REJOICE THAT THEY LIVED.. It has been a bloodbath this September. A pall of gloom that descended on Goa with the death of its much loved music make, August Braganza, on 07 September seemed enough to call it a Black September. Then came the sudden passing away of Umesh Mahambre, one of Goa's most balanced reporters on our lives and times. Quite a few of us will also miss the kindly, soft-spoken Dr. Roberto Dias, who has served the Goa Medical College & Hospital for many years. It was at the funeral service that I noticed an epitaph that I had read before, "Please do not grieve because we died; rejoice that we have lived." on the grave of Bernard Fernandes [BenFerds], the father of our Pop icon, Remo Fernandes. Adjacent to it is the grave of 'Dona' Luiza Fernandes, wife of Benferds and an active member of the Botanical Society of Goa for many years.
Three different people but with some common threads that were woven in their lives to create the social fabric that we talk about but rarely stop to understand. All of them were simple persons, no airs around them. They were people with their hearts beating in tune with the people around them. In these busy times, when we have very little time to even stop and talk to our family members and friends even on a sunny day, it was nice to see so many persons braving the rains [it rained heavily on all the three days on which the funerals took place] to pay their last respects. If each of these three men had not touched the hearts of so many people in their life time, these people would not have been there for each of the funerals. "Death is not the end of life but, rather, its transformation into eternal life." said Fr. Michael D'Souza, OCD. This is what we believe, whether we are Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhist or Jains. In death we transcend the present to reach an eternity that mortals may yearn for but never get without dying. Those who would want to be immortal in their life time must deny themselves and serve others, selflessly. Those who serve, as Mahatma Gandhi or Mother Theresa did, are immortal in their life time. They earn our love and respect much more than Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, who have made and donated billions in charity, or George W. Bush, the wannabe Alexander who believes in the maxim " Jo jita woh hi Sikander". Alexander did not live to see the glory of his achievements. His successors divided his mighty empire amongst themselves. These icons of today will become like Alexander of yore and be relegated to the pages of history.unless we emulate their virtues and their ideals.strewn on the path to fulfillment. It is for us to complete the unfinished symphony, to complete the reports. If we can take it no further, than we were fair weather friends: out of sight, out of mind. The Music Company, with August's brother Alex, Noel deSouza and Marino D'Souza, have had shows in his memory. A scholarship for a budding musician is in their mind. The Doordarshan is telecasting Umesh Mahambre's favourite children's play ORRAD, TORRAD RAKSHAS today at six in the evening. He produced and directed it with the meager resources he had access to. Perhaps, some publishing house will come forward to publish the script for use by future generations. The play has a socially relevant message. Just like the Wizard of Oz. It is in a language our children know and understand, a language that binds us, more emotionally than intellectually. It is in the language of the heart that Umesh Mahambre, August Braganza and Dr. Roberto Dias mostly spoke. Even words were often quite unnecessary. Let us peep into the lives of just one of them today. Umesh Trimbak Mahambre, known variously as Umesh, Mahambre or UTM by his friends and colleagues, lived in Aldona, Mapusa, Panaji and Mumbai during various stages of his life. He was always simple, honest, straight-forward and rarely known to mince words. He had strong opinions but rarely allowed them to influence his reportage. He may not have reported everything that one might have wished but, what he did report was as unbiased as one can expect. He was also known for his selfless contribution to activities of the All Goa Students' Union in the mid-1970s-80s, which achieved the 50% "Student Concession" in bus fare in an unparalleled student agitation. Before his stint as a journalist in Goa, Umesh was a news reader for All India Radio and Doordarshan, Mumbai. In Goa, he was associated with various social and cultural organisations and was a regular contributor to AIR [Panvlam Kann'kanit] and DD, Panaji. We shared the love of Konkani, our mother tongue in Bardesi dialect, though we wrote in differnet scripts. His children's play "Orrad, Torrad Rakshas" [ about a honourable , drunk monster] was a great hit among children and adults alike.Umesh Mahabrey was a Journalist [Chief Reporter of the Navhind Times and President of the Goa Union of Journalists], playwright and a person dedicated to children's theatre although he had none of his own. Umesh is said to have died of cardiac arrest consequent to a bout of pneumonia, although I think it was the Big C that killed him. The cause hardly matters, the effect is final. He was a fellow Mhapsemkar whom I knew since childhood. He was just 49 years and a month old when he quit this world all so suddenly. He was sick and low spirits for a few months, complaining of fever and listlessness, but never did anyone dream that he would go away so suddenly. He joined the Navhind Times in in 1987 and would have completed a quarter century of dedicated service in this newspaper while celebrating the golden jubilee of his life next year. It was not to be.. Miguel Braganza's column at: http://www.goanet.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=482 =========================================================== The above article appeared in the September 22, 2006 edition of Gomantak Times, Goa _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list Goanet@lists.goanet.org http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org