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Goans from Pakistan come to pay homage NT Staff Reporter Panaji Dec 3: The feast high mass today of St Francis Xavier at Old Goa had just got over. The congregation had begun to disperse. That’s when a group of pilgrims gathered near the steps to the altar, posed for photographs and then, spontaneously burst into song, Sam Franciscu Xaviera, Vhodda Kunvra, Rat dis amchea mogan lastelea, Besanv ghal Saiba... One of the oldest Konkani hymns to St Francis Xavier. Nothing unusual about pilgrims singing a traditional Konkani hymn to Goemcho Saib on his feast day. Except that all these pilgrims were from Pakistan, of Goan origin. They are the first batch of 180 from a larger group of 355 who will come home to the motherland on this pilgrimage. Standing there at the altar, they sang the old hymn with gusto and devotion, in fluent Konkani. In the end, one man was so overcome with emotion, he wept. He is 52-year old Mr Francis Fonseca. Like most of the pilgrims, Mr Francis is from Karachi. His forefathers hailed from Moira but now he lives in a guesthouse at Anjuna. Mr Francis has come alone this time, his third trip to Goa. “I am very emotional. And I am very happy to be in Goa,” he said. Mr Brian D’Souza (23), a Union Bank of Pakistan executive, knows only a bit of Konkani. Not his fault. Even his mother was born in Karachi. “Still, its like homecoming. This is our people, our community,” he says. He will come again next year. Mr Marshall Fernandes has come with his wife, three children and in-laws. But Ms Bertha Silveira has come only with her son, Nigel (23). Her husband could not make it. Though born in Pakistan, she speaks Konkani. Her father was from Arpora, Bardez and now, she is living with relatives in Aldona. Like her, Mr Clifford Fernandes and his wife, Ms Victoria are living with relatives in Calangute. Back home in Pakistan, they meet at the Karachi Goans Association to hold on to their Goan-ness. They never had any problems coming to India. Thanks to the Exposition, with their specially-made Exposition badges, the pilgrims from about seven parishes of Karachi, were never hassled by the authorities. Hardly had the pilgrims from Pakistan finished clicking pictures near the altar when pilgrims from Rajasthan joined them for pictures together. “Come, come. Pakistan and Rajasthan are just across the border,” someone shouted. The Rajasthan group of ten pilgrims, is from the Ajmer-Jaipur diocese and include Fr John Carvalho and Fr Martin Anto. Also waiting for pictures were pilgrims from the Jhorabahal Catholic Church from Rourkela diocese, Orissa, led by Fr Benny Peter from Kerala. Mr S Lakra, Mr N Lakra and Mr B Kissan are only three from a group of 66 pilgrims, all of whom have come for the first time. And so they will come, time after time, and when they go back, hopefully, they will take with them, the love and peace they felt from being with the saint in his final resting place, Goa.