Gerald D'Cunha

W hy do I wear a smile on my face? Why do I wear ‘special’ clothes on some days? Why do I don’t like to leave home unshaven? When our door bell rang at 7 this morning, I thought it was doodhwala who had arrived at his usual time. But, when I opened the door, a brightly dressed woman was standing outside. “Namaste saab,” she beamed. I took a while to recognize this woman. As a house-keeping staff, she would normally ring our doorbell between 7.40 and 8.00 every morning. And, she would appear in her uniform, a light-blue saree . But, today she had arrived almost an hour before and in her bright, shining clothes! “Namaste mausi (That is how I call all of them – young or old!). Aaj kuch special?” Her infectious smile only made mausi shine even brighter! I closed the door, without knowing what made our house-keeping lady arrive so early and in her special clothes… Any festival? Not that I know of… Her birthday or anniversary? She did not tell me about them… But, ...

My dad was a die-hard fan of these three: America, Mrs. Indira Gandhi and Muhammad Ali. It was in the Sixties and early part of the Seventies; and, it was in our native town, Mangalore. In those days, we had no electricity in our house; and, though a transistor (radio) was in existence, we could not afford one. All news reached our dad through the local Kannada dailies, which he would read to the last letter, after his work, at one of his favorite shops. There, half a dozen men, including the shop-owner, would heatedly discuss and debate on the current affairs. Those were the days of Vietnam War… America, the Super Power as my dad would call her, was criticized and even hated for the Vietnam mess…  But, not my dad. For him, America was the ‘Greatest nation on earth’… and, so it remained till he died in 1984… Her stories and legends kept us enthralled and inspired till his last day! For some strange reasons, our dad also loved and ad...