Man of steel

Drove out of town this past weekend, yes, far enough away from the World Cup tamasha that we entirely missed it. Not even the sound of blaring horns overwhelmed the sounds where we were, the cowbells, the chirrups of birds, the waves.

We went to do something that's been in the works for a long time. Early in his IAS career, my father, JB D'Souza, was Collector in Kolaba district (now called Raigad), across the harbour south of Bombay. He loved his time there, the work, the swims in the sea, the walks on the beaches, the beauty of the land, the work. When he died in September 2007, we cremated him and decided we'd like to immerse some of his ashes in this stretch of sea that he had grown so fond of.

It took us nearly four years, but this past weekend, that's what we made our way into Raigad district to do. This being the age it is, on Sunday morning we got onto two jetskis and bounced and roared over the unusually large waves till we got a couple hundred metres from the shore.

There, we spent a few quiet moments immersing his ashes.

It may not have been the placid Ganga. But it meant something to us. JB was never much given to symbolism. But I think he would have liked the idea of being one with that coast. I'm glad we finally fulfilled that little dream.

***
A couple of weeks ago, the Afternoon had this generous tribute to JB: Man of Steel.