St Ignatius Parish

                  Leaving home for Christmas

What began as a passing thought became a reality during last summer holidays. Accompanied by nine 

of my closest friends and a quartet of teachers, I left the comfort of my home in Adelaide to spend 

five weeks in India. A challenge had found me.

December 8th. The two separate flights to Chennai were lengthy but the Singapore Airlines novelties 

amused most. Personally, I opted for several hours of sleep. Feeling under-the-weather was a little 

premature, it seemed, so I was desperate to feel better by the time we touched down.

In the middle of the night in a strange, foreign country, we emerged. Each of us high on feelings of relief 

and exhilaration. Clearing Customs, we were greeted by an enormous crowd of people patiently waiting 

outside the airport. For a brief moment, I could sympathise with the Australian Cricket Touring Party. 

Suddenly, I was the odd one out amidst a mixture of exotic smells, different faces, the infernal racket 

of car horns and aimless wandering of sacred cows. What were we to think? Our leader Mr Callen 

asserted his authority and we were quickly hustled into the rather old-fashioned taxis.

Stories, images, descriptions and experiences blended as we were pleasantly greeted by millions of 

mosquitoes at the Madras Institute to Habilitate Retarded Afflicted (MITHRA). Mithra was one of 

three destinations across India where we would be involved in service activities.

We spent a week working in Mithra. Here we were challenged, confronted and pushed beyond what we 

thought were our limits. An Australian nun, Sister Theodore, began this mission with the hope for it to 

become a home for disabled children from the slums of Madras. The children we worked with are 

considered curses from God by their own families, but their individual qualities are so unique and 

precious that to neglect them would be to neglect God. At the most trying of times, each of us was 

challenged to look deep within his own heart to recognise each child’s affinity with God. Whether it 

was during the washing and toileting of children at 6 in the morning or feeding and entertaining the 

children at school, not one of us was capable of deciphering at which point we truly recognised the 

inner qualities of these children. All that we knew was that when it came time to leave, we felt as though 

we were deserting something special. We were leaving behind these remarkable children with little 

more than a few toys, a painting and some money, but we were leaving with so much more. Even today, 

their names, personalities and habits remain vivid in our memories and there is not a single pilgrim who 

doesn’t wonder how each of the children is coping. It would be impossible for any of us to forget the first

 impressions of this wonderful country.

The wondrous cities, the famous sites, the adventure of Nepal and the excitement of our highly 

publicised near-miss with extremist hijackers provided time for much reflection upon the time spent 

at Mithra and valuable preparation for the village experience and Calcutta. No matter the greatness 

and unique story behind each of the sites we visited, each pilgrim found it difficult to escape the memories 

of the children at Mithra as they tugged on our legs and perennially posed for yet another photograph. 

All of us at some stage revelled in the excitement of such sites as the Taj Mahal and the wild white-water

 rafting on the Tisuli River in Nepal but the prayer reflections that took place each evening always 

brought us back to our mission and central focus.

Our perilous travel by road to Hazaribag through soup-thick fog could only be best described individually 

in order to understand fully the toll it had on each individual. Perhaps the fact that through exhaustion, 

not one of the pilgrims was capable of seeing in the New Year, gives some idea of what the previous 

48 hours had provided. All that I can say is that I was never happier than when before me I could see 

what appeared like a mirage - food and a bed.

New Year’s Day would see all of the teachers and students on an even par for the first time. Even our 

Boss Man Leader was on unfamiliar ground. The group was divided into four smaller groups to spend 

several days at different Jesuit villages in the Hazaribagh diocese. The volatile state of Bihar, in which 

Hazaribag is situated, is home to an extremist group known as the Naxalites. This continues to instil fear 

in the local people and a reluctance to cooperate with the missionaries, however the Jesuits persist with

 the provision of both student and teacher education and the option of religious conversion. The groups 

of student and teacher pilgrims were privileged to share in this experience and the work of these great 

men. The Jesuits in and around Hazaribag have dedicated their lives to helping those less fortunate 

than themselves and welcomed us with open arms into their homes.

The final destination of our Pilgrimage through India was Calcutta. This city proved to be the most 

challenging - physically, mentally and spiritually. Calcutta, like most cities in India, is incomparable to 

anything seen in Australia. From the moment we arrived at the famous Howrah Station, the former 

capital of India appeared a chaotic mess. The streets were lined with shanties and people sleeping in 

blankets on the footpaths. The train station itself was a home to thousands and the sheer poverty was 

enough to awaken us all from our ‘zombie-like’ state. Outsidethe gates of St. Mary’s Orphanage, it 

would be difficult to recognise the Christian Brothers’ presence however on the inside of the large walls, 

the frantic traffic, the frolicking of homeless children in the gutters and the thick smell of the seafood 

markets would carry on unnoticed. For the pilgrims, St. Mary’s Orphanage offered us a safe haven and 

place of respite after the long and difficult days spent serving the poorest of the poor.

The work of the Christian Brothers in Calcutta is often overshadowed by the internationally renowned 

houses of Mother Theresa. Nevertheless, the effort in nurturing and caring for the orphan children of 

Calcutta is equally admirable. The spare afternoons of our busy schedule were regularly spent playing 

soccer or cricket with the older children.

There is no doubt that the challenges that lay before us in Calcutta were the most difficult. The 4:30 am 

rise every morning to attend Mass at Motherhouse concluded with a breakfast of Indian tea and a piece 

of bread before each of the groups made its way to the specified house of the Missionaries of Charity 

Sisters and Brothers. The various homes included Prem Dan - a home for sufferers of both long and 

short term illness; Dum Dum Cantonment - an establishment of the Missionaries of Charity Brothers 

who care for mentally and physically handicapped men; Shishu Bhavan - an orphanage that caters for 

hundreds of abandoned babies and toddlers (who are all available for adoption); Titigargh; an 

established community for sufferers of leprosy, and Kalighat - a home for the dying destitute from 

the streets of Calcutta. Here, both men and women are given love and treated with dignity in their 

final moments on earth.

We will never forget the smiles we brought to needy children’s faces, the anguish felt over leaving 

behind so many new and intriguing friends and the moments during which we asked for guidance and 

we received it.

India gave us all so much yet it is so easy to just let it slip behind us. Being able to share just a small 

amount of what was truly an enlightening adventure, recaptures the importance of the Pilgrimage in 

itself. We have returned home to carry on all that we have seen, all that we have heard and all that 

we have experienced so that we too can strive to give of ourselves in our own community. Like Mother 

Theresa when she first held a dying man in her arms, the vision of Sister Theodore in Madras and the 

uncompromising faith shown by Father A.T. Thomas who was killed by extremists in Bihar, we have 

the ability to make a difference in our own lives for the benefit of those who need it most. �

- Alexander Hart