The Hill - its highs and lows

The hill country of Gregorian Community- a serene spot blessed by nature

Thirumeni said he will send someone with me to go to the hill. The hill, as I learnt later, was a stretch of 55 acres of more land we had as part of the Gregorian community. And all this land formed part of one of the most beautiful hills in the area.

The property on "the hill"

So soon, after having a cup of tea, I was off to the hill with driver Raghu and Mathukutty uncle. (There were two Mathukuttys there, so Mathukutty uncle was the elder Mathukutty :)) Mathukutty uncle, who seemed like a person in his fifties, had been in the Community since the past 5 years. His wife has now passed away and his son is working abroad. He took me around the entire place and showed me around. I am grateful for his kindness shown.

Thirumeni was attracted to the hill ("The Mala" as they called in Malayalam) by its serenity and calmness. Thirumeni had climbed several hills in the area, before choosing this one. It was an ideal setting for many of the plans that were outlined in Thirumeni's vision for the place and the Gregorian community. It seemed like a perfect place, I thought for building up the community.

"We are trying to get over the water problem" Mathukutty uncle

But alas, the hill had its own lows, which had become apparent only later. There was a huge water problem there. We do not have enough water there to carry us through the dry months. During the rains there are small streams that take the water to the river, but it goes bone dry in the dry months. There has been several attempts over the years to find a solution, we are trying out different things, we are trying to involve the government, Thirumeni is very hopeful we will get a lasting solution in the near future.



Different attempts to store water have yet to bear fruit

I sincerely hope and pray the water problem at this place is resolved so that we can use the place as we had originally intended - for being a place of peace, of comfort, of searching God and finding Him.