by Seby Mascarenhas
The Pilar Fathers who have been working for over four decades in Andaman and Nicobar had harrowing tales to tell about the tsunami that hit the islands on December 26 last. Miraculously all the Fathers were safe.Fr Pritam Toppo is the parish priest of the island of Hutbay, a 12-hour rocky journey by ship from Port Blair. As the earth shook, he walked out and saw the sea in turmoil. He raised the alarm for all, and raced with the sisters and people in the parish toward a hill about an hour and a half away, time enough to escape the tsunami.
As the monster struck, his church, presbytery and all the tiny houses around disappeared in seconds. For three days his whereabouts were not known. News has reached he is safe but there is no direct communication yet. Unfortunately, a busload of people travelling to Sunday mass were hit by the wave and perished. A nun from the place working in Port Blair lost her entire family in the bus.
Fr Anuj Kumar, another Pilar priest, was on the worst-hit Car Nicobar island where nearly half the population of 30000 has been wiped out. His tiny church was by the side of the government guest house. Both have disappeared.
For three days there was no news of Fr Anuj. His welcome voice was heard from Chennai where he had been airlifted by the navy after miraculously escaping the killer waves.
As the first tremors struck the Andamans and the full impact was felt, an emotionally distraught Bishop Alex Dias had no words to describe the situation as his room was rocked and everything thrown about. When contacted on the phone, he said: �I do not know how my people are going to survive this.�
The terrible destruction has thrown a pall of gloom on Pilar hillock. The Superior General of the Society of Pilar, Fr Tony Lopes is in constant touch with the Bishop Alex Dias of Port Blair, the first Bishop of the Andamans and the Vicar General, Fr Jesuino Almeida. The Pilar Society has already made an immediate contribution from its own funds and the General has made an appeal to every institution to make immediate contributions. The Archbishop Patriarch of Goa is also in constant touch with the Bishop of the Andamans and has already appealed for help.
Bishop Dias, in a very touching telephone conversation, said: �It is impossible to describe the situation here. We need everything: your prayers, your thoughts, your consolation and your material help. Years of hard work from scratch have gone back to scratch. More than material losses, it is the human tragedy that brings tears to the eyes. The island of Port Blair is a virtual refugee camp on a war footing with naval ships and transport planes ferrying people from various islands. Nirmala Higher Secondary School of the Port Blair diocese is currently housing over 1300 displaced people.�
While the camp is officially run by the government Bishop Dias notes: �The generosity of the people is the bright side of this tragedy. It is the supplies from the local people for everything that runs this camp coordinated unofficially by the fathers and the sisters. A Protestant pastor has his broken arm in a bandage in the camp. With tears in his eyes he told the Bishop that he swam and swam with his five-month-old child on one hand until a killer wave took the child away. He and his wife and another child found a perch on a tree until another wave uprooted the tree. They had to swim again and find another tree until rescued by the volunteers.� Such stories have become the order of the day.
The Vicar General Fr Jesuino said that all the churches, presbyteries, schools and convents in Katchal, Kamorta, Car Nicobar, Campell Bay and Hutbay were totally wiped out. However, it was the loss of life that was heartbreaking. The only redeeming feature was that it did not happen in the night so that the loss of life had been cut down.
The 76-year-old Fr Mariano Dias, now on the staff of the Pilar Seminary, was the founder of all these churches forty years ago, says wistfully: �Many of my parishioners would have gone.� It is high time we in Goa were more sensitive toward the victims of the tragedy. All help to them is welcome, and we are grateful to the newspapers and other agencies that have opened accounts for the same.
( The writer is the Rector of Pilar Seminary)
Forty years ago, two Pilar Fathers, Fr Tiburcio Ferrao and Fr Mariano Dias stepped on the shores of these beautiful islands in the Bay of Bengal. Ever since it has been a love story of every Pilar Father and the exquisite islands. Over 50 Pilar priests have worked on these islands at some time or the other.
The travails of travelling over stormy seas and the primitive accommodation and food were minor inconveniences for the fathers vis-a-vis the joy of serving these simple tribal people.
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