I want to escape to the place I remember…melt away in the
sunshine that fell on my shoulders when I visited those peaceful Churches. The
sunshine that made the green trees look golden overwhelmed my heart with joy.
Some are lucky, like me, who have the tendency to express
exactly what they feel, so much so it gives you tears of joy. I feel fortunate
for I have such memorable and positively frightening memories that I consider
worthy to write about.
I will never forget the day when I had that little pink
dress on with the white beads resting upon my neck. The Christ chain that I
bought and which destiny had to take away from me will never be forgotten. More
of a pilgrimage it seemed to me, with Anya, as she accompanied my soul to this
sacred place in Goa where the remnants of St Francis’ human body still remain.
The rush is over but the memory will live on forever.
As we walked on our way to the car in which we had arrived
to visit the blessed Church, came across the same old man who had helped us
with the directions to the famous Baga
Beach a day before. He was dressed
in the same white clothes and with the same contented look on his gentle face,
he smiled at us from a distance. He looked like someone I knew very well in my
sub-conscious mind, but I did not have enough time and interest to make an
effort so as to figure out completely the face and identity of the person I,
now, could vaguely recall.
Pretending to be ignorant of the man, Anya and I moved
nearer to the car until we noticed a small earthen shop that sold only ethnic
miniatures of Jesus Christ. Something compelled us to enter the shop and as we
entered, we couldn’t help but lose ourselves in the magnificent paintings that
pictured the Virgin Mary and Christ in their benevolent manners. As I decided
upon to buy the Pietà , (a
sculpture that depicts the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus),
disappointed, I realized that I’d left my wallet back in the Church while I sat
on the wooden pews and prayed. Helplessly, I confirmed the shopkeeper of my
return to buy the statue after I’ve visited the church again.
As we entered the Church gates again this time, we made sure
to light the candles and began to search for my wallet until we found it right
where I had left it. After expressing our reverence to the Gods, we took the
same road backwards and had almost reached our car when in the middle of the
road, long after searching for the same earthen shop for more than an hour, we
could not find it anywhere. We did all that we could, from asking every person
in the vicinity to every neighborhood that stood adjacent the road, but to our
surprise EVERYONE denied the existence of any such shop on that road. The
futility and the perplexity of the situation forced us to return to our car,
and furthermore to the Hotel where we rested for a few hours.
After having dinner, I went outside to take a walk when Anya
called out from the balcony of the room, “Don’t go too far! It is too dark.
I’ll be down with you in a minute.”
It was not too dark as she’d mentioned, rather it was too
peaceful and calm as the moon bestowed its shining light on the face of earth.
And as I walked on, I caught the figure of the same old man walking towards me!
Instantly, I knew in my mind that this was supposed to be unusual and that I
must return to my lodgings ASAP. I should’ve been scared but something
comforted and encouraged me to wait for the man walking to me. I could see the
same contented smile on his face as he stopped right in front of me. The bright
shining stars and the moonlight made his garb and beard appear even more unusually
bright.
I could not speak and I did not want to speak. My mind was
too indulged in his voice and the warmth that I felt as he, suddenly, spoke to
me, “I am sorry for thee, dear child, for thou hast lost thy Christ ornament,
and to compensate with thy loss, I giveth thee thus.” Speaking in an ancient English
dialect as thus, he placed the Pietà in my
hands which I had greatly wanted to procure from the shop I could never find.
I was dumbstruck, a
multitude of emotions filled up my countenance, yet I could not speak and I did
not want to speak still. My stare at him turned into a look of gratitude and
worship as he blessed me saying, “God bless thee, my child.”, and went away
until his figure vanished in the dark.
I stood frozen until
Anya came and broke my trance and I chose not to tell her anything regarding
this incident as it appeared too intimate and personal to me.
