when mom walks the catwalk!

The downstairs house was abuzz with some new activity for some time...

" Badi madam ko le jana hai" the driver would tell me ( i am the choti madam - believe it or not!) every afternoon.

"We eat brunch everyday these days...i have to go at 1.30..." mum told me mysteriously. So one day, I followed her...oops, sorry to be so dramatic, i accompanied her.

My guess was correct - it was a randezvous... 17 old ladies, were meeting up with 18 old guys and spending the whole afternoon to the tune of " baton hi baton me ishara ho gaya...baithe baithe jeene ka sahara ho gaya..."

Ostensibly ( yaane ki keheno ko ) they were practising for a Fashion Show called - the Second Inning. And - hold your breathe - it was going to be a fashion show cum beauty pageant!! You HAD to be above 50 to participate, but looking at the rag tag group, they were more in the vicinity of 70+ I think that's because folks who are just above 50 don't want to aknowledge they are anywhere near this mark... by the time they can accept it to themselves, they are above 60 and when they do it publicly - they are already over 70!

So these "young at hearts" as ALL of them called themselves, were gathered for practising, I went for a sneak preview, and i am sorry to say, my immediate reaction was - " what a sorry bunch!" I looked at the ladies specially, and thought, my mother was easily the best looking, no competition at all!!

So I couldn't understand why she was so insecure and was into the third round of shopping of something 'appropriate' to wear for the 'funky round'. Dad had refused to go anywhere near a shop now ( having accomapanied her for the first two forays) and it was my turn now...

We walked into a Ready mades shop - the most polular in Nagpur - called believe it or not -GAYSONS!! My mother marched to the counter and said - " mere size ke fitted midi skirts, capris ya bermudas dikhana"

When the man at the counter looked at her bemused, I tried to 'rationalize' ..." well, we want it for my daughter, she wears the same size as her granny..." ( not quite true ofcourse!) But my mom would stare me and him down and say - "NAHI - mere liye hi chahiye - jaldi, jaldi dikhao!"

She would pick up some of the stuff offered - even a tight skirt that ended well above the knees - and disappear into the trial room... few minutes later i would be beckoned " how does this look?" Before I could open my mouth to react, she would declare " I think this is nice but bit too tight over my tummy, no? Let's try something else..."

Finally, we selected dark brown capris with a wine colored sequinned top, sandals to match, and I thought my mom was set. No competition at all from any source.

The day of the final show dawned - all the family and near and dear relatives and friends gathered at the venue, all of them thinking " chairs toh mil he jayenge.... aise show ko kaun ayega!"

The place was packed an hour before the scheduled time... people who came later, had to stand at the back! And it was not full of other contestants relatives either, folks off the road had walked in, full of curiousity to see what the old folks were upto.

The curtains opened and even i gaped with my mounth open! Those 'paunchy, ordinary looking' old guys were all looking so striking and distinguished! All dressed in some ethnic wear and i only then realized that what a variety there is even for men's wear. From the time of the Peshwas to suited brown babus with top hats and walking canes, each guy was a surprise - helped by tons of make up too... the ladies....ohhh the ladies.... my mom looked TAME in her bold capris!

There were grannies wearing tight jeans...tattered, skin tight, faded,,," dangerously low" all kinds! Skirts of all lenghts, even an 'aji' with a colorful skarf wound round her in a Hawain get up.... but the peice de resistance was Mrs. Grover - the oldest lady of the group... a frail 80 eighty years old who , mom told me later, often fainted during rehearsals, and had to be revived with glucose and tea.

when SHE walked on the stage the collective audience howled in disbelief but appreciation too... this lady was in a black tight skirt with a slit no less, a sleeveless slinky top, a glorious afro wig, 4 inch high silettos with wrap around tie ups round her slender ankles...glitters on her bare arms and a cigarette in her hand, actually lit! She held it with one well manicured hand, even taking a puff and threw flying kisses to the "guys" with the other... ohhh... ohhhohh - what a sight!!!

you know it has been almost a month since that show but the city is still agog about it - and why not? Excerpts were aired over ALL calbes, UCN, Zee news, AAj tak...someone said, i don't know whether to believe it - even CNN in their India news segment!

the local nsps are still carrying letters to the editor about it... " Shameful! Do old folks have to degrade themselves like this...is there nothing else they can do?".... "Glorious... now we know age is no bar!"

But i know one thing - my mom's life is transformed big time - at age 72 she has realized, nothing is impossible. So have I...a just turned 50..the path ahead doesn't look so gloomy suddenly!