TRAVEL TO GOA

Bro. Pinto whose father Basil Pinto who passed away with the father of Fr. Placido SCJ and FR. Teja SCJ, the background is the parish church.Holy cross church

That was a sudden phone call. One of our conferrer’s father passed away. So I was asked to go to Goa. Now I agreed about it. 14^th evening we decided to go for the funeral. On Tuesday I left for Aluva and one another father was to join us from there. We came to Aluva railway station for train but it was just two hours late. We had only general compartment ticket. As we come inside the train it was mess. Because since the train was late all most all the office workers are inside the general compartment.   Later I got an upper seat. This is not a sitting place, rather the luggage part. I laid there and by 8 in the evening we all got upper seats- luggage place for sleeping. I was very much surprised about it, because to travel some 850 kM in the train on a general compartment would be hell experience. But I believe that since we were generous enough to take the trouble to go there, the Providence gave the seat for sleeping. We reached on Cancona station at 6 in the morning. One Goan priest was there to welcome in the station. He took us to his sister’s house. They have a holiday place. It is on the beach. It was good. We came and slept there. And then breakfast and we came to railway station to book the ticket to comeback to Kerala. Again miracles, on this particular station they had 3 tickets left and we got that ticket for us. It is in the sleeper compartment. We are very happy. As we come home and having lunch we decided to go for the funeral. It was sad. They all were crying about the deceased person. The church was very old and stylish and a huge gathering of people for the funeral. It was a good experience of meeting the family and people there. After the funeral as we come back to the place where we were staying, we decided to eat outside. We got a good hotel. We make a good dinner but simple.  We had a car of the family, given to our use. So the father who came from Aluva was driving it. As we come home we decided to stay awake because our train was at 12:12 in the morning. So until 11 we were sitting outside the house and talking. As we say goodbye to the family, I could not think that easily we came from Kerala and we have done all this things. It was experience of grace although this travelling and staying here. We came to Cancone station and we come to know that the train is just two and half hours late. The station is too small that there is not even a tea stall to buy a tea or coffee. The chilling night we sit on a cement bench and wait for the train to come. Nothing to say about the train as we get in it. The oldest train I have ever travelled in Konkan railway. The toilet, window, floor, just dirty means the train simply mean a dirty train. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm unfortunate to travel in that dirty train. The train reached Aluva station exactly four and half hours late.