The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up. ~Mark Twain
Mark Twain [and others] who is better at coming up with quotes that take the word out of your mouth, than I am, simply and beautifully embodies the start of my favourite month and season of the calendar. It also I thought was the best way and time to re-start my blogging initiatives, not so much as to exhibit my skills as a writer, but mostly as a way of penning down or is it typing down thoughts and musings of an everyday life spent not un-eventfully in a not so everyday village, that sits at the end of the island of Salcette, called Bandra. And inspired by the buggers of bandra.
Living in a beautiful old stone cottage, not old by the village standards as its only about 5-6 decades old, but reminiscent of old days nevertheless and on the brink of not an old story in the village, that of property disputes, it's about trying to savour the last bits of a flavour that Sidney Lobo, Christopher Lobo and the Afzals and Siddiques are trying to kill by saying a few silent prayers every saturday evening at the 6.45 pm mass at St. Peter's. Kneeling only a few pews away from aunty Leon. Afzals and Siddiques finish it on fridays.
December however is a different month anyway. The disputes are pushed far back somewhere till summer..no no till the errant nephew and wife have boarded that aircraft that will seal them tightly and deposit them safely back in NYC. That great big red apple for which they dropped everything, including that 'cushy' job with KMPG that had him landed as the most eliglble available for the Mangy daughters in the village. It's the same great big red apple, the snows and poverty of Queens [depending on where in queens] they have dropped and left some several miles away, atleast for a month, and come 'home' for the 'holidays'.
The tree is slowly brought out, because its wrapped up and kept high up on the old cupboard that belonged to great grandmother Angeline in Mangalore, standing tip toe on the stool that belonged to aunty Leon's father when he was a boy growing up long ago in Kadri. It almost got the moniker tripod but fevikwik and a good carpenter saved its good name. How her old dad would have rolled in his grave.
Aunty Leon is not sure how old the crib and the figurines are. She remembers them from the time she went to school and still gets wrapped the same way. The tree need not be fully decorated. The nephew and wife will add their own as well. Or he might bring in the lawyer and file a suit against the old aunt for thinking she can fully decorate the tree and not leave him anything!!! How could she!! especially at Christmas!!
The carolers will come down the street stopping at all the houses and buildings, well almost at all..the gym will have its Christmas carnival...hill road will have more decorations than last year to tempt you on your way back from work unless you take a detour and walk down turner road. All the time telling yourself how much easier it is to walk there than hill raod with all the traffic. The nephew and wife will go to the wife's house near Mt Mary steps and come back with cakes from venus for aunty and wish her a Merry Christmas and the best of health for the coming new year!!
Mark Twain [and others] who is better at coming up with quotes that take the word out of your mouth, than I am, simply and beautifully embodies the start of my favourite month and season of the calendar. It also I thought was the best way and time to re-start my blogging initiatives, not so much as to exhibit my skills as a writer, but mostly as a way of penning down or is it typing down thoughts and musings of an everyday life spent not un-eventfully in a not so everyday village, that sits at the end of the island of Salcette, called Bandra. And inspired by the buggers of bandra.
Living in a beautiful old stone cottage, not old by the village standards as its only about 5-6 decades old, but reminiscent of old days nevertheless and on the brink of not an old story in the village, that of property disputes, it's about trying to savour the last bits of a flavour that Sidney Lobo, Christopher Lobo and the Afzals and Siddiques are trying to kill by saying a few silent prayers every saturday evening at the 6.45 pm mass at St. Peter's. Kneeling only a few pews away from aunty Leon. Afzals and Siddiques finish it on fridays.
December however is a different month anyway. The disputes are pushed far back somewhere till summer..no no till the errant nephew and wife have boarded that aircraft that will seal them tightly and deposit them safely back in NYC. That great big red apple for which they dropped everything, including that 'cushy' job with KMPG that had him landed as the most eliglble available for the Mangy daughters in the village. It's the same great big red apple, the snows and poverty of Queens [depending on where in queens] they have dropped and left some several miles away, atleast for a month, and come 'home' for the 'holidays'.
The tree is slowly brought out, because its wrapped up and kept high up on the old cupboard that belonged to great grandmother Angeline in Mangalore, standing tip toe on the stool that belonged to aunty Leon's father when he was a boy growing up long ago in Kadri. It almost got the moniker tripod but fevikwik and a good carpenter saved its good name. How her old dad would have rolled in his grave.
Aunty Leon is not sure how old the crib and the figurines are. She remembers them from the time she went to school and still gets wrapped the same way. The tree need not be fully decorated. The nephew and wife will add their own as well. Or he might bring in the lawyer and file a suit against the old aunt for thinking she can fully decorate the tree and not leave him anything!!! How could she!! especially at Christmas!!
The carolers will come down the street stopping at all the houses and buildings, well almost at all..the gym will have its Christmas carnival...hill road will have more decorations than last year to tempt you on your way back from work unless you take a detour and walk down turner road. All the time telling yourself how much easier it is to walk there than hill raod with all the traffic. The nephew and wife will go to the wife's house near Mt Mary steps and come back with cakes from venus for aunty and wish her a Merry Christmas and the best of health for the coming new year!!
1 comment:
Nice post cute chic. And it had to be about your favorite part of the world! I am sincerely convinced that given your unbounded affection for the place, soon they will decide to name a street after you... or if all streets are assigned Marathi names already, at least some wise, old rock in the bandstand seaface!
Post a Comment