The Catholic Roce Ceremony

Hi All,

        This post is on Roce Function which is pre-marriage function in Christian Community . I am writing this post to avoid any repetitive explanation for Roce function as I have experienced :D :D .  I had to attend a Roce and Marriage function of my cousin brother, apart of my planing for the function, I was more worried about the question on the Roce function asked by friends and colleagues. Hope this blog will be helpful.

Roce is a pre-wedding ceremony. It will be a day ahead or couple of day ahead of wedding day . Both Bride and Groom will have this ceremony in their respective house (most likely). Now a days, due to compactness in the residence area , the function is also done in hall or open ground. Roce function will having oil and coconut milk applied over Groom and Bride. Roce function also signifies the love of Parents and close family members towards Bride/Groom .

On the day of the Roce, the families of the Groom/Bride offer a mass to the departed souls of their respective families, to respect the departed souls and their contribution for the family.

Arrangements : Neighbours/Relatives would come home for the help . Gentlemen will help to put up tents (Matav) and Ladies will help in Kitchen .

The guests who come for the function are warmly welcomed by the hosts "Yezman" and "Yezmani| at the main entrance of Matav greeting with 'paan-pod udak ailem' (meaning - 'receive this plate of Areca nut , betal leaves , etc., and a  pot of water'). The guest acknowledge the welcome with reply : 'Dev Borem Korun, yezmanya" (May God bless you) and take the paan-pod .

The Groom is accompanied by the best man (Dhedo) and similarly the Bride will be accompanied by bridesmaid. The best man and bridesmaid are younger brothers/sisters , in case of no brothers/sisters, young cousins can accompany .

Roce function will start with "Vojem", here the Society (Wado people and Relatives) will bring the things for Roce dinner like Goat, Pig, Vegetables and all . This was followed, that is Vojem was cooked and served for dinner but nowadays this custom is seldom .

Oil and Coconut Milk

Roce function will have anointing of oil and application of pure coconut milk on Bride and Groom . The bath after the roce symbolized his/her last bath that the bride or the groom will be taking in their bachelorhood/spinsterhood . Roce function will be usually held in the evening.

Yezmani appling Roce on Groom

First the Father and Mother (Yezman and Yezmani), will dip thumb in the oil and make a sign of the cross on the forehead of Groom, followed by each of the dhedo sitting beside him. These actions will be commenced with the singing of  'VOVIYOS' . Voiyos are expressed with sentiments and gave vent to the feelings of the people about the marriage partners and their families , primarily invoking blessing of God . Voviyos are songs sung by women mainly . The procedure is that one of the women will sing 'vove' and then rest will repeat the vove. It will be fun to listen :D.

Coconut milk on Roce Ceremony

The Yezman/Yezmani will dip and take the oil in the spoon and drops oil in each of his ears and then apply the oil  on his head and rubs oil into his hair. After this, they scoop roce from the bowl and pours roce on his face, hands and even legs and rub it gently. This culture will be done to the dhedos as well. This will be continued by close relatives and later by guests present.After the roce ceremony, the best man take the Groom by hand and lead to the bathing place.

After all the Prayers, the stage is replaced by Big Dance floor, DJ/Country Band and Open bar.

During old days, Food was offered in Banana leaves with Rice, mutton curry cooked with coconut milk. Today's scenario is no where near to the old ceremony . Now, there will be two counters with smartly dressed waiters serving PCM (Pork,Chicken and Mutton) .

As the trend is changing in few families :D , now along with Oil and Coconut milk (Culture) we have Eggs, Rotten tomatoes, Chilled milk, curd and beer which will be applied on Bride and Groom . This fancy is entertained by only few. Hope at-least Oil and Coconut milk will be followed till the end :) . Note: As per culture only Oil and Coconut milk has to be applied .

According to the Tradition, the couple is not allowed to sit together and even meet each other after the Roce. They are supposed to meet only at the nuptials.

Once the groom and best man have returned, a short prayer is said for the grrom , his family, and for the food which is to be served etc., and then the dinner is served .

To conclude the ceremony, usually the traditional Latin song 'Laudate' is sung.

Acknowledgement :
Please comment , if any thing I have missed or added wrong content as per culture of Roce .
Since, I have attended few Roce ceremony, I will not have all the knowledge of Roce followed from older days. Please enlighten me on this, if any .
Thanks for Reading :) .

Reference :

http://www.daijiworld.com/chan/exclusive_arch.asp?ex_id=1123

http://www.mangalorewedding.com/roce.php

Dog's and Cat's Myth

I had watched this Video : Cat Steals Dog's Bed, very funny video in fact. But, I remember that 'Cats and Dogs' were told as rivals when I was young. Then I started a small research.

 Below are the important points from the research:
* Cats and Dogs, If introduced at a early stage, can get along relatively well.
* Ancestor of these species are arch rivals like Tiger and Hyenas.
* The rivalry between Dogs and Cats, is because of the different Species . Dog consider themselves as stronger than cat and try to chase the cat.
* When Cat shows strength, Dogs get confused and does not harm cat.
You might have observed the above behaviors .
Source: Why are cats and dogs considered as rivals? 

It is a strange truth that we follow these myths , What I learnt from the above action is that :
* We assume things (myths) and share the false news.
* TIME is an important factor. TIME changes everything *.
* In older days, there was either a Dog or Cat pet in a house ,and people believed this myth. They were afraid of keeping both pets.
* When they were bought up together, the truth was realized. Dogs and Cats are not rivals from congenital , but can be good friends if bought up under good environment.

Finally, I was happy to realize the Truth and more knowledge on the subject.
------------------------
Coming to our responsibility :

Now is the season of election , we have around us all the stories (Truth,False, Minute Made :D ).
It is our responsibility that whether we want to know the myth or the real fact.

So, Peps understand the fact , and also the impact it has on today's world. Because Past is gone,but we can have a control over present and future. If Past makes us to suffer more, then it is better to let go.



Let us make a better place for all ♥

Please Vote for India!!

Vote for the right candidate!

Jai Hind!!






Regards,
Prashanth M

Go Goa!! Will Go Again :)

On Friday 21^st Feb 2014, we had planned to go to Goa for a Bike Trip, but due to unavailability of Bikes we had to skip the plan (Many Bikes were not in Proper condition for Long Bike Trip), we thought of visiting other places nearby Hubli, but fortunately none were good for the season. Fortunately?, Because I wanted to go to Goa :) . Later, we had made our mind that we will be going to Goa at any cost either by Vehicle or by any Public Transport (Bus/Train).

1.Waiting for the Train in Hubli Railway Station

Finally, we decided to leave Hubli the same night by Train, so we (13 members from Sankalp) were energized to travel to Goa.  For me, it was the first time in Goa so I was super excited J . For Train , we had less time to book sleeper as it was a quick plan,so we made mental preparation for General seat. As usual, Train was delayed by 10 mins and General Bogie was crowded. Fortunately, with our Train traveler Experts like Rakesh TR and Dayanand Sagar we managed to get seats.

2.Sleep Tight in General Seat :D

But it was difficult to be comfortable as there was suffocation due to the large crowd and we had few strange guests who wore bad perfume of Alcohol and Urine in their body and Pant. Then , our rescue boy  ‘Vishwas’ who was sleeping with safe and sound in the upper seat of a train suddenly jumped and behaved as a policemen to get rid of the bad Perfume guy and undoubtedly he was successful.

3.Goa :) 

We arrived in Goa around 6.30am , the place of arrival was Madgaon. But the Destination in Goa was Calangute , Baga Beach. So, we hired a Winger Vehicle through a broker. As we were waiting for the Winger to show up, Broker disappointed us as there were no Winger ready at that time. In Goa, as soon as you arrive you will be surrounded by 3 or more Brokers who will manage to get you all sorts of Vehicle from Activa to Imported Vehicles. As, we were waiting for the bus, the other broker came and promised as the first one. We agreed and we were waiting for the second broker's Vehicle . Here comes the twist, now the first vehicle guy showed up with Winger and there was no sight of second vehicle also. So here we are, with first Vehicle who denied initially and with a Broker who promised a vehicle in 15mins. Here, we became selfish and wanted to reach destination as soon as possible so we choose the first vehicle . Ha-ha ,then the drama started , there was initial war of words between two brokers and then the second broker was trying to get us out of  the first vehicle. Shrinivas our hero of the trip, who had just come after relaxing :)  missed the initial drama , he was the one who had made the agreement with second broker . As he was not present he did not know about the first/second vehicle . As he sat in the vehicle in which we were seated already ,to our surprise the second broker got serious and he pulled Shrinivas out of the car and started behaving aggressively. This was the time for our entry, we came for his rescue and also had heated discussion with the second broker . Finally, Boss of second vehicle came and calmed the broker and we left the railway station in the first vehicle.

The Journey from Madgaon to Calangute was about 90mins, Sushanth (Lover boy) had been to Goa multiple times and he knew a Home for rent in Calangute. So we reached to Calangute around 9:15am and the Guest house was named “Kanta”, not sure why. Thanks to Sushanth we did not wander more places for Room. Since we were 13 members we bought 4 rooms for 1,100 rs each (3+3+3+4 members/room). Rooms were decent with TV ,Fridge and Spacious.

4.Bike Trip

We freshened up quickly and set to roam Goa . We left room at 10.30am and had breakfast in nearby Hotels. The cost for Food is high in Goa compared to Manglore/Hubli. We all had a decent breakfast. The next task was to get a Vehicle for our travel  in the city. We bought 5 Activa for 600rs each and 2 FZ bike for 800rs each for 2 days and 1 night .  I was riding FZ alone as we were an odd numbered gang.

5.Dona Paul 

8.Panjim Church

Our first destination was Dona Paula,Panjim and our bike trip started. to this destination. The distance was about 25 Km from Calangute to  Dona Paul. Dona Paula is a former village and tourist destination . It is the beautiful and calm place to visit, lots of Tourist were also present. We stayed here for about 30mins and headed towards Miramar which was at a short distance of about 4Km from Dona Paul. Unlike other beach in Goa, Miramar attracted only few tourists and beach was almost empty . Next we visited Panjim church “Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church” , which was so beautiful structure. And it is one of the oldest churches in Goa, existing from the year 1540. Here we concluded the first half of the day.

6.Miramar Beach

7.Sand Sculpt near Miramar Beach

 Lunch Time!!! J We were exhausted and divided our 13 member Team to 2 Teams . That was Veg and Non-Veg. Veg Team was having higher strength of about 8 members. This is because, couple of our members don’t eat non veg on Saturday’s. As there were no Non Veg hotels apart from Lounge, so we all decided to go to Veg Restaurant . We found Kamath Hotel nearby Panjim church. We had a good lunch and took a few minutes of rest with fresh breeze in front of the church, which had bench sitting.

Next, was Vagatar Beach J, This would make all boys happy. Yes, finally we found the beach where a lot of expected tourist were present. Ahh J we enjoyed this a lot. Few of our members (Praveen,Dayanand,Swapneel) got down onto the beach. Others enjoyed sight seeing. Overall it was lot of fun. Goa follows different culture compared to India and it was all new to me to see live J . Since we didn’t prepare to get into beach earlier , most of us thought of going to Baga beach and getting wet there, I mean getting down onto beach. So, after spending 1 hour on this beach, we gave our eyes rest. I and Vishwass had a beer here. J Since we had to ride , we kept our temptation for the night.

9.Arpora Market

Baga Beach was more like a Puttur Jatre (Puttur is my place and Jatre means market), It was filled with Tourist and Localities for about 3 Km wide. We finally got into the water, it was a good feeling. We also played volleyball with strangers which involved fun from both sides. We all  enjoyed by jumping against the wave in beach, felt like freedom jump :P . Finally before the sun would set, we decided to freshen up for the night. The Night was Beautiful , which is what we had heard about Goa J. And Night is Young too :P.

After a Quick shower in the room , we all set to go to Arpora Market. As other places, Arpora was filled with crowd. There were lot of shops which mainly had Handmade Garments and Idols. There were few shops owned by Foreigners also. I believe there was collaboration between Foreigners and Localities. Crowded Market with concert was not a bad place to spend the evening/night, but we had different plans. We roamed the entire  market, and decided to have a dinner together before getting split, as members had different plans.

We had dinner at Local hotel, and thank to God, the hotel service was good and fast. Here we had two team here, unlike during lunch. We had good dinner here and as expected the cost for the dinner was very high.

10.Discussion in Baga Beach

After dinner, few of us went to market again, few went to beach and others went to Pub. And yes, I was in the team who went  for Pub. Pub was local and lower than expectation. Along with me , Sushanth, Dayanand,Vishwass and Swapneel were there. But Swapneel left early due to some reason. I don’t remember. We four danced and drank Vodka (I and Vishwass) with the beat. We were dancing in the Pub from 10pm to 1am J. It was good experience. I didn't enjoy Pub environment much but with friends any place would be the wonders of the world. Here we were , done with Pub .

The other teams continued to be in there respective places, i.e. Beach and Market. We four planned to go to the Beach with full bottle of Green Apple Vodka. Vodka was chosen as majority voted it . In beach , there were many shacks which were playing good music. We were dancing in Beach for that same beat. We met other  Sankalp team - ISD ,they had been to be Goa also for their Team Outing. We had a little fun together and departed for respective departments. With dance and talk in the beach, the Vodka got over with four members. We all were full high, when we reached room at 3.30am. Had a quick tight sleep .

11.Aguada Fort

 Next Day, Sunday J I woke up at 9.30am. We checked out our room and kept all the luggage's in the Owners shop. We had to cover few more places. Actually ,we did not have a correct plan of when to go back to Hubli. Initial plan was to leave Goa before 4pm, but later it didn’t happen. We had our breakfast in Sagar Hotel,Calangute.Breakfast was delicious .

12.Calangute Beach

Our first destination for the last day in Goa was Aguada Fort. Aguada Fort was constructed in 1613 to guard against Dutch and the Marathas. Aguada Fort is huge and the construction needs applause. I personally enjoyed the Fort. Next we had been to Calangute beach adjacent to Baga beach. Had some relaxation for the body but not the eyeJ.  After spending almost an hour we left to Calangute to have lunch in Sagar Hotel. In the mean time, I , Avinash and Swapneel bought 2 Liquor , as Liquor cost was cheap here. I bought Teachers and Black Dog. After having lunch , we re-collected the Luggage’s and gave back the rented bike .

We planned of going to Madgaon for Kart racing, which was about 1hour journey from Calangute. We hired Qualis and set to go to Madgaon. After an Hour we reached Go-Karting club. As time was 4.30pm,we had to do this quickly and get back to hubli via bus/train. Train choice was eliminated as we did not have sleeper  tickets and we didn’t wanted to travel in general seat as before.

 A go-kart is a small four-wheeled vehicle, we had to pay 250rs for 10laps. And one Lap was around 700meters.We all enjoyed it very much. It was a good experience. Vishwas was star player of the evening as he tried to jump his Kart of the road but fortunately he was not successful J. We finished Go-Karting at 6.30pm and headed towards the Madgaon bus stop with the same Qaulis.

We were lucky to catch the bus ,which was from Madgaon to Hubli at 7.30pm. It would reach Hubli around 1am. And we did not have any other choice, so we choose to go with this bus. We had to cross Goa – Karnataka check post where the checking was done. Since we had Permit, we informed Police about taking liquor legally, but the officer charged 100rs per person. And we preached anti-corruption as we did not want to give bribe. We had a heated argument with Police, finally we gave up by giving 100rs each else they would take the bottle which would cost 1000rs each. But later, we got to know that it was Orissa permit and there is no legal permission to get Liquor from Goa to Karnataka. We also had debate on this internally and we got to know that it was mistake from both the sides. Getting liquor was our mistake and asking for bribe was their mistake.

Finally we had a stop in Ankola, where we set to have dinner. I am not sure , whether we were so Hungry or what, but the Non-Veg items were so tasty. We had lot of food and with our tummy fully loaded we went back to bus.

And finally we reached our Home Hubli at 1am.

It was an Amazing Trip, I enjoyed each and every moment of it. There is lot of learning you get when you travel to new place . Thanks to all 12 awesome friends for making this trip memorable J

Love to all J

Prashanth M