YES MOM, LIFE IS, INDEED, AN ICE-CREAM

Is the playful, curious and enthusiastic child in us responsible for our zest for life?

I think, he is.

The moment that inner child in us ceases to be playful, curious and enthusiastic, we all cease to live zestfully…

Last night, like millions all over the world were, I, too, was hugely impresses and inspired watching 87-year-old Mrs. Charulata Patel cheering for India from the packed stadium in Edgbaston… She was wheelchair-bound… We learnt later, that she had undergone a bypass surgery of the heart twelve years ago, had a pacemaker planted inside her chest, had got her hipbone broken and fixed -  but, all this had not stopped her from  ‘participating’ in life like a young kid did… blowing horns, clapping, cheering, waving Indian flag. As much as the Indian team won our hearts, last night, Mrs. Patel won our hearts, too.  

Yes, age is just a number. Zest for life is everything. Some people live long, but they live long dead! And, some people live short but they live incredibly alive. I am sure, Lata Mangeshkar, who will be soon 90, must’ve been doing a Charulata from her Pedar Road residence, last night. She, too, is crazy about cricket just as she is crazy about singing… Just as Kushwant Singh, who lived almost for a century, gloriously with a glass of whiskey in his hand and some naughty jokes in his mouth!

Clint Eastwood, too, will be 90 soon. He must be busy either planning or shooting his next Hollywood flick. “I get up every morning and never let the old man in,” says Eastwood.

My elder brother Franklin was a huge fan of Western movies – We called them ‘cowboy films’. He was particularly influenced by ‘Django’ (1966), Franco Nero’s breakthrough film. Yes, my brother was so influenced by this Western, that every dog that was raised in our native home, ever since, has been named after this character – ‘Django’. The tradition continues here in Mumbai in my youngest brother Vivek’s house, too. His family is very fond of dogs and cats… While every dog is a ‘Django’, every cat is a ‘Jakina’ - Our grandmother’s favourite cat!

Today our Mom turns 85. She is very alert and alive… She loves life. Maybe she doesn’t blow horns from the cricket stadium and maybe she is not on a wheelchair… But, she is very much alive to the world around us. Like Charulata blessed and wished Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, last night, our mom blesses and wishes all her five sons, their wives, children and all her near and dear ones. “I will pray for you,” is her favourite expression…

What else one needs from a mother – except her blessings and prayers?

Coming back to Django… You can see in this video clip Mom doing with the latest Django what she had done with us… “Sit down,” meant we all had to sit down. Discipline.  “Be a good boy,” meant, we all had to mend our ways. Love, care and discipline, Sir. 

And, here she is all set to relish her ice-cream in our hometown’s famous ice-cream parlour – ‘Ideal’…

“Sons, Life is an ice-cream,” Mom seems to be to telling us, “enjoy it before it melts.”

Happy B’day dear Mom… Life is, indeed, an ice-cream!

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pics.: Jyothi D'Souza/Rony D’Cunha

Vidios: India TV/ Macklin D’Cunha