La Grande Dame!

A daughter's heartfelt tribute .............. My heart bursts with pride...mama De is painting the town yellow! What better way to flag off the "festive season", than with my mother receiving the Veuve Clicquot Tribute, this Friday evening? It is not enough that she has been a constant source of inspiration for me and my siblings, but also to countless nameless and often faceless women all across India and Asia, over the past four decades. But she receives this very special honour from VC in the category of 'Inspirational Women of the World'. Ladies and Gentleman, please do read the official note below:

Without sounding too gushy, this is truly an important moment in her life time. I feel tremendously proud of her. She has worked so hard and so sincerely and has contributed to society in the best ways known to her, and with all the resources at her command. Working out of our home, with the family dining table as her office, the perenially broken cordless as her dedicated hotline and with the services of our semi-literate home help as her "personal assistants", my mum has furiously and prolifically carried on. Never fussing as a creative or glamorous person usually does, she has done her work with all her heart and soul, over the din of kitchen sounds, the dhobiwaala and the phonewalla.She has always been this way, as far back as I can remember. Never compromising on her family life and valuing us in her life, she manages to balance all the worlds that she has chosen to be a part of. When I was younger, there were many times that I would be irked that I would have to share her or our time together with people who were mere strangers (intruders?) to me, who would come to visit her. I was always encouraged to hang about these meetings, and being the chipkoo little girl that I was, I would just stay put, sponging in all that I heard. All kinds of people from different parts of the world and various walks of life meet with mum and the case usually is that they come to her with the force of a homing device to its base. It takes just a few moments after meeting her that these people enjoy a "volcano moment" and simply erupt their thoughts, their troubles, their ideas, their hearts... Through these interactions, I have learned so much about the lives of others and it is only now that I can value those experiences. I have been fortunate enough to meet some truly great and wonderful people and particularly some fabulous women, whom I could have never met on my own. So I am glad that I was that chipkoo creature, clinging on to her and never feeling too shy to stay in! Now as I attempt to forge my own path in life, I find myself in amusing situations when people "realise" that I am her flesh and blood. The colour in their faces change, their eyes brighten and I know that they are looking at me in a different light. Without skipping a beat, I follow suit and play the part to the T! But it is so amusing...because she is just my mom, sitting at home in her kaftaan, in front of the laptop going clickety-clack and awaiting the return of her absconding children, even if they roll home at 5 am! But to the outside world, she is a role model and a figure of motivation. I can't say she is a regular mom, and thank God for that! I have enjoyed life's best moments with her or living vicariously through her. As I get ready to celebrate her moment this Friday evening, my only thought is that I hope to have even half her effervescence and joie de vivre. Chin-chin folks.... and drink up your cup of life.

Mum in Reims at the Shobhaa De vintage line of VC champagne Posted By Arundhati to aazäd aaväz on 10/04/2012 04:36:00 PM