Saturday Evening Post
Making of the Encyclopaedia
From the Horse’s own Mouth
George Menachery
Eighteen
I stayed in that room for four or five days and utilized my time to visit the New York Public Library. The two marble lions in front of it attracted me much; also the beautiful systems in the reference room. There was an half hour film shown every half hour in a cosy little room on the history of the Library which was very enjoyable. Whether I attended all these on my first visit or on a later trip I cannot say. The boat trip to the Statue of Liberty about which I had heard much and the climb up the statue will always remain in my memory. The obelisk like Washington Monument fascinated me for more than one reason. But I must be careful to prevent this narrative from slipping into a travelogue. May be I should write a book on my travels in the US and the other thirty odd countries I have visited. Some articles I have written in various periodicals on my experiences in those countries giving importance to the attractions and explaining how I could travel in Europe, especially, on $5 and $10 a day! But let that go for the moment. It was to Washington DC that I wanted to go as Washington was the HQ of the USCC and as I mentioned earlier I had a very good recommendation letter to its General Secretary Msgr. Rauch from the Cardinal. So I had purchased a ticket from New York to that city though I got down in Philadelphia and Baltimore on the way. At Washington D. C. I directly went to the United States Catholic Council. But I was told that all important persons in the office, including Msgr. (later Bishop) Rauch were in Atlanta, Georgia where the Bishops’ Conference was taking place. But the sole official left at Washington promised me to publish a detailed account of the Encyclopaedia project after discussing with Msgr. Rauch the General Secretary. And next when I visited Washington he gave me a copy of the USCC Bulletin where the Encyclopaedia was featured prominently.
The United States Catholic Council Bishops’ Conference at Atlanta would go on for a week or so. I thought it would be a good opportunity to give an exposure to the Encyclopaedia if I could go there and meet Msgr. Rauch for whom I had a very good letter from Cardinal Parecattil. The price of a flight ticket from New York to Atlanta was rather high, and I did not know how I could reach Atlanta before the Conference closed. Then I saw an advertisement which offered a cheap ticket to Atlanta at just US$ 100. The only disadvantage was that the flight was at midnight. But for an Indian this is no problem at all. I took that flight and landed in Atlanta very early in the morning when nothing was stirring. But as the sun rose I found a taxicab. I asked the driver to take me to the Sheraton Hotel where the Bishops’ Conference was going on. When I reached the hotel the meter read one dollar and fifty cents only. On the way the driver had asked me why I am going to the Sheraton. Probably he guessed, and rightly so, that my type could not afford that. When he knew that I was a Catholic he was very happy because he was also a Catholic. And in the South I had read Catholics are not generally welcome, I had read stories of Catholics even being lynched there, and something about the proceedings of the Ku Klux Kan. When I gave the driver two dollars (including a tip of fifty cents) he refused to accept the money and said that the trip was free for a fellow Catholic. But I put the money into his pocket and thanked him for his goodwill.
No comments:
Post a Comment