|
They settled in
Bangalore, South India, because it was closest in climate quality to Nairobi.
But my grandfather never forgot Pilerne and the family was always taken
‘home’ to the village for their holidays. In Spite of being
the youngest boy, Tony as he was affectionately called, was very focussed and
was the apple of his parents eye. After finishing his schooling from St.
Joseph’s European Boys’ High School as it was called in those days, he went
on to Loyola College Madras to do his pre-University. After which he came
back to Bangalore and did his Mechanical Engineering from the oldest (1917)
and most renowned Engineering College in Karnataka --- UVCE which has
world-wide recognition.  A sportsman through
all his school and college life, Dad was remembered by many of his peers as
being a great sportsman, besides scoring well in academics. In fact for as
long as I can remember, the cupboards in my grandparents’ home were filled
with gleaming trophies and medals, all belonging to him, made of pure silver
as was the tradition in the day. Once he graduated,
he joined the Indian Air Force as an aeronautical engineer and was posted in
his early years to New Delhi and Ambala. After a short return stint in
Bangalore, he was then posted to New Delhi, where he remained for most of his
career. We, his children, were lucky to have studied in two of the most
prestigious schools in New Delhi -- The Convent of Jesus and Mary for us
girls and, St. Columba’s for my brothers.  Just before his
final posting, Dad was posted to Meghalaya’s capital, Shillong. Those were
two of his happiest years in the beautiful North East of India, which was
quite unspoiled in the early 70’s. He was part of the group of officers who
planted hundreds of cherry blossom trees in the Air Force Station in Upper
Shillong. He would pile us all into his Standard Herald car and drive up and
down the hills to Kurseong and Darjeeling, Bhutan and the tea gardens of
Jorhat. But he never forgot coming home to Pilerne at least once every year. My sister Christine
who lives in Perth, West Australia remembers -- “We’d go to Pilerne with Dad
and Mum for our holidays. One room had ripening mangoes kept on hay and we
could eat as many as we liked. We would stand in line near the well and Dad
would pour ‘corsos’ of water over our heads and we had our baths in the open.
Then we sat under the mango tree and sang, “Underneath the mango tree my
honey and me ----” Dad took us to the fields where Vishnu climbed a coconut
tree and gave each of us a tender coconut. We walked down for Mass to the
church and the other way to the spring to fill bottles of pure, spring
drinking water. At night we caught fire flies in a jar and waited to go
running to stop the poi man at least three times a day.”  My brother Mark who
also lives in Australia says -- “he remembers eating mangoes with Dad and his
walks with him from Candolim to Sinquerim beach!” Dad retired as a
Wing Commander commanding 5 Ground Training School in Jalahalli, Bangalore. We
all have memories of his complete support of his parents in their old age and
his eldest brother, who had a large family. I remember him flying down from
Delhi to help his brother who was in trouble, always the responsible one. Once he retired Dad
spent months at a time in Pilerne, which most of the village folk tell me
about. Often he came to Pilerne with my sons and their friends and inspite of
being a tough serving officer Dad, he was a kind and generous grandfather,
paying off my second son’s Medical college bond in St. John’s Medical College
Bangalore. He said, “Give the boy wings and let him go and achieve his
dreams.” His granddaughter Valerie says it was her grandfather who inspired
her to become a Civil Engineer in Perth W Australia. It was through his
persistence that I wrote my first book with Pilerne as my muse -- “Above the
Ricefields of Pilerne.” The book can be bought off Amazon or Flipkart and
hopefully many a Pilernekaar can enjoy it. For now the baton has been passed
to me, to come to Pilerne twice a year, to keep the old homestead standing.
Soon we hope to make Pilerne a more permanent abode to enjoy in our retired
life. Dr Marianne Furtado
de Nazareth |
|
| |||||||||
