Dear family and friends,
It was a pleasure socializing with all my family and
friends in Dubai during this time of the year.
It’s that time of the year again ! While CNN and BBC do
their bit of news round ups, the traditional write-up of my year in review is
shared with friends and family (also attached) Please read/enjoy!
I take this opportunity to wish you a bright peaceful
prosperous healthy wealthy and blessed new year 2014!
God bless
2013 - a year of learning
When the clock struck 12 on New year’s eve, I was on my
balcony watching the tallest building in the world erupt into a grand show of
pyrotechnics, illuminating the night sky. The witches of last year’s
misfortunes were symbolically burnt at the stake, with a promise of a brand New
Year.
The first few months kept me and my brother Joseph busy with
the establishment of ‘Diasquare’ (our own architectural consultancy ) I was a
bit apprehensive at first but slowly digested the idea, succumbed to the
decision and am still nurturing the passion to make it big… Sometimes it is
challenging to leave the comfort zone and venture out of the well of protection
when you are employed by others. Jeffry
Archer was in town at that time and I did find an inkling of comfort in what he
said – “it is better to find the time and fail than convince yourself that you
might have made it…do not let anything stop you.”
‘Diasquare’ got fairly busy,
thanks to the first clients who trusted us and ex-companies such as John R
Harris who we supported with our architectural skills.
s
SRILANKA –the emerald
isles
One of the first projects was a design of a safehouse for
girls in Colombo, Srilanka. We offered our services and flew into Sri Lanka for
a few days. Dilurakhshi, our young philanthropist friend, the proprietor of
this vision took good care of us. Dilu is very passionate about her work with
street kids, providing them with food clothing education and above all a loving
Christian home experience. A long standing desire was fulfilled to visit the
mission land of our own Goan Padre Jose Vaz. The Emerald island is blessed with
beautiful greenery and above all, friendly and hospitable people. My last
visit to a Buddhist temple was in Malacca in 2004 and I remember feeling a bit
creepy but this time I had no option but to explore a lot more Buddhist
monuments and edifices which were imposing but for some reason, the whole
ambience,- the vibration created by the chanting, the coloured buntings and
burning of incense and agarbathis put me in some peculiar ‘deja-vu’ kind of a
disposition.(maybe I was a Buddhist in my last birth! J )The return to Dubai was marked by
the sad demise of a good friend uncle Joe who was a kind soul and a vibrant
personality in our friends circle and community.(R.I.P) Another notable person
in my life worth a mention who departed the earth is Mr Fred Ellis ,
coordinator at our Church who I respected and admired as a disciplinarian and a
meticulous organizer.(R.I.P)
My cousin Melwyn and Valerie graced us with their presence
from the wintry North to soak up the Dubai sun. It was one nostalgic ride after
another mostly on the curry express as their taste buds were
craving the Eastern specialties they missed for a year. It was a refreshing and
enjoyable visit.
”Delicious
“mancurado” mangoes and jackfruit tree (below) at maternal villa, Margao.
Saligao Church, Goa
decked up for the feastday
Summertime and we welcomed the taste of Goa with mum and Aunt
Margarida holidaying in Dubai for a month. As usual it was devoted to family
fun and heaps of good food! At this time,the office was in full swing and
Joseph and I had to leave the guests and make a quick visit to Goa and Pune for
site visits and job prospecting. Although we missed Mum’s presence in Goa,
sister in law Ivy and brother Cosme, Luella and Leron took very good care of
us. It was a hectic yet enjoyable visit, my first summer in sizzling hot Goa
after a very long time, so I got to feast on the local summer fruits. A memory
worth revisiting is our trip to the Goa Chitra museum in Benaulim
which is very educative and it brings out the best of my beloved land.
The visit to the “Lord’s ranch” in Pune was a wonderful
experience; - set high up in the mountains , surrounded by forests, clean air
and verdant greens, was a lovely respite from the concrete jungle we live in .
It was a pleasure to collect the little sweet berries- karanda (Carissa
spinarum, the Conkerberry or Bush Plum) and I could eat them sun ripened
straight from the thorny shrubs. This is the first time in years I got to look
up and acknowledge the beauty of the sky for never had I seen a darker sky . I
could literally recognize and count the stars distinctly.
some views of “the Lords’ Ranch” Pune
This year was not a good year for travel which in a way was a
disappointment but was definitely a year of learning. The mind certainly did a
fair bit of travel – in the spiritual realm , learning about the Bible and
studying religions and body/soul/spirit in general ; business;
work…. They say every day is a school day and though I felt like I was in
exile the whole year through mostly confined to the 4 walls of my home office
classroom, I was not alone for Google was my best friend and BBM,
Skype and Whatsapp were the vehicles of instant journeys visiting family
and friends! Missed the days working in offices in the past when
there was always someone around to socialize and chat with. But I am thankful
to a few good friends and family who were always around who more than make up
for this. My brother Felix kept me fattened by providing delicious home cooked
meals from time to time too. It was always a pleasure visiting them and playing
with Jayden and Jeremy. This has been a frugal year personally, considering it
being in the first year of independent employ but has been rich in experience
of every kind, - meeting different kinds of people, visiting prospective
clients, a good peek into other corporates and consultancies etc. Attending
meetings sometimes took us to such corners of Dubai, we had never been before
so a lot of new roads (less taken) discovered and hopefully inroads as well for
future clientele!
As far as creativity is concerned the awareness was always
sharp taking in ideas, reading, baking, trying some creative desserts and the
diary and pen kept well exercised .Conducted two classes of introducing crafts
to children at a school book festival which was again more of a learning how to
contain unruly kids then teaching! A renewed sense of appreciation of the
teaching profession and I silently blessed my own teachers. My nephews Leander
and Leroy made the family proud with their artistic talents; Leander excelling
in his music and writing and Leroy ‘the little Picasso’ winning painting
prizes. Early next year Leander leaves us to pursue his higher studies in the
UK. An occasion to celebrate - Cousin Merle tied the knot but I could not
be a part of her big day in Goa on the 23rd of December. Wish her
well as we welcome Chris into the fold.
All in all, mixed feelings as we cross another milestone ,
not a smooth ride but when bad
things happened specially on the work front we just calmly laid out all the
options (with the help of the ever positive Joseph), and failure
was not one of them…. Panicked a bit (that’s my birth right ! ), but we
never gave up on finding a solution. So each day was lived inside a
classroom which will surely see a successful graduation day,… someday ! J
“The babbling brook would lose its song if the stones were
taken away” !!! J On this positive note I move into the new year…..Wish you all a blessed new year 2014!
God bless you,
Antonio
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