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| Mrs. Ava Lobo and her husband with us. |
-Brian Mendonca
40 years. That was how long it took for me to meet my teacher who had taught me when I was doing my BA in St. Xavier's College, Mapusa, Goa. I wondered how 'Miss Ava' - as we called her - would be like. Her contact number was shared by Miss. Yvonne who also taught me at Xaviers.
1986 to 2026 is a long time. But it didn't really matter when we got talking in their beautiful living room in a Goan house in Assagao. The black wooden furniture with the sofa and the scarlet seat looked so elegant. It was like coming home. The beautiful garden with its beckoning flowers and evening breezes welcomed us as we walked up the driveway.
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| Souvenir of Assagao Church |
Miss Ava took the trouble to come on the road to guide us to her place. She helped with the parking. Always hovering close by she made every effort to make us feel comfortable. The delicious snacks of pan rolls and cake after which rose tea was served in fine crockery made the perfect setting. We had so much to catch up on.
It was nice to see that Miss Ava keeps herself very busy. She is closely involved in the activities of Assagao church. Being on the souvenir committee, she was kind enough to present us with a copy of the souvenir commemorating 250 years of Assagao church. She has also contributed an article titled 'Pillars of Faith: Sacred Statues of St. Cajetan Church, Assagao.'
Miss Ava taught us logic in college. She has used that to teach young seminarians philosophy at the seminary at Casa Pallotti in Assagao. We spoke of priests who we had known like Fr. Frank who was earlier at Casa Pallotti at Chicalim, and Fr. Miranda who was the warden in St. Xavier's College hostel in my time.
Conversation moved on to the students Miss Ava taught and the students of today. Over-reliance on AI was frowned upon since some youngsters are unable to do simple tasks. Uncle spoke of Bombay where he worked. In Queenie he found a listening ear.
I had taken along my latest book of poems Jasmine City: Poems from Delhi (2023) which I presented to Miss Ava. She was delighted to receive it.
We spoke about the late Fr. Nicolao Pereira birth centenary programmes being organized in St. Xavier's College with the inaugural this weekend on 25th September. We hope to meet each other once again in my alma mater during the celebrations.
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Pic taken by Brian Mendonca on Saturday 19/9/26. Updated 20/9/26.
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