Resilient Spirit in a Broken Body
To look at the life of Alphonsa without the lens of theology is to look directly into the mystery of human resilience. It forces us to ask: What keeps a spirit intact when the body is utterly broken? Recently I wrote about my visit along with Maggie to a pilgrimage centre known as Vallyachan Mala. It was lunch time when we descended that hill and we were hungry after all the climbing up and down. Eating from restaurants has become quite challenging these days with the rising prices of everything from food items to cooking gas. More than the cost of a lunch, lack of hygiene is what worries us. Many of the restaurants are shut due to shortage of fuel. The cooks in most restaurants are North Indian migrants whose sense of hygiene is highly suspect. That’s when I remembered the “canteen” of another pilgrimage centre nearby: Bharananganam. The canteen is an epitome of hygiene, spaciousness, courtesy, and affordability. My last visit there must have been half a dozen years ago. But I ...
