Matanhy Saldanha was a much reviled campaigner for most of his lifetime. The pro-people causes he championed were seen as markedly anti-State and a challenge to the interests of resurgent capital that has been uninterruptedly taking over semi-feudal Goa for many decades now.
Towards the end, because of the many twists and quirks of Goa's politics, he gained acceptability in the dominant Goan discourse, after he joined the BJP (and, as could be argued, played a crucial role in its coming to power in Goa in the summer of 2012). Tragically, he died within days of taking over as a minister-who-might-have- made-a-difference in the Parrikar government a couple of years ago. *To Live is to Love* is the work of another social campaigner, Diana Pinto, who returned to Goa from Mumbai in 1989 "where she and her husband Edwin have since built a fulfilling and satisfying life, that includes active involvement in community issues and concerns". The blurb explains: "This book is an endeavour to go beyond the campaigns and the struggles that Matanhy spearheaded or supported, to examine the strong beliefs, convictions and values that energised and drove him." In 222 pages, the all colour, hardbound book takes you through various aspects of the 1948-born bhatkar-scion teacher-campaigner-politician's life. You could imagine where it goes with chapters titled Following A Star, From Sir with Love, The Light Within, Dreams of Protest, The Girl with the Red Umbrella, The Game of Numbers, Sunset at Dawn, What he Had to Say, Poem, and Villa Saldanha (at Cansaulim, Mormugao taluka). The book shows us Matanhy through the words of others and photos available through many collections. Needless to say, as it comes from the Matanhy Saldanha Memorial Foundation, the book shows the campaigner-politician in good light. It says: "In an age that privileges success, Matanhy was the icon of Goa's losers. The dispossessed, the downtrodden, <http://s>the occupationally displaced -- he was their knight in shining armour." This was certainly true for much of his life. Precisely for this reason, the latter years left some struggling to see continuity. Today, Goa has a government which is grateful to a campaigner who challenged State power for much of his life but helped it (the current government) ascend to power. But as glib political assurances continue, is this book a way of telling the regime that it is still pushing many things that Matanhy didn't want? Take this: in the last section of quotes titled 'What he had to say...' the last article is itself headlined "Goa colonised by (the) Indian Army?" Rs 600 in Goa Publishers: Matanhy Saldanha Memorial Foundation Covers: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/15750801809/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/15750807699/ -- P +91-832-2409490 M 9822122436 Twitter: @fn Facebook: fredericknoronha Latest from Goa,1556: http://goa1556.in/book/goa-in-sepia-tinted-postcards/