Thank you Frederick. A most enjoyable and informative Braz Menezes Matata Books matatabooks.com
On Wed, Mar 19, 2025 at 12:35 PM Frederick Noronha < [email protected]> wrote: > When Goan Journalism Had No News. Only Views. > Mário Cabral e Sá > > When I started out in journalism in Goa, there was no news; > there were only views. But we would have a guy to listen to > all the radio stations broadcasting from across the world, > and that was international news for us. In fact, we were so > brash about it that we would tag the news as being courtesy > and by `Radio Brazzaville', `BBC', and so on and so forth. > > Everyone of us would write on the shavings of our > newsprint, and in long hand. The chief of the > compositors would come up to us (later in the day) > and say, “Aiz char columna zai,” or “Ek page zai” > (Today, we are four columns short. Or: we need a > page of content.) On the spu r of the moment, we > would fill it up, and the paper would emerge in > time for the next day. > > In those times, in Portuguese-ruled Goa, there was > censorship. One incident in particular comes to mind. > Purshottam Kakodkar, the political leader and freedom > fighter, was returning to Goa from Portugal. We wanted to > give it out in the news. Eduardo Dias and I were working at > the paper at the time. But we had been warned by the Censor, > that they didn't want any splash about Kakodkar's return. > > [Note: Eduardo Dias, a doctor, was born in 1923 at Varca. > Still a student, he joined the editorial staff of O Heraldo. > From 1958, he was the director of O Heraldo for a short > while, according to Aleixo Costa's four-volume listing of > Goan writers. Dias also authored the 70-page book, in > Portuguese, India in six days. Chronicles, which was > published and printed by Sadananda Typography in 1950.] > > So we found a way around that. There was a > vegetable vendor in those times, who had a shop > selling vegetables and fruits. The person who ran > it is still there, but his grandson is a dentist > today. Every day, they would advertise, `Acaba de > chegar' (just arrived). In that column, they would > list cabbages, this, that and the other vegetables. > So, we smuggled Purshottam Kakodkar's name into > cabbages, mosambis, oranges and all that, into > print. > > But the chief of the censorship, a famous guy called Capitão > Miranda, was expecting some mischief from us. So he read the > paper minutely, came to that report, saw Purshottam > Kakodkar's name, and encircled it in blue. He sent it to the > Governor. So the news was killed. We had many other things > too [of this kind]. > > Goan journalism after 1961: I didn't accept then and don't > accept now that we were freed by India. And it took me four > years to get myself vindicated by the Supreme Court. We were > saying India was a peaceful country, why should they march > against us? We wanted a Goan Goa. Our argument, perhaps > stupid, was that if Monaco could be a Republic, why couldn't > Goa be a Republic? > > The Portuguese media in Goa lasted till 1963, almost 1964. > Its readership dwindled. The moment English was introduced, > the readership of the Portuguese newspapers started > dwindling. It was no longer economically viable. Nobody > would advertise with us. So the papers were going to die a > natural death. > > Somebody from the Messias Gomes family had this > brainwave of selling the O Heraldo to J.D. > Fernandes [the printers who had a stationery > outlet, and whose family still owns the paper]. > J.D. Fernandes kept it for some time [till 1983] > in Portuguese and then switched to English. From O > Heraldo, it became the Herald, but the Os [at both > ends of its name] were maintained [on its > masthead]. Though squeezed-down in size. > > We didn't have an accord with Portugal in 1961. On the other > hand, the former French colony of Pondicherry had one. So > they maintained their language traditions. One of the > conditions agreed to was maintaining the French culture in > that part of India. Actually, 1961 was not very traumatic. > We had been expecting it from June of 1961. > > Goa Monitor, the `golden years' in journalism: The Goa > Monitor [a short-lived newspaper in Goa] was funded by [the > father-son Opposition politicians] Jack Sequeira and Erasmo > Sequeira. We knew right from the beginning that we would be > subject to censorship from the Sequeiras. Whatever they > wanted, would go. A time came when it was unbearable. So > they preempted my departure by sacking me. They sacked me. > > Looking back, I think my best [period in my career] > was around 1958-1959, or maybe even 1954-55. This > was when the die was cast that Goa would not remain > Portuguese. At that time, there was a Portuguese > writer here, in Goa. Manuel Ferreira was married > to a Cabo Verdian, and was one of the best > Portuguese writers. He ran a `Pagina de Cultura', > a page covering cultural issues. I inherited that > page from him, and it was in O Heraldo. > > [Daniela Spina documents Manuel Ferreira's stint in Goa in > the Brazilian review, Via Atlântica. See `Between debt and > devotion: Manuel Ferreira’s gaze on Goa (1948-1954)'. She > studies the “participation of Ferreira in the intellectual > circles of Goa between 1948 to 1954”, and his contribution to > the Boletim da Emissora de Goa and O Heraldo. > https://doi.org/10.11606/va.i1.200318] > > I think that was my golden period, and it was very creative > for me. I could write what I wanted to. Or interview > people, and get very good contributors. At that time, I was > more inclined towards literature than to journalism. > > Changing over [from writing in Portuguese to writing in > English, from Literature to Politics] was a matter of > necessity, a matter of survival. I always had that > will-power to do something better than most. And it was not > much of an effort, or tiring. Nothing like that. > > Looking back: It is indifferent. A lot of material progress > was made. A lot of bad things have come, which were > inevitable. Corruption, etc. > > One thing must be said about the Portuguese regime, there was > no widespread corruption. There was plenty of chance for > that to happen -- by way of imports, exports. And don't > forget that with the savings of the External Trade Board, the > Junta do Comércio Externo, on the differences of price of > rice, bought by us and sold to the public, the airport of > Mormugão was built, the warehouses of Cortalim were built, > and the Junta House in Panjim was built. > > I think Alban Couto mentions in one of his books that they > [the post-1961 Indian administration] inherited from the > Portuguese some ten crores of rupees. Ten crore was a big > sum of money in those days. > > I don't regret it. In fact, when there was the > story of [the infamous Portuguese PIDE official] > Casmir Monteiro coming to Goa [in the 1960s, after > the Indian takeover]. I was one of the suspects, > and I was held for ten days without trial. This > was for the bomb which he wanted to plant or > whatever [as was said in those times]. At the end > of ten days, I was told that there was no case > against me. > > [As far as the journalists doing or not doing their job > then], you have to see the constraints. As a reader, you > know what you're reading; you don't know what the journalist > has actually written. A journalist could not go out, and > [tell everyone]: `I've written this but it was chopped by the > censor.' > > There was no money (in journalism then). There was no job. > We were doing it for the sake of doing. > > [In terms of advice to youngsters entering the field] first, > know the language. Second, be inquisitive. If it comes to > that, suspect your own father. Never throw out a hint or a > clue without going into it. And only then can you be a very > fair journalist. Another cardinal rule is: listen to all > points of view. Don't take a story from just a single > source. -- As told to Frederick Noronha. > > > -- > Mário Cabral e Sá (1932-2023), author and one of post-1961 > Goa's most high profile journalists, wrote on many aspects of > Goan life -- including films (Location Goa, Dept of Info and > Publicity, circa 2004) and Goan music (Wind of Fire: The > Music and Musicians of Goa, Promilla & Co). Subjects he > covered ranged from a sympathetic study of the Devadasis in > Goa, to themes on local history, crime and more. He was also > part of two films shot in Goa -- Shyam Benegal's Trikaal and > the Gregory Peck-Roger Moore-David Niven starring Hollywood > film The Sea Wolves (1980). Both films can be viewed on > YouTube.com. > > Editor's Note: The late journalist Mario Cabral e Sa, > sometimes controversial but always readable, spoke less about > his own work, and if he did, few records were made or > retained. This is one of the rare interviews, where, almost > into his retirement, the veteran author-journo speaks about > his life and times and profession. It was done over two > hurried ten-minute video interviews, done 16 years ago, when > the journalist (and mentor to many) Devika Sequeira felt a > generation of journalists was fading into their sunset years. > She invited a number of colleagues to a lunch at her > residence, then at Dona Paula. > > Published in '... And Read All Over', 2025. Frederick Noronha, ed. > > -- > *** Please be polite and on-topic in your posts. *** > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "The Goa Book Club" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-book-club/CAMCR53Lpim382Osh0Nkse0f_g27DFmBSfgkwv65-wM_1SQxQbg%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-book-club/CAMCR53Lpim382Osh0Nkse0f_g27DFmBSfgkwv65-wM_1SQxQbg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- *** Please be polite and on-topic in your posts. *** --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Goa Book Club" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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