Coorilos Thirumeni from Bombay:
I am sure many others would have lots of
other things to say about
Kochu Thirumeni regarding other areas, this note depicts "My Kochu
Thirumeni" from the way I know him. May this note be a placeholder
for many other such notes on this and other persons in our Church.
We lovingly called him Kochu Thirumeni, as we called our beloved Theophilos
Thirumeni as Valiya Thirumeni. Now that master
Ambassador of our Church, Mar Theophilos, is enjoying eternal rest,
interceding to the Almighty for feeble folk like us, yet we
continued to call Mar Coorilos as Kochu Thirumeni. When I first saw
him about a decade ago, his beard was all black, now when I saw
him in NY last year, it had turned gray - but that was all that I
could discern about him becoming older - he was as young as ever.
Neither his voice nor his charisma, that held sway over people like
me for years now, had diminished a wee bit - our beloved Kochu
Thirumeni.
Kochu Thirumeni, I feel, got his smile from his mentor, Mar
Theophilos. The other day I saw a photo of Valiya Thirumeni smiling
and I could not help feeling " When you see such a bright smile, how
can you but not smile back?" Yes, that smile and laughter of Valiya
Thirumeni was contagious, and that heavenly smile is inherited by
Kochu Thirumeni.
By the time I got close to the Church and was involved in the
Church activities, age was catching up with Valiya Thirumeni, and
hence the smile that I spoke of about Valiya Thirumeni in the last
para was something from distant memory for me, but I had the good
fortune of being close to Kochu Thirumeni. I remember Valiya
Thirumeni calling Mar Coorilos once "my right hand". Truly it was
divine providence that a worthy successor could be found in Mar
Coorilos for handling the complex matters of a diocese like Mumbai.
I wondered often how Kochu Thirumeni remembers names. He meets
people like me day in and day out, yet I feel proud when sometimes I
hear him call me by name. (I am sure there were occasions he would
have forgotten, but he never lets people know that if he can help it)
I used to attend Sandhya namaskaram many times(My house in Vashi is
close to the Aramana), and later, after the Namaskaram, we would
all often have occasion to meet and talk with Thirumeni. I would try
and stay there for some more time, if I saw there was a chance of
spending time with Thirumeni more. Thirumeni would often oblige and
I would have a great time often asking questions and clearing my
(often silly) doubts. Thirumeni would very patiently hear me out and
explain things to me in the right perspective.
After Sandhya Namaskaram, Coorilos Thirumeni would often take a
walk to the nearby areas.(This is another habit, I believe Thirumeni
got from Valiya Thirumeni). This is another good time, I found out,
to be with him and I would never miss an oppurtunity to go along
with him while I was there.
Thirumeni, like Valiya Thirumeni, is a great friend of the
students. He loves to be amidst the youth, as the youth love to be
with him. I remember one glorious time in an Annual MGOCSM
Conference in Vashi, when the youth spent hours well past midnight
sitting in a circle outside the Church after dinner with Thirumeni,
asking questions and hearing Thirumeni out to their heart's content.
(This meeting, was of course, unplanned!!)
Sometimes there were occasions when I stayed over at the Aramana,
and I would see the light in Thirumeni's room till very late at
night. He is a very busy person with people meeting him\calling him
till very late, even when he had to leave early at dawn for another
place.
Even when his physical health is not upto it, Kochu Thirumeni would
never send a person who came to meet him away without hearing him
out. I remember once Thirumeni was just recovering from Malaria and
there were people coming to meet him, and the people at the Aramana
had to be a bit strict and turn them away since they knew
Thirumeni, and were concerned about his health.
Thirumeni had a scooter accident long back and even now he has pain
and discomfort in his leg (He is advised rest and is supposed to
take some medication and rest every July-August or so, but I am sure
he never finds much time for that). I do not know much about the
accident, but I have heard people quote Thirumeni regarding this
accident " I was almost dead, but God saved me and has brought me
out from that situation".
I understand that Coorilos Thirumeni is working closely with Philip
Rambachan in various projects including the rebuilding of villages
in Gujarat and the Home for the Children of Leprosy affected
brethren in Dehu Road, Pune. His Grace is also actively working on
building the "Gregorian Community" in Roha (some distance from
Mumbai) on the basis of the Community in Thaizai in France.
Regards,
Mathew
Austin, TX
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/3929
Kochu Thirumeni regarding other areas, this note depicts "My Kochu
Thirumeni" from the way I know him. May this note be a placeholder
for many other such notes on this and other persons in our Church.
We lovingly called him Kochu Thirumeni, as we called our beloved Theophilos
Thirumeni as Valiya Thirumeni. Now that master
Ambassador of our Church, Mar Theophilos, is enjoying eternal rest,
interceding to the Almighty for feeble folk like us, yet we
continued to call Mar Coorilos as Kochu Thirumeni. When I first saw
him about a decade ago, his beard was all black, now when I saw
him in NY last year, it had turned gray - but that was all that I
could discern about him becoming older - he was as young as ever.
Neither his voice nor his charisma, that held sway over people like
me for years now, had diminished a wee bit - our beloved Kochu
Thirumeni.
Kochu Thirumeni, I feel, got his smile from his mentor, Mar
Theophilos. The other day I saw a photo of Valiya Thirumeni smiling
and I could not help feeling " When you see such a bright smile, how
can you but not smile back?" Yes, that smile and laughter of Valiya
Thirumeni was contagious, and that heavenly smile is inherited by
Kochu Thirumeni.
By the time I got close to the Church and was involved in the
Church activities, age was catching up with Valiya Thirumeni, and
hence the smile that I spoke of about Valiya Thirumeni in the last
para was something from distant memory for me, but I had the good
fortune of being close to Kochu Thirumeni. I remember Valiya
Thirumeni calling Mar Coorilos once "my right hand". Truly it was
divine providence that a worthy successor could be found in Mar
Coorilos for handling the complex matters of a diocese like Mumbai.
I wondered often how Kochu Thirumeni remembers names. He meets
people like me day in and day out, yet I feel proud when sometimes I
hear him call me by name. (I am sure there were occasions he would
have forgotten, but he never lets people know that if he can help it)
I used to attend Sandhya namaskaram many times(My house in Vashi is
close to the Aramana), and later, after the Namaskaram, we would
all often have occasion to meet and talk with Thirumeni. I would try
and stay there for some more time, if I saw there was a chance of
spending time with Thirumeni more. Thirumeni would often oblige and
I would have a great time often asking questions and clearing my
(often silly) doubts. Thirumeni would very patiently hear me out and
explain things to me in the right perspective.
After Sandhya Namaskaram, Coorilos Thirumeni would often take a
walk to the nearby areas.(This is another habit, I believe Thirumeni
got from Valiya Thirumeni). This is another good time, I found out,
to be with him and I would never miss an oppurtunity to go along
with him while I was there.
Thirumeni, like Valiya Thirumeni, is a great friend of the
students. He loves to be amidst the youth, as the youth love to be
with him. I remember one glorious time in an Annual MGOCSM
Conference in Vashi, when the youth spent hours well past midnight
sitting in a circle outside the Church after dinner with Thirumeni,
asking questions and hearing Thirumeni out to their heart's content.
(This meeting, was of course, unplanned!!)
Sometimes there were occasions when I stayed over at the Aramana,
and I would see the light in Thirumeni's room till very late at
night. He is a very busy person with people meeting him\calling him
till very late, even when he had to leave early at dawn for another
place.
Even when his physical health is not upto it, Kochu Thirumeni would
never send a person who came to meet him away without hearing him
out. I remember once Thirumeni was just recovering from Malaria and
there were people coming to meet him, and the people at the Aramana
had to be a bit strict and turn them away since they knew
Thirumeni, and were concerned about his health.
Thirumeni had a scooter accident long back and even now he has pain
and discomfort in his leg (He is advised rest and is supposed to
take some medication and rest every July-August or so, but I am sure
he never finds much time for that). I do not know much about the
accident, but I have heard people quote Thirumeni regarding this
accident " I was almost dead, but God saved me and has brought me
out from that situation".
I understand that Coorilos Thirumeni is working closely with Philip
Rambachan in various projects including the rebuilding of villages
in Gujarat and the Home for the Children of Leprosy affected
brethren in Dehu Road, Pune. His Grace is also actively working on
building the "Gregorian Community" in Roha (some distance from
Mumbai) on the basis of the Community in Thaizai in France.
Regards,
Mathew
Austin, TX
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/3929
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