THANK YOU, GOA!
You have retained your
charm and continue to
fascinate visitors
By Menin Rodrigues (Karachi, Pakistan)
menin...@gmail.com
+92 300 8230853
Thank you, Goa! You have retained your charm and continue to
fascinate me. Your people (and now me too for quite many
years) love you deep within. Your glory, majesty and
charisma are your heartbeat -- be what you are -- have been
and will be in the future.
Amidst all the drumming of what Goa is today and what it
should be, that's all I can say to a blessed land and its
adorable people -- simply because there is a connect between us.
My recent two weeks here were as enjoyable,
absorbing and gratifying as they have been on two
other visits. It takes me back in time. This time
however, there was more to see, research and
experience as I drove freely through the winding
village roads (as good as any in urban cities) and
towering coconut trees to meet people, share their
joys and observe the ever-changing infrastructural
character of Goa.
There seemed to be an unbridled urgency in making Goa a
destination of a different kind than what Goans are
accustomed to and which may not be necessary. I hope and pray
for Goa to sustain its glorious exquisiteness and alluring
magnetism for visitors like us.
I also felt blessed to be here as Goa celebrated with much
love and reverence the sainthood of Blessed Joseph Vas, the
proverbial son of Goa and patron of Sri Lanka. The visit to
his birth place in the village in Benaulim and the sanctuary
in the Sancoale village where he started his missionary work,
including the spring-water trough of St Joseph Vas and the
pealing of church bells in all of Goa at the stroke of 9.00
a.m. on January 14, 2015 was, indeed, a rare and
heart-warming experience for me.
Now that Goa has one of its own as a saint, I am
sure there would be one more reason for overseas
Goans to come 'home' to celebrate the feast days of
both saints Joseph Vas and Francis Xavier! For
Pakistani Goan pilgrims, both feast days (Dec 3 and
Jan 16) fall well within the three-month visa
restriction!
Attending Mass in Konkani at 7.00 am on each of the 14 days I
was in Goa was another gift of divine grace. My cousins
suggested timings of the English masses but I could do that
in Karachi and preferred the Konkani services, which was
indeed a novelty for me. Many, many moons ago, we used to
have Konkani masses back home but all that is now a faded
memory. While meeting some of the priests I invited them to
visit Karachi to encourage the local Diaspora to regain its
true Goan spirit!
What impressed me most at Mass were the loud unifying
responses of the congregation, as well as joining the choirs
in the singing -- the church reverberates in awesome
testimony of reverence of the faithful.
At our Colva church I requested the choir to sing
"Zuze Zuze, Amchea Bhava" -- the hymn dedicated to
St. Joseph Vas, so that I could record it and
possibly introduce the same in our churches in
Karachi. I hope I am able to do this when I
return. It seems difficult though as the Goan
Diaspora is miniscule in comparison to the large
numbers of Urdu-speaking Catholics in Karachi, and
elsewhere in Pakistan.
Moving on, one of my research plans was to ascertain the
similarities in the design elements of the Monument to Christ
the King (1931) in Karachi and the Cristo Rei (Christ de
King) monument in the Assolna village in Salcete. My
curiosity was to find out if the designer was the same person
(M.X. Andrade designed the Karachi edifice) or two different
people, and, if different, who was inspired by whom! It was
confirmed by Bennet Paes of Assolna, whose grandfather built
it, that the Goa monument was an inspiration from the Karachi
monument and was completed and blessed in 1937!
When I visited Bardez in the north to trace my
mother's family in the Candolim village, I was
fascinated with the opulent interior of Our Lady of
Hope Church, and with life in that part of Goa. It
was quite vibrant and colorful as my enterprising
friend Claudio Pacheco entertained me to a super
lunch-fare in his Parra home, and then a whirlwind
tour of Calangute and Baga beaches, and the Saligao
village and its distinctive Church. Goa has few
sidewalks for pedestrian use but this I saw
happening in the north which is a good development.
Talking of developments, garish housing schemes are coming up
all over the state, some planned meticulously while others
not very appealing. Notwithstanding the commercial intent of
developers and the need for upgraded homes with modern
amenities, concerted efforts must be made to protect the
heritage and uniqueness of Goa. In any case, Goa Tourism
needs to be commended for the excellent network of roads.
Coming to my culinary experiences while in Goa our daily
intake had increased so much as a polite 'no thank you'
would upset our hosts. Everyday there were four to six
different dishes for our choosing, each one tastier than the
other. A variety of luscious fish with red masala a specialty
of my Cousin Rafael's restaurant was simply irresistible!
While on the subject of fish, a visit to the fish
market in Margao was intriguing. Fish, fish and
more fish, lobsters, clams, mussels, crabs of many
kinds, and to top it all the women in the stalls!
How cool it was to see these fishmongers dressed
festively in colorful outfits, hair combed neatly
with fresh flowers, and loads of gold jewelry --
necklaces, bangles, earrings, rings -- wow! They
were so friendly, courteous, with each one having a
sales-pitch that could entice any first-timer like
me to buy the whole catch!
That afternoon, we drove to Martin's Corner and enjoyed a
delectable array of food and drink in the company of,
apparently, the who's who of Goa. I thought I would brush
shoulders with Sachin, Amitabh or Shahrukh but ended up
dining with some hoity-toity folks in flashy cars.
My experiences this year were as diverse as in celebrating
the 100th birthday of Dumelina Mascarenhas e Rodrigues in my
ancestral village of Colva to the First Holy Communion
celebrations of family friends in Vasco and Margao. The
centenary landmark was a fabulous occasion as 1000 people who
attended the afternoon luncheon bee-lined to greet the
grand-old-dame who nonchalantly 'blessed' every individual
(including me!) as we wished her another 100 years!
At the magnificent Ravindra Bhavan cultural complex
in Margao we attended the three-hour theatr called
'Undhir Muje Mama' with a full house of 1000
people. It was a long cherished wish that came
true as I had not attended a tiatr on previous
visits. The last time I attended a tiatr was in
Karachi almost 45 years ago!! The play was
well-written, had a good plot, good acting, and
lively music; it was hilarious too as we burst into
splits of laughter. The solos and duets
highlighted many a family, community and state
issues. I would like to invite tiatr groups of Goa
to Karachi on cultural visits. We would be happy
to host you!
On the same day within a space of another hour, we were
treated to the blockbuster movie 'Nachoyiam Kumpasar', which
includes songs sung originally by the Goan crooner Lorna and
composed by Cris Perry. What an epic movie, nostalgic, loved
the screen play and the actors/acting and the quality of
production. Apparently, the movie is hot out of the blocks
and tickets were hard to get but somehow we were lucky to get
a few. Adieu Goa, until we meet again!
# # # #
Menin Rodrigues (menin...@gmail.com) is a historian, social
worker and entrepreneur in Karachi, Pakistan. He has traced
the history of Goans in Pakistan dating back to 1815
http://www.goansofpakistan.org
Goanet Reader is edited and compiled by Frederick Noronha.
Well-written pieces related to Goa are welcome, and can be
submitted via fredericknoro...@gmail.com
