Bom-bay-yay!

Being back at Dombivli Ebenezer Marthoma Church after 24 years been so enriching.
This has been on my bucket list and I feeeel so thankful that I finally made it. Missed my bro though.

AmmaAppa, the joy I saw in our old parishioners' faces when we went there.. aah! :')
I was never this proud "Achen ki betti" sorta kid..but the impact that a Vicar, his ministry and his family got to play in  parishioners' life.. I have no words.

The church, Dombivli EMTC was constructed during Appa's time. Years after when we visited this place, the way the caretaker bhaiyya- Shanker, the builder- Bheem bhai, architect- Saji Uncle and other parishioners had treated us.. I can go from pages to pages to describe everything!

I grew up listening to these stories and I got pretty much familiarized to Mumbai places and life through the old photographs.. I felt really full, taking AmmaAppa back to a few places- Marine drive, Sea Link road, Old Parsonage Road, Vijaya Apartment, Kumar's Hospital, the local train via which Amma with her fully inflated tummy used to travel for check ups with the fear she might deliver the baby in the train itself because of the rush, the baptism 'thotti'( _mamodisa thotti_ ,a stone bucket in which infants are baptised) that Appa designed in which I got baptized in a month or so.. The making of this baptism 'thotti' bears Appa's and the church members' struggling efforts to canvas a roadside sculptor.

The place where my family fought against all odds, upheld their unbeatable faith in God, grew step by step literally from a pair of pants to two to three to yayy!
Appa, even today, keeps reminding us about the Kawasaki and BPL TV that he struggled to grab.. The endless list goes on-

AmmaAppa, you guys are the reason why I am alive today. So are Appu and Susan. Our mothers' cases were pretty complicated that the doctors nagged our parents to abort the kids. But these ladies clinged on to their steadfast faith.
Amma had chicken pox during my organ development stage. But yo, look at me today.. except for the occasional mood swings and fattt content deposited on either sides of the body, eee!! :')

So, glad to have met my birthday partners, Jessy Aunty's daughter Susan who Godwilling will become a lawyer within months and Leli Aunty's son Appu who is a differently abled, of course, is God's master creation. Leli Aunty, I respect you for looking after him very patiently. The joy, love and care that Jessy Aunty offered me on her sick-bed in hospital, nagging Amma to make me spend some more time with them remains an overwhelming memory.
The overwhelming joy I saw in these mommies' faces (Amma, Jessy Aunty and Leli Aunty)..!!

The calls and call on demands from the parishioners stands as a genuine proof how much we are loved and cared by them even in the midst of ebb and flow of time.
Appa's efforts in pooling funds for the construction of the church was a Herculean task. He even put for auction his own paintings and I was super-shocked to see an oil painting of his self-portrait which he, himself, before twenty four years, had once drawn for the then Vice- President of the church and I got the opportunity to witness that painting which they had framed on to their wall. The sumptuous food that was offered by each parishioner and their loving responses will never fade away.

Like Jeremiah who was chosen by God even before his formation in the womb, God has also set me apart for a predestined reason. And I firmly believe in that cause and purpose set by my God. Sometimes to go off track is part and parcel of human nature and I too, at some points, forget my God's vision about me. Even though I bear the title "priest's daughter,"at times, I tend to forget the Grace of God. But my God is so faithful to me that He never forgets His promise to me and provides me with all my needs in times of my struggling phases.
Ultimately, it is my Amma's steadfast faith in God and strengthening words that keep me on the right track.
All love and thanks to my God for giving me such a great supporting family and for the multitude of so many caring people around me wherever I go..  :))