I had been wanting to visit Fr. George Kavukatt for some time. He is an inspiration for me in many day-to-day aspects of life, and keeps me going when my courage and determination fail. It would be a great honor for me to say that he is a mentor to me.
For the last two decades, George achan had been engaged in a very different missionary activities that combines conservation of earth, nature, promotion of social justice, sustenance and compassion. Some time ago someone handed over their unattended pieces of land that were arid to father George for stewardship and said, “till it, and keep it.” The owner is a person of good will who lacks servants who has knowledge of farming and agriculture to make those fields fertile.
When I landed in Goa, Fr Mathew Moothassery and Fr Kavukatt picked me up. Fr. Mathew is serving among Malayali Christians in Goa. We had a comfortable 200 km journey to father George’s residence. Fr Moothassery is an excellent organiser, pastoral-minded, rich in ideas and above all a tireless talker. Trips with him are never boring as he has the ability to chat for considerable periods of time about anything under the sun.
I was first taken to a 12-acre plot. Tapioca, paddy, coconut, and many other fruit trees have been planted there. Arrowroot (Kuva) is planted in another part of the land. Growing these plants organically, and harvest it in time, and grind them to make arrowroot powder to present to friends and the needy is one of the great mission he is doing. The arrowroot powder, Blueberry juice and Gooseberry Arishtam prepared by Fr George have been helpful for children and youth suffering from malnutrition. We will talk about the same in another post.
What surprised me this time was the pumpkin plantation of him in another piece of land. As a number of pumpkins were mature, we harvested about 25 large pumpkins that day. Vegetables and fruits are grown without adding any chemical manures. He loads large barrels of cow urine in a pick-up van from one plot of land where he had a cattle farm, and drives it to the other plot which is 35 kms away and serves it to the plants. The 75-year-old Fr George does everything by himself, including mowing the grass. On the way back to his residence we visited friends and families on the way where he distributed this organically cultivated pumpkins. The two institutions we visited are: a rehab centre for differently-abled children and a youth run by MST missionaries. Another is an old age home run by a Marathi couples aged over 60 for the past thirty years and he presented five or six pumpkins at both places.
It was a trip and visit that made me more energetic and refreshed. Being close to Kavukatt Achan is like taking a stimulant. By the time I got back to my house in Punjab, there was one pumpkin matured in my garden. Indeed I had given up that vine because it was not giving me the desired results. To my surprise I found a small pumpkin lying ripe.
“He built an altar,” is repeated phrase in the Old Testament as the first response of men encountering God. All the people who had the divine revelation of God built an altar for that memory. In the New Testament, the memory of God’s encounters is kept alive by feasting. Jesus was an active presence in those feasts.
I decided to have a pumpkin feast. I searched for a traditional Kerala pumpkin recipe that I had never made before and I came across a recipe called ‘Chakara Mathan’ (Jaggeried Pumpkin). It is a special dish of the people of Malappuram, in Kerala. A sweet dessert made with chickpeas, pumpkin, jaggery and coconut. I encountered God in Kavukatu Achan. To keep that memory alive, I served the Chakara Mathan I made for the first time to about 10 of my friends.
