Remembering Vijayan Pavamani

Just after receiving an SMS that Rev. Vijayan Pavamani was dead, I typed his name in Google and nine pages of entries came out. That is how well he was known – in the world of substance abuse, HIV&AIDS, street children and the many destitute of Kolkata who called him father. I left Kolkata for reasons of studies and employment in 1992 and yet till the last month, every Sunday I was ever in Kolkata, I worshipped in his church and if he was in church and saw me, he would call me to the pulpit to speak or give a word of greeting. He would give a highly flattering introduction alluding to my many supposed accomplishments. He would also hype up the very limited role I played in his ministry when I worked with him in 1990. Afterwards, he would always ask about my family. He had a right to perhaps more than any one else – he was among those who married me , he baptized my wife when she wanted adult baptism , he officiated at my engagement , his wife did the church decorations , one of his daughters was the bridesmaid --- and in the social sector of which I am now a part for the last 15 years , it was Rev. Vijayan Pavamani who gave my first break. It is hard to think of such a man as dead.

It was 1989 and I was leaving the Indian Air Force after close to six years of service with an uncertain future. I knew that the Lord wanted me to work in the social sector and yet with the contours and the geography unclear , it was a shaky step of faith. In those days it seems I was far closer to the Lord than I am today and wanted God alone to sort out these issues and refrained from talking about these things with others. But Vijayan got to know some how and offered us a job. With little funding at that time to accommodate me and my wife , he none the less took us in and gave us a kind of security that we still remember with gratitude. More importantly , he was the one who provided a platform for us to eventually launch ourselves , though eventually when we did choose to leave, he let us go with a lot of regret.

It is not easy for those coming from non Christian people like me to organize church weddings. Our families are often confused and uncertain of the rituals and formalities. In Kolkata there were a few whom God used to help us. Some friends from the Circular Road Baptist Chapel where I then worshipped , the EU & EGF family in Kolkata, especially and Rev. Vijayan and his family. It was often difficult to define our relationship to Vijayan – was he our boss, our pastor or a family friend – or all of these. I remember the time just before our wedding riding with him and speculating about where we would live after the marriage. A Godly woman was keeping my fiancée , who was from Philippines and had no home in India for some time but we needed to find a place to stay and fast and the options on my limited budget were not much.

After listening to this litany for a while, Vijayan stopped the car, looked at me and said that I should stop worrying because he had an idea. Deadly serious , he looked at me and said that he lived in a 3 bed room house and his four daughters occupied two of them. He said that it was a simple matter for all 4 girls to share one bed room with bunk beds or some thing , free up one bed room which we could use for as long as he liked. The problem solved as per his thinking, he started the car and moved on switching the conversation to a new topic. Though it never came to that and the Lord eventually provided other accommodation , the gesture stayed with us for years , though we still wonder how the action would have been taken by his twin daughters who were proposed to be evacuated to accommodate us!

Because of the kind of work he did with those involved with substance abuse and street children and destitute and subsequently with those living with HIV& AIDS he kept interesting company with people whom main stream society would perhaps call quirky. But he was a great risk taker and his home , offices and most importantly his heart was always open to the underdogs of society. At least on one occasion that I know of and I am sure that there are many other occasions that I don’t , he got into trouble with the law because he placed people and their concerns above systems and procedures. But as far as I know he was never any less open and caring because of his mis adventures. Vijayan had his frailties like any one else but in all my life I am yet to meet a man with a heart as big his. Rev . Vijayan Pavamai has to be with his maker and yet this side of heaven , he leaves behind blessed memories in the many lives whom he touched and redeemed for God.