Bandra has great back lanes Nagrana lane Somnath lane and the rainy ambiance the fresh fragrance of rainy soil add to nostalgia ,,the crosses crucifixes all add the East Indian Ethos , the love of their forefathers that believed in the holistic power of Jesus Christ , he helped them when they went to fish in stormy water , he gave them abundance of fish.. he gave them joy happiness he gave them loaves .
He saved them from cholera , plague and if the Lord heard their prayers the humble East Indian built a Cross and this was his simple life over 150 years back.. the paddy fields , the smiling faces , the chirpy kids , those lazy Sunday siestas ,, those gatherings during baptism , Holy Communion , the clinking of home made tangy wine , those drunken steps of new love ,,,there was no hate , no animosity , no ill will this was the East Indian Gaothan.. a house several houses that became Home ..
And as the century turned , times changed , the Gaothan was invaded by a stream of migrants , and change sudden change tore the heart soul of the Gaothan..
In the graves the forefathers of the East Indians wept ,, every landmark uprooted , and change was like a ferocious wind , you know the rest ,,, as a photographer I shot the soul of a slowly painfully dying Gaothan.. The Church did not realize that the heads were diminishing .. empty vacant spaces at Mass..pushed forcibly to Uttan Vasai Nalla Sopara .. their heritage gone and than that one day taking the Virar fast to visit their beloved Mount Mary , and here Aunty May on weak legs picked up a candle shaped like a house hoping against hope to come back and live at Ranwar again..and she thought of her friend Agnes her children Bosco Brian Basil than hiding her tears with her veil she began to move towards the Altar of Mother Mary...
Such is the will of God that we should have everything through Mary.”
~Saint Alphonsus Liguori~
