-Brian Mendonça
To be in the presence of a child is to be
privileged. Often one fritters away the opportunity to be enfolded in the
amazement with which they see the world. Small children are curious about
anything and everything. Adults with their jaded lives have long lost the
ability to be struck into wonderment about the many miracles which happen every
minute of every passing day.
Somewhat trapped in the AC coach of a train, in the
wee hours of a new day, a voice floated up from below my berth. It was my son
Dwayne giving me his weather bulletin around 6 a.m., ‘Dada, morning became.’ It
was not an announcement I was looking forward too since I desperately needed to
catch some sleep on the overnight train to Mumbai.
Undeterred by my silence, my son (6) kept repeating
the phrase. For him it was an awesome experience to watch the embers of
darkness fall away and discern the first fingers of the daylight. I clambered
down my berth and watched the dawn with him. As the sun rose higher, we could
see it like a fiery orange ball. ‘Baba, kick the ball,’ Queenie said. ‘If baba
does that, it will be night,’ I said, playing along. Those precious moments, in
the embrace of cosmic forces, were so very dear to us. In that instant, the
immensity of nature, forged us together as a family.
At home, it is a different story. I ask him how his
day was at school, and he ignores the question. He is more concerned to make a
beeline for the TV or to play by himself with the remote-controlled car we
bought him on Children’s Day. He is developing a mind of his own and we have to
qualify to be part of his priorities.
We try to wean him away from senseless watching
cartoons and expose him to children’s films. At first he makes a scene but
later when he sees us both watching with him, he settles down to enjoy the
movie. Jalpari: The Desert Mermaid (2012)
is a gripping film in Hindi of Shreya, a tom boy, who stumbles on practice of
female foeticide in the village. I specially liked the way the daayan (female portent of evil) is
reinstated into society. Windstorm (2014)
is a German movie about the relationship of Mika, a young girl, with Windstorm
a misunderstood horse.
Dwayne has still to come to terms with grandpa’s
passing on. The other day when we were saying the rosary he nudged us saying he
wanted to speak to grandpa and ask how he was. He misses the times he had with
him. A few days back he declared that he wanted to die. When we overcame our
disbelief and asked him why, he said he wanted to go to where grandpa was.
We know these times like November rain, will not
last forever. For now it is enough to keep pace with his sense of wonder.
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Published in Gomantak Times Weekender, St. Inez, Goa on Sunday, 26 November 2017. Pix by Brian Mendonca
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