Grudging goodwill

In her nine-yard sari and puff-sleeved blouse, Aunty Rose Gomes is every bit the East Indian matriarch. Life in these quaint lanes of Baman...

In her nine-yard sari and puff-sleeved blouse, Aunty Rose Gomes is every bit the East Indian matriarch. Life in these quaint lanes of Bamanwada in Andheri East has always revolved around community for hundreds of years. The Congress, the Shiv Sena 8212; the words don8217;t enter Aunty Gomes8217;s consciousness.

What does is the news of the offer to restore her roofless, dilapidated shrine, the 463-year-old crumbling church of St John the Baptist in Santa Cruz. 8216;8216;Someone has decided to do up the church,8217;8217; she says. 8216;8216;It is a good idea. Our grandchildren can now see the 400-year-old tamarind trees around the church.8217;8217;

Across town, hundreds of East Indians excited about the prospect of worshipping at an ancient altar where they8217;ve not been allowed for the past 30 years 8212; except on the feast of St John the Baptist in May 8212; have gathered.

Accompanied by former billiards champion Michael Ferriera, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Nirupam today addressed them on behalf of his leader Uddhav Thackeray who floated the idea of the restoration.

There are schisms to be sure, with many 8212; Congress supporters and the Archdiocese 8212; distrustful, but there are some who will tell you that the Sena8217;s hand is divinely pre-ordained.

In Bamanwada, Merlyn Philomena D8217;Lima stands outside her cottage. Former bank manager D8217;Lima has been stirred by the Sena8217;s plan to restore the church. 8216;8216;Let the party8217;s antecedents be anything,8217;8217; reasons D8217;Lima, smiling. 8216;8216;They are trying to give back to us what is ours. Uddhav will get support for this venture.8217;8217;

And so it is across the enclaves, where they speak a Konkani-Marathi mix and English. 8216;8216;We are the sons-of-the-soil, so why should the Sena not include us in their programme?8217;8217; says Godfrey Pimenta, Marol resident. 8216;Even Rydell D8217;Lima, a student who has never felt close to Sena ideology, says: 8216;8216;There is no roof over our Lord8217;s head. Anyone who provides that roof is our hero.8217;8217;