Cheers Dears By Augusto Pinto Paklo And His Pikleleo Popeyes
Dears, I asked the mirror on the wall: "Mirror dear, who has the whitest of them all?" And the dear mirror replied - "Paklo!!" Any niz Goenkar will tell you that Paklo or the White One is the nickname of Xavier de Moira, who has the whitest teeth to contrast with his glorious black skin. The smile and the ready wit that emanates from his sparklers drive many a beauty crazy, to the despair of the husband who's slogging it out on a ship or in the Gulf. But let me hasten to add that Paklo is happily married, and the lustful longings are all in the minds of his female fans. Paklo is a drummer - and if fame came through sheer talent then today he would have been more famous than Bondo. The problem with Paklo is that he does not know to hype himself. Still his renown has spread throughout Goa, Bombay and Dubai. Go to any tiatr, and more often than not you will find the drummer in the band will be Paklo. He will be smiling away at the crazy things going on before him on the stage, and at the drop of a chapem will hit his drum-set with a zara-zara-BOOM!! and the crowd will cheer! Xavier's career in music and his nickname began at St. Xavier's where, when Sir Gung'ullo asked him a weird question he replied with his fingers and thumbs tapping on the desk - tara - rara - pum - pum - pum. Furious, Gung'ullo threw him out of the class. That was the day Paklo earned his nickname because the next period was that of the teacher nicknamed the Coconut Tree. She herself was the legendary nickname giver of St. Xavier's. Bobo the Donkey, Johnson Ladoo and Poco Prakasham were names which she had bestowed upon nowadays well respected Goemkars. Whether they like it or not those names will persist till the day they die. Incidentally, the Coconut Tree could at times be nasty as well. She once told a lad who had not done his homework,"Iskollak kiteak ietai re? Tuzo Pai gorvam rakhtalo. Tum'vui kiteak gorvam rakhonk vochonai?" [Why do you come to school? Your father looked after cows. Why don't you too go and look after cows?"] Those were the days when such sadistic verbal abuse and for that matter even physical abuse was not just tolerated but was the norm in Goa. Nowadays teachers could get into a soup if they behaved like this. To come back to Xavier, after Gung'ullo expelled him, he made the mistake of sauntering back into the Coconut Tree 's class late. She immediately snapped, "Arre Paklea, tum khuim bazarant ailea?" [White One, have you come to the bazaar,?] The class burst out in gleeful laughter and since then, the nickname stuck, but unlike others Xavier celebrated it and even popularised his new appellation. Although Paklo used to get bored with studies [and who could blame him for that] he loved putting up plays and musical shows. He would also team up with Salu in the church choir. Salu named evocatively after the dictator of Portugal, was the innovative musician who is sadly lost to us, because he migrated to Canada, a country which treats Goan talent with contempt and yet to which our Goemkars keep migrating. Paklo's passion became his profession. He still has a choir going, one which is very well liked for the sweetness of its melodies. And he is the undisputed King of the Tiatr Drummers, having performed in hundreds of tiatrs over the years. But Paklo has yet another ace up his sleeves. The other day he told me that he was going to start a new band. And unlike the run of the mill Goan bands which are only satisfied with playing covers of hit songs, or worse still just mime out these songs which are recorded on their Dubai or Singapore purchased music systems in order to make money, Paklo is going to come out with original Goan stuff and belt it out live. Xavier says that his new band will blend Eastern and Western sounds and Indian and European instruments. The lyrics will break out of the straitjacket of monologic language, and use a delightful blend of of English and Konkani and Hindi and Marathi and Portuguese, just as we do in real life. He is naming his band is Paklo and his Pikleleo Popeyes. Till next time then... Cheers (ENDS) ============================================================================== The above article appeared in the December 17, 2008 edition of the Herald, Goa