MCAV Exclusive report and pics for Daijiworld
Melbourne, Mar 13: The Mangalorean Catholic Association of Victoria (MCAV) held its first event, a Family Day, in the scenic and legendary Blackburn Lake Sanctuary. The organizers could not have asked for a better day. March 12 was indeed a cheerfully bright and sunny autumn day.
About 80 happy, smiling and laughing Mangalorean people got together for a spontaneous act of social interaction. The first event organized by the MCAV turned out to be a fun-filled outing for people of all ages.
It was a get-together with a difference. The fact that most were strangers to one another was a worry to the organizers. How would all these people get out of their comfort zone and speak to all the strangers?
But laughter comes naturally to Mangaloreans. And that did the unthinkable. Within the first few minutes of arriving at the beautiful Blackburn Lake Sanctuary, everyone was talking to everyone else.
Some found cousins they never knew they had. One met a teacher half a world away from the school. Others got busy with establishing where everyone else fitted in their family tree.
Were they making it all up? Or, is there some truth in the old jungle saying that every Mangalorean Catholic is related to every other Mangalorean Catholic in some way? If we are to trust the well-worn cliche, the truth lay somewhere in between. While for some the natural curiosity helped overcome their lack of ease, others needed the help of a few stubbies of VB.
A shared lunch of spicy chicken from Nando's triggered many discussions on the different varieties vegetables, spices and traditional produce available back 'home'. Some happily shared their little secrets on cooking kangaroo with coconut, while others thought the little mud-crabs found in the streams around Mangalore tasted a lot better than the giant two-kilo mud-crabs available in plenty in the Melbourne markets.
Then there were serious discussions on the famed Mangalore markets like those at Shedigudda, Hampankatta, Urwa, Suratkal and Bajpe.
On the final analysis, there is one regret for some. No one remembered to sing the Laudate Dominum.