Heading for hundred

"Where is the chalk?” demanded Gool Blackburn (née Virjee) as she stepped onto a makeshift paatlaa to celebrate the onset of the 100th year of her life. The chalk was laid but she could not see it against the pale background, wrote her niece Gita Choksi who had thoughtfully carried the chalk, haar and toran (floral decorations) from Bombay for her aunt’s birthday celebration.

There were a series of celebrations to mark her centenary milestone commencing with her birthday on October 28, 2010. Recounting the highlights of the celebrations Choksi related, "When my grandfather Jal P. Virjee succumbed to a fall and brain hemorrhage in 1979 at 99 years and 20 days we felt cheated so when my masi (mother’s sister) was turning 100, we just had to celebrate with four parties in and around Bristol where she lives.”

On the morning of October 28, she "threw a small tantrum” refusing to wear the orange outfit gifted to her by Jasminder aka Jimmy, one of the Asian Centre volunteers who usually picks her up when she makes a weekly visit to the Asian Centre. Insisting that it was "too good to wear,” she announced that she would "wear it in the evening.” "So much for vanity at 100!” declared Choksi adding that the famous card from the Queen could not be delivered by any postman but had to be personally collected by Blackburn’s carer.

The luncheon function hosted by Blackburn at the Asian Centre saw the hall decorated with banners and buntings for the 100th. The lady inspector of Bristol/Avon was invited to felicitate her and this was followed by greetings and gifts including a fun Stetson from the club secretary. When she was toasted with grape juice, the venerable lady "‘whispered’ sotto voce in her inimitable Gooli manner ‘It’s only grape juice.’ She loves her tipple and was expecting champagne,” conveyed Choksi. One of her favorite yesteryear stories concerned her premature birth and the necessity to nurse her with drops of brandy!

Two days later followed another celebration on October 30 with a dinner at the Bristol and Clifton Golf Club. The nieces and nephews went over earlier to decorate the hall with helium filled balloons which made colorful center pieces on the tables. A specially created picture board captured her life from her days in Panchgani, the first in the family to go to University and study at the Royal College of Science in Bombay, the imposing teacher at the Alexandra Girls English Institution, followed by advanced studies in England, marriage to George Blackburn and teaching at a school for the mentally challenged which she eventually headed. Not only was this a celebration for this amazing lady but also a time for family members and friends who had traveled from afar to bond and connect, some after decades.

For the evening function the doughty lady marched in after 6 p.m. nattily dressed in her pistachio green Chinese brocade jacket, black trousers and black patent pumps. The special sés ritual and sagan in her honor was followed by a brief insight into her interesting life and character. After cutting the delicious fruit cake with marzipan icing and lovely roses, Blackburn responded with an impromptu thanksgiving speech. Wine and dinner continued until 11 p.m. when the birthday lady "had to be persuaded like a reluctant Cinderella to retire and go home!”

The celebrations continued with two other parties, one at the Crypt, a church she attends and another with the Quaker’s group.

"My memories of her go back to the 1950s when I would look forward to the postman bringing me this huge brown envelope stuffed with pages torn out from the Daily Mirror recounting articles and pictures of Queen Elizabeth II, the progress of Prince Charles and Princess Anne. I knew when they went to school, when they had a cold and how they were dressed.”

Of late, she loves company, though tires after 10 minutes and goes about her own thing if you visit her at home. With her wanderlust she has visited quite a few countries in Europe besides her trips to India even when she was in her nineties. Only five years ago she booked solo on a tour to China that forced Jimmy to book himself and Debbie on the same tour. He trundled her all over, including the Great Wall, on a wheelchair. And the pièce de résistance was when she told friends back home ‘I went to China but did not see the Great Wall.’

Her former students who would like to communicate with her may do so at 23 West Mall, Clifton Bristol, 2BQ, UK.