The Church of St Cajetan

The Church of St. Cajetan lies in the shadow of the other churches at Old Goa. Most people would visit Old Goa for the Bom Jesus and Se Cathedral, however St. Cajetan’s has something wonderful and breath-taking to offer you.

The church completed in 1661 is dedicated to Our Lady of Divine Providence. Its name however finds its origins after the founder of the Order of Theatines. St. Cajetan’s almost looks replicates the Basilica of St. Peter's in Rome. The exterior of the church boasts a Corinthian style of architecturewhile the interior features a blend of mosaic-Corinthian architectures. The magnificent façade facing west features towering Corinthian columns supporting a central pediment above which the twin belfry towers arise.

Inside the church, do make a note of the three altars on either side of the main altar. To the left you will find altars dedicated to the Holy Family, Our Lady of Piety and St. Clare, while the altars to the right are dedicated to St. John, St. Cajetan and St. Agnes.

To an art lover this church is where you can get lost in the myriad display of frescos. Off late there’s been a lot of renovation work going on inside the church to its architecture and frescos, so be prepared for a section of the church to be cut off to public viewing.

The Cross at the Quiterio's

No Catholic household in Goa is complete without a cross. You will find crosses engraved on homes or a structure erected in front of houses. Each one is different in design yet built for one purpose – protect the family that resides there.

My home has a cross engraved on the compound wall. But the cross that binds us all as a family is the one that stands in my Grandma’s compound. This is the cross is the protector of the entire Quiterio clan. Prayers to pass in exams, fulfillment of dreams and protection as we venture far and wide in the world have all been offered here and it still does.

The Cross at the Quiterio's

I remember times when as little kids my cousin and I used to help my Grandma scrape the old paint off the cross and volunteer to paint it in preparation for the cross feast. There were also times when all of us cousins used to wait closest to the cross hoping to catch the wax that dripped forth, each one wanting to building a bigger wax ball than the other. As the centre of the household it also came to be the favoured place to click family pictures.

My brother & cousin as kids in front of the cross

Though much as has changed now – we are all adults, grandma’s house is surrounded by a concrete wall – the cross still remains the same, in the spot it was erected on.

The local thing to do – Watch a game of Football

Forget about hitting the beach or visiting the churches and temples. You have not experienced the Goan way of life till you have watched and yell your heart out at a local football game.

You can spot them at any corner. Vast open fields become the ideal playground. What you need to look for is a crowd. Spot one that’s causing a slight traffic jam and you have a game in action.

From parra game

Local games obviously star the local talent. Emotions run high, so make sure you don’t say something you could be sorry of later.  These games follow the same league structure in football. And mind you people take their football very seriously in Goa. Should the local team be playing, the entire village is bound to be there supporting the young boys and men.

From parra game

Adrenaline is at an all time high with each player trying to outdo the other. You can be guaranteed of super action and controversial decisions. Playing for your local team makes you nothing short of a hero. Almost all the men in my family have played for PVC Parra, starting with my dad and uncle to my cousin who was the mid-fielder and my brother who was the goal keeper. Yeah so we have some superstars in my family.

So yes go watch a football game in Goa. It’s something you won’t regret doing.

Lonavala. Khandala #fail!

The weekend was supposed to provide the perfect break from the hustle and bustle a metropolitan city like Mumbai can engulf you in. My brother was in town and so we decided to drive down to Lonavala and chill out there for the next two days. Unfortunately for us, the rest of Mumbai also thought about the same.

So here we are in Lonavala, caught in a terrible traffic jam. If I wanted a traffic jam, I would have spent the day in Mumbai! That’s the  #fail moment no.1.

#Fail no 2 follows soon.  The places of interest – lake, Kava caves, some monkey feeding point and views of the valley below are all such big letdowns. I went with low expectations and came back with even lower opinions of these places.

#Fail no 3. Accommodation in these places suck. Hotels were crappy that we packed our bags and made our way back by evening. Even a 3 star was freaking expensive. I wasn’t going to pay 5K for a night and that too for a room that wasn’t well maintained.

Lonavala was crappy and so was Khandala. By mid afternoon my brother’s friend joined us from Pune. The lunch was sumptuous – Chicken Tandoori, Butter Chicken and Rotis. We checked out a couple of other places to stay, not worth a mention, and then decided to head back.

The only thing that was worth this trip was the drive out of the city and being able to put some much needed miles on my new car. On my drive back, I couldn’t help but think about the Lonavala years back when we had come here on our school summer break… so beautiful and untouched. Now it’s simply commercialized! 

In and Around Parra

The original blog post can be found on The Lovell Dsouza Crapsite. It has been republished with due permissions. The reason I felt the need to republish this is because it captures the true essence of our homeplace - Goa. 

So here's my brother Lovell documenting "Back Home" 

So I’m back home, in good ‘ol Goa. Sitting at the same table my Sis and I grew up eating at. The same table at which I studied for myriad exams that I flunked :P

The old table. The old hall. The massive windows. The damp roof tiles. The generations of relatives sealed in frames, hanging from the walls looking down upon me and thinking “Shame on him. Didn’t make the family name proud.” Hey wait a min, I did. May be they took that back.

Meet Tommy [the female family feline]. Some say she’s 25+ years old. I’ll keep her at 23, coz from photographic evidence she existed when my sis was a kid, before I was born. I stick my foot out for the usual feline meets master greeting. She rubs her head against my foot. I’m still king of the pride. Tommy acknowledges that. Until my sis drops by and steals me off my throne. How can that kitty leave me and run to my sis!!! Duh!! Whatever pussy cat. Big deal!!

The black t-shirts have turned into makeshift doormats. I’m wondering how could my mom degrade the metal collection!! Aahh.. but I guess thats ok. Even the great Slayer t-shirt was not spared. That one has been torn into bits. The Nirvana collection has survived the onslaught. They lie folded in the cupboard.

The metal cassette collection has survived. The pirated CD’s survived too. The rains kick in. I listen to Alice In Chains for a change. Grunge kicks in. Finding a signal for Airtel in the house is a challenge in itself. The signal boosting ironing board does not help anymore. Last resort is defined by leaving the phone at the window risking it getting robbed.

I walk out. I see fields. I smell fresh air. I see birds. Coconut trees transform the simple village road into an aisle. Feels like a red carpet has been laid out for me. Well all over the place tell me I never have to worry bout taps running dry. Home it is. It’s not necessarily the beaches that everyone thinks about when you mention Goa.

I head out to the Baga creek. I spot the Cross where Ryan [Babushin] and I used to hang out discussing crap. I recognize the spot where Donn, Russell [Yoyo] and I used to come fishing and manage only to catch crabs. The total number of crabs caught till date tallies to 1. I pass by the ground where our U-19 team used to train. The same ground where I learned to dive and catch a football in mid air. The same ground where I once left a lousy goal and our team lost.

I meet my good old friend Srijay aka Byclops aka Peekachooooo. We head of to Lan Lords. We thought the place was shut down. We find it open. Once owned by the fearsome Homo Sapien Maleous clan, now left to rot with some school boys. The gaming place is dying a slow death. Never-the-less we frag against some bots. Get ripped initially. We rip them back after a while. Srij still got the superfast killer reflexes. I still kick bot with moi mag. The clan needs a reunion.

Srij and I drop by Vrundavan. The evening restaurant where a lot of things were always discussed. Most visited by Lesley and me. Often accompanied by Evelyn, Srijay, Suneet and Prashanti. We attack the regular. Chillies, bhel, shev puri, tea and coffee are consumed. We call Les just to let him know we are re-living the moment and he is missing out on a lot of stuff, only to get a barrage of abuses in return. Good ‘ol days. Les, the abuser. Abuses everyone and everything.

We head back home. I’m home…