Adopted trees hold my curse!

 

Sadly damaged by a miscreant who now holds my curse

We decided to adopt around 24 trees on the road planted by the BBMP with school kids. They were young but the forest department had waited, nurturing them to a decent age before planting them on the road during the rains. Every tree had a name and the school the child attended. A praiseworthy scheme which the BBMP had pursued to try and bring tree cover back to Bangalore.

 The mature flowering tree on Richmond Road 

Its been two years since we began looking after it because we know how beautiful the road with turn once the tree matures. But knowing that we do have people who are jealous and nasty I placed a curse on the tree that whoever touched or damaged either of them will languish with a string of bad luck. 

Planting in the farm

The trees we have put down in the farm are safe and are growing well. Infact the 10 year old ones are full of flowers and bring a lot of joy to the whole village. Knowing that its just a little effort on our parts to encourage these trees to grow it is sad that one tree has been so brutally damamged.

But I do know my curse goes to the person who has damaged it. does not take much to plant, but it also takes minutes to destroy. May my curse damage profoundly the person who committed this senseless act. And may the curse follow him where ever he goes.

Church of Our Lady de Penha de Franca

 

We were going for a family wedding and it was my first visit to Church of Our Lady de Penha de Franca in Britonia, Goa. Goa's churches are outstandingly beautiful, with some to rival any in Europe and this is one of them.

The Church of Our lady of Penha de França is one of the most extraordinarily sited churches in Goa. It is visible from far away and hence one of the most noted by all visitors to the territory. Located along the bank of Mandovi river, the church was first constructed in the 1626 and reconstructed in 1655 after the church suffered damage; it is now a national monument.

 Popularly used for conducting marriage ceremonies and other religious events the historic church also offers an impressive view from the riverside. I did not realise its position till we walked out of the service to the wide expanse of the sea to one side.

A yacht slid by as we stood watching the waves gently slap against the walls surrounding the church.  A gentle breeze lifted my hair and the light teal blue dress I wore as my eyes looked out to sea. All around guests to the wedding were snapping selfies as they stood on the steep laterite steps.

The inside of the church has been maintained and thankfully not modernised. We sat next to a beautiful side altar with St Francis Xaviers statue prominently in it. Carved in wood it showcased the skills of the artisans who built these churches.

I remember the pulpit in St Patrick's Church in Bangalore as a child. It was similarly carved like the picture above and sadly don't know what the authorities have done with it. By the time I attended church as a child,  the priest stood at the altar and preached and not in the pulpit.

Just look at that breathtaking side of the building where probably all the priests live. The water body is filled with pink water lillies and we all just stood gaping at the calm scene. So many guests had arrived from Bangalore and stood taking in the beauty of the entire church.

 

But the most beautiful part of the entire church is the altar. Its outstanding with its gold patina and elegant finish, it kept us riveted through the service.

Go visit the church if you are holidaying in Goa. Spend a few quiet hours there and I'm sure you will come back refreshed and happy just being in the presence of God.

 

12k walk about the churches of the cantonment

 

We all assembled and started from Garuda mall. Sunil Pichamuthu who had been our son Davids classmate and who lives off Hayes rd was the curator of the walk. "We will walk around the cantonment area and I will share whatever history I have of the churches."Said Sunil. Around 12 years ago when I was with the Deccan Herald, I ran a column called “Back & Forth” in which I wrote covering most the heritage buildings in the Central Business District (CBD) of Bangalore, which dated to the colonial era

The first heritage church we walked down to was the Tamil Wesley Church in Ashok Nagar. When I wrote about it it was still the old heritage structure, but now the old church has been replaced with a swanky new building, reflecting the new status of its congregation. In the old days according to history, it was a poorer church, where the drivers and servants of the British sahibs who attended an Anglican service in St Mark's Cathedral, were sent to.

The second church was the Mar Thoma Syrian Church on Primrose road. In AD52, It is traditionally believed that St. Thomas, the disciple of Jesus Christ visited India and established seven churches on the Malabar Coast.

The third church was the ​Holy Trinity Church which is a Protestant church, located at Trinity circle. This is at the east end of the MG Road and was once visited by distinguished personalities like Lord Cornwallis and Winston Churchill. It was established in 1852 and has a great military history attached to it.

Walking down to Ulsoor we reached the fourth church– The Wesleyan Centenary Kannada Devalaya built in 1913 on Bazaar street, Ulsoor. The stone building was painted a beautiful blue grey with white and brick red embellishments and seemed to be newly renovated.

  We walked down to our fifth church which was the beautiful Saint Andrews Church built in the famed Gothic architectural style. According to the church website, it was completed and opened for service on 18 November 1866. The cost of construction (including the land) was Sterling Pounds 4,500 (INR 45,000), the cost covered by private subscriptions and government grant.

St Paul's Church was the sixth church we visited and is located in Shivaji Nagar. It is located in the corner of Old Poor House Road, and Bowring Hospital Road, next to the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital, Bangalore Cantonment. St. Paul's has the distinction of being the very first Tamil Anglican Church in the erstwhile Mysore State.

St. Mary's Basilica, a Roman Catholic church, was the seventh and last church that we visited on  M F Noronha Road, Shivaji Nagar It is among the oldest churches at Bangalore and the first church in the state that has been elevated to the status of a minor basilica.The design of the majestic Gothic-style church is credited to Rev L E Kleiner. It was consecrated on 8 September 1882.

I remember my Dad calling it the 1 anna church built during the terrible plague in Bangalore, where thousands died. The church was built with 1 annas collected he said. The total amount spent on the construction of the new church. including the pulpit and the statues, was Rs. 29,659, a laughable amount in today's expensive world.

At the end of the walk which really was 12k we decided to take an auto home as trudging home from Shivajinagar was not an option!

Its a labour of love

 

Our beauty --Freshly painted for Christmas

Every other month we drive down to Goa to look after Dads beloved house in Pilerne. He gave me the HUGE door key just before he died and made me promise to look after it. As a child I held his hand walking to the springs to get drinking water in his big plastic containers and my fingers encountered the huge front door key that he carried. Then the key worked in the quaint lock, but over the years he fitted a latch and lock to make the house more secure. I always wanted that key and Dad said you cannot get it unless you look after the house. I was around 12 and since then his words ring in my ears, as I now hold that prized key and its my job to do what he did for the house.

Carpenters fixing the huge doors 

Every time we go we tackle another issue. This time we brought in carpenters to loosen and straighten the big inner doors which secure every window in the house. Luckily after sending on pest control some years ago our job of replacement is whatever was chewed before the pest control kicked in.  Now its less stressful with termites chewing through all in their path.

Painting is needed every two years

The inner rooms and the exterior get done every two years. Using chunna I find keeps the insects at a minimum  and is affordable for such a big place. Anyway Goa's monsoons are very destructive and the house needs scraping off the moss and fungus before repainting. I am avoiding fixing modern windows in the dining room as these swinging in the hole, hingeless ones are very effective.

Thats all thats left of the toilet roof. by the damn termites

Tiles and rafters had to be ordered to repair both toilet roofs and the kitchen. Wood is expensive but then wed have no roof if it was not done now in the dry season. Tiles are not cheap and forget about the rafters. The bill rockets but we grit our teeth and do it. Best part -- the house pays for its upkeep thankfully avoiding my having to beg my siblings. Wise decisions by parents have helped me and my husband work on the house unfettered.

Painting the dining room

Its a nice fresh smell that assails our nostrils as we watch the men assiduously paint. Not living in the house as they paint is a great advantage as before we were breathing in all the scraping and paint smells besides the termite guard ofcourse.

 Piles of tiles to replace the broken ones

We also chopped off branches which hung over the house and smashed the roof every time the mangoes appeared in the neighbour's tree. Two years ago we had chopped them and they seem to grow back faster than ever. This time mangoes smashed 105 tiles and don't ask what it did to the roof. Asking the cousin is a waste of time, so we pay a slim man who shins up the tree with a really sharp machete and chops off the branches. All before the cousin whose tree it is gets wind of it from his servants. Then I get a stern phone call which I don't care about as the branches are already in a heap on the ground. How that tree harassed my poor father. No harrasment for me, just spend and get the job done. The caretaker is pleased -- less work for him!

We walk away with paint smells following us to the car. While the golden black capped Oriole calls from the teak trees and I'm sure Dad  & Grandpa are happy

A date with Fr Rob Galea

 The stage in the Good Shepherd Convent auditorium

A request from Francis Colaco's daughter -- former IGP police and my parents good friend had me quickly thinking on my journalistic feet.  The young priest had to be feted in Bangalore and not in the regular press but in the two catholic magazines I write for regularly. Tabor where Fr Adrian Mascarenhas our boys contemporary is the Editor and Together the Franciscan magazine we grew up with. There Fr Saji, the HOD I worked with in JNC is the editor and a great friend.

"Yes! please work the interviews," they both said with great excitement. Now how to do it I wondered and got to work planning the questions. Once both sets were worked Nisha sent them off to Fr Rob and by the next day, right in my mailbox were MP3 recordings of his answers! The wonder of today's technology!

"Steve what can I do?I cannot hand write his answers,"I wailed. In minutes my son who has a Masters in Media Studies, used an app and downloaded the text off the MP3 for me to work with! It took me all of a few hours after that to weave my interview stories and off they went to both editors!

Of course we went for the actual show and enjoyed every minute of it!

Tabor Kirana for Fr Adrian

Pg 2 and the Archbishop loved it!

In the Together which has a really large readership.

Jungle Hut after 35 years

 

                           The quaint entrance gate to Jungle Hut

My life is like this -- full of lovely surprises! Nothing planned! And our visit to Jungle Hut was exactly like that. An invite by whatssap and in minutes we packed our bags for one night and were off. For the first time we were driving on the Mysore, Bangalore Expressway. Ofcourse one has to be very careful of speeds as there are speed signs which one has to adhere to. 100 is exactly 100 km per hour and not more.

The quaint huts which dot the 20 acre property

35 years ago we had visited when it had first started, as we are friends of the owners. They had just TWO huts and we ate our meals with them in their dining room. Today the property is run by their eldest son Vikram who's wife was our son Davids classmate in college!

The pristinely clean swimming pool

Since we all love water, and the boys swam for Karnataka, we always spend time in the pool. Not very deep or big the pool was filled with absolutely sparkling water and we had a fun time for a couple of hours in a perfectly empty pool, against the back drop of the Nilgiris hills!

Yes! Its a clothes rack!

The cute little touches all across the room really caught my eye. Clothes racks, stands for towels, -- so many little touches which showed they cared that they were on the fringes of the jungle and need to be careful. No feeding of wild life which was clearly stated especially since herds of deer always seemed to be in the property, mowing the grass!

Solar panels to heat water

It was after years that we all had solar heated baths. In our home in Castle Street, our Anu Solar worked marvelously for all the boys growing years and kept our electric bills to the minimum. Solar water also came into the kitchen and so our kitchen drain was never blocked with any waste. The hot water moved the grease and with it the waste and flushed it out.

Notice on the shower cubicle

The notice on the shower cubicle was for those used to instant geysers! Here after a small wait we got piping hot water and could enjoy a nice long bath knowing full well that all three of us could have, nice hot baths. Its such a pity that it takes so much education for a human to understand the positives of solar lights and solar heaters.

 

The Nilgiris mountains encircle Jungle Hut making it a wonderful sight to wake up to in the morning or even just sitting down eating a meal in the open dining hall. Apparently there are 40 people employed by the resort to keep it running and keep it a genuine hideaway for city slickers like us. 

Now I have to sit down and write the long form story for the magazine that sent me on the trip. Thats fine! Imagine going on a holiday for free and writing all about it and getting paid for the story once its published!

 

A visit to Goa with the South Carolinas

 

A visit to Goa with the South Carolinas

Outside Bom Jesu cathedral in Old Goa -- pic taken by Aiden

Three years since the South Carolinas visited and I was worried my Andrew would get his allergies flaring up again with the air pollution in Bangalore which he suffers from. Lucky with the rains the pollution seemed to have settled and he had a wonderful trip, minus any medication which he normally has to resort to.

Lets go to Goa he said, I want to show the kids Goa. Normally we are stuck in Bangalore doing jobs. Instead lets get out and have fun in Goa he insisted and you have to come. I wondered if it was possible with the monsoon in full fury in Goa, but luckily the kids dont have any airs and graces and everyone had a good time despite the deluge.

 Ofcourse there was no proper beach visit which Annika and the kids love, but they have Destin in Florida, which is just as nice, though I could never compare the two! Goa wins hands down!

The kids are older and so much fun now!

Thankfully they are like us -- no fancy restaurants, just the little Darshini which we frequent while in Goa called the Sawant Cafe. Had all Aidens poories and Faloodas and Alainas butter chicken and naans. Annika is a true blue foodie so asking my friend Chef Jason he told us to avoid O Coqueiro and Souza Lobo that they grew up with but named Xavier Cafe in Mapusa and Sai Krupa in Porvorim.

Aiden loves Falooda and swears his Dads is the best. Andy wanted both kids to enjoy a falooda where his beloved Grandpa Tony took him and David, in Mapusa, during their numerous holidays in Goa with him, but I was unsure of the little hole in the wall place with our American brats.

Alaina could drink endless tender coconuts like me so we kept one another company and I swam off the effects on diabetic me.

All three -- Annika, Andy and Bonny dived into thalis wherever we went but me and careful portions I stuck with just picking from their plates. The kids managed with Yogurt and rice.

Beach bums Annika and the kids had to make a stop on Candolim beach which scared them with its turbulence and rough waves.

It was our lovely Alaina girls 11th Birthday while on the trip so she chose her fav icecream sundae and ofcourse we all sang lustily for her.

Annika bought half the shop of masalas as Andy wanted Rechard and Cafreal and all the goan masalas for his Shrimp and fish frys back home.

We were lucky to get delicious Mussel fry in Sai Krupa which more than made up for me having to pick at most restaurants.

And best of all the kids loved the little kaka shops where they could find everything they ever wanted and even buy it with their Indian money.

I was so glad they were able to see all sides of Indian life, not just Hayes Road which they used to as babies. Its fun to loaf around with them now as they are older and not whiney as they used to be about the noise and crowds in India. Ofcourse a visit to Marios shop had a couple of his paintings in their bag which we had framed in Bangalore before they left. 

Two weeks sped by in a flash but it was such a good two weeks where we made a ton of memories.