WHEN YOU KISS YOUR LITTLE BABY

 



“And when you kiss your little baby,

you’ve kissed the face of God.”

Mark Lowry

Aparna, who studied under me more than thirty years ago, is, now, a dear friend of mine. She is settled in Gurgaon. Blessed with a playful and funny bone, she kept updating us, on a regular basis, about each and every little thing – call it a micro milestone – as her only baby boy, Osher, kept growing… She called her cub – ‘Li’l Tiger’… and enthralled us with her entertaining posts on FB. For many years, it seemed as though the Li’l cub refused to grow. So, Aparna’s Jungle Book stories kept coming… I was very fond of them…

Then, for some time, the stories disappeared on FB…

I wondered whatever had happened to the Li’l Tiger?

You see, the tiger cubs are incredibly cute and playful… How one wishes them to forever stay cubs! But, that remains only a wishful thought…

The Tiger Cub does grow into a Shere Khan… Just as Aparna has grown into a tigress and her hubby has grown into a tiger… Just as we all have…

And, today, I saw this Li’l Tiger tale shared by Aparna… It’s then I realized, that, of late, she had been posting most of her Jungle Book tales on Instagram, where I have not been visible. Here is what she shared, today:

“My boy is growing up and I want to shrink him back to a baby and be able to  publicly cuddle, grab, kiss his cheeks and squeeze him tight for a birthday pic… But, he is 12! Love you Osher, Osh, Oshie, Oshposh, Boo, forever n ever and ever…”

There was no ‘Li’l Tiger’ there in her Wishlist…





Today is Mother Mary’s birthday. We call it - ‘The Feast of Nativity’. I happened to see Aparna’s post while listening to my favourite song, ‘Mary Did You Know’. The line in the song – ‘When you kiss your little baby, you've kissed the face of God’ – yes, when this line popped up, I felt like asking my friend, “Aparna, did you know, that your little baby will one day…?”




Well, one day, the baby will do what, become what? Nobody knows… No Mary’s know that. Kahlil Gibran had beautifully described this mystery in his remarkable book, ‘The Prophet’…

“You are the bows from which your children

As living arrows are sent forth.

The Archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite

And He bends you with His might

That His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the Archer’s hand be for gladness.

For, even as He loves the arrow that flies

So he loves the bow that is stable.”

Aparna, did you know?

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pics: Pixabay

Video: Gaither Music TV

 

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