Family Reunion in Kissimee/Orlando and Robert's 80'th Birthday Celebrations in Kissimee, Seattle, Los Angeles and Shah Alam
by Hootoksi Tyabji
80 in person – 20 in spirit – ever joyful – beloved of all the family
8th August 2023, Orlando, 8th September 2023, Los Angeles, then Seattle and later, Shah Alam, Malaysia
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Kissimee, Orlando - Florida
We held our third Tyabji-Pundole Family reunion in Orlando Florida from the 3rd to 10th August 2023.
It was a loud, fun-filled, rambunctious get together, with the oldest member of the family about to turn 80 and the youngest, 8 years old.
In addition to swimming, eating, chatting, and sleeping, we found time to celebrate Robert’s milestone birthday, his 80th - a month in advance of the actual birthday!
Hunter (9) single handedly blew up the balloons (with some help from me), and Sherie decorated the room with the others setting the scene for the party!
Rhonda and Jessica created a beautiful card which everyone signed. Then Farhad, Robert, Lale and I went to pick up Biriyani which had been pre-ordered from a famous restaurant in the city by Farhad.
Pizza was ordered for the kids and Shehernavaz, Kershasp and I picked out the birthday cake! The lady at the bakery was all excited when we told her this was an order for an 80th birthday and she was quite tickled when I picked yellow for the icing, Rob’s favorite colour!
We began the celebration (with difficulty) getting the kids out of the pool and into a quiet state as we all gathered together to listen to the Tandarosti blessing rendered by Boompa Noshir and which we had recorded for posterity.
Our hearts were warm and fuzzy and it was amazing how the children quietened down and listened intently to the voice of their great-grandfather; that beloved voice blessing us all as we stood together remembering our loved ones no longer with us: Alice, Amin, Roshan, Noshir, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Good Fiends.
We then trooped into the house and had a hearty feast; the Biriyani and pizza were both enjoyed with lots left overs for the next day!
Azura was in charge of entertainment, and she brilliantly scripted and directed a play, what a surprise that was for the birthday boy who was quite overwhelmed with the performance.
The Script
AZURA, standing on the balcony: Another day in Heaven in the year 1943. The view looks beautiful from up here. The streets are bustling with color, the smell of rain is in the air and the monsoon season is giving way to autumn. Bombay is almost perfect this time of year, but it’s missing something, someone…
AZURA points down to Earth. There goes an unlikely couple. An Indian man, and a Swiss woman. A seamstress and a chemist. Alice and Amin. I have a feeling they will invent something awesome. Like dhansak with fondue. Those two have someone special between them. He’s just an idea right now, but he’ll be born soon. What kind of person will he be?
AZURA leans over the balcony railing to the AUDIENCE: Let’s start with a name. I think they have an idea. Let me listen in. What will his name be?
AUDIENCE: Robert!
AZURA: Robert! Robert Tyabji. It’s a big job creating such a special person. I need help from my angels, the spirits of the people who will join Robert in his life. Angels!
One by one, AZURA asks “What kind of person will Robert be?” to each angel.
CIANNA: He'll travel the world and have adventures!
NAVEEN: He will be smart and cheeky!
CAELYNN: He will make many great inventions!
MICHEL: He will be all about the music!
FARHAD: He will be my ideal of how to be a man, how to treat a lady and work for a better world!
ADIL: He shall be impossibly positive and enjoy a good drink!
AZURA: Sounds like there’s a lot of wonderful things our lucky Robert will become in life. I fear without some checks and balances, he will be too powerful. Alright what can I do...
AZURA rubs her hands together, scheming: He will be 5’3, need glasses, and...
CIANNA: ... can’t play rock, paper, scissors!
AZURA: There we go! Now he’s balanced! Who will be by his side and sleep through his snores? He will meet (drumroll) Hootoski Pundole!
Hootoski gives a wave from the audience.
AZURA: What a beautiful family this baby Robert will have. His life will be like jazz—-bold & colorful, striking new notes from country to farflung country, changing and becoming something never experienced, while keeping its own exalted rhythm. He will make his own melody in this world, surrounded by people in tune with his generous brilliance. He will live long enough to inspire grandchildren!
He will keep the music. I can hear it now...[Cianna, Caelynn, and Naveen sing “happy birthday”, audience sings along]
Finally came the moment the kids had all been waiting for, the cutting of the cake, some music and wonderful memories to go to bed with!
Round one: HAPPY 80TH birthday Rob
Robert was born on the 8th September 1943 at the St Elizabeth’s Nursing Home, the very same Nursing Home my siblings and I were born in. And believe it or not, we were all delivered by the same midwife!
At the time of his birth, mum Alice and dad Amin, lived in an apartment on French Road in Chowpatty facing the Indian Ocean. Granny Tahira lived with them too and she was overjoyed with the birth of a grandson, Rob was undoubtedly her most favorite.
Some more photos...
... and videos...
Adil's advice to Sheri Masi Adil attacked! The game
Los Angeles, CA, 8 September 2023
1943 to 2023 = 80 years and time for the second celebration, this time on the actual day!
On the 8th September we were with Michel in Los Angeles in his newly purchased and very recently unpacked home in Arleta.
The day dawned bright, Michel, Cianna and I were secretly excited!
Farhad and Adil were arriving from Seattle and the Sunshine Coast in Canada, my surprise gift of sons to Rob on his 80th.
Their flight landed in Burbank around 9 am so Michel followed his usual routine of taking a very reluctant Cianna to school, then swung by the airport to pick up his brothers and bring them home! Rob had not the slightest inkling of what was going on!
Rob was in the loo when Michel called to say “Ma get the video ready we’re almost home!” but there was no pa around to surprise!!
Four of us were in a heightened state of excitement and anticipation, waiting for Rob. When he finally emerged and saw his two younger children sitting at the dining table, I can’t find a word big enough to describe his surprise and joy!
I was the designated videographer, but failed miserably!! in my excitement to record the moment I mistakenly had my finger covering the lens, so very little was caught on camera!! Fortunately, Michel was there to take some photos (above).
A hearty breakfast was followed by a traditional celebratory Parsi lunch of “Dhan Dar Patio” and “Ravo” after which I did the “sagan” for the birthday boy in Michel’s beautiful garden under the trees.
After tea and the cutting of the cake, Michel, Farhad and Adil treated Pa to a night of nights!
Around 7 PM we dressed in our glad rags and drove down Sunset Boulevard to one of LA’s most iconic and famous jazz clubs “The Catalina Jazz Club”. The dinner was disappointing but the jazz more than made up for it!
We were treated to the music of none other than Cuban-American Jazz Maestro Arturo Sandoval and his band of amazingly talented musicians. “Arturo is one of the world's most acknowledged Master of Jazz trumpet and flugelhorn, as well as a renowned classical artist, pianist, and composer, one of the most brilliant, multi-faceted and renowned musicians of our time” - it was a phenomenal concert.
Los Angeles, CA, 8 September 2023
1943 to 2023 = 80 years and time for the second celebration, this time on the actual day!
On the 8th September we were with Michel in Los Angeles in his newly purchased and very recently unpacked home in Arleta.
The day dawned bright, Michel, Cianna and I were secretly excited!
Farhad and Adil were arriving from Seattle and the Sunshine Coast in Canada, my surprise gift of sons to Rob on his 80th.
Their flight landed in Burbank around 9 am so Michel followed his usual routine of taking a very reluctant Cianna to school, then swung by the airport to pick up his brothers and bring them home! Rob had not the slightest inkling of what was going on!
Rob was in the loo when Michel called to say “Ma get the video ready we’re almost home!” but there was no pa around to surprise!!
Four of us were in a heightened state of excitement and anticipation, waiting for Rob. When he finally emerged and saw his two younger children sitting at the dining table, I can’t find a word big enough to describe his surprise and joy!
I was the designated videographer, but failed miserably!! in my excitement to record the moment I mistakenly had my finger covering the lens, so very little was caught on camera!! Fortunately, Michel was there to take some photos (above).
A hearty breakfast was followed by a traditional celebratory Parsi lunch of “Dhan Dar Patio” and “Ravo” after which I did the “sagan” for the birthday boy in Michel’s beautiful garden under the trees.
After tea and the cutting of the cake, Michel, Farhad and Adil treated Pa to a night of nights!
Around 7 PM we dressed in our glad rags and drove down Sunset Boulevard to one of LA’s most iconic and famous jazz clubs “The Catalina Jazz Club”. The dinner was disappointing but the jazz more than made up for it!</
One Month Later.....
Los Angeles, CA, 8 September 2023
1943 to 2023 = 80 years and time for the second celebration, this time on the actual day!
On the 8th September we were with Michel in Los Angeles in his newly purchased and very recently unpacked home in Arleta.
The day dawned bright, Michel, Cianna and I were secretly excited!
Farhad and Adil were arriving from Seattle and the Sunshine Coast in Canada, my surprise gift of sons to Rob on his 80th.
Their flight landed in Burbank around 9 am so Michel followed his usual routine of taking a very reluctant Cianna to school, then swung by the airport to pick up his brothers and bring them home! Rob had not the slightest inkling of what was going on!
Rob was in the loo when Michel called to say “Ma get the video ready we’re almost home!” but there was no pa around to surprise!!
Four of us were in a heightened state of excitement and anticipation, waiting for Rob. When he finally emerged and saw his two younger children sitting at the dining table, I can’t find a word big enough to describe his surprise and joy!
I was the designated videographer, but failed miserably!! in my excitement to record the moment I mistakenly had my finger covering the lens, so very little was caught on camera!! Fortunately, Michel was there to take some photos (above).
A hearty breakfast was followed by a traditional celebratory Parsi lunch of “Dhan Dar Patio” and “Ravo” after which I did the “sagan” for the birthday boy in Michel’s beautiful garden under the trees.
After tea and the cutting of the cake, Michel, Farhad and Adil treated Pa to a night of nights!
Around 7 PM we dressed in our glad rags and drove down Sunset Boulevard to one of LA’s most iconic and famous jazz clubs “The Catalina Jazz Club”. The dinner was disappointing but the jazz more than made up for it!
We were treated to the music of none other than Cuban-American Jazz Maestro Arturo Sandoval and his band of amazingly talented musicians. “Arturo is one of the world's most acknowledged Master of Jazz trumpet and flugelhorn, as well as a renowned classical artist, pianist, and composer, one of the most brilliant, multi-faceted and renowned musicians of our time” - it was a phenomenal concert.
Somewhere towards the end of it, we were surprised and thrilled when the band struck up the Happy Birthday song, but soon realized that it was being played for Gina Belafonte, the daughter of Harry who shares a birthday with Rob!
The club was filled with Hollowood celebrities, but we had eyes and love only for our one and only, just turned 80 Rob/Pa
There was a lot of cheering and congratulations all round and we drove home on a high, it had been quite the night!!
Here are some more photos...
The celebration went on in Seattle with our friends Beroz and Siegi who had us over at their place.
TWhen when we got home in Malaysia, our long time friends Rina and Salim came over, bearing cake and wine to celebrate yet one more time!
HAPPY 80TH Rob/Pa/Grandpa/Friend!
