Mot Mauli

To the Kolis she is Mot Mauli. Goddess discovered like a pearl in the sea. She was found by a Koli in the 1600s. Established in a place of worship. The colonizers turned her into Mother Mary on the Mount and built a chapel. Yes now you know her as Mount Mary.

I remember as a child we went to the Mot Maulichi jatra. Entire Colaba Koliwada went in ST buses hired specifically for the purpose. We would start from Colaba and reach Vandre now Bandra by dusk, sing songs along the way. The songs however were mostly of Malhari Martand, Ekvira Aai or Tulja bhavani. On reaching the foothills we would hop off the bus and climb the stairs uphill to the basilica. The steps lined on both sides with paraphernalia for offerings, candles, wax figurines shaped in various parts of the body. It was believed that whatever you offered to Mot Mauli you received in blessing. My Gopi atya, who took me along always made me choose a wax book. She always wanted me to study well. I think I was blessed.

After worship in a brightly lit and decorated church we then went to the nearby garden and the entire community of Colaba Koliwada who were visiting would sit down for a picnic dinner under the open starry sky.

On the return journey we would sing Bambai se aya mera dost and fall asleep immediately after a funfiled evening tired to the bones, reaching Colaba mostly after midnight. A trip to Vandre was like traveling so faaar for us Colabkar in those days. Vandre back then was not the dense concrete jungle it is now.

So much has changed while its still much the same. As a child I remember finding the basilica an imposing structure on the hill. Today it looks cowered down by the neighborhood buildings on the hill. The door and arch looks smaller as I step in. Yet Mot Mauli appears the same, perched on her high altar and looking down kindly on the head that bows at her feet. She has been vandalized I know in more ways than one yet she still gives peace.

Fact update: A Jesuit Annual Letter dated to 1669 and published in the book St. Andrew's Church, Bandra (1616–1966) supports this claim. Wikipedia.

This was an outing with my husband Ardaviraf. We later went to Bandra sea side for cool fresh air. A very memorable evening. 

2018 Monsoon trip to Panchgani

29 Aug 2018

Me: Let me pack some food for back up. Dinner is always a problem in the beautiful solitary places we choose to stay at.
He : Tya nu khavanu. Fresh!

That's like my husband! Yeah our dinners in Panchgani are mostly local fruits. This time we have chosen a new homestay with the promise of a balcony perched above the valley.

P.S:
This trip was the last trip together with my husband. We had a tradition of visiting Panchgani & Mahabaleshwar in the Monsoons. Every year we would stay at his favorite Mountain View Hotel but in Aug 2018 we chose a homestay. This trip was memorable stay but my husband compromised so much on food. It touched my heart because it was my idea to change our place of stay. He was not getting his Parsi staples at this place. It was also the trip he gave me one of my best memory.

I shall write about each year later may be but starting now with the 2018 trip. I am picking up from my FB posts last year and sharing here.

Uncommon in the Common सामान्यातलं असामान्य

 R K Laxman's Common man @ Worli seaface

GO SEE IT YOURSELF!

Growing up my uncle MJ was a big intellectual influence on me. I got into the habit of discussing interesting things with him but as he is aging he has lost interest in the matters of the world. He hates discussing anything with anyone because he is highly opinionated and does not want to end up in an argument.

However I miss that. So I found a solution to it. I made my first audio recording for him, call it a podcast between us.

We were talking on the phone and he said, 'We are common people, this discussion will not change things in the public domain.' I understand him so I diverted the topic but was uncomfortable. So I did something. I recorded a long message.

In that audio I tell him that I am not common as in a common person. Not entirely. Because in every phase in life I have deliberately tried to rise above the common. May be my benchmarks were and are in reference to my environment but still वासरात लंगडी गाय शहाणी (among calves even a handicapped cow is wise). I say it with positivity and not as it is used usually to taunt another.

I tell him about my amazing Cooper family and how three generations of people made choices to rise above the common. Maneckshaw's achievements. Arvi's Dad, Ardeshir (Adi) was like a Banyan tree. Hard to follow in his footsteps. Inspite of it Arvi did whatever was possible to change this society even as he struggled with health for 25yrs. In his own small way. Of the many things he did was he was a counsellor at the Samaritans. He always encouraged me to do my bit. He said real charity is to heal the wounds of the critically ill. He used to tell me go bandage a lepers wounds and come back a changed person. Today I value his Sanskar on me.

Then I narrated some of the activities I do to make life easy for my neighborhood, outside my neighborhood, in my circles. A squirrel's share as we would say in Marathi. It makes me happy and gives me purpose in life.

I don't know his, uncle MJ's response yet. But this morning sent him these two pictures with captions. Hope he blesses me.

Thanking him for keeping me grounded.

Yet to my next generation I shall always say find the uncommon within you and nurture it, give it wings. I want to see you fly.

If there has to be an epithet for me then it has to be

सामान्यातलं असामान्य. 

Uncommon in the Common

I am striving towards it.

The uncommon me with the Common man. But. Is he really Common? Not at all. R K Laxman has made him अविस्मरणीय, unforgettable!