THE DAY THE VOICE CRACKED...
If I tell you, today, 8 th September, is the feast of Nativity, you will surely ask me, “What is that?” Yes, unless you are a dyed-in-the-wool Catholic like me. So, I will take a short-cut here and tell you, today is Mother Mary’s b’day. And, let me tell you, that it is a big day for all of us… a real family day. As little kids, we would go around our neighborhood in Mangalore and collect the choicest flowers to offer Mother Mary. That was in the evenings after coming from school. The next day, early in the morning, before going to the school, we had to take our beautifully flower-decorated plates and go to our church. We would go in a procession, singing the famous Mother-Mary hymn in Konkani, and shower Her with our flowers. There would be one ‘special’ flower in the plate… and, that had to be kept at Her feet… we would bend down and kiss her feet: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now… And at the hour of our death. Amen” ...