Car wash at Church of the Holy Spirit

Was cycling down Bode Rd when I saw this Church and liked the edifice.

When I entered the church premises I met the caretaker of the church and he said that there was no service on that day (being a Thursday) and he directed me to the small chapel, a quaint little place.

Later I clicked a few pics around the place, especially this sparrow who was busy collecting material for her nest (Thursday or any other day is the same for her)

On and off I kept visiting the church on my morning cycling rounds. Liked the display of the pictures which were clicked 50 years ago when the Church was established.

Yesterday when I visited the Church, I found that the youth of the Church were conducting a car wash drive at the parking lot.

They were doing it to raise funds for their summer activities. What a novel idea. It will keep the youth occupied and at the same time learn a few tricks of the trade from the seniors (not to mention the involvement of team work)

Found that it was well organised with four stations, the cleandown and wetting, the soaping and scrubbing, the wash down and finally the drying.

The mandatory group picture of the team.

I made a short video of the car wash with all that I captured. Later I attended the 10 am Mass. Short and sweet with a meaningful sermon. I was particularly impressed by the Choir. I must admit that most of the members were senior citizens and they did a swell job (which means a lot of practice has gone in there)

Managed to capture the concluding hymn and made a small video of it. Heard that a Family Fest is being held in the church premises from June 22nd to June 26th. Considering the enthusiasm of the Parishioners, I am sure it is going to be a grand success.

My aunt Theyamma

This is the first time I drove down the “theera desham” road. The road connecting Cochin and Alepuzha via the beach.  A wonderful road with absolutely no traffic. I just took in the scenery and had a pit stop at the Mararikulam beach.  

I couldn’t stay for long as the clouds were getting darker and darker and was threatening to come down any time.  

I was on my way to attend a funeral which was scheduled the next day. The funeral of someone who was very close to me.   

Some people come and go in your life, leaving a lasting impression, and you carry on with the memories of that person. One such person is Kama.

Some lovingly called her Kama but to me she was Theyamma aunty.  She was very hard working but still found time to take care of your smallest needs. She never minced words nor spoke diplomatically but always said the right things at the right time. 

I remember her being firm in her dealings especially with the trespassers who used to trespass our property (as a short cut) to go to Dr Madhavankutty’s house. At that time we just had a pattal veli (fence) with no gate and it was easy for people to walk through. Now of course the same property has a huge gate at the same place.  

With an equally huge house 

Which was something like this earlier:

And before the greenery came it was something like this in black and white.

Somewhere in 1967 we did “shramadaan” and converted our “Thodu” into a “chennkal road” It was a fun project as the people staying in the area constituted the “manpower” Lillykutty aunty and Theyamma aunty were a part of it, including me, Soman, Venu and Indira (my local friends) Now of course it’s a tarred road: 

Incidentally the shop that you see on the right was the dispensary of Dr Madhavankutty, and adjacent to it was the “meeshakaran” tailor.

Every moment that I spend in that house consists of memories of her.

I remember the time when the calf in our house was sold off to the butcher for Rs 500/- (the practice was that if the calf is a bull, it was sold off)  My aunt got so attached to the calf within a month that there were tears in her eyes when the butcher took it away.

To save money, she used to go to the fields near Pallathuruthy to cut grass and bring it home as fodder for the cows. Now this bale of grass was huge (something like 6 ft in diameter) I used to always wonder how she could carry such a huge load on her head when her frame was less than 5 feet (she was the shortest in the house)  

I remember her telling me “athu madhi, ini melilottu keranda” (that is enough don’t climb anymore) This was when I was trying to climb this coconut tree.

She was always around with a helping hand (and some advice) when we were putting up the “Thoru” (hay stacked up in a particular way for the rainy season)

Or when we were tying up the new roof for the “extended store room”

Her memory was something that baffled everyone. Whenever we visited her at Thiruvella, she used to come up with some old stories or incident with the finest details, like how in 1965 my Dad came from Byculla to Bombay Central and broke the news about grandfather’s death. Before he said that he took the infant that she was holding. That infant was Titus.

She had perfect information of all the relatives and would tell me all details about my cousins, whether they are in Ireland or America or any part of the world.

Whenever we went to Kerala, all of us made it a point to visit her:

 

During her last rites, there was a priest who spoke a few words about her and I realised that he knew her well during her stay there. 

After the ceremony, I went and met this priest and had a chat with him. He said that she was known as the “Praav Ammachi” (mother of pigeons) as she used to feed them regularly. She had even named each one like chikko, moni, pippi etc. and they used to respond to her call and come close to her. She was friendly with all the dogs too. The priest said “how much love you give to others, whether its animals or humans, you get back in same measure”

He said, “usually when people get old and is on their last leg of life, they become aggressive and irritated, but she was not like that”

  

It is just an irony that her final resting place is overlooking this lush greenery right next to the river.

 

The next time I pass this bridge at Thiruvella, I have to just look up to see our Theyamma aunty (kama)