Month: October 1979

A Letter From Mauritius, Garçon Biltoo, 29 October 1979

Subsequent to my visit to Mauritius in July & August 1979 to visit the Biltoo family, now documented at length on Ogblog…

…I received several letters from the good people I met there. My transcriptions of these letters received might dabble a little with the grammar and spelling but are largely verbatim transcriptions.

This one is from Garçon Biltoo, Anil’s uncle.

Janee and Garçon Biltoo

First my dictated transcription and then a scan of the airmail letter itself.

Dear Ian,

Hoping that you are well as well as your parents, as for us we are in good health.

We miss you a lot as well as Anil and think that you talk a lot about your first trip abroad. When you will pay us a visit, perhaps in a couple of years?

Geeta, Ratna and others send you their compliments and think to see you again among them. Manjula and Vanisha always talk about you and Anil., they ask me when you will come again. I always told them on the next plane.

Hoping that you have already developed all the films taken by you in Mauritius to show your family and friends over there.

The horse racing will be closed on the 4th of November 1979, it’s the last race on 4th of November 79 and will start anew in May 1980. Do come and we will make a lot of money. The last race held on 27th of October 79 one of the races was won by Karim Khan it cost Rs.30 to win Rs.500.

I just learnt from Anil that some thieves came into your house while your parents were absent And stole some clothes and jewels belonging to your dear mother. I am very sorry for it, but nevertheless the police will find the thieves and imprison them.

Have you already finished the good Rum Made In Mauritius which you brought with you. I hope that you made your friends taste it when you were celebrating your birthday. Anyway how is Anil? Does he always tease you or is he very pacific these days?

You will soon have school holiday, because Christmas and New Year is approaching. When you come to Mauritius you will have more money to your pound because our government devalued its money.

I leave you and say goodbye to you and your parents. I am going to write to Anil and his dad.

Love

Garçon

A Letter From Mauritius, Anil Gooly, 8 October 1979

Subsequent to my visit to Mauritius in July & August 1979 to visit the Biltoo family, now documented at length on Ogblog…

Mauritius, July & August 1979, Overview, Summary and Picture Links

…I received several letters from the good people I met there. My transcriptions of these letters received might dabble a little with the grammar and spelling but are largely verbatim transcriptions.

This one, from Anil Gooly (one of Anil Biltoo’s cousins), is the first of two letters he sent me.

Anil Biltoo left and Anil Gooly right

First my dictated transcription and then a scan of the airmail letter itself.

A fortnight has already elapsed since we received your letter stamped the 22nd of September. It’s only now that I have taken pen and airmail for the purpose of writing to you.

Well, my apologies for not writing earlier, and thanks a lot for your letter.

Well, before going on further, Ian, I am quite happy to learn that you enjoyed your stay very much in our island and you are giving talks about Mauritius in your country. Personally, I think it’s a good idea to sell Mauritius – as you seem to be doing through your talks – this may or will no doubt help our tourist industry.

I hope that you are quite fine and so are your parents. Over here, in Mauritius, we are all okay and everyone is back to duty, studies and so on. I myself have now resumed work at the beginning of September. Actually I am quite busy with the preparation of examination papers and so on.

Yes, Ian what about the photos that you had snapshot in Mauritius. Are they all fine? I think that they must mean much to you and reflect, so to say, your stay in Mauritius.

It would be a good idea for you to send a copy of them (I mean those you took for us) or better the negatives so that we may have them developed locally.

Ian, I am seizing this opportunity to ask you to do something for me. I don’t know whether it will be possible or you are taken up completely, but please try your best. You know, I need some old copies of the magazine New Society for years 1976 or 1977 and some copies of The Times (daily newspaper) for year 1976 (preferably March – April) and I will ask you to look for them. Ask Anil [Biltoo] to help you. If, however, you lay hands on the above material, please buy them for me and give me the bill (the overall costs) so that I might send your money. If you have them please post them without delay.

By the way, have your parents already left for Yugoslavia? Convey my kind regards to them.

I hope that you are writing in the near future,

Bye

Anil

A Somewhat Eventful Party At Woodfield Avenue, 6 to 7 October 1979

Somewhat eventful to say the least.

Another holiday without me for my parents…another opportunity for me to hold a house party.

I particularly like the way I describe this party, with all due modesty, in my diary entry for 6 October:

Party v good/described as best ever by some…despite disasters.

I’m not sure that my parents’ house has ever recovered from the “despite disasters” aspect of it.

The disasters were probably due to intense overcrowding. Not only had I been pretty open-ended with my invitations – BBYO club folk descended from the length and breadth of the country – but the party was also quite heavily gatecrashed.

This photo from Easter Weekend 1979 – several of the above were at the October party…none of these were the gatecrashers.

I shall seek counsel from others on some of the details. Also on the extent to which, for some aspects of the evening, names and details should ever find their way to as public a place as Ogblog.

But for the time being here are some fragmentary memories of mine.

It looks from the diary as though Fran helped me to set the party up but didn’t stick around for the party, which was jolly decent of her and/but she must have had something much, much better to do on the Saturday night. I have a feeling that she might have just started/been starting University around then. Fran might remember and chime in with a memory. Anyway, many thanks for the help that day, Fran.

Then the party itself.

For some reason (overcrowding alone shouldn’t have caused this) we had a power failure for a while. No lights, no music…just…whatever a party might be in the absence of those things.

Someone who knew what they were doing (at least to the extent needed to restore light and music to the party) sorted out the problem, but I do recall at one point several people going round with candles, not least Simon Jacobs rattling off quips at a rate of about 16 qpm.

Simon could rap at 20 quips per minute if he wanted to…he just didn’t want to.

One of the gatecrashers broke the frame of my father’s family mosaic piece – depicting us as clowns standing on each other’s shoulders. Mercifully it wasn’t beyond repair. I seem to recall that incident triggering some of the more protective (or perhaps I should say bellicose) guests to take matters into their hands and remove several gatecrashers.

Someone will no doubt be able to explain why the following picture of Jay, one of the welcome guests (like the Simon photo above, taken a few months earlier) popped into my head as I recalled the gatecrashers’ comeuppance.

“…be off with you, fiends!…”

I think there were times during the party when I needed some consoling. I realised what a mess the place was in. But this was not a good party for host romance, although I’m sure it worked well for many guests; not least during the blackout.

One consolation in the damage aspect was the fact that the house had been burgled the day after my parents went away, so it was going to be difficult for them to distinguish burglar damage from party damage.

7 October 1979

…well of course several of the events mentioned/alluded to above might well have been the early hours of 7th…

many stayed, helped clear up. I finished the job…

I’m not sure who Paul S was that Sunday evening (apologies, Paul, if/when your identity comes to light), but the Jeff S who stayed at the house after the meeting was the late lamented Jeff Spector. No doubt he was able to advise me well on dealing with the aftermath of crowded house parties – they had quite a few of those at the Spector house over the years. But those are other memories for other pieces.

Jeff Spector, Spring 1979

A Letter From Mauritius, Nanda Soniassy, 6 October 1979

Subsequent to my visit to Mauritius in July & August 1979 to visit the Biltoo family, now documented at length on Ogblog…

…I received several letters from the good people I met there. My transcriptions of these letters received might dabble a little with the grammar and spelling but are largely verbatim transcriptions.

This one is from Nanda Soniassy, one of Anil Biltoo’s cousins. Here is a picture of me and Nanda:

First my dictated transcription and then a scan of the airmail letter itself.

Dear Ian,

I must first thank you very much for your letter which I received two weeks ago. I hope that you are enjoying good health; at home, we are all fine. Anil’s father wrote, a week after his arrival. We also got a postcard from Colette who is in France.

Hope you’ll be sending us the photos as you promised.

Have you been talking to your friends about Mauritius? We had a nice time together didn’t we? Unluckily time went away quickly.

I’m now preparing for my school certificate. My exams begin on the 22nd of October and as you see, there is not much time left. I also have a lot of things to do and I am very busy.

You are also busy with your studies and I wish you the best. What about Anil? I’ve not heard from him since his departure. When you meet him, tell him that I am still waiting for a letter for from him.

Your parents were glad to see you back. Did they like the gifts you brought for them? I did not have time to thank you for the present you gave me before your departure. I must thank you very much for it and every time I look at it, I think of you.

Hope Anil has stopped teasing you. You remember <Ian l’Âne>. You and Anil were always fighting in Mauritius.

When you send me the photos, send some photos of your parents as well. I also do not have much time to spend nevertheless. I will try to write to you as often as I can.

I leave you here as I have nothing else to tell you. Give my kind regards to your grandmother and your parents. Kiss Anil for me (on the two cheeks).

Hope to hear from you soon.

Lots of love and kisses to you. Bye sincerely, Nanda

[many X’s]