-Brian Mendonça
My latest screensaver on my desktop is of Joseph
cutting the wood in his workshop. The old man seems tired but has the will to
go on. His face is illuminated by a taper. There was no electricity in those
days. So he is actually working by night.
In the shadows two young women huddle pointing to him. The centre of the
stage is held by Joseph and a little boy holding the taper. The beatific
countenance on the boy’s face leads us to assume it is the boy Jesus.*
To beat the ennui of the lockdown, I frequently change
my screen savers. It helps. So far my desk top has sported Tibetan flags; the
Ship of Fools by the Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch; a tomato cheese omelette I
made; and a park in Greater Kailash, New Delhi. The Assyrian King Sennacherib
almost made it, but the themes were too dark.
When it is not possible to travel during these days, it
is the screen that makes us participate virtually. When uncle Stephen (83) passed on in Sahar,
Mumbai on 1 May, it was difficult for
his brother Oswald (80) in Kharghar to attend the last rites.
Because of restrictions during lockdown, there was no
one present at the burial at Sahar cemetery to bid uncle farewell. The only
exceptions were the priest, uncle’s wife, the undertaker and uncle’s godchild -
who took the photos.
This was just a day after a prominent Bollywood actor’s
last rites were shared on social media as it was taking place in Mumbai. There
were numerous film personalities who zoomed in, in their swank cars to attend.
‘Who knows uncle Stephen?’ said a distraught relative. Even in death, the
screen showed – unflinchingly – that discrimination was obvious.
Nevertheless, the undertaker tried to connect the
family through a zoom meeting. But there was a glitch. Yet the stark photos in
real time, made us feel we were there. It also connected his daughter in
Manhattan and his son in New Zealand.
Uncle Stephen, like Joseph, loved carpentry. He even
crafted an altar for aunty Ann and uncle Ossie for their home. His son too is
into carpentry. Like Joseph they upheld the nobility of labour. So it was no
wonder that he was called on the feast day of Joseph the Worker on 1 May –
International Workers’ Day.
St. Joseph is also the patron of families, and of a
happy death. Joseph is said to have been sad about what he felt was his
inadequacy as a carpenter. However at his death Mother Mary and Jesus stood by
his side and comforted him.
Dwayne is glued to the screen during his TV time.
Sometimes I persuade him to read stories on storyweaver.org.in on my ideapad.
He has a gala time talking to his cousins on video chat. He shows them his
room, his drawings and sometimes his unmade bed.
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*’Childhood of Christ,’ (c. 1620) oil on canvas by
Dutch painter Gerrit van Honthorst (1592-1656) Published in Gomantak Times, Weekender, Panjim, Goa on 10th May 2020. Pic courtesy aleteia.org
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