AfricaTuesday 9 September
6pm
Bishop’s College
224 A.J.C.Bose Road
Kolkata 700 017
Tuesday 14 October
6pm
Mother House
Missionaries of Charity
54 A, A.J.C.Bose Road
Kolkata 700 016
Tuesday 11 November
6pm
Bishop’s College
Tuesday 9 December
6pm
MC Mother House
February - March 2008
Mumbai and Vasai
Among the most striking meetings during this first stage of our journey was an evening spent at Borivali, at the home of sisters who run a school for street children in a suburb of Mumbai. About 45 children stay in the hostel. For one reason or another, they were abandoned by their families. The sisters offer them dignity and the possibility to continue their education with normal school children. They remain in the care of the sisters until they are grown up and can start to build their own lives. The evening closed with a prayer with songs from Taize.
Another evening gathering took place in Kharodi, Malad, a parish situated in the coastal area of Mumbai. The young people prepared the evening with great enthusiasm. We began with a short video about Taizé, then a time prayer. Afterwards, the young people and the adults shared their experience of this kind of meditative prayer.
At Orlem, Malad, the biggest Tamil community parish in Mumbai, the meeting, for 600 young people and children, took place entirely in Tamil. Most of these families are living under the poverty line.
There was an evening prayer in one of the Syro Malankara Orthodox parishes, Kalina, Santcruz. To reach this parish, situated in small lane, it is interesting to see how the church is surround by the houses of people from different backgrounds. The parish choir had prepared the music with great care. What encourages the young people is the amount of support they receive from their parish priest. Several orthodox priests were present. Young people from other churches participated in the prayer.
A short visit to Vasai brought us to a completely different atmosphere from huge city of Mumbai. Vasai is a small city, in an area of fishermen. The young people had gone to great efforts to prepare the meeting well.
Ahmedabad, Gujarat
The present Ahmedabad Diocese covers the entire area of the three civil districts of Ahmedabad, Anand and Nadiad. Our visits were mostly in Anand, Karmsad and Nadiad. It was first time a brother from Taize had visited these places, where the majority of the people are Hindus. Yet the Christian faith is very much alive here. It is astonishing to see how people have such a profound sense of the Gospel. In recent years people have undergone much persecution because of their Christian faith. One of the priests explained that people from outside see this situation as something very serious; whereas for them, it has become part of life.
Many institutions run by the church have hostels where young people can stay in order to continue their studies. It is beautiful to see how young people from other religions are living in these Christian institutions. Most of these young people come from far away villages. Some young people have to cycle four to five hours to reach the colleges.
In these three places Anand, Karmsad and Nadiad we were able have a prayer with bhajans and songs from Taize, all in the local language Gujarati. Our visit ended on the Sunday with short visit to the Malankara Orthodox Church in Ahmedabad, attending the Holy Qurbana (Eucharist). The priest introduced us to the people, explaining where we came from. After the Holy Qurbana we had a short meeting with the young people. Few young people from this region have been to Taize in recent years. However, one young woman shared her experience of what had enriched her personally during her stay in Taizé: a sense of reconciliation and peace and trust that continue to influence her life with her family and friends.
Pune
The visit in the west region concluded with an evening prayer on Sunday 17 February in the diocese of Poona. The young people came from different parishes in the city, including some from Saint Thomas Orthodox Syrian Church. It was surprising to hear how quickly they learned the songs, especially given the fact that most of them had never heard them before.
The North East
The North-East is very different from the other parts of India. Our visit there consisted not only in having prayers with young people in different places but also in visiting mission parishes, boarding houses for children from distance villages and similar institutions run by the church.
The city of Guwahati, Assam, stands on the banks of Brahmaputra River, one of the great rivers of India. When we arrived, we were welcomed by Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil, who has been a close friend of the community for many years. That same evening, young people had organised a prayer with songs from Taizé at the hall of the Cathedral. Next day we left for Bongaigon, in the west of Assam. Last year, a young man from Bongaigon came to Taizé for three months but it was the very first time Taizé brothers had ever been there!
The young man prepared the meeting with several others. Many came from the parishes, as well as some from the seminary. Most of them came from different ethnic groups: Bodos, Santhals, Adivasis… The Taizé songs were new for them, but they learned them quickly and we were able to pray together.
After our visit in Assam we travelled west to the Garo Hills in Tura, Meghalaya. With some of the local young people, we visited parishes close to the Bangladesh border. Our visit concluded with a prayer with songs from Taizé sung in the Garo language. Next came Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya. Young people from Shillong have been coming to Taizé for many years. An evening prayer was attended not only by young people from the city but also people from a neighbouring parish in the Upper Khasi Hills. What was outstanding at the prayer was the singing, with most of the Taizé songs sung in Khasi. Although it was February and Lent - not a festive season – there was a tremendous sense of sharing the gospel joy and trust.