------------------------------------------------------------------------ TRI Continental Film Festival - Dona Paula, Goa, Sep 28 - Oct 2, 2007
http://www.moviesgoa.org/tricontinental/tricon.htm For public viewing. Registration at The International Centre Goa. (Ph: +91-832-2452805 to 10) Online Media Partner: http://www.GOANET.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I would like to arrange a visit to Goa next year, after being away for so many years. It has been a very trying & difficult time since we left in 1961, but the first 40 years there was no chance of ever going back, whilst mother was still alive.. I have no family on either side, maternal or paternal left to help me, only my younger brother whose memory is worse than mine. I have been on Genes reunited for some years now, trying to find family members in Lisboa Portugal and in Goa where I KNOW there are still family members living. My only problem is that I remember only LOYOLA HIGH SCHOOL in Margao & my time there, though a bit hazy it is a lot brighter than when I was at home, which I remember the road, the house, the trees & garden at the rear, the long walk to the toilet at the back of the garden where the pigs were used to eat the remains that dropped down the toilet into the gully where they lived (ugh, but true), I remember the neighbours & immediate vicinity, the shop where we could buy one square of chocolate at a time from a big slap of Cadbury's, but not the NAME OF THE ROAD, nor the area, it could be Ponda, it could be just outside Mapuca or literally anywhere. I have tried contacting LHS in the past but called at the wrong time(s) or was not allowed to call whilst my mother was alive, and instructed by my mother not to have anything to do with my paternal side of the family. I obeyed her but this has only made my curiosity increase with the years passing by, as you grow older, the years pass by quicker each year. It only seems like yesterday............ Now I am 57 years old & have had the SAME itch several times this last 12 months to go back and re-visit places of my childhood. My wife of 18 years & my two daughters aged 16 & 10 are very supportive of my returning back there, alone or with them, its up to me they say (smiling / pleading / you guessed it, WITH them in tow...........). I would like to do this next year before we begin the rest of lives in Mauritius (my wife's homeland & our "working retirement" house with a B & B attached house). I would never be able to sleep comfortably at night if I never set foot in Goa ever again. Its got to such an extent now that some days I feel that if I just get a ticket NOW, and then find somewhere to stay when I arrive, this will do. But of course it takes planning. No point in getting to Dambolim & find myself stuck somewhere a tourist would end up. I fly 10,000 kilometres every two years to Mauritius but have never been able to return to Goa whilst my mother was still alive. She passed away some years ago & the itch returned, I MUST see MY old Goa again & lay down some ghosts to rest. There are many & they need to get their own place of rest, not on my back for the past 46 years! I dont want a 3-star plus hotel & dips in the river or sea. I want to go back to Panjim, Mapuca, Margao, Ponda, the seaside yes, but only for the enjoyment of the sea & the food, the long days & long evenings, the singing, the Hindu festivals, our old house........... Any suggestions, please email me on [EMAIL PROTECTED] or post on this forum, I am happy to share my experiences of my re-visit Goanet posters & anyone who wants to know what happened when I returned. I WILL BE BACK !! But I need guidance & help from all Goans on this forum to help me fulfil this one last dream of mine. Can anyone give me suggestions on HOW to get around Goa & attempt to find my father's relatives? I contacted a few MONTEIROs in Goa, from Hotel manager, to gardener, to boat owner, clerical worker in a museum. I know / remember only LHS, Mapuca market of four and half decades ago, a couple of old cinemas probably long closed down and some old black & white photos of me on my FIRST COMMUNION at LHS in 1959 with Brother Canna next to me. I heard he died of cancer as few years ago & is buried in Pune, where I would also like to visit. But apart from this, I have only the death of my female cousin who lived on the next road to us, her burial card with her name on it (Agrapina _____) & couple of photos of my mother with us two boys & her best friend Maria D'Souza, (wearing a sari) and if she were alive she would have been around 70yrs to 77 years old today. Anyone help me out here? Any & all suggestions would be most welcome. I will try all avenues to get to our old house in Goa, I remember there was a small chapel at the end of the road, the chapel itself was at a junction & the bell was rung physcially every sunday.... Sorry, its a jigsaw, but my mother left NO CLUES & apart from some treasured photos (which I am willing to scan & share with anyone who contacts me in relation to my query / plight) if this will help them in any way. John Monteiro Berkshire, England CORNEL DACOSTA <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **** WWW.GOANET.ORG *** A N N O U N C E M E N T **** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Launching Goanet-sports - Dedicated to Sports in Goa and Goans in Sports Get your free subscription at: http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-sports-goanet.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hi Cedric I know the Loyala School, Margao, well. My late father completed his schooling there a long time ago. Indeed, I was once to attend Loyala for six months when in Goa, on my father's long leave from Kenya. But the attraction of giving school in Goa a miss, was overwhelming and achieved by subtle means without seeming disadvantage! Many of my relatives attended that school and it was definitely standing when I last visited it in April 2006. I don't think you saw ignorance or illiteracy in the post to which you replied but pompous and vacuous arrogance that pops up from time to time from that source. Regards Cornel DaCosta, People's Vaddo, London, UK.
