elegant and charming
BUBBLY sand waiter and maitre d’hotel, James Ratibar, of Clare Estate, turns 100 on Wednesday – the first generation offspring of an Indian indentured worker from Bengal.
His father (in his recollection, Gendha) came from Calcutta, while his colonial-born mother’s (Bhudia) family originated in the holy city of Mathura. Ratibar’s maternal grandmother passed on at age 116.
Ratibar is as quick-witted, elegant and charming as when he held court at Arundel Tearoom on the Durban beachfront, serving patrons on the sandy shore during World War II. And latterly, the British Middle East India Club, better known as the Queen’s Tavern, around the corner
