The Holy Cross Church at Cavelossim, South Goa

The Holy Cross Church in Cavelossim, in South Goa is situated in a quaint sea side town. During our trip to Carmona, Cavelossim and Agonda, we visited this church. At the intersection of roads, the Church stands on a huge rectangular site in front, which is paved and used for feasts and events. A very pretty Pavilion is situated to the right of the front court yard. 

 Built in 1763 AD, the church has 5 bays and it is 3 stories high. The front facade of the church is beautifully maintained. But the sides and rear are left unattended. There is dry black moss on all the side and back external wall surfaces; infact grass is growing on the horizontal surfaces. 
There are twin bell towers on either side of the main entrance. The one on the right side of the entrance, holds the larger bell. Sitting atop the bell tower are urn shaped finials. 

 

 Bell tower, seen from the side and from rear

 It is a large church and exquisite on the inside, with beautiful wooden pews and antique chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. 

 

There is a gallery running along the back and sides. During most of the day, one can see daylight streaming through the glass windows from the gallery.

 

It is a beautiful church; when in Goa, please do visit it. The staff is also very helpful.

March 8, International women's day

March 8th. is celebrated every year is International Women day. I remember, one year, my dad gifted all of us women in the house with Handkerchiefs! I loved it so much, saved it for years. 

Every year, it is publicized, written about, and we all make it a point to wish each other. With social media, it has become much easier to forward the many photos and posts. 

For me, it is a day to celebrate how far we have come, from the caveman days, and to remind each other how far to go yet.    

 

Since purple is the colour for women's day, badges were made for all.

Some of us ladies at our complex have decided to hold party on our terrace, just a couple of days prior to 8th.. It was amazing how easily and seamlessly the whole event was planned. Trust women to organise and carry off with zero defect! Certain conditions were set down. The party was for women only. for one evening between 7 and 9, no entertaining children, husbands, relatives! Women wanted time for themselves, just to meet others in the complex, talk, eat, dance and have fun. Fair enough! Next came the eats. The 'volunteers' offered suggestions and offered to place orders and pick them up. We decided against formal dinner and go with snacks and small eats. Then came the venue and arrangements. It was decided the terrace would be an ideal location overlooking the sea, with a lovely march breeze blowing. A couple of ladies took the responsibility for arrangements.

Balloons were blown and strung up, lights put up, chairs arranged, and food reached the venue on time. All the ladies came shimmering in their best clothes and shoes. Oh, I forgot the games. Some silly and fun games were played.

Group photos

Towards the end, there were requests for fast nos, bollywood songs etc. We all shook a leg and everyone had a good time. 
The downside of it all was some women couldnot make it due to not having support at home; no one to baby sit for a couple of hours in the evening on a working day. What a shame! Because of which they had to miss out on fun and games in their own building complex. It may not be a great loss not to attend a party. On the other hand, it points out the vulnerabilty of women with small children, how completely tied up their lives are. 
I am making a limited point here. is not it a responsibility of the husbands to mind their kids some of the time? Should not they give wives a break from the parental responsibilities once in a while? Atleast on the international women's day? I believe one such husband goes to the extent of saying 'Is your party more important than my job?' For a couple of hours between 7 and 9 in the evening, Is it too much to expect? 
Ladies, buck up, get organised, stop depending on others to take care. It is a day to remind us of women's empowerment. What does it mean? To me it means:

• To have options - what, when and how to do with one's time, money ...
• To be able to make choices - not be forced into situations by others ....
• To not live in fear constantly - afraid of consequences all the time, real or imagined ....
• To have one's own money - have the freedom to buy, spend, or save .....
• To acquire skills and education - be better informed and skilled, for self respect and to make a living ....
• To live a life of conviction and belonging - think for yourself, decide for your self,by taking inputs from others where necessary ....

Till next March 8th. have an empowering year!!!

   

Trek to Vagheri, South Goa

Vagheri, the abode of tigers, as they say, is the third highest peak in Goa. 

Situated at an altitude of 726 m., it is covered in Bio- diverse forest cover. The trek was planned for the 5th. of Feb 2017, by Eco treks, the non-profit group that we go on treks with. It was day long tour, including travel to the base, breakfast, trek up to the peak, trek back to the base, lunch, and journey back home.

We took 2 hrs. for climbing and 1.5 hrs. for climbing down. Ofcourse we love to take pictures, and keep stopping wherever we find interesting sights and scenes, to look, gaze upon and photograph, or simply stay put and take in the sights and smells. The young / able bodied / impatient, took 15 min. less.

In preparation for the trek, following are the instructions given to us by Eco treks:

1)  Special Buses will leave from Panjim (  from Heera Petrol pump Plz. Note )  sharp by 7.30 a.m. , from Mapusa Gandhi Circle ) sharp by 7.50 am. , from Bicholim 8.15 a.m. & from Sanquelim sharp by 8.30 am. . 

2) Since the walking distance is comparatively long and hard, with no water sources on the way,  we request  all the participants  to carry  extra  drinking water and cap/Hat to protect you from sun.   Shoes are  must for this Trek.

3) Fee charged is Rs.500/- per head, which includes to & fro travel, Morning Breakfast &  Lunch .

4)  Special note  …. Although we would be providing Breakfast to you, participants are advised to have a small bite at home before starting their journey. This special request comes from us as our breakfast will be delayed to 9.30 am. or even later and that too  will be served  at the beginning of the Trek. Even our lunch will be delayed ( expected time 2.00 pm. or beyond )  as we have to collect all the participants from finishing point and transport  all to the nearby village Keri for Lunch.  Hope you will understand and bear our difficulties.

5)  For the  breakfast, please carry you own re-usable plate  ( No throw away plastic or paper plates please). Also carry  extra water to wash your own plate.

6) For booking & paying, please contact, Panjim , Rajesh,9833155713,  Aarti  9822522119, Mapusa, Durgadas Parab 9422445444,  or pay directly in the Bank Account no. in the name of Eco Treks, Account No 130 301 100 212 86,MICR Code 403 028 006,  IFSC      UCBA0001303,UCO Bank, Mapusa, Goa  & inform me immediately by S.M.S only .

7) Please note that unless we  receive payment , we will not confirm your seat.

8)  We assure refund of the paid fee in full, if we receive request of cancellation up to 48 hours from the starting of the trek. ( for this trek it is latest  by 7.30 am on  3rd   February 2017.)

9)  The number of participants for this trek is restricted to 75 only and out of those 19 are  already booked as per our new system of wish list. (Wish Lists for future Treks is given below ) 

10) Of Importance…… No early Bird Concessions for this trek.

 10) We totally oppose and do not allow any kind of littering or any other activity that can harm the environment. Also the consumption of alcohol,drugs, smoking or chewing Tobacco in any form  is not allowed.

  

There were altogether fifty of us in this trek. 

  

We stopped at the Forest department of Mhadei Wildlife sanctuary check post. There was an entry fee which Eco Treks took care of. There was a stop over for the vehicles and that is where we had our breakfast. Under the trees, a tasty vegetarian fare and tea made us ready for the climb. By now some of you readers must be familiar with the program, introductions had to be performed. All the new comers were cheered on.

       

Initially it was tight group. Soon it spread out; everyone was allowed to follow at his own pace. One could see cashew cultivation, and the trees were in bloom, the hillside filled with the sweet fragrance of cashew flowers.

The route we took from Panjim was to go via Porvorim, Mapusa, Tivim, Bicholim, Sankhali, and then Keri, past Anjunem Dam. Vagheri is in Chorla ghats. The whole route is picturesque, and I am usually glued to the window. 
The colours and foliage change with the seasons. Nature at its best!

 

 

 

At places the trail was narrow, at places wide, mostly tree covered. The morning sun playing hide and seek through the dense foliage overhead. The play of light and shadow was to be relished.

 

 

At a point in the trek, there were three paths ahead. Remembered Robert Frost's poem, 'Road not taken,...

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.'
I felt, in a forest, one would better be sure which path to take...

Finally we reached the top of the 3rd. highest peak in Goa. It was shocking to see all the grass burnt and black ash everywhere; Only trees survived the fire. Our guess was some miscreants tried to cook or start a fire for some purpose or threw a lit match stick. Since all the grass was dry, caught the fire and spread fast. 
Let me mention here that Western Ghats are known for Bio-diversity; which means, there are plant and insect species which are only here and nowhere else. Imagine with a fire on the hill top, how many living organisms perished. What if some of them were endangered species. When people go to ecologically sensitive areas, they should be more careful!

 

There were just a couple of shade giving trees. After an arduous climb, we were glad to park our base for a twenty minutes; followed by a group photo (a rarity). We started the climb down.

 There was 360 degree view of the mountains all round.

 

At the base, we got into the bus and headed to Keri village, where a delicious vegetarian, traditional Goan lunch awaited us. Did we do justice to the food? You bet, we did. I bought a raw jack fruit from them too.
As usual antakshari was played by the exuberant few. On this trek there was decent sized contingent of Germans, so they sang some German songs. 
We had been on this trek three years back, wanted to again for the climb and the scenery.
Every one had fun on this trek.

Stand for Necklaces and Bracelets

 

If you are like me, then you understand the dilemma I had been having for some time...

I have a fair (subject to interpretation!) amount of costume jewellery, and lack of adequate space to store them. I don't know how you all manage to keep them safe, secure and handy. For me, out of sight is out of mind. Will wear what is in front of me / visible. I tried keeping them in boxes, in the desk drawers, cupboards, almirah, leaving them on the dressing table, etc. None satisfactory. Lately I collected a few more necklaces, and I want to wear them too. So, it is imperative they are easily accessible (and not inside a box, inside a drawer etc.) and kept separately. I had been thinking about it...

Voila! The idea struck ...

In my recent post, I had put up the blog on Stand for bags which Jo had made for me as a New Year's gift. Because the wooden post was too long, he cut off the top portion of it. 

I fished it out, and gave it a wood polish (this too left over from the stand). If you notice closely, one After a few days of drying in the sun, took it to the hardware store and started looking for accessories to convert a piece of wood into a stand on which I can hang my Jewellery.

Found L angles for the base, and two varies of steel hooks. The hooks were available in several sizes. I chose the ones suitable for my purpose and keeping aesthetics in mind. The shop keeper was kind enough to throw in some screws to match the L angles. Armed with these, I set about making my stand. 

First and foremost, I marked the position of all the hooks with a black sketch pen. I wanted round hooks on the top, to hang finger rings etc. L shaped hooks went round in a spiral, so that the necklaces all won't be from the same height. The wood is teak, and has natural grain and small holes. I just let them be. At one end, there is a joint in the wood. I kept this at the base, and staggered the L angles on either side, so that, the screws do not split the post through the joint. It worked.

The trickiest part is to drill holes. I had to rope in Jo for the drilling job; which meant I had to wait until he was free and in the mood for the job. He is a wiz at drilling stuff, with the power drill machine. On the following Sunday, after a reminder or two, the holes were there, and he very obligingly fixed the hooks too. Huh! my jewellery stand is ready.

All I had to do after that was to hang up my necklaces etc.