On Sunday, June 7, 2020, 05:46:07 a.m. CDT, Frederick Noronha
<fredericknoron...@gmail.com> wrote: LES AMIS DU PERE AGNELO (W751086705) -
Assoce.fr
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LES AMIS DU PERE AGNELO (W751086705) - Assoce.fr
LES AMIS DU PERE AGNELO, RNA W751086705 - association, renseignements -
Assoce.fr
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Does anyone have an update on this group? Is it active? Are there other
Goan diasporic groups in France? Many thanks for any pointers you could
offer. THis is for a listing which I'm currently compiling. --Frederick
Noronha in Goa.
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FN,Sorry, I don't have the answer to any of your questions but they jogged a
memory.
In the 1970s there used to be fights at the Dar Institute nearly every month
and lots of them around the Christmas season. At times, the culprits would
fight at lunchtime, go home, return in the evening and both parties could be
seen then having a drink together. At other times, the fights resulted in
members getting suspended - but that did not help much. It was only when
management decided to suspend the members entire family that the fights became
less frequent. In other words, when the threat of the member's kids not being
able to use the club during Christmas became real, the real boss of the family
stepped in and stopped the member from fighting there.
The fights were fueled not only by cold beer but also by baggage of past lives.
I have seen people break a beer bottle on another persons skull and nothing
(visible) happen to either party. I have also seen Goan police officers call
constables to arrest club members - while a fight was still in progress.
One of the most infamous club member was a certain person, lets call him
Monsieur Calme. This gentleman had a body as hot as one of the Greek statues
and he had a hotter temperance to boot. Monsieur Calme was a participant in
half the fights I have witnessed at the D.I. Most of the time, he was not
involved with the cause of the fight but someone would draw him into it. When
Monsieur Calme was rolling on the floor punching someone else, it was always
worthwhile to stand up and observe all the action.
Well, one sad morning we found out the worst news. Monsieur Calme had migrated
to France. In that one movement, half the entertainment in the club
disappeared. The horrible thought, the most horrible thought at the time was,
when he returned to Dar for a vacation, would Monsieur Clame be speaking a
sissy language like French?
Well, Monsieur Calme never returned to Dar. However, there is a somewhat better
ending to the story. Monsieur Calme did come to Toronto for a school re-union.
I did not know he would be attending a gathering which was to kick off the
celebrations and late into the night, when everyone was very relaxed, in front
of my eyes - just like an apparition - was Monsieur Calme. While he was in his
70s then, he looked as brawny as a man half that age. I started talking to him,
in English, and he was the same person with the same temperament of 40 years
prior. He had not changed a bit! I started announcing him to my friends who
were barely teens when we last saw him. He was like a Rambo to us in those
days.
All of us were longing for just one answer, but we were also too intimidated to
ask the question. Then one did and yes, Monsieur Calme could and started
speaking in fluent French.
Mervyn
