It was a truly sad moment when on my way back to Bombay from Goa, I heard that Mario Miranda had passed away. Yet another star, whose light guided us through those grim times with his tongue-and-cheek humour, has now left us forever. The fact that I was expressing a desire to meet him exactly half an hour earlier to, my friend Ken Ferns, sent chills and shivers up my spine.
Ken’s hotel room at Bambolim Beach Resort had two large frames of Mario cartoons and we looked at them and giggled hysterically. That’s when I told him, “Whenever I come to Goa, I plan on meeting Mario but somehow it never works out! When I come in February for MissMalini’s wedding, I will make sure I do it!”
And half an hour later, I get the news that the ink in his prolific quill had run out….!
And from among all the tributes that have been paid in memory of Mario Miranda (since his passing away on Sunday), the one that has said it best is Rahul daCunha’s famous Amul Butter advertisement.
MissMalini (and her team) along with the iconic Miss Fonseca and Miss Nimbupani, bid Mario “Adeus!”