Turn to you, dear Mother

-          Bernard  Fernandes 

It is rather odd that I sit at night (mind you am not a night bird!) and find myself reeling off these few ideas on my laptop.  As is my custom, was just browsing the net when I came across the trending topics on twitter, one of them being “Happy Mother’s Day”- wishing all mothers on Sudnay, 13^th May 2012.  However, this is not what prompted me to write this article.  What arrested my attention was a tweet by a certain Juan Sosa. It read: “Just wished a 11 yr. old Puerto Rican girl Happy Mother’s Day.”  And it dawned on me that this is not an isolated case...there would be thousands (to put the number on the lower end of the scale) of them in the world – and more so, in our country – victims of crime, greed and lust. Let’s not count tradition out.  What a crying shame.  Childhood innocence lost and playfulness robbed from the girl child! I am not here to mitigate this dangerous problem, however, let’s also not pretend to inadvertently shy away from it.  For deep in the recesses of our mind and heart, we do yearn for dignity, respect and justice.

I move on to wish our Mothers.  The very topic “Happy Mother’s Day” is reason enough to warm the cockles of our heart.  Sample these few tweets (from among the thousands that hogged the space on twitter and other social networks): “Mother, I know you're asleep now. I'm wishing you a Happy Mother's Day. Thanks for everything. I promise, I won't let you down again.”  Another, “’Happy Mother's Day’ is trending. My mother is dead. Way to bring THAT up again, twitter.” There was a quote by an unknown author: "A mom's hug lasts long after she lets go." For us music lovers, Justin Bieber too jumped into the bandwagon, where he has the song ‘Turn to you’ as Mother’s Day Dedication (Pity I could not get to listen to it – some technical failure).  And there is yet another moving tweet from a certain Father Dan Beeman: “Happy Mother’s Day to my mom, from the only one of her sons for whom she was never called to testify in court.”

With my mum on her birthday last year

No words are enough to express our tender love and devotion to our mothers, and to thank them for the countless sacrifices and uninterrupted selfless giving.  If only we could become a generation that could resonate gratitude that needs to be so much a part of our life.  It is there – and the countless tweets are a show of love – but surely we can do a little more? 

Let’s continue loving our mums till it hurts.  They deserve all that and much more!

Celebrating the gift of life – birthdays of Fr. Godfrey and Bro. Romero

-          - Bernard Fernandes

The celebrations during the summer vacations continue here at Dolours, Wadala.  This time around it was a week of birthdays of the two people who make life interesting and happy - Fr. Godfey D’Sa, our Rector and Parish Priest, and Bro. Romero, a cleric who has taken the parish by storm through his novel and ‘enthu’ (allow me to take the liberty of using modern lingo of the youngsters) ways of running the summer club. 

Romero with the summer club children at the grotto of our Lady praying the Rosary

Let me begin with the Benjamin of the community, Romero.  Together with Bro. Ajay, Romero has added a much needed fillip to the summer club, and in particular to the youth group of the parish.  He has endeared himself to the children and the youth, and that has helped much in reviving the youth and summer club activities in the parish.  The birthday of this talented Salesian came at a time when the summer club was just taking wings, and thus provided a moment of camaraderie and cheer to the ongoing activities.  The special day was Sunday, 29^th April – a day that Romero’s parents and family will treasure forever for the gift of Romero to them.  Bro. Romero was remembered at the morning Eucharist, and a special celebration was held in the evening where many of his companions – young clerics and philosophers – too joined in.  The celebration typified the fun and merriment of a Nashik formation house ‘family circle’.

Moving on to the Jacob (reference for the sole purpose of conveying the image of the ‘father’ figure of a Salesian community, and by no means, age or looks...) of our story, the second grand celebration -the first one was dwarfed by this! - was that of our Rector and Parish Priest Fr. Godfrey D’Sa.  Fr. Godfrey celebrated his birthday on 7^th May.  The birthday celebrations were ushered in a couple of days before, courtesy the Cultural cell of the parish. On the big day, i.e. the7^th of May, wishes, gifts and bouquets began pouring in right from the wee hours of the morning (and went on till midnight, that’s my guess!).  Animated morning prayers and the well attended evening mass were the two public moments of thanksgiving to God for the gift of Fr. Godfrey to the community and the parish.  The festivities reached a climax with a ‘bash’ for the birthday boy later in the evening.  Godfrey’s family members, Salesians, and his close diocesan priest friends were all there to share his joy.   An evening (and night) of entertainment, eulogies and toasts extolling the person of Godfrey and a shared meal brought to completion a day that will be specially remembered by the birthday boy.

Romero ...cutting the bday cake

Romero flanked by his friends and companions of the philosophate

The diocesan priest friends of Fr. Godfrey

That's me sharing the bday cake with the bday boy

Godfrey's sister shares in the joy

The sing song and merriment at the party

 

A whiff of fresh air, please!

- Bernard F

Am sitting at a busy railway platform in Mumbai waiting for my train to arrive, and watch (helplessly) the crowded trains whiz past.  Tugging and jostling,  pushing (that comes to shoving any way), balancing acts – many a stunt are learnt here, at a very heavy price at that on a number of occasions- are but some of the scenes you cannot miss while on a train journey. The roads, with the never ending traffic jams, are bad enough if you are looking for a relaxed journey.  Imagine the plight of daily commuters in a crowded train – the energizing and life giving fresh air seem to elude them and us.  There is no option but to live with it! Or is it?

Can there be a solution, at least a thought for a better place to live in?  One of the main concerns of a city like Mumbai is the ‘un’steady influx of people in the city. Somewhere far away, the people of the country are not secure in their livelihood – poor means of sustenance, outdated infrastructures, lack of will and commitment of our netas, poor tools and lack of funding in education..are but some of the causes of despair for these people,  I am not competent enough (nor have I researched) to quote figures and stats.  However a keen and observant eye cannot escape the harsh reality that stare at us. Hordes of people leave behind their loved ones not sure what the future holds in store.  They line our streets and live in pitiable conditions.  Result : Overcrowding, congestion, pollution, more traffic on the roads, high consumption of energy and electricity.   Knee jerk response:  Hastily built flyovers and high rise buildings in an unplanned city, frequent power cuts ...  Effects: Loss of trees and vegetation that balance the natural cycle of life, overflowing gutters, poor drainage, receding wetlands ...

The world is preparing and eagerly looking forward to Rio+20 summit this June.  It is billed as providing a "historic opportunity to define pathways to a safer, more equitable, cleaner, greener and more prosperous world for all".  Rio+20 has seven priority areas – decent jobs, energy, sustainable cities, food security and sustainable agriculture, water, oceans and disaster readiness. We in India, hope to bear fruit from some of the resolutions and guidelines of this summit.  Arresting the ecological downslide is a concern.  One of the best things that can happen is that we strike a chord with the people who feel the urge to move away from their homes – may be the answer lies in addressing their grievances and concerns and providing a workable model of sustainable development for them.  Till then, we wait and pray that the air around us sustains and invigorates us!

What a May Day!

- Bernard F

There’s something special about the month of May.  Vacations, celebrations, events ...the list is endless.  There’s something even more special about the first day of this illustrious month. The world over it is celebrated as May Day – also known as the International Workers’ Day, in Maharashtra the echoes of ‘Jai Maharashtra’ rend the air, and closer home for us at Dolours, Wadala, it is a day ear marked for telegames for the parishioners.

In the morning, the mood was just right to chime in with the sentiments of the state of Maharashtra.  At a specially prepared program for the staff of St. Joseph’s High School, the patriotic songs and the speech set the tone for the patriotic celebrations.  In a symbolic act, the non-teaching staff came forward to hoist the national tricolour as the assembly gave a salute and joined in the chorus singing the national anthem.  Indeed an emotional moment for the workers of our institution to be accorded this rare honour and privilege to hoist the national flag in the presence of the entire teaching staff and the management! One of the peons, Mrs. Aarti More, was also awarded a certificate and cash prize for the ‘most dedicated peon of the year’.  The patriotic speech by our staff member, Mr. Thorat, was a paean to the indomitable spirit of the founding fathers of the state of Maharashtra.  He lamented the fact that the belief in some age old values – respect, value for money, hard work...- is passé, while lauding the grit and sacrifice of our leaders and elders.  

After a light snack, the teachers were on their feet for the distribution of results of the students at the end of the academic year.    And before long, all (staff and students) were on their way home to commence a well deserved summer vacation.

The day (and the evening) however belonged to our parishioners.  It was an evening of camaraderie, fun, merriment and stiff competition at the telegames.  Being an annual feature, the preparations and meticulous planning were on, days and months before the event.  In such circumstances, one can count upon our committed and reliable ‘Cultural team’ for a successful and detailed execution of the program.   The ball was set rolling with the grand entry of the six mascots with their respective teams in tow.  Striking costumes, imaginative cheer slogans, relevant themes, frantic waving of flags (and arms!), pledges, oaths... all these added colour and drama to the grand opening ceremony.  ‘Youth for youth’ from St. Peter’s church, Bandra, were in attendance with their cracking games and mind blowing props for the telegames.  They were the special invitees for the organization of the games for the evening, and perform and entertain they did! A bag of creative, energizing and intelligent games were there in the offing – Rolling pizza, crazy constructor, surf boards, fanning the ball...to name a few.   Members of the teams 

volunteered with alacrity eager and happy to push their team to the top of the table.  

At the end, the team “Spicy Chillies” were the runaway winners – in fact, they won a few other awards too.  The other participating teams did not lag far behind though, and were contented to walk away happy that they lent their bit to an invigorating and electrifying atmosphere at the games.

That then is the story of our May day out here...and to think of it that the month has just begun!

Getting closer the Dolours style!

Bernard F sdb

Forty four parishioners rolled into the bus early Sunday morning (29^th April 2012) – some lost their way even before the journey began!  We were on a trip to Kharjat, yes, you guessed it right – for the much awaited annual picnic.  The young (a handful of them) and the old, the genteel and the rugged, the crooners and the conductors.... they all played their part.  The unusual silence of the Mumbai streets was disturbed by the noisy rumble of the bus carrying the picnickers from Our Lady of Dolours, Wadala. 

A near two hour drive brought us to the destination – the Pinewood Resort at Kharjat (Ave and Savio, our own parishioners were our proud and generous hosts).  A well animated Eucharistic celebration set the tone for a lively and enthusiastic participation at the remainder of the day’s program.  Mass over, a rush to the cafeteria for the morning (delayed) breakfast was there for the asking!  A quickly arranged meeting with a well planned agenda, and a group activity to suggest creative ways for a responsive SCC kept one’s mind (at least momentarily) away from the tempting cool and refreshing waters of the swimming pool.

The next stop – the swimming pool.  There was a sea of people at the pool – three groups from all over Mumbai were destined to meet in this pool! Our own parishioners fell for the inviting thrills and frills of the pool – a few of course ensconced themselves in the armchairs in the bungalow nearby, and preferred to watch the theatrics in the pool as also the revellers at the rain dance from an arm’s length. Water polo, ball juggling, head bashing – the bald heads were the preferred lot! –improvised dance sessions in the pool and outside of it, were but a few of the entertaining sessions in the swimming pool.

After a quick wash, the group were back to a sing-song cum dance session in the veranda of the bungalow reserved for us.  Every available space was utilized to sway to the music provided by our very own rock band – if not for the balustrades, the celebration may well have spilled over to the edges of the swimming pool, nay, the swimming pool itself! Before long (mind you it was close to 3 pm), it was time to line up for our afternoon meal.  The tasty meal provided just the right ingredients for a short siesta, though some did not mind another dive into the swimming pool.  Two rounds of housie kept everyone spry, and the vicissitudes of this game added that extra fillip to the post lunch session.

Quick tea was served, and there we were – back in the bus for the return trip to Wadala, Mumbai. Of course, not before each one of us had the time of our life (together)! I for one thought that the trip back home would be a quite one – at least that is what my normal experience has been – but it was not to be!  The crooners and the musicians continued from where they left – before alighting from the bus at Kharjat.  They were intent to have a great time – and that they did!

Trust that this experience has brought the parish team and the council, together with the core members, closer to one another for a better collaboration and a fruitful ministry.  The journey is long. May be our paths will cross, maybe not. Happy memories though will remain for long!