This is a good one. So good, it is too good to be true. But it is.<\/p>\n
Manu and Teena got married Saturday (August 7, 2010) at St. John\u2019s in Newark, surrounded by friends who came up from Princeton, where Manu is working on a Ph.D. in medical-related engineering, and Johns Hopkins, where Teena is doing the same.<\/p>\n
But some only came up from the church basement, where just hours before they worked the daily soup kitchen line.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe changed from our work aprons into tuxedos,\u201d said Vincent Smith, the parish manager, who gave away the bride.<\/p>\n
Those friends had once served Manu and Teena. They fed the couple, gave them clothing, found them housing, and embraced them into St. John\u2019s family.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they came here, they were so desperate they were boiling the leaves off trees to make tea,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
That was four years ago. Saturday, Teena James wore an elegant white gown with a simple wine-colored sash and held a bouquet of white roses. Manu Sebastion-Manoor wore a classic three-piece charcoal tuxedo, with a wine tie. The church was filled with people who once fed the couple, then worked beside them to feed others.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir American dream was fulfilled by the people at St. John\u2019s,\u201d said the Rev. Rijo Johnson, who performed the ring portion of the wedding Mass.<\/p>\n
St. John\u2019s is the oldest Catholic Church in Newark, built in 1826 from ship ballast stones by Irish immigrants. In 1967, after the riots, a rectory housekeeper made sandwiches for a few street people. From that simple act, the St. John\u2019s soup kitchen has blossomed to feed between 500 and 700 people a day. All food, clothing and personal care items are donated and distributed by volunteers. There are health and housing referrals, and a special center for women and children.<\/p>\n
Manu and Teena showed up on the line in the fall of 2006.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are two of the most brilliant people you\u2019ll ever meet,\u201d Smith said. \u201cBut they didn\u2019t have the street smarts to survive in a city like Newark.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their story begins in the Indian state of Kerala, where Manu and Teena studied at the Government Engineering College in Thrissur. They fell in love, but it was complicated. Caste systems and traditions got in the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this part of India, marriages are usually arranged,\u201d Manu said. \u201cIt is very bad to choose your own spouse, especially for the woman.\u201d<\/p>\n
But love is love, and Manu and Teena were in it. They decided to come to America. Both were accepted into the master\u2019s programs at New Jersey Institute of Technology, which had a \u201cbio-MEMS lab,\u201d Manu explained. \u201cThis stands for bio micro electromechanical systems, and this is what we were most interested in.\u201d<\/p>\n
That, and being together.<\/p>\n
![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/st-johns\/files\/2023\/06\/manu_and_teena.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The next part of the story is where the street smarts come in. They came with partial scholarships, a month\u2019s worth of rice and $1,500. The plan was to get jobs right away.
\n\u201cWe didn\u2019t do a good job researching, I admit,\u201d Manu said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t even know what the weather here was like, so we didn\u2019t have proper clothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The basement apartment they found cost $450 a month. Just to move in \u2014 one month rent, one month security \u2014 left them with $600. And work was not easy to find. By the end of September, their rice and money were gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe night Teena said \u2018this is the last cup of rice\u2019 we prayed. But I thought, \u2018This is the end. We have to return to India.\u2019 It would have been a disaster. Teena would have been disowned. Worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next day, they walked a different way through town, and saw the line at St. John\u2019s on McCarter Highway, a block from NJPAC. They joined the line.<\/p>\n Smith saw them and asked them their story.<\/p>\n \u201cI know our regulars,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen I see new people, I ask what we can do. They stood out, frankly, because we don\u2019t see many Indian couples.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith arranged housing for them in exchange for work, and the people at St. John\u2019s rallied around this young couple with so much promise.<\/p>\n And they delivered, as Msgr. Neil Mahoney said during the wedding.<\/p>\n \u201cGod brought you to us, and you lifted us with the generosity of your spirit and sensitivity to people,\u201d he said. \u201cWe know the good you received here will be spread to humanity through your contributions to medical technology. Your gifts will touch so many people.\u201d<\/p>\n Mahoney called the wedding a new \u201cchapter in Manu and Teena\u2019s love story.\u201d And the moral of the story of this: when you extend a hand, you never know who will grab it.<\/p>\n Originally published August 9, 2010 by\u00a0Mark Di Ionno | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n \u00ab Renaissance and New Apostolates<\/a> | Pastors and Administrators<\/a> \u00bb<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Soup Kitchen Patrons Turned Ph.D. Candidates Marry at St. John\u2019s in Newark This is a love story. A success story. A story for those who…<\/p>\n![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/st-johns\/files\/2023\/06\/manu_and_teena2.jpg\")