Tara Kini
My first memory of Maya is on my ninth birthday - she must have been twelve then. She came to my birthday party with an unusually packed gift - a little orange cloth with black polka dots that was wrapped around a red box in the shape of a butterfly - I still have the box with me! The cloth was tied to a stick and she carried the stick on her shoulder - just like tramps were supposed to! I was completely fascinated, both by the wrapping and the box! That was the starting point of my admiration for and friendship with Maya.
We met intermittently at Konkani association meetings, but very often, when we were involved in any theatrical production together. She played one of the major roles in Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man that was directed by her cousin Jayendra. Although I was not directly involved in the play, my father was acting as Major Petkoff and I often went for rehearsals and watched with great interest. Often Maya chatted with me about 'inside stories' surrounding the production!
Our next major interaction was when she acted in another play, again directed by Jayendra, called 'The Promise in Leningrad', which had only three characters and was as gloomy and dark as any Russsian play could be. I was involved backstage and enjoyed watching Maya act.
By then I was studying for a bachelor's degree in physics in Delhi university and Maya was doing her masters in literature in Indraprastha college. The university special bus that started at Moti Bagh where I lived, stopped at Race Course Road, where Maya lived and we then had a forty minute ride in which we discussed all the nuances and philosophies of life threadbare in an open forum, led mainly by Maya and her friend Sumi. The topics ranged from intellectual discussions on how biased the writing of Leon Uris was, to whether a cow got up on her hind legs or her front legs from the sitting position!
A couple of years later, Maya got married and moved to Bangalore. I remember visiting her at her flat on Nandi Durg road, when I had gone to Banglore for a holiday. I had met Amarnath earlier, as he had visited us when he was engaged to be married to Maya, and I received a warm welcome at my long-standing friend's house from both of them. A year later I got married and moved to Banglaore too. After that we met very often. I remember meeting her at a wedding - she was carrying Deepa, who was aged one, and just recently, when I visted Deepa at her house in Delhi, the sight of her face as she unlocked the gate ( I had reached Deepa's house at 2 am!!) brought back memories of the time I had seen her first so strongly that it felt no time had elapsed in between! With Nandan's birth, and then the arrival of my kids, Sankarshan and Kanyika, Maya and I used every available opportunity to meet and get the kids to play together and have a jolly good chat ourselves. Every time I went to Maya's house, there was excellent food laid out on the side board, much laughter and fun and we never ever left without having played Dumb Charades to our heart's content! Each time I was amazed by Maya's artistic talents - first her oil painting, that emerged in so many depictions of their lives, then the cartoons that never ceased to fascinate me!
The last time I visited Maya was when she orgainsed a meeting of all her college mates who were in Bangalore - I was invited too, as a "special" friend, in honour of the university special rides that we had shared. We had a superb time, gliding along nostalgia lane and exchanging stories of where we all were at present.
Maya remains a strong presence, a staunch friend and an inspiring influence in my life always!
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