|
SALIGAO IN THE COMPUTER AGE 2035---I By Simonne St. Anne. Simonne St Anne, is the daughter of Joseph and late Maxcyne St. Anne from Donvaddo/Mumbai. Their household is nick-named ‘Raza’. Happily married to Pedro they are at the moment settled in USA. This article was written when Simonne was the student of St. Xavier’s College, Bombay( Mumbai). She was the editor of " Altihasik", the History Group Mazagine, and Sub-Editor of the " Xavierite". She was also a member of the core-committee of MALHAR, the inter-collegiate youth festival. She was awarded the " Manoelinho Mendonca Scholarship" by the Saligao Union of Bombay for securing the highest percentage at the HSC Examination in March, 1985. She wrote the story for the highly publicized book " Goa Ma Belle" This is how Simonne depicts the village of "Saligao in the Computer Age 2030 AD", in the Saligao Union: Golden Jubilee( 1936-1986) Souvenir. " The golden sun sets on the silhouetted palms just as it has always done for centuries at this time of year. The sky is aglow with red and yellow and orange streaks. And that means there will be a lot of fish in the market tomorrow. When I was a little girl my grandfather told me that red skies meant a fine catch. And he was never wrong. He liked a good plate of rice and fish curry. And so do I. So before I get too preoccupied with this article, I had better order a dozen mackerel for to-morrow’s curry. There, it took me two seconds to do it. My mother would have had to wait until tomorrow morning to send the maid to the bazaar. My requirements of fresh fish are already recorded at the fish-mongers co-operative at Calangute and by seven in the morning their auto-van will have delivered the fish to my kitchen downstairs. Yes, things have changed in Saligao. The village is still a village… But we are now well into twenty-first century. And we have every convenience at our disposal. *21st Century Village*. The basic layout of the village is the same. The " CHOGM Road" which runs alongside the Church is now the main thoroughfare. It joins the " Estrada de Santa Ana" at the market junction. CHOGM now runs all the way to Calangute and the Santa Ana winds its way through Sangolda all the way up to Porvorim where it joins the main Mapuca-Panjim highway at ‘O Coqueiro's’ fast food outlet. In all other respects Saligao has changed. Most of our old ancestral homes disappeared by the late 1990s. Some were sold, some fell into disrepair, and some were pulled down and tall towers grew in their place. When the transformation came, it came swiftly. And fortunately for all of us, our planners--- built not a city—but a 21st century village. There are parks, now, and flowers and lakes. We have a boat club in the lake between Donvaddo and Sonarbat. It used to be a paddy field in the monsoon and a football field in the summer. The paddy fields have been moved to suit the environment; and since we are no longer dependent on the rains( thanks to programmed irrigation) our fields are green, yellow and golden all the year long"……………………….to be continued.. Compiled by Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas. |
