Off to Roha with the Metropolitan!

The Aramana (bishop's house) in Vashi.

I arrived at the Aramana early on the 12th and called up His Grace. "I am at the gate" I told him. "Did you have your breakfast" was the benovalent father's first concern. I told him I did and thanked him. I had grown up in faith under the watchful eyes of the bishop (and patient ears, I should add, because I would bug him a lot with my often silly questions, I remember) and it was a privilege to be travelling with him. Thirumeni (bishop) said he would be coming down in a bit. Outside the jeep was washed by Raghu who was the driver. I chatted a bit with Raghu.

Soon Dr. Sunny Pariyaram, whom I had known since my MGOCSM days in Vashi, emerged from the Aramana with Fr. Abraham Joseph. I went to greet Father Joseph who had been my vicar during my Vashi days. I introduced myself to Dr. Pariyaram. Dr. Pariyaram was to accompany us to Roha. Thirumeni was also taking two other guests with him.

It is not everyday that you get to travel with a Senior Metropolitan of the Church and I had never been to Roha. So I had pounced on the opportunity which Thirumeni had offered when I had gone to meet His Grace a few days earlier with Sumam and the kids"On the 12th of February if you are available, you all could come with me to visit the Gregorian Community in Roha. It will be a nice opportunity for the kids to enjoy" "Yessss.." I had grabbed on it! "We would love to come". But later we dropped out the kids and Sumam from the plan as we thought the kids needed some rest after some crazy travelling in Kerala and back to Mumbai via Bangalore.

Soon Thirumeni appeared from the Aramana building and I went to get his blessings, as is normal in our custom when one meets a High Priest of the Church.



The beautiful Kundalika river in Roha

Raghu had told me that we should reach Roha in about 2-3 hours time. It was a nice drive through the Palm beach Marg, through the Bombay Pune expressway and then diverting to a National Highway. I was told the road was the Mumbai Goa route. There were many resorts on the way. The place has been abundantly blessed by nature, with hills and valleys arranged beautifully along the way. The famous tourist spot of Alibaug is not far away from Roha. The Kundalika river which flows from the Sahyadhri hills to the Arabian sea flows through Roha adding to its beauty, and the river flows right beside our land in the Gregorian Community as I later learnt.

The main entrance

Roha is a small town in Raigad district, Maharashtra state, India, 120 km south-east of Mumbai as per the wikipedia.There was a place called "Kolad" very close to Roha. And "Kollad" is the home town of Coorilose Thirumeni in Kerala. What a brilliant coincidence that the place which Thirumeni bears so close to his heart bears the same name!

The Roha railway station which has trains running from Panvel which is now a major hub from Mumbai, is very close to the Gregorian Community.

I thorougly enjoyed the ride into the Gregorian Community in Roha. Thirumeni and Dr. Pariyaram (Sunny uncle) were mostly engaged in discussions about the diocese, but both took time in between to explain the route, the region and the Gregorian Community to us.