The hooting of owls, the creeping of the snails, the weeping of a baby in the still and silent night would make her shiver and shriek... Why so? It would remind her of the haunting ghosts of ancestors, in particular those drowned and washed away by the raging river floods. A cockroach, a centipede or a millipede , a rat or a bat or a cat: all would be her life-threatening foes.
Such tame and timid, delicate princess was our elder sister Lilly, the 2nd daughter of our parents Stella and Lt. Mr. Marian D’Silva. It was Robert Malthus who said, in the wake of population explosion, it is the “fittest” who survives. Faced with misery and poverty, we 9 children too faced this race. Lilly our ‘bai’ (didi) was the fittest of us: cunning, naughty, and diplomatic and in studies just average. And she was beautiful! So much so, the matchmaker who had come to see Apoli bai preferred Lilly for her beauty and physical appeal. But she was a dreamer and an achiever! When she failed in Class-VIII, dad asked her to discontinue her studies...but she wept bitterly and forced him to change his decision. It was the dream which made her to drop the plan to join the convent life after HSLC, though all arrangements were done. It was the dream which made our notoriously timid Lilly bai venture out of our ‘jungle’ village Mantrady to Gurupur in Mangalore city for a Teachers’ Training Course. From then on it was never looking back...
The first break from the confines of our forest and the biddings of our ‘authoritarian’ dad came when she was recruited by Apostolic Carmel (AC) nuns to join one of their schools as an Asst.Teacher at Bhagalpur in Bihar. It was a bold step- in the right direction. I remember her bringing gifts (so many were needed as we were too many at home) and distributing with pride...
But she was astute in planning. Our dad expeted her to hand over her earnings, but she was cunning and economical enough to invest something in her jewellery and the rest kept in the savings for her wedding expenditure. Our disgusted dad at this termed the Lichi fruits which were brought by her all the way from Bihar as, "santhana kopala kai". Well, Bihar was too far and dangerous...Hence, she thought of following Apoli bai's beaten path: go to Mumbai, try for a job or else at least look for a life-partner: from 'Bollywood'?I can say with pride that I was her guide, showing her the way to my brother-in-law’s house at Vikroli in Mumbai.
But she was astute in planning. Our dad expeted her to hand over her earnings, but she was cunning and economical enough to invest something in her jewellery and the rest kept in the savings for her wedding expenditure. Our disgusted dad at this termed the Lichi fruits which were brought by her all the way from Bihar as, "santhana kopala kai". Well, Bihar was too far and dangerous...Hence, she thought of following Apoli bai's beaten path: go to Mumbai, try for a job or else at least look for a life-partner: from 'Bollywood'?I can say with pride that I was her guide, showing her the way to my brother-in-law’s house at Vikroli in Mumbai.
The journey to Mumbai was to be her last one in search of destiny. She met Mr. Dennis Mascarenhas, a Bharat Petroleum employee who fell for her at 'the first sight'! On 25th January, 1987 they tied the knot and moved to Santacruz to stay with Dennis’ uncle and aunt. Eventually they moved to Bhayander and now happily settled in Mira Road. Their children Brinal, pursuing career in hotel management and Rency, studying engineering are being groomed well by our bai Lilly.
It has been long and eventful journey: lonely, daring but now she has others to accompany and encourage. Our salutes to you Lilly bai.
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