Serenity surrounds sisters' act

For rest

Giving up worldly desires in the prime of youth and devoting rest of the life in the service to society is something that very few people can do. It is right that such souls when they reach the twilight years are given adequate care and love. This is exactly what one sees at the Villa St Joseph, a home where the retired nuns come and reside, writes N Niranjan Nikam

There is illness, pain, suffering, grief and sorrow. But there is also joy, laughter, smiles, bonhomie and the spirit of give and take. Driving down the dusty and rugged terrain on the Bogadi Road and reaching Jettihundi, a whole new world of serenity invades the mind as one opens the big gate to enter a surprising world that very few are privy to.

It is the Villa St Joseph. Superior General of Carmelite Sisters of St Teresa India and abroad Sister Victorine who is on an official visit to the retiring home of the nuns, is first keen to show the resting place of the nuns who had lived here after their tryst with the teaching world.

“You know there is a joke doing the rounds here. Every one who comes here is armed with degrees.

Acronyms

The first is B Sc and the acronym stands for Bed Ridden Senior Citizen, then there is M Sc (Moving Senior Citizen) and finally Ph D which means preparing for happy death,” Sr Victorine tells City Herald.

It is a lovely sight to see a few sheep grazing on the five acre land. “The home was opened 18 years ago. Any nun who has finished serving is free to come here and live the last years of her life. We give her all the care and comfort that she requires. We have trained nurses and they are our own young nuns who look after them,” she said.

Visiting the nuns in their rooms who are in the last leg of their life is a moving experience.

Sister Mona who used to be the headmistress in Christ the King Convent and a very strict disciplinarian today is being taken care of by the nuns. She struggles with words and there is a loss of memory. “But when the father came and visited her yesterday she was very vague. Look at her today she is even able to recall his name,” said the nuns surrounding her.

“And know that I am with you always,” is the saying on Sister Scholastica’s table. “I am very tired after a bath which takes me hours to complete,” she whispers with her grey hair flowing.

Joy of waiting

“You learn how to wait. The joy of waiting is what I have learnt after coming here,” said the sprightly Sister Liguori. Meanwhile, Sister Superior Pamela who is also a trained geriatric specialist, had prepared a sumptuous lunch consisting of fish curry, fried fish and chicken and beans palya and rice.

The sisters gather around the few tables to partake their lunch. Since Sr Victorine is on a visit, there is lot of fun and games. Everyone prompts Sr Loretta who will be turning 80 shortly, to enact a few scenes. She has to her credit a doctorate in psychology, taught science at a college in Kerala and later moved to north India. “I came here very recently and I really feel at home,” she says.

Entertaining

Then she begins her act surrounded by sisters. It is hilarious and it is fun.

The nuns in their habitat cannot stop laughing as she laughs and cries enacting two themes, one watching a movie and another picnic. “I used to do picnic act when I was child and my mother would burst out laughing with tears in her eyes, even though I made fun of her size,” she said.

The talented Sister Lucinda knits beautiful woollen caps which the other nuns proudly display.

These caps are sent to orphanages. As one leaves the home, the eyes once again turn to the beautiful orchid garden, a one of its kind, with a lotus pond in the middle. The lovely chapel where the mass is held lingers in the mind.