(A guide to the Guides. And!!!!!!! We’ve got a Nostalgia Quizzz! coming up on Saturday, June 27, 2020. All the clues are hidden here)
It is a mark of a living organism that it continues to grow and evolve in multiple ways. Matharpacady is no exception. Old traditions continue and new ones are being created. A once East Indian Village continues to accept and integrate brothers and sisters from other communities who over time begin to appreciate its virtues of love and togetherness and peace and quiet. As well as its seasonal joys…
Heart and Soul
A sentinel of faith, the Cross of Jesus Christ stands as the ultimate “buckler impenetrable” and refuge in times of trouble. Saved from the Plague with not a single death in the Village the Holy Cross Oratory was built by grateful Villagers in 1875. It’s undoubtedly one of the most beautiful spots and the emotional centre of the Village.
A Home for the Holy Eucharist
Peter Miranda. There’s a whole generation of St. Isabel schoolgirls who remember this beloved Principal with great affection. Nicknamed Pop, Peter was a great patron of the arts. An avid pianist, Chopin, Mozart, Liszt could be heard pouring out of this house. His parties were legendary feasts of singing and music. Many a prize-winning play staged by Matharpacady talent was born in this house.
The late Abe Samson, Joan D’Souza and Roydon in Day of Atonement at the Rosary Parish Interzonals (Director: Peter Miranda)
It didn’t take much to convince Peter to stump up for lights, sets and production costs that the impoverished but talented youth couldn’t afford. Noble and generous as the Miranda brothers were, they left the house to serve the community by gifting it to the Blessed Sacrament Fathers.
It’s now renamed Eymard Cottage, and is the Provincialate (HQ) of the SSS Order, a Blessed Sacrament Chapel and offers a daily Mass for the senior citizens of the village. Matharpacady has been twice blessed: The Holy Cross Oratory, a living symbol of faith in Jesus Christ and the Blessed Sacrament Chapel where the Lord God Almighty has become a Village Resident and a member of our community.
As East Indian as Bottle Masala
Aunty Esme was famous for two things: her gifts of mangoes to her friends from the tree that still stands outside Militia Apartments (great for kasaundi pickle or chutney) and her bottle masala. Her khudi parties for the members of the Club were affairs to remember. Bottle masala is the East Indian’s secret ingredient in the perfect khudi, sarpatal (note the spelling which differs from the Goan version), balchao and many other specialties. BTW, Aunty Esme’s mango tree is also heritage – more than a hundred years old now.
Aunty Esme’s Bottle Masala is now available along with other East Indian goodies from her grandson Chef Ray Henriques.
Mary Lodge
A name never used for it. Commonly referred to as the ever-helpful David and Stanny’s house. Fond memories of Aunty Maud: A houseful – five boys, a girl and sundry friends, all creating mayhem. Enough to drive any parent mad. By the way, who knows that the ground floor of the bungalow still has vestiges of classroom numbers from the time it was borrowed to start a school to promote female education: now in its own location, the prestigious St. Isabel’s? Check it out…
Today, not only is St. Isabel’s a prestigious school but Maud’s children continue to serve the School and the Community in multiple ways.
One Community
Originally an East Indian Village, Matharpacady became home to Goans and Mangaloreans looking for opportunities in the growing metropolis. As time went by the RCs were joined by the Parsis and as time passed Jains and Bohris and people of other communities settled in. As time passes newcomers get integrated into the community. The Festival of lights has universal appeal with many windows sporting diyas. Adults and children play with firecrackers keeping within today’s conservation ethos. At Eid and Christmas sheer korma and Christmas sweets respectively are exchanged.
But life is not all about fun and games. In emergencies neighbours rush to provide medical aid or to comfort the bereaved. When it comes down to it, in Matharpacady, we are all united in the brotherhood of man.
Merry Christmas
Christmas is a magical time in Matharpacady. Its indescribable and worth a visit. Enough said.
Explore these links and soak in the flavour.
http://www.matharpacadyvillage.com/christmas-festivities-christmas-tree-part-two/
http://www.matharpacadyvillage.com/christmas-festivities-matharpacady-thanksgiving-service/
http://www.matharpacadyvillage.com/christmas-party-boxing-day-26th-december-2019/
Whilst one admires the decorations and occasionally a large star or lantern that emerges out of the Village boys’ creativity Christmas is incomplete without our Christmas trees. This one in Nitin and Brenda’s compound is invariably lit up to make that end of the street particularly festive.
The Cross Feast
The Highlight of Village Life. A lot has been written but suffice it to say that this year, the Coronavirus Pandemic afforded us the opportunity to take the Feast international via the World Wide Web.
From the hundred odd people who would typically participate the online prayers and feast day mass reached expatriates, people of other faiths as well as interested devotees from all over the world, an audience far exceeding the original congregation.
A serendipitous discovery that holds out an opportunity to take the faith of Matharpacady and share different aspects with the world on different occasions. While in the future, post the Coronavirus crisis we would be free to congregate for the Novena and the Cross Feast, we also intend to continue reaching an extended community via the internet.
Click through below for a retrospective of Cross Feasts past.
Links to Cross Feasts of years past:
May 2020 –
http://www.matharpacadyvillage.com/holy-cross-feast-mass-1st-may-2020/
http://www.matharpacadyvillage.com/cross-feast-day-memory-lane/
May 2018
http://www.matharpacadyvillage.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=12817&action=edit
May 2015
http://www.matharpacadyvillage.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=6272&action=edit
And click these links to join Matharpacady Village in prayer.
http://www.matharpacadyvillage.com/daily-rosary-may-monday-saturday/
Faith in the Cross of Jesus Christ will bring you and your family much grace and peace. For it is said in John 3: 16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. 18Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.…”
Mumbai’s #1 Must-visit Destination
You visit Shanghai, New York, Hong Kong — any teeming metropolis and you expect to see glass and steel clad skyscrapers, metro stations, flyovers and crowds. Mumbai will increasingly not disappoint you there. But like London, with its old-world tinge of history in its stately buildings in the Fort area and a few other neighbourhoods, you get the flavour of another age – that of the British Raj.
Portuguese rule of Bombay?
Tourists are increasingly discovering right in the heart of the city within ten to fifteen minutes of the Fort area, over the JJ Flyover, a well-hidden secret. The Village of Matharpacady with its graceful Portuguese styled houses and residents with Portuguese sounding surnames. The shock you’ll get is that you enter from cacophonous traffic noise into an area so quiet that the dominant sound is bird-song from the trees or a piano or guitar playing somewhere in the background.
https://www.google.co.in/maps/place/Matharpacady+Holy+Cross+Oratory/@18.9713303,72.8396773,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x3be7ce48c5aa0685:0x2a69b7ddb45d3324!8m2!3d18.9713303!4d72.841866?hl=en&authuser=0
It’s a fascinating story: the original inhabitants are called East Indians recalling their employee relationship with the East India Company but their Catholic faith, family names and culture bear a distinct Portuguese heritage. It has the all the stuff a great tour memory is made from.
Click these links to view some earlier explorations and get your tour organiser to put Matharpacady into your itinerary.
http://www.matharpacadyvillage.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=7232&action=edit
Cruise Ship Diaries
http://www.matharpacadyvillage.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=9145&action=edit
This is the third in our series of nostalgic picture tours of the Village. You are recommended to study it carefully because there’s a bonus … The exciting Nostalgia Quizzz is on Saturday. June 27, 2020 and the clues are hidden here…
by Roydon G, the Galllivanter
