Close to Lourdes Hospital, in downtown Kochi, is a small lane that leads to a group of houses owned by the Pinto family. A well-known name in this locality, five sons have built their homes around an ancestral building that belongs to their mother— Mary Pinto.

For an 84-year-old Mary Pinto is surprisingly fit. Comfortably round with a crinkled, friendly face, she lives alone in her old, red-tiled bungalow. “Mummy would never consent to live with anyone. She is much too independent,” says Malcolm Pinto, her second son, who lives a stone’s throw away.

The independent streak characterised Mary even as a child. Born after three boys to a doting mother, Mary was put— at an early age— in a nearby boarding house in her home town of Palliport (Pallipuram) in Ernakulam district.

Having lost her husband at the age of 35, her mother worked hard to make ends meet. “She wanted the best for me. Being the first girl in the family, I was used to getting my way and she thought a convent education would mellow me down,” she remembers of her mother.

“I was a regular little tomboy as a child and had a mind of my own,” she adds. But Mary was singular in another way as well; she was born in a leap year (1924) on the 29th of February!

“I remember my birthday was an ‘event’ for me in those days. It got gobbled up every three years and I remember waiting impatiently for that ‘one’ year when the calendar wouldn’t cheat me!”

“My birthday was a time of fun,” the old lady recalls. “Usually it would be celebrated on the 28th of February.” Every year, during this time, my mother would send baskets of food to the nuns at my boarding school. She would pack them full with (live) ducks, bananas and palaharam (home-made snacks). “The nuns would make much of me that day: That was my joy,” she smiles.

After spending 10 years at school, Mary left for Cannanore (Kannur) in 1942, to be trained as a teacher. “In those days, girls were expected to stay at home but I wanted to make something of myself,” the 84-year-old reminisces.

It was while she was doing her teacher’s training that she met her husband, Richard Pinto. They married in 1946 and had a “glorious life”. “Richie kept up my birthday,” she fondly remembers. “It was a joyful day for the family.

We would have a get-together in the evening with friends with plenty of fun and laughter.”

“After my husband’s death in 1991, I lost interest in my birthday,” she says, a tinge of regret creeping into her voice.

When asked what she would be doing this year she replied, “I don’t think I’ll do anything this time.”

But her family has other ideas. Malcolm Pinto (58) has big plans for the day, “My brothers are coming down to India this year. We are planning a surprise party with all her old friends and acquaintances coming over for dinner. 2008 is very special to us. Our mother turns 21 this year...”!