Gerald D'Cunha

S ome of the things that make us happiest are the simplest. Like the TV serial ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah  Chashmah’. Let me confess at the outset: I haven’t watched even a single episode of ‘Taarak Mehta ka…’ fully. In bits and pieces – yes, I have. When and where was that? Whenever I visited my younger-brother Vivek’s house … My little niece, Alisha, would be watching it, all glued… So, if I happened to be there, I had better show some interest. In fact, the first time I heard that name – ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah’ – was from Alisha… I remember reacting, “Kiska chashmah?” And, yes, “Ooltah kyun?” We have no TV at home, you see. So, I was blissfully ignorant about it. But, in today’s world, ‘No-TV’ makes no difference… You get to know and get to see everything on your handset! The man who wrote, for years, the original stories in daily newspapers was Mr. Taarak Mehta. And, I did not know that, either. It was only a couple of days ago, when Mr. Mehta...

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” ...