Remembrance haigas for my brother
What can I say about my precious brother Gladwyn, my only brother, who was like a rock, someone whom I could always count on for unfaltering love and support, whose love was so pure, so steadfast, so boundless… who was so compassionate, and generous to a fault. What can I say about a brother whom I loved so dearly and now miss so badly… I miss his gentle voice, his smile, his caring ways, his music… A marine engineer by profession, he was passionate about music, sang beautifully, played several musical instruments, and composed music as well.
Gladwyn was someone special. And I feel so blessed to have had someone like him as my brother. Continue reading
Do you sometimes find yourself wondering “Why did I come to the kitchen?” or “Where did I leave my wallet?” It happens to all of us. No reason to worry or imagine the worst. Or perhaps, of late, you’re struggling to remember names. Often, forgetting the name of a place, say the city your cousin’s son has just moved to, or the name of someone you had been introduced to recently, could set alarm bells ringing in your mind. Or perhaps you’re talking about a movie you had seen when you were in college, and suddenly, you’re mortified that you can’t recall the name of the lead actor. His face floats tantalisingly across your mind, but his name, his darn name, escapes you. After what seems like an age, you finally remember.
Statistics tell us that only a small percentage of older people go on to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease resulting from the progressive death of brain cells. This is the most common kind of dementia. It gradually gets worse, leading to not just severe memory loss but also a weakening of thinking and reasoning skills.
Around two decades ago, child development researchers Foster Cline and Jim Fay had coined an interesting new term – ‘helicopter parent’. No, they were not referring to parents who are constantly on the move, flitting from one place to another, leaving their children to fend for themselves. Rather the term described people who are obsessed with hovering over their children, being involved in their every action and decision rather than being focussed on raising children capable of making independent decisions when they’re grown up.
A new year has dawned, bringing with it the opportunity to make a new beginning. To learn from past mistakes. Even make a course correction if necessary. Many have made resolutions of all kinds, and I’ve made one too.
Na jaane kyun? Hota hai ye jindagi ke saath,
When a handsome, grey-eyed, young man named Celestino Alvares stepped on to the Konkani stage in the early 1940s to make his debut as a tiatrist, something exciting was taking place in the tiatr world. Thanks to a burst of fresh talent, Konkani tiatr was experiencing a period of rejuvenation and was transitioning into what came to be called the Golden Phase.
In a shrinking world, no-one, not even faraway family is too far away. And thanks to modern technologies, what was once unimaginable is possible today.
So what’s unusual about this? Two things. My husband and I were in our house in Navi Mumbai, India; my son was in his own house more than 12,000 kms away in the US. And secondly, as we launched into an animated chat, and my son pointed to where he had seen the enormous black face outside his window and even showed us the muddy mess the bear had made on their door mat, it felt like we were in the same room. 
I looked at the marking “Daddy’s death anniversary” on my calendar this month and thought: It’s eighteen years since I watched him die. Eighteen years? I couldn’t believe it was almost two decades since I’ve been coping with this huge void in my life. 
“What can we get you from Goa?” people I know often ask me when they’re going to my home state. “Be a sweetheart, and get me a bottle of port wine,” I tell them, already feeling lightheaded with the joy of anticipation.
