Pune: The Jesuits here will launch a year-long celebration to mark the 160th jubilee year of the arrival of the German, Swiss and Austrian Jesuits in western India on the feast of St Francis Xavier, on December 3.
The jubilee celebrations will commence with a thanksgiving mass celebrated by Emeritus Bishop Valerian D'Souza at St Xavier's Church in Pune Camp at 7 pm.
An exhibition of photographs of veteran Jesuits, who worked in Pune province, will also be organised at the Church premises. Speaking to Sakal Times, Fr Andrew Fernandes, Principal of St Vincent's High School and parish priest of St Xavier's Church, said that a calender on various Jesuits institutions in Pune province will also be released to mark the 160th jubilee year. Some of the veteran Jesuits who worked in Pune province include Fr Rudolf Schoch, Fr Alphons Oesch, 'Snehasadan' founder Fr Matthew Lederle, former Pune Bishop Henry Doering, and rural development works pioneer in Ahmednagar district Fr Herman Bakher, who recently celebrated his 89th birthday.
Jesuits have established a large number of institutions in western India, which comprise present Jesuit provinces of Pune, Mumbai, Goa and Gujarat.
Pune Jesuit Provincial Fr Bhausaheb Sansare said that various activities will be organised to mark the jubilee and to evaluate the Jesuits' role in spiritual and other fields.
The Pune Jesuit province comprises of Pune, Ahmednagar, Beed, Kolhapur, Satara and Sangli districts. Some of the Jesuits-run city institutions include St Vincent's High and Higher Secondary School, Stephen Niwas youth hostel, St Vincent's College of Commerce, St Joseph's Night High School, all in Pune Camp, Loyola School and Junior College, Pashan, St Joseph's Technical Institute, Swargate, Snehasadan Institute, De Nobili College and Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth on Nagar Road, and Berchman's Training College in Vitthalwadi.
About the Jesuits
Jesuits are members of the Society of Jesus, a congregation of Roman Catholic priests. The Jesuits belonging to the German Province and hailing from Germany, Switzerland and Austria, had arrived in western India in 1854 to start pioneering works in education, social work and literature.
0
0
Comment
Dr. Ajit Lokhande - Sunday, 1 December 2013 - 03:56 PM IST
The book „Mission, Missionaries and Me“ is being published on 3rd Jan. 2014 on this occasion. Publisher: Jesuit Provincial Fr. Bhausaheb Sansare. The book contains rich and inspiring information on the social, educational and missionary work by the Jesuit Order in the Ahmednagar Dist. More details are available with Fr. Joe Pithekar, S.J, Tel. 9422534691
| ||||||
Sunday, December 1, 2013
160 years of German Jesuit Mission in western India
Friday, November 22, 2013
Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth to celebrate 60 yrs of shifting to Pune
 PUNE: Ramwadi-based Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth (JDV), an autonomous university conducting graduate and postgraduate courses in philosophy and theology, will start a year long diamond jubilee celebration next year to commemorate the 120-year-old institution's transfer from Kandy in Sri Lanka to Pune.
An alumini association, led by Cardinal Cleemis Catholicos, Major Archbishop of Syro-Malankara Church, has been formed as a part of the diamond jubilee celebration.
A committee formed to finalise various activities for the diamond jubilee celebrations held its first meeting recently. The meeting was attended by JDV acting president Fr Jeorge Pattery, theology faculty dean Fr Thomas Kuriacose, philosophy, faculty dean Fr James Ponniah and treasurer Fr Alex.
Jnana Deep Vidyapeeth name was given in 1972 to the Pontifical Athenaeum which was founded by Pope Leo XIII as a Papal Seminary in Kandy. The Vatican had then entrusted the institution's administration to the Society of Jesus.
The then Jesuit Superior of Pune Fr Pius Geisel had supervised the JDV's transfer and relocation to Pune in 1955.
The JDV offers graduate and postgraduate courses in religion, philosophy, spirituality, science and religion, and management. At present, clergy and nuns from 65 dioceses and 68 religious congregations of South Asia and abroad are studying at the JDV.
The Jesuit Provincial of South Asia is ex-officio vice-chancellor of JDV and the chairperson of its trust.
The institute is now open to all students, irrespective of creed or gender, who fulfil its admission requirements.
JDV
Jnana Deep Vidyapeeth (JDV) name was given in 1972 to the Pontifical Athenaeum which was founded by Pope Leo XIII as a Papal Seminary in Kandy. The Vatican had then entrusted the institution's administration to the Society of Jesus. The then Jesuit Superior of Pune Fr Pius Geisel had supervised the JDV's transfer and relocation to Pune in 1955.
0
0
 | ||||||
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Tata Motors Grihini Society empowers women
Tata Motors Grihini Society empowers women
| |
- CAMIL PARKHE
Wednesday, 23 October 2013 - 03:50 PM IST
| |
PIMPRI: Tata Motors Grihini Social Welfare Society, the cooperative society of women relatives of Tata Motors employees, has empowered its over 1,000 members.
Tata Motors Grihini Social Welfare Society was founded in 1973 with seven women members. Today, it has four registered affiliated cooperative societies, each involved in a different industrial sector.
Tata Motors Grihini Shivankala Society, for example, stitches uniforms and hand gloves for Tata Motors company employees, besides producing various other items of sale, including bags, purses etc, which are sold in the open market.
Tata Motors Grihini Cable Harness Society assembles cable harnesses while Tata Motors Grihini Electronics Society assembles electronic components used in vehicles produced by the Tata Motors.
Tata Motors Grihini Vividh Karyakari Society prepares spices and other eatable items. Members of this society are presently busy preparing sweets and other eatables for the Diwali festival.
The all-women cooperative welfare body is headed by the wife of a senior executive of the Tata company, appointed by the company, while the other office-bearers are elected from among the members.
Speaking to Sakal Times, Grihini Social Welfare Society's Vice-president Jayashree Shrikhande, Secretary Supriya Gosawi, and Treasurer Savita Shinde said, "The four cooperative societies' members work for five hours a day and they are paid monthly wages, along with other benefits like leaves, bonus, gratuity, etc."
The members work in two-shifts as per their convenience and some members, like those belonging to the tailoring cooperative, can also operate from their homes, they said.
Grihini Welfare Society has generously contributed to the Sakal Relief Fund.
"This year, the cooperative society avoided lavish spending at its annual general body meeting and the saved amount of Rs 1 lakh was contributed for the fund to rehabilitate the victims of the recent floods in Uttarakhand," Shrirang Dhavale, Tata Motors Divisional Manager (corporate sustainability), said.
ABOUT THE SOCIETY
Established by Leelatai Moolgaokar, wife of former TELCO chairman Sumant Moolgaokar, Tata Motors Grihini Social Welfare Society presently boasts of Rs 10.7 crore annual turnover and is involved in diverse traditional as well as modern industries.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Born as a journalist
Born as a journalist
I had been visiting the newspaper
office in Panaji in Goa for nearly two months, pestering the news
editor there for a part-time or a fulltime time. I had just appeared
for the BA final examination of the Bombay University and wanted
some job to continue post-graduation studies. I was aspiring for a
college teacher's post after securing the MA degree in philosophy.
The news editor had no hesitation in
giving a job, the only issue was that I was inclined to accept a
proof-reader's post which would have permitted me to attend my PG
classes while the news editor M M Mudaliar wanted me to take up a
reporter's post. I was too naïve to know the functioning of various
posts in a newspaper.
Mudaliar was a thorough gentleman who
gave a patient hearing to his numerous visitors. This was in stark
contrast to the newspaper editor who was young, impatient to hear
others and ever restless but very dynamic with his ideas. But the
young editor had high regard for the middle-aged news editor and
would not normally veto his decisions. I had gained these insights
during my numerous visits to the newspaper located in an old
one-storeyed building with a wooden stairs and floor and a typically
Goan tiled roof.
During one of such visits, the young
editor once sent me to a school in Ribandar where the headmistress
had beat up a student with a wooden scale. The news editor also asked
to write an article on the furniture sale that was going on on the
banks of the nearby Mandovi river. Incidentally, both the stories got
published in the same issue of the newspaper, one with a byline and
the other with a tag of 'By a Staff Reporter'.
The next morning, I was in the news
editor's cabin, beaming with joy of publication of my byline in the
newspaper. “Sir, what about my job...?” I asked him again.
“But you have already been hired...”
he said as he lit his pipe.
“Since when?” I asked, astonished.
“From yesterday, August 18..Those two
news stories were your first assignment,” he replied as a matter of
fact.
August 18 was my birthday. His reply
meant that was also the day I was born as a journalist. I recalled
this today as this incident had taken place exactly 32 years ago.
Ignatius Church, Khadki set for Vailankanni feast
Ignatius Church, Khadki set for Vailankanni feast
| |
- CAMIL PARKHE
Tuesday, 27 August 2013 - 10:52 AM IST
| |
PUNE: St Ignatius Church in Khadki has geared up to conduct the novena in honour of Our Lady of Vailankanni, starting on Thursday, August 29. The feast of the birthday of Mother Mary will be celebrated on Sunday, September 8. The novena prayers and the feast will also be celebrated in all churches in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad during the same period.
St Ignatius Church will be the main centre of the novena and feast of Our Lady of Vailankanni. Thousands of devotees from various churches in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad are expected to visit the church during the 11-day-long novena, masses and feast celebrations.
The annual novena and feast celebrations will be launched at St Ignatius Church with the hoisting of the flag by Bishop Emeritus Valerian D'Souza on August 29 evening. Bishop Thomas Dabre will be the main celebrant and preacher at the feast celebrations on September 8 evening.Like every year, a huge pandal has been erected at the church complex to accommodate the large number of people attending the religious services as a part of the novena and feast celebrations. There will also be various stalls selling religious articles, books and also a canteen run by the members of the St Vincent De Paul Society.
Everyday, main masses will be celebrated at 12 noon and at 6.30 pm. The masses will be conducted in English, Marathi, Tamil, Hindi, Konkani and Malayalam. This is the 41st year of the novena of Our Lady of Vailankanni at St Ignatius Church which was inaugurated in 1876.
At St Patrick's Cathedral, the flag will be hoisted on August 29 by Pune Jesuit Provincial Fr Bhausaheb Sansare while Bishop Emeritus Valerian D'Souza will celebrate the feast mass on September 8.
FEAST CELEBRATIONS
The novena and feast celebrations will be launched at St Ignatius Church with the hoisting of the flag by Bishop Emeritus Valerian D'Souza on August 29.
Monday, August 26, 2013
ISKCON temple in Ravet gears up for Janmashtami
ISKCON temple in Ravet gears up for Janmashtami
| |
- CAMIL PARKHE
Monday, 26 August 2013 - 03:27 PM IST
| |
PIMPRI: Full-fledged preparations have begun at the ISKCON temple in Ravet for the Janmashtami celebrations to be held on August 28. Over 35,000 devotees are expected to attend the feast, celebrating the birth of Lord Krishna, at the temple on Wednesday evening.
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) temple authorities are making elaborate arrangements to accommodate the large number of devotees for the temple's most important festival on August 27 and 28. Pandals are also being erected to cook food.
Briefing Sakal Times about the arrangements, Brahmachari Ram Govind Devdas and Balrajkumar Tandon said that close circuit television cameras have been installed at strategic places as part of their security measures.
The Janmashtami celebrations will begin at the temple on August 28 evening and will continue till the early hours on August 29. The celebrations will include discourses, kirtan, 'abhishek' and plays.
The Maha Aarti, commemorating the birth of Lord Krishna, will be conducted at midnight. Krishnanand Prabhu from Mumbai will deliver the discourse on the occasion.
All the devotees attending the Janmashtami celebrations will be served prasad on Wednesday night.
The impressive ISKCON temple in Ravet was inaugurated three years ago. Presently, there are 36 Brahmacharis residing at the temple complex who, along with a group of devotees, manage the affairs of the temple.
One of the major activities of the religious establishment is the supply of mid-day meals to 90 schools run by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation. The meals are served to nearly 35,000 primary school students. The ISKCON has three main temples in Pune district. The temple at Kondhwa was inaugurated recently by President Pranab Mukherjee.
0
0
Photo Gallery
Friday, August 23, 2013
'The Chaturmas is a period of spiritual purification'
'The Chaturmas is a period of spiritual purification'
| |
- CAMIL PARKHE
Thursday, 22 August 2013 - 10:06 PM IST
| |
Tags: Chaturmas, Sadhvi Vishwadarshanaji
| |
The Jain community is presently observing the holy period of Chaturmas. Sadhvi Vishwadarshanaji, who is camping at Kalyan Pratishthan in Chinchwad, explains to Camil Parkhe the significance of this holy period, related to prayers, penance and purification.What is the significance of Chaturmas?
The holy Chaturmas period - the four months of the monsoon season - is exclusively devoted for spiritual and religious affairs. The Jain gurus and sadhvis, who tour different areas on foot for eight months of the year, preaching the religion, choose a place to camp during the four months of the Chaturmas. During this period, religious leaders guide devotees on the teachings of Lord Mahavir. The daily activities during the Chaturmas include religious discourses, discussion on various religious matters and also sanskar classes for children.
What are the obligations of the devotees during the holy period?
Devotees attend discourses daily and also observe some penance like total (nirankar) fasting for a day or more, but that is not enough. The devotees are also advised to follow the principle of non-violence, to shun hatred and to forgive others during this holy period. The eight-day-long Paryushan Mahaparva, which will be observed from September 2 to 9, is the most important part of the Chaturmas.
Sawantsari Mahaparva, the last day of Paryushan Mahaparva, is the most holy day when devout Jains all over the world observe a fast. The Chaturmas is a period of spiritual purification.
What is the relevance of the Ahimsa (non-violence) principle in today's world?
The principle of non-violence has become even more relevant at present in view of the growing incidents of terrorism all over the world. Love begets peace and hatred begets violence. Mahatma Gandhi too advocated non-violence to fight against the British. The root cause of most ills in the world is hatred towards other people or entities. If people love their fellow beings and also all living beings, there will be peace and happiness in the world.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Bardeskars Part II , Goan Catholics settled in Maharashtra and Karnataka in 18th century
Articles on Bardeskars, Goan Catholics from Bardez
taluka settled in border areas of Maharashtra and Karnataka in the
late 18th century and published in Sunday supplement of The Navhind Times, Panaji, Goa, on 23 August and 30 June, 1985.
Bardeskars
23 June 1985
The Bardeskars Part II – June 30, 1985
The Bardeskar community, the Goan Catholics scattered in border districts of Maharashtra and Karnataka, has maintained an unique social, cultural and religious set up there, akin to that of Catholics in Goa despite their migration two centuries back. Ppreservation of their mother tongue Konkani and lack of inter-religious marriages have been the major components enabling them to have a distinct identity of their own. Yet the community has never considered nor is considered by others as an 'alien' to the culture of their new homeland.
The last many generations of these Bardeskars have remained Goan Catholics only in their homes, often residing in the same areas in a village but still intermingling with the rest of the communities. They are typical Marathi people in the Konkan and Kolhapur regions of Maharashtra and Kannadigas in Belgaum district of Karnataka .
Konkani language, like their Roman Catholic religion, is an important factor maintaining their umbilical cords with their ancestral land, Goa. Obviously with the passage of time since their forced migration, Konkani language of Bardeskars has undergone tremendous changes when new words from either Marathi or Kannada were incorporated in it. Despite this, it is likely that many of the Konkani words used during old times and now almost extinct in Goa might be used by the Bardeskars even now. Besides, several of the old Konkani folksongs meant for various social occasions like marriages, ordinations and other religious services are still widely used by the community. Those studying the development of Konkani language will find ample subject matter for their research in the Konkani language spoken by the Bardeskars. There is a urgent need to collect the Konkani folksongs for posterity, lest they are wiped out in the passage of time.
Even to this date, Konkani language is widely used by Bardeskars in religious services like mass, rosary and litany. The liturgy utilised for religious services is in Roman script, the same script also used in Goa. However in spite of widespread use of Konkani in daily life, the Konkani literature movement has not yet reached to these regions while a few of the Bardeskar Jesuit priests like Fr Prabhudhar, editor of Marathi monthly 'Niropya', and Fr Caridade Drago, have carved a niche for themselves in Marathi literature, having a few literary works to their credit.
Another interesting factor about the Bardeskars is that despite having almost very less contacts with Goa for two centuries, they have not surrendered their rights over their properties in their original homeland. It is amazing that though the foreign rulers in Goa were always apprehensive of anyone entering the territory from the British India border, the Bardeskars having brought up and spent many years in Konkan,Kolhapur and Belgaum districts, stakes their claim on the 'Zonn' of the comunidade of the areas of their forefathers and continue to do so upto this date. During my stay in western Maharashtra and some parts of Belgaum district, I met many Bardeskars who introduced themselves as 'Gaonkars' of Aldona, Siolim, para, Tivim and other places in Bardez taluka.
It is said that the ancestors of these Bardeskars faithfully registered the names of their children in the records of their respective communidades (cooperatives) in their villages in Goa and that many of them managed to take the Zonn (share) from these communidades whenever they visited Goa, no matter how small the Zonn was. In the later stages when the Portuguese rulers took strong action against any 'foreigners' entering into the Goan territory, many of the Bardeskars are said to have come to Goa either to pay homage to their patron St Francis Xavier or for some other works through unguarded border villages.
Till recently before the Catholic parishes from Kolhapur and Konkan region were bifurcated from Goa archdiocese and linked to Pune diocese, all the records of the churches in these areas, dealing with baptism, marriages, deaths, etc were in Portuguese. The records giving vital information of the forefathers of the Bardeskars are still available in Ajra, Halkarni and other church parishes in Kolhapur districts .The passage of time has failed to severe the Bardeskars from their past and they have often faithfully, sometimes rigidly, preserved it. The resistance to change according to new times, I think, is not so much due to the rationalisation but merely due to keep up the convention. For example, many young Bardeskars do not know the exact reasons behind some dos and donts in their community although they are willing to abide by it.
Consequently, marriages are not so common in the Bardeskar community between its various groups, belonging to different Hindu castes before their conversion to Christianity. The scourge of casteism – a practice which is officially banned by the Catholic Church and still prevalent in Goa - was carried by them to their places outside Goa. Various efforts are being made by the Jesuit priests who also belong to the Bardeskar community to eradicate the practice of casteism and as a result, some 'inter-caste' marriages within the Bardeskar community have taken place during the past few years. Some of the groups of Bardeskars are still averse to beef eating – a fact hinting at their high caste origin in Hinduism in Goa.
The celebration of annual feast is held even to this date at various chapels and churches in these areas as per the tradition of their ancestors in various villages in Goa. Thus, the Bardeskar community hailing from Siolim near Mapusa and settled in Adkur village in Chandgad taluka of Kolhapur district celebrates the feast of St Anthony. Two years back when a chapel was constructed there, it was dedicated to St Anthony of Padua, as is the case in Siolim.
Like Goan villages, here too one finds 'Confraria', the laymen hierarchy in church affairs and the distinction between the Gaonkars and non-Gaonkars. However fortunately there were no disputes experienced on the style of the recent Cuncolim controversy in the past over this issue.. The Church authorities here are making efforts to establish equality among all in the Catholic Church all over the world.
Thus having nursed and safely preserved their language, religion and culture, these Goans in neighbouring states have never faced the crisis of loss of identity in their new homes as they have firmly established their roots there.
Many of the Bardeskars have found jobs in the mills in Pune, Kolhapur and Mumbai while a few of them are teaching in educational institutions or running their own business.
Bardeskars Part I, Catholics from Goa's Bardez taluka settled in Kolhapur, Sawantwadi and Belgaum districts in 18th century
Two articles about the Bardeskar
Community (Goan Catholics from Bardez taluka settled in border areas
of Maharashtra and Karnataka in the late 18th century)
published in Sunday supplement of The Navhind Times, Panaji, Goa, on
23 August and 30 June, 1985. Bardeskars
23 June 1985
Bardeskar Community, June 23, 1985, The Navhind Times
By Camil Parkhe
A
lot has been written about the Goans who despite settling in Mumbai and Gulf countries have preserved a distinct identity of their
culture. Majority of them have continued their close ties with their
motherland, a fact which has been a matter of pride for their kiths
and kins residing in Goa. However one is hardly aware of a large
section of Goan Catholic community who has settled only about 200 kms
away from Goa, in the border areas of Maharashtra and Karnataka
states about two centuries ago. Though having lesser contacts with
their motherland for a long span of time, they have preserved their
culture, language and religion in a most unique way while
intermingling in their new places and acquiring a respectable
position there.
The
Bardeskars have settled in groups mainly in Sawantwadi, Ratnagiri,
Vengurla in Konkan area, Gadhinglanj, Ajra and Chandgad talukas of
Kolhapur district in western Maharashtra, and Chikkodi, Kukeri and
Khanapur talukas of Belgaum district of Karnataka. Ironically, there
are gross misunderstandings about these migrated Goans in Goan
society due to their food habits, eloquence in the language of their
new areas and sometimes even way of worshiping despite the fact that
all these migrated Goans have remained hardcore Catholics to this
date. No only that a few of these Bardeskars who have returned to
their home land after the liberalisatioon of Goa from the Portuguese
regime are considered as aliens in their own villages and are
sometimes derogatorily referred to as 'Ghatis' (people from the
ghats) despite their typical Goan Catholic names like D'Souza,
Fernandes, Costa and so on. Only a glance at the historical events in
Goa beginning with the end of the 18th century, the
subsequent migration of the Bardeskars to other states and their life
afterwards can throw light on the present status of the Bardeskars in
the border areas of Maharashtra and Karnataka.Though it is certain that these Goan Catholics migrated en block at the end of the 18th century, historians are not unanimous about the exact cause of their migration. According to one version, the migration can be traced to a political cause. Accordingly, it is said that the British, then ruling only in some parts of India, had planned to conquer Goa from the Portuguese with the help of the Ranes of Satari. The Portuguese, in retaliation, captured the lower class Goans who sided with the British and established a reign of terror by exhibiting the cut up dead bodies. This reign of terror is said to have led to the Bardeskars fleeing from the Portuguese colony and taking refuge in Kolhapur, Sawantwadi and Belgaum areas.
However the version is not fully satisfactory as the migrated people are only from the Catholic community and it does not consist of the lower class alone.
A popular version attributes the migration to the inquisition campaign- a fanatic religious movement which originated in Catholic western European nations and echoes of which were strongly felt in Portuguese Goa too. According to this belief, the Portuguese who had converted a large number of populace to Christianity, now forcibly tried to westernise the neo-Catholics while wrongly identifying tenets of Christian religion with the westernised culture. The harassment of the native Christians reached its zenith when the Portuguese rulers with their dictum, 'Aqui e Portugal' (here is Portugal!) sought to interfere in the daily lives of the neo-Christians, originally hailing from higher as well as lower Hindu castes. The westernisation campaign included accepting clothes in western style, food habits including beef eating – an idea which the native Christians could not digest very easily due to their umbilical cords with Hinduism. The popular version also says that a Catholic bishop, believed to be of Brahmin origin, was expelled from Goa and laid his life during his exile in British India.
Horrified by the sudden spurt of inquisition, a large number of Goan Catholic families especially from Bardez taluka and belonging to the cross sections of classes are said to have migrated en block between 1761 and 1780 to these border areas in British India.
What transitions this migrated Goan Catholic community has gone through during the last 200 years? And what are the things which enabled them to maintain contacts with their homeland, its culture despite the rulers in Goa being hostile towards them due to their migration into British India? It is said that despite the ban on entry of 'foreign nationals' from British India into Portuguese India, many of the Bardeskars continued to visit their villages in Goa as well as to pay homage to the 'Goenchea Saiba' (St Francis Xavier) on his December 3 feast day annually. The history of the Bardeskars, right from their forced migration to this date provides an interesting reading as it invokes admiration for this community which despite the hardships at the initial stages struggled to achieve its respectable position in their new places.
In these new places – which have become their homes in a true sense as majority of them have acquired agricultural lands and some are even running their own businesses – the Bardeskars have acquired fluency in local languages, Marathi in western Maharashtra and Kannada in Belgaum district in Karnataka. Yet Konkani, their mother tongue, is preserved by all of them, scattered in various villages in spite of having almost no contact with Goa. Like the Catholic community in Vasai in Thane district in Maharashtra, the women from the Bardeskars community have taken up the trade of selling fish- fresh and dry – which is supplied from Vengurla on bazaar days. In contrast to Goa, where the Hindu community is referred to as 'Konkano' by their Christian brethren, Bardeskars are referred to by the other local communities as 'Konkani' due to the Konkani language spoken among the Bardeskars.
The most amazing fact about the Bardeskar community is that Christianity - a religion which believes in regular community services and administration of sacraments at various stages of life – was preserved by the community in the absence of priests for many decades. The community followed the religion of its ancestors from Goa even without any knowledge of its theological position while continuing with the religious family services like rosary and litany. St Francis Xavier was, of course, their patron saint and it was only at later stages that priests from Goa were asked to nurture the faith of Bardeskars by visiting them periodically. Until the liberalisation of Goa from the Portuguese rule in 1961, the Sawantwadi and Kolhapur areas were a part of the Goa archdiocese and it was only after Goa's Liberation that these areas joined the Pune diocese. The preservation of the Christian faith by the community without the most essential guidance either by the clergy or the catechists has continued to baffle the Church authorities even to this date. While fresh efforts are being made by the Jesuits who took over the mission work from the diocesan priests very recently to imbibe the tenets and principles of Christianity among the younger generation of the Bardeskar community.
The community though having Christianity as religion of its ancestors is very receptive to the modern trends in the Christian religion due to the dark span of about two centuries in its history as far as religion is concerned. Consequently, while inculturation is almost well accepted fact among these Catholics, the priests have also been successful in introducing various reforms which are slowly showing some positive effects on the social and economic status of the Bardeskars.
Subramaniam Swamy
http://sakaaltimes.com/NewsDetails.aspx?NewsId=5012000624637608021&SectionId=4924098573178130559&SectionName=Latest+News&NewsDate=20130814&NewsTitle=Subramaniam+Swamy-+%28Blog%29
 The maverick politician and activist Subramaniam Swamy has come full circle with his decision to merge his Janata party into the Bharatiya Janata Party. It was through the erstwhile Jana Sangh that this longtime Harvard teacher had entered Parliament for the first time in early 1970s and since then has hogged the media limelight for the past four decades. He had fled India to evade arrest when Indira Gandhi declared Emergency in the country. I remember Swamy had become an instant hero when he quietly entered India, surfaced in Parliament all of sudden and later disappeared into thin air, giving the police a slip. Incidentally, lawyer Ram Jethmalani was another vocal opponent of the Emergency who too had managed to evade arrest by fleeing to Canada at that time. Incidentally, both these heroes were richly rewarded with victory in Lok Sabha seats from Mumbai in the post-Emergency polls. Subramaniam Swamy again made headlines in the print media of those days when he decided to keep floating Janata Party – the legacy of Emergency heroes like Jayprakash Narayan. As the president of this party which never had presence at national level nor in his Tamilnadu home state, Swamy has continued to rake up various controversies like the issue of foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi and file legal suits, winning him accolades and also brickbats. The talented politician had been Union minister of commerce and law for a brief period in the short lived government of Chandrasekhar. 'Ekla Chalo Re' has always been his dictum and as is the wont of Ram Jethmalani, has often invited ire of those to whom he has been affiliated.
After merging his one-man party into the BJP, Subramaniam Swamy seemed to have sunken his ship as he gears up to promote Narendra Modi for the prime minister's post. Those knowing him well will however doubt how long this self-shining star politician will live under the patronage of any organisation or individual.
0
0
Photo Gallery
  | ||||||
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)