spread a carpet on the floor of the pavilion next to the synagogue, where they were sifting flour, making dough and rolling matzo-bhakhris. Some more women joined in as we rolled bhakhris and roasted them. I felt liberated and started humming the tune of an old Marathi kirtan about how the Patriarch Moses had led the Jews from Egypt, crossed the Red Sea with unleavened bread and received the Ten Commandments from the Lord. When Sharon arrived and saw everybody singing with me, she joined in as she began making haroset, which was her specialty. I had forgotten that I had promised Moses I would not sing in public, and was enjoying every moment with the women.

  The Jewish community celebrated the Seder together. I was worried that if Moses came to know about the kirtans, there would be hell to pay.

  This matter cropped up much later, during the Simha Torah, at the meeting of the executive committee of the synagogue. One of the women who had been present at the Passover preparations suggested that as I had a very good knowledge of kirtans, which were traditionally sung by Bene Israel Jews in Marathi, I should train some women, form a group and give a performance during Simha Torah. On this occasion they also had a fancy-dress competition and gave out gifts to young children. I was unaware of this, as I rarely went to the synagogue without Moses.

  Weeks before Simha Torah, on Sunday, when I was making lunch, I saw Ezra enter our apartment. He spoke to Moses, who looked uncomfortable. Ezra told Moses that they had just discovered that I was a very good singer and knew Biblical kirtans in Marathi. He wanted me to teach these to the women of our community. My heartbeat increased and, although it was cold, I began to perspire profusely, worried as to what would happen when Ezra left. I knew Moses was a mouse and would not show his annoyance in Ezra’s presence. But Ezra refused to leave unless I agreed to sing and called out to me, asking if I would lead the kirtan-singing programme. I stared at him, speechless, as Moses looked at me with a deadpan face and said, ‘You promised that you would never sing in public.’

  Ezra intervened and asked Moses, ‘Did you know that your wife is a musician?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘What is wrong with you, Moses? She is an artist; you cannot kill her talent.’

  ‘I do not like music and do not want Golda to sing in public … she is my wife…’

  ‘Oh! yes? But she is not your slave. Let her do what she wants, like most of our women…’

  Moses sat there frozen, teacup in hand, and said, ‘Okay. If Golda wants to sing, who am I to stop her?’

  When Ezra left, we had our first big fight. Between shouts and screams, Moses raised his hand to slap me, calling me a courtesan. I held his hand midway and shouted back at him, ‘I will sing. You cannot stop me.’

  That evening, with Ezra, Sippora and Sharon’s help, I left for Alibaug with a few of my things and, of course, my harmonium, thanking Prophet Elijah for helping me escape.

  After that, whatever happened is history.

  Fortunately, before I reached Alibaug, Ezra had informed my parents that my marriage to Moses was difficult, that Moses was violent and did not respect me. This came as a shock to them. I had always painted a rosy picture of my marriage and for some reason or another, they had not come to Ahmedabad to see me, nor had I gone to Alibaug to meet them.

  On reaching Alibaug, I told my parents the series of events that had occurred. I also said that just to get me married, they should not have agreed to his condition that I would never sing or practise music. This had put him in a powerful position, so much so that he did not respect me as a human being. Why he had married me was a mystery. Was it just a social obligation or a promise he had made to his aunt that he would marry a Bene Israel Jewish girl?

  My old-fashioned parents were ashamed about my sudden return to Alibaug. They were uncomfortable telling relatives, friends, neighbours and the Jewish community that my marriage had not worked. But I convinced them that I could never live with Moses. In Alibaug, I went back to teaching.

  Sippora and Sharon kept in touch with me. Sippora was concerned about the down on my face and arranged an appointment with a well-known dermatologist in Mumbai, who was an expert at handling delicate skin problems. Miraculously, the treatment worked, and in two years, my skin was smooth and glowing. Sippora and Sharon also gave me tips on make-up, clothes and jewellery.

  Sharon sent me the phone number of a well-known vocalist in Mumbai and so, almost every weekend I was in Mumbai, either for skincare or training with the vocalist. I was transforming from an ugly duckling into a swan.

  My music teacher in Mumbai was sure that I was made for greater things in life and promoted me at various concerts. By then, I had asked for a divorce from Moses, which was granted and I was free to follow my dreams.

  But this is not the end of the story.

  Salome told Sippora, and eventually me, that on a certain Sunday evening, when Moses was zapping channels on TV, he saw me dressed in a colourful nine-yard Maharashtrian sari singing a folk song with gusto, which was judged as the best performance at a reality show. I am sure Moses was shocked when my name was announced as the best singer of the season.

  Overnight, I became India’s singing star. I often mixed Hindi, English, Hebrew and Marathi words in my songs. I was invited to a concert of Indian music in Israel and acclaimed as a ‘Jewish Nightingale’. My photographs were splashed in the media and Jewish newsletters all over the world.

  Sippora and Sharon informed me that soon afterwards, Moses disappeared from Shalom India Housing Society and was never seen again, although Salome was sure that he was in Ahmedabad.

  I had realized my dreams and was floating on my flying carpet among the stars…

  12

  Ilana

  ILANA HAD TRAINED as a police officer. Since then, she had decided that Jewish suitors were not for her. She felt that she was stronger than most men. Whenever she agreed to meet a suitor to respect her parents’ feelings, she was certain that he would not be good enough for her.

  With hard work, Ilana had risen to the post of deputy superintendent of police and wanted a husband to match her education and status. Being a policewoman was part of her family tradition. She had grown up listening to stories of her powerful grandmother Sara, who had been the superintendent of Sabarmati Jail. She had been honoured with the President’s Medal for prison reforms. And Aunt Rose held pride of place in the family, as she had trained as a policewoman in Israel after she lost her husband in a shootout. With such a background, Ilana was looking for a person who could stand shoulder to shoulder with her in the long journey of life. She was doubly careful, as she did not want to be burdened with a man who did not respect her achievements.

  Past thirty, she lived a busy but uneventful life with her parents Noah and Leah in A-105 at Shalom India Housing Society. Like her grandmother Sara, she loved to dress up in her uniform and feel powerful. She had a room to herself in her parents’ home. A police jeep was at her disposal, which she never used for personal work, only official duties.

  Ilana’s life changed when she received a marriage proposal from Amos. He was Salome’s nephew from Mumbai. He was also a police office
r and that was the reason Salome had suggested he meet Ilana. Leah prayed to Prophet Elijah that he play the matchmaker for her beautiful but hot-headed daughter.

  Although they were both police officers, Amos was fun-loving and different from Ilana. So Salome had her doubts that they would get along. Ilana never smiled, unless there was a good reason. She was tall, well built, had a square jaw, large black eyes, a small mouth and short hair. Salome had convinced Ilana’s parents that Amos was the perfect match for her. He had the same post as Ilana in Mumbai, and he was also tall and lean and had a pleasant round face.

  Amos came from Mumbai to meet Ilana. He was staying with Salome, who had informed Noah and Leah about his arrival. So they invited him for tea when Ilana returned from work. They had informed her about the proposal and she had agreed to meet him to please her parents and Aunt Salome, whom she liked because she was simple, large-hearted and had been close to grandmother Sara.

  That evening, when Ilana and Amos were introduced, she did not particularly like him. But after Leah had served tea and biscuits, she suggested that they go out to a café. Ilana agreed, as she did not want to sit opposite Amos and her own family all evening. During the outing, she was sure to put him off and refuse the marriage proposal. To gain time, she excused herself, went to her room, took off her uniform, and folded and put it away. She carefully dressed up in a bright pink kurta over black tights, combed her hair in an upward sweep, applied eyeliner, wore brown lipstick and dabbed her favourite perfume behind her ears. When she came out Amos smiled, pointed at her photograph in uniform kept on the mantelpiece and asked, ‘Are you the same person?’ She smiled back enigmatically.

  They took an autorickshaw from the gates of Shalom India Housing Society. Ilana gave instructions to the driver. The coffee shop was far, but she assured Amos that it was cosy. Halfway, before they had reached the café, Amos suddenly felt hungry. It was past 6 in the evening but not really dinnertime. Ilana did not remind him that he had just eaten biscuits at her place. She started having doubts about getting married to a man for whom she would have to keep a well-stocked kitchen. She wanted to reject him immediately and return home in that very auto. But she decided to go through with the evening, as Amos was sitting at the edge of the seat of the auto, enjoying the sights of Ahmedabad. She decided to give him a chance. She asked him if he was really hungry or just joking. He nodded. ‘I would like to eat something spicy.’ As the autorickshaw raced through the university area, he spotted a falafel van and asked, ‘Can we have falafel?’

  ‘It is not Israeli falafel, but Gujarati.’

  ‘That’s fine with me.’

  So they stopped, paid the auto, stood there and ate falafel. It was just a wrap with a filling of vegetables and hummus, but he liked it. He also made a pact with Ilana that he would pay the autorickshaw fare and for whatever he ate that evening. Ilana was amused and asked if they could go ahead and have coffee. He agreed. So they took another auto and went on towards the café. There, Amos chose to sit at a road-facing glass window and ordered cappuccino for himself, while Ilana decided to have green tea. She got the feeling that he was not particularly interested in her. She assumed that maybe he too was going through the evening just to please his aunt. They sat there for almost an hour, chatting about their work, when he suddenly changed the topic and asked, ‘What sort of cakes do they have here?’

  ‘They have ordinary cakes. Are you hungry again?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Ilana was relieved. She assumed that the alliance would not come through—Amos was only interested in food, not her. They laughed and joked like old friends. There was nothing romantic about their outing, but they were enjoying themselves.

  Amos’s mood was infectious and Ilana offered to take him to a restaurant where they served the best dark chocolate cakes. She hesitated, as it was getting late and the restaurant was far away, but Amos was game as long as he could have cake. They stopped another auto, but when they were on their way to the cake shop, Amos noticed a Lebanese restaurant and insisted that they stop there and try out a real falafel. Ilana was feeling as exhilarated as Amos and agreed to stop at the restaurant, joking, ‘Okay, let us say this is a dinner date of sorts.’

  The falafel was better than the roadside one and for the first time in the evening, they talked about their likes and dislikes. This conversation made Ilana uncomfortable but Amos smiled broadly, and to put her at ease, said, ‘You are fun.’

  Ilana’s face tightened. She replied, ‘I am not. I am a very serious police officer. Now shall we go home?’

  Amos immediately became cautious, stood up, saluted her as though he was her subordinate and apologized. ‘Sorry, officer, I rarely have time to go out or enjoy myself. As you wish, madam, I am ready to go back.’

  Ilana realized that she had punctured his mood and feeling annoyed with herself, suddenly smiled graciously. She decided to end the evening on a pleasant note and asked, ‘Now what else would you like to eat, Mr Officer?’

  ‘How about that special chocolate cake, please?’

  Like two giddy teenagers, they found one more auto. When they reached the cake shop, she ordered one huge chocolate pastry known as ‘Hot Lava’. With two spoons and the pastry, dripping with hot chocolate sauce, placed between them, they ate, laughed and talked about everything but the marriage proposal.

  It was almost midnight when they returned, as they had had to walk a long distance to find another autorickshaw. At the gates of Shalom India Housing Society, they stopped laughing, as Ilana wanted to maintain her strict demeanour. She nodded, gave him a tight smile and went to the elevator which took her to A-105 while Amos rang the doorbell of Aunt Salome’s apartment on the ground floor.

  Next morning, when Leah asked Ilana if she would consider Amos as a prospective groom, as he was leaving for Mumbai that evening, Ilana nodded her head in the affirmative, as though it was the most natural thing on earth. Amos smiled when he was told this. He knew he could never have convinced Ilana to accept his proposal had he not taken her café-hopping. That night, Ilana had fallen in love with Amos.

  When Leah informed Salome about Ilana’s decision, Amos came over to Ilana’s house, smiled and saluted his fiancée with a twinkle in his eyes. Salome rushed down to her apartment and lit a candle for Prophet Elijah, as he smiled down at her.

  13

  Flora

  The Big Fat Jewish Wedding

  THEY SAY MARRIAGES are made in heaven, but for Joseph and Flora, theirs was made on earth. The bride and groom were plump, in their late thirties, had never received a marriage proposal and faced the possibility of ‘missing the boat’.

  Flora lived in Ahmedabad and ran a playgroup for pre-schoolers at home. Friends, relatives and neighbours often commented that she loved children and had she married, she would have made an excellent mother. Joseph, a Jewish banker from Mumbai, had been brought up by his maternal aunt, as he had lost his parents early in life. With his aunt’s growing family, he often felt like an outsider and decided to live on his own. He asked the head office of his bank for a transfer to Gujarat. That is how he came to Bhuj and then to Ahmedabad after a promotion. Joseph was pleased as his distant uncle Samuel lived there in an upmarket satellite area, in Shalom India Housing Society. Jews lived in Block A of the society while other communities were allotted Block B.

  Like some others in this narrative, Flora and Joseph were not residents of Shalom India Housing Society. Flora’s aunt Sippora also lived there so Joseph and Flora were often there to meet their respective relatives. Maybe, before they were introduced, they took the same elevator to go up to apartments A-103 and A-112, not knowing what the future held for them.

  On arrival, Joseph had stayed as a paying guest with his bank manager’s brother. Then he came down with a stomach infection and had to be admitted to a private hospital near Shalom India Housing Society, so that Samuel could look after him. It had not been easy for Samuel as his wife Sharon, a musician, taught sitar at a private college of per
forming arts and did not have much time to look after Joseph.

  When Joseph was discharged from the hospital, Samuel decided that he should stay with them. Sharon liked him, as he was not demanding, managed well on his own and, above all, was non-intrusive. When he was better, she suggested that he rent Juliet and Romiel’s apartment A-107. It was vacant since their last tenant Lisa, who had been interning with an NGO, had returned to Zurich.

  Joseph saw the apartment with its bare necessities and, as a Bene Israel Jew, felt blessed when he noticed a poster of Prophet Elijah on the wall. He readily agreed to rent it, as he could be independent and yet be close to family. As a follow-up, Samuel spoke to Ezra, the president and builder of Shalom India Housing Society, who wrote an email to Juliet about renting her flat to Joseph. He wrote that Joseph was a nice young man who was willing to give the deposit and regularly transfer the rent in her bank account. Juliet agreed.

  When the papers were signed and the advance rent deposited, Joseph shifted to A-107 with his meagre belongings. He had a bed, a cupboard, a work table, a coffee table which was also his dining table, a television set, two chairs, his mother’s rocking chair, a small refrigerator, a hot plate and a box of pots, pans and crockery. Samuel also asked the young boy who worked for Franco Fernandez in Block B to clean Joseph’s apartment, wash dishes, take his clothes to the dhobi and run errands.

  Although Sharon offered to send him food in the evenings, Joseph politely refused. He would have lunch in the office canteen and dinner at a thali restaurant nearby or he would order a pizza on his way home. Sharon was impressed that his refrigerator was always stocked with bread, butter, eggs, cheese, fruit, cartons of milk and yoghurt, so that when he was hard-pressed for time, he could make sandwiches, an omelette and a glass of hot chocolate milk. Sharon often invited him for Sabbath dinner or Sunday lunch.