Friendship In The Train - Fr Shekhar Manickam SJ

SIMPLE SHEPHERD SUSAI - Testimony Of A Friend 

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It was May 1993. I was going to Tamilnadu from Ahmedabad for home visit. I had boarded a train in Chennai. Fr Susai Manickam, a seminarian then, was seated opposite to me. Making a wild guess that I could be a religious, he introduced himself and then we got into a conversation that had a natural flow. In that very first meeting itself, to my utter surprise, he opened his heart and shared with me some of the most intimate and deepest aspects of his life journey. From that day till our last meeting in Tarapur on 20th December, 2013, we remained an open book to each other. He was trusting and trustworthy as well. Susai was one of my few closest and irreplaceable friends on earth. Unless he is born again, never will I get a friend that Susai was for me. Susai Was Bethany

Photo: Fr. Shekhar Manickam S.J. 

My Bethany was Wherever Susai was. He was so affable, unassuming, warm and simple that he could win the hearts of people almost instantly. His joyful and friendly nature was the secret behind a big number of friends and acquaintances he had cultivated. The huge crowd that had gathered for his funeral was a testimony to the loving and loveable person that he was.Whenever I needed a break from my routine life I just had to inform Susai about my arrival in his place and he was there ever to welcome me with his proverbial hospitality. Whenever I returned from his place I felt rested and rejuvenated. Susai had grasped and lived out the ever-kinder words of Jesus to his apostles, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while” (Mk 6:31). He would often tell me, “Today we are here and tomorrow we may die. We must work hard and enjoy life as long as God allows us to live.” Not only did he work hard and, enjoy life and its niceties but he made sure that all who came in contact with him did relish life. He was Bethany to countless. What a gentle and fine human he was! After my every visit, as I was leaving his place, he would ask me in his loving characteristic style, “So….Shekhar, when are you coming here next?...Come again…come again here for your rest.” Yes, again and again I did visit him. He was motherly. And a mother he was!

Incarnational Priesthood 
Susai was simplicity personified. It is true that most of those who go through genuine God experience do become naturally simple, plain and unobtrusive. He was a man of God. Doubtless, personally and materially Susai chose to be simple. Approachable. Accommodative. Compassionate. Caring.

When Susai was missioned to start two new parishes namely Borsad and Tarapur, he never thought of building a presbytery but concentrated only on the needs of people. While being the Parish Priest of Bochasan, he set up a new parish in Borsad. He renovated the hostel, built the compound wall, school and the church, and planted hundreds of tree saplings. Without constructing a presbytery he left the place for his studies in the Philippines in the year 2009. Susai studied M.Th., in Jnana Deepa Vidhyapeeth, Pune from 2010 – 2012. After completing his Master’s degree with distinction in missiology, he was assigned to found a new parish at Tarapur. Once, concerned about the inadequate living condition of his room there, I suggested to him that he could think of building a decent residence for priests. He replied that it would be his last work if at all such a need would ever arise. Thus he went on winning the hearts of people in order to build and consolidate the community of believers, cleaned up the campus, built a compound wall and the hostel, and planted trees. In Borsad and Tarapur, though he was hard pressed with many works and obligations, initially he cooked his food using a kerosene stove. His ‘sumptuous’ and only menu was rice, onion and potato. Nothing more. Austerity defined Susai. Simple living revealed his contentment which sprang from his spiritual depth. It was a heart-moving scene to see him cooking his food with a smiling face after a full busy day of travel, physical labour, planning, pastoral activities, etc. Yes, poverty was his way of life. That was Susai, the pioneer and the first parish priest of both Borsad and Tarapur. Susai loved nature. He had green fingers. He planted hundreds of trees. He was a gifted farmer. He created vegetable gardens. He reared birds and animals. The tender child in Susai was at his best when he affectionately held the pets in his hands and talked to them in three languages namely English, Gujarati and Tamil. It was, truly, a captivating sight to be cherished!

People, especially the underprivileged and the ordinary, found an understanding pastor in Susai. A pastor like them and for them! He ate in their houses. He shared life with them. He spent his stipend and savings to sponsor the education of disadvantaged children. He attended to the need of all under his care beginning from children to the elderly. His solidarity with them was unquestionable.

Susai respected and honoured everyone. He was a living model of multifaith dialogue, coopearation and action. Having imbibed the spirit of Vatican Council II, he navigated his course towards the concept of Church as the people of God. Thus, team work was his maxim in building the Church. He related with and befriended people from all walks of life. He did become one of them. Particularly the disadvantaged were close to his heartbeat. He got immersed in the dialogue of life. It was insertion. It was his incarnation into the life situation of people. People were in his heart. He was in the heart of people. He was people’s priest. Rightfully, hence, the people of Tarapur requested His Lordship Rt Rev Bishop Thomas Macwan to let their beloved and revered first parish priest to be buried in their Parish campus. Thankfully, the bishop fulfilled the desire of the beloved flock of Fr Susai. Yes, incarnation even until burial! Fr Susai was, undoubtedly, a

model of incarnational priesthood.

Commitment Par Excellence

Susai promised me that he would attend the Book Release function of Gujarati translation of my English book “On The Wings Of Love”, translated by Fr Raymund Chauhan entitled “Premni Pankhe”, on 9th of March, 2014 at Loyola Hall, Ahmedabad. But he called me on 6th March and said, “Shekhar, I am sorry to

inform you that I won’t be able to attend the function because of some unexpected work in the parish. My best wishes and prayers for the event.” Knowing fully well of his occasional steely determination, I tried my best to change his mind but to no avail. Finally I said to him, “Susai, humanly speaking, I am sad that being my friend you are not going to be there for my function. But, if your mission demands that you cannot come, it’s ok.” He did not come. And he would not come because he was Susai! To him God and His mission first! Family, friends, leisure etc were secondary and that too never at the cost of his mission. Susai was ordained in his native village Thinaikulam, Tamil Nadu, on 5th of May, 1998. After his ordination he got so involved in his mission that his home visit became rare. Whenever I went for home visit I would go to meet his parents. Every time they would ask me, “It has been many years since Susai came home…When is he coming to visit us?” After many tireless attempts of coaxing by some of us from his friendship circle, he reluctantly yielded for occasional home visit. That was how he had welded himself to his mission.

Born on 2nd January, 1968, to fertile land owning parents, Susai knew what hard work was and the abundant fruit it would yield. He was a man of sheer physical hard work. He worked like a bull. The end result was that his hard work not only won the admiration but also was the essential cause of transformation of the heart of many and the places as well. Those of us who know how Borsad and Tarapur campuses were before Susai’s arrival would vouch for the unbelievable change he brought about by his vision and physical hard work. Before dying of heart failure while playing along with his parish youth in a series of victorious volley ball match in neighbouring Nar village around 07.30 PM on 16th March, 2014, he had worked the whole day in the hot sun pulling down an old concrete water tank. A bull he was! A labourer he was! A priest he was! Susai had naturally inherited and lived by a farmer’s spirituality: `Do your best and leave the rest in the hands of God.’ He would discuss with me his plans and ideas. Then he would add, “Right now I don’t have money for all these plans but God will provide”. It was his firm faith and he professed it. And God did provide! He would enjoy relating to me how God had supplied in an astonishing way whatever needed for the mission. He faithfully expressed his gratitude to all the benefactors however big or small, well-wishers and collaborators. He wanted to proclaim joyfully his personal experience of God’s providence. Hence, he got the white cloth in front of the altar embroidered with these words: “God Will Provide”.

Susai was a born sportsman. He showcased his brilliance of various games on the sportsfield. He not only trained children and youth in various games and sports but also he played with them. I can never forget the numberless and enjoyable basketball games we played together during the days of theology studies. On the sportsfield he was both a thorough gentle man and a fighter. He had masterfully blended these qualities and applied them in daily life situation too. He was bold and adventurous. Once, during the peak of monsoon, he travelled on motorbike from Bochasan to Tamilnadu. It was a thrill listening to his experience of this historic trip. A fighter he was, doubtless! He would face every obstacle that came along his path. No one and nothing could stop him from completing his tasks. Focused and dedicated he was! Susai, the fighter too was deeply human.

Susai did go through some of the most difficult and painful moments in his life. A call to me from him around 08.00 in the morning normally meant that he had spent a disturbed night. Such calls were rare, mercifully! His cracked and deep voice from the other end indicated that steel man Susai was throbbing on the still burning embers at his deepest inner sanctuary. He was crushed only when he was misunderstood by the same persons for whom his sole aim was to do good or his own trusted persons turned against him and chose to accuse him. Susai was pained. He was too good a human, too tender, too soft to face the wilfulness of ‘his own’. His nobility, therefore, was his weakness before the crafty! Hence Susai fumbled helplessly for words to express the incomprehensibility of betrayal and false accusation by “his own `trusted’ persons”. At the end of the sharing, after a poignant pause Susai would say, “No problem, Shekhar. I have learnt a lesson from this experience too. Now I understand how the world is!” And he would spring up with new vitality and vision. He was admirably resilient. He was back again with his usual busy life. Nothing could, therefore, defeat him. Susai was, thus, a force to reckon with. He was commitment enfleshed!.

Silent Worker

If Susai were to be alive, would he ever approve an article on him? He would never permit me to do so because he always preferred the background. He detested the limelight. After his death, while going through his files and correspondence I was surprised to note the number of hours and energy he might have spent for the development of the mission and the people entrusted to him. My eyes welled up. All this he did quietly and peacefully without expecting anything in return including publicity. Like mother earth. Like God. He was a silent worker. He consciously and decidedly shunned publicity. Then why did I write this article on Fr. Susai?

Rev. Fr. Walter D’Souza, the Parish Priest, the parishioners of Tarapur, Rev. Frs. Antony and Rajkumar and, I gathered around Fr Susai’s grave soon after mass and prayed there on the 2nd of January, 2015, the birth anniversary of Susai. We sang “Happy Birth day dear Fr Susai”. At that time the youth group requested me to write an article on Fr Susai for a booklet that they were planning to bring out in his memory. I readily agreed. May Susai pardon me! This is my tribute and testimony to my friend Susai. The silent shepherd Susai continues speaking through the extraordinary life that he lived. The simple shepherd Susai lives on in the hearts of people. 

As a remembrance of Fr Susai Manickam I placed a rosary on the folded hands of his dead body. It is on my table. Every morning I touch it and say, “Susai, pray for me.” 

ગુજરાતીમાં વાંચવા માટે નીચે આપેલ લીનક ઉપર ક્લિક કરશો 

સાદા, સરળ ઇન્સાન અને  એટલે ફાધર સુસાઇ 

Sadhana Sadan 

Fr Shekhar Manickam SJ

Sughad

Gandhinagar – Dt

Gujarat – I N D I A

25-02-2015