THE REARVIEW MIRROR

 




“Try to keep your soul young and quivering

right up to old age.”

George Sand

 

On 3rd of this July, my Mom completed 88 years. She had five sons. Harry, her third son, passed away a couple of years ago. She remembered the birthdays of all her sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, and most of our relatives. She even remembered the wedding and death anniversaries of most of her near and dear ones…

But, after her fall, two years ago, Mom has been confined to her bed and wheelchair. Her memory is gone, and she cannot recognize anyone…

We four, her surviving sons, decided to meet and celebrate her 88th birthday this time. Her life had been, always, church-centric: Jesus Christ, Mother Mary, Patron saints… Holy Mass, Holy Sacrament, hymns, confessions, priests, Bishops, and the Pope… at home, the daily rosary and angelus… She lived by the Lord’s Prayer – ‘Our Father… Give us our daily bread…”

So, it was befitting to organize a beautiful Mass at home on Mom’s 88th birthday… Three priests and two brothers from the seminary joined her immediate family members. Mom, being the centre of attention, was dressed in a lovely sweater, seated on the wheelchair… She sat through the entire Mass, the lovely choir (presented by her gifted son Rony, his wife Meena, and Meena’s brother Anil) and the meaningful sermon. But, I am sure, Mom was clueless about what was going on around her… Leave alone about her birthday… She was looking at everyone and everything, blankly…

“Happy birthday, Mom,” … “Bless us, Mom”… “Did you recognize me, Mom?”…

Mom responded it all with a blank stare!




                        Mom’s daughters-in-law on her right: Meena, Dora, Anima and Merlyn (Hemangi couldn’t make it)

                        Mom’s sons on her left: Franklin, me, Ronald and Vivek (We missed Late Harry)



Time and Tide do not wait for anyone of us, you see… We age, our memory goes, our beauty fades, we fall ill, and, one day, we die. Well, some of us may think, that Time and Tide ‘will’ wait for us… But, the reality is, that they won’t…

The only sane way to live life, I think, is to live with zest and purpose… with gratitude and compassion, with an attitude of helping and serving others – in whatever way we can. As they say, it’s the ‘life in our years’ and not the ‘number of our years’ that define how we celebrate our lives…

Mom lived her life so...





I will be completing my 65 years, tomorrow. A time to reflect and ask myself: “Did I celebrate my life well?”  “Was there ‘life’ in those years, or only years?”… “Did I say ‘Thank you’ enough?”

Let Time and Tide do their job… Let me do mine…





The Sun is still shining, you see... The rearview is still clear...

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic.: 1. Valerlla Miller 2. Stefan Stefancik

 

Video: SonyMusicindia VEVO

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MUTHU KODI KAWARI HADA

Image
Pic.; Ashwin Mohta M y Hindi was always bad. It still is. One reason for this was, that they introduced Hindi for us only in 6 th standard. Or, was it in 8 th ? I don’t remember… I only remember struggling to write and read… leave alone speak! But, I loved Hindi movies, and, strangely, I could understand the dialogues and the lyrics of the songs… I used to sing those songs (of course when no one was around me!) as if I was the lyricist… One of the songs was a very funny one. ‘Muthu Kodi Kawari Hada’. It was from Mehmood’s super-hit comedy – ‘Do Phool’. I was a 15-year-old high-school boy when I had heard that song (not watched the movie). I could grasp the meaning of two words – ‘Muthu Kodi’… which meant ‘Give kiss’… But, what ‘Kawari Hada’ meant, I have no clue till date! It was just like ‘Why this kolaveri di’... Yes, why ask? Simply enjoy the beats… And, the beats are great… The rest... Who cares? Really! So, whatever bit of Hi
Read more

"HAPPILY EVER AFTER IS NOT A FAIRY-TALE... IT IS A CHOICE"

Image
“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone… It has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” – Ursula K. Le Guin,  The Lathe of Heaven T welve years ago, when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got married, the world began to hail the couple as ‘Brangelina’. It became a fashion for couples around us to call themselves so… Norbert and Teresa renamed them as ‘Noresa’…  Amol and Vishaka baptized their relationship as ‘Amoshka’… and, Salman and Nargis became ‘Salgis’! I and my wife, too, got tempted to re-christian our matrimonial relationship as ‘Germa’... That is, Gerald and Anima, to be precise! B efore I proceed any further, let me make it very clear, here… that, I have no business to judge on the break-up of Brad Pitt and Angelina’ Jolie’s marriage. I have no inclination to go into why, how, what when etc behind it… The couple ‘chose’ to split. And, it’s their choice… Only they know how good or bad… how joyful or painful that
Read more

SELLING MIRRORS IN THE CITY OF THE BLIND

Image
“I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty. I laugh when I hear that people go on pilgrimage to find God.” - Kabir T here is a universal human weakness – and it dates back to the days of fallen civilizations – and it is: to place people on pedestal and trying to be smothered by them, feel loved and protected in their company… worship them as mentors, heroes,  gurus, Mahagurus and Satgurus… Make these mortals larger-than-life cut-outs, worship them as flawless, pure and give one’s all… And, then, ‘take’ everything from them blindly as divine… Give everything to them blindly… Eventually, what happens is:  one more dangerous bondage… What was supposed to free you now becomes a new prison… It’s sad to see this happen! T his room, where I am writing this Post, has no image of any deity. I have no image of any Guru or Master around me… My question is: “Am I not able to feel close to Almighty God?  How does it matter
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...