Whether you live in Goa or you’re a Goan living elsewhere,
everyone from our sunny state knows or has at least heard of a Maria in their
lifetime. I am no exception to the rule – I have a bunch of friends and
relatives with the middle name Maria and quite a few others who answer to the
noun. But none have ever come close to the livewire firecracker Maria that my
family knows, loves and affectionately calls Marie (pronounced maa-ree).
Marie came into our lives as a young child, almost out of a
storybook, and way before I was even born. From what I’ve heard, an orphan, she
lived with a married couple and their daughter and together the two girls got
up to quite a lot of mischief (all masterminded and led by Marie). One day, the
duo took to scribbling on the walls and the man of the house, both angry and
upset, warned them against repeating such actions. Marie took this to mean just
the opposite and ended up using an entire wall as her personal canvas. Safe to
say, when the gentleman came home, he was livid and fuming and demanded to know
who had done the deed. Proud of her efforts and her masterpiece, Marie smiled
and yelled, ‘Me! Me!’ But he didn’t see the pride in her eyes. Short of
breathing fire, the man ordered that she be taken away and sent to a local
convent nearby, else he would kill her with his own bare hands.
And it was at that very convent where my great grand aunt
and uncle found her. A childless couple, they willingly agreed to take her
under their wing, little knowing the rollercoaster ride they were in for. From
the very get go, she had them on their tippy toes and very early on they both
realised that trying to get her to sit still and actually learn something,
whether in school or at home, would be an exercise in futility. She was
stubbornly independent with an imaginative mind of her own and a boundless,
fierce spirit. Shy of nothing and afraid of no one, she would keenly observe
various members of the family and take to imitating them in the most satirical
but spot-on way at the many family get-togethers. Nothing ever seemed to bring
her down because she lived life on her own terms and created her own moments of
happiness and if anyone around her were so, she would do everything she could
possibly think of to bring a smile back to their faces.
Over the years, not much has changed. While she may have
aged and moved on to live with another couple after my great grand aunt and
uncle passed away, she has stayed the same. She still loves to sing, dance and
dress up for Carnival and Bonderam; she remembers everyone’s birthdays in the
family and never fails to call on the day; she calls every once in a while to
check up on the older members of the family; and she’ll even call to deliver
bits of news and gossip about people my family knew back in the day. When we go
to visit her we still see and receive the same amount of love and respect,
mirth and madness, sparkle and sunshine. And every time we leave, the song
‘Maria’ from ‘The Sound of Music’ plays in my head as we pull away in the car.
