[Goanet] Dietary Preferences and the minoritized groups
On the issue of banning beef, see http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2015/03/dietary-preferences-and-minoritized.html www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com == @DaleLuisMenezes
[Goanet] The Migration Myth and the Konkani Activist
http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2015/01/the-migration-myth-and-konkani-activist.html Dale www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com == @DaleLuisMenezes
[Goanet] A Tale of Two (and More) 'Churches
http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2014/12/a-tale-of-two-and-more-churches.html ~Secular-liberals in India have never given any serious thought to how churches and mosques (and even dargahs) could pose an effective challenge to the power of Hindutva.~
[Goanet] Reading Reginald: Edgar Wallace and Jesuit Savants
http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2014/12/reading-reginald-edgar-wallace-and.html Dale www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com == @DaleLuisMenezes
[Goanet] Football and all that trash
http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2014/11/football-and-all-that-trash.html Dale www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com == @DaleLuisMenezes
[Goanet] Goan Heritage and Museums of Innocence
http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2014/10/goan-heritage-and-museums-of-innocence.html Dale www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com == @DaleLuisMenezes
[Goanet] KONKANI, MoI, AND COLONIAL LEGACY
http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2014/09/konkani-moi-and-colonial-legacy.html Dale www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com -- To leave error unrefuted is to encourage intellectual immorality Karl Marx --
[Goanet] WHEN ISLAMOPHOBIA SUDDENLY STRIKES: REFLECTIONS OF A GOAN CATHOLIC
http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2014/09/when-islamophobia-suddenly-strikes.html Dale www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com -- To leave error unrefuted is to encourage intellectual immorality Karl Marx --
[Goanet] TIATR AND THE GOAN PUBLIC SPHERE
http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2014/09/tiatr-and-goan-public-sphere.html Dale
[Goanet] THE ‘DOUBLE BIND’ OF MINORITY IDENTITY
Linking the predicament of Muslims in India to that of the Catholics in Goa may seem like a long shot to some. However, I would like to suggest that by juxtaposing the problems of the Muslims and Catholics with each other, one can broaden one’s understanding of how minority identity and the concomitant politics works in India. Though the comments referred to above were made in seemingly different contexts, yet recognizing the similarity of the politics and power structures that drive the visions behind them, can allow us to think about ourselves in new ways. The drive towards asserting one nbsp;identity, but remaining willfully blind to other identities – even suppressing them – will only allow inequalities to thrive. http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2014/08/the-double-bind-of-minority-identity.html www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com -- To leave error unrefuted is to encourage intellectual immorality Karl Marx --
[Goanet] READING REGINALD: MAGIC, LOVE, AND DIGNIDAD
~ The act of Reading Reginald cannot just be confined to reading his romanses. Indeed, we have to decode the very thought and intellectual influences on novelists like Fernandes. What, for instance, did Fernandes read? Dignidad is perhaps, one of the several concepts and ways in which to understand this corpus of literature. It is time we start searching for them.~ http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2014/06/reading-reginald-magic-love-and-dignidad.html Dale www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com -- To leave error unrefuted is to encourage intellectual immorality Karl Marx --
[Goanet] SUPREME COURT, MoI, AND ‘MOTHER TONGUE’: GOOD NEWS FOR GOA?
~Though the Supreme Court ruling pertains to Karnataka, it has, as mentioned, some relevance to the issues raised by aggrieved parents in Goa. To briefly sum up, the Supreme Court has ordered that “mother tongue” cannot be imposed by the government, and that parents or guardians have a right to choose the MoI that they feel would best represent the interest of their children. This is a very important stand. The problem, however, is that the Supreme Court has in no way compelled the state to grant financial support to the MoI of the choice of the parents/guardians.~ http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2014/06/supreme-court-moi-and-mother-tongue.html www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com -- To leave error unrefuted is to encourage intellectual immorality Karl Marx --
[Goanet] FILOMENA'S JOURNEYS: Maria Aurora Couto
http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2014/02/of-privilege-and-loss.html Dale www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com -- To leave error unrefuted is to encourage intellectual immorality Karl Marx --
[Goanet] Dorzo Na?: Dilip Borkar Khoim ani Kiteak Chukta
Dilip Borkarachea hea lekhant khupuch guspagonddoll asa. Ho lekh tannem Konknnichea hitak lagon boroilolo na, punn bamonnvadachim totvam Romi ani Konknni mogianchea golleant ghalunk boroila. Romi lipient ani bhov korun tiatrank ani tiatristank lagon Konknni jivi urlea. Konknni bhaxecho pormoll kantarantlean sonvsarantlea chearui vattamnim posorla. Haka lagon Dilip Borkar jedna tiatr boroitoleanchim fokannam korta, tanchea borpavollik unnak lekta tedna to fokot tea borovpeanchinch fokannam korina punn somest Romi vapuddtolea lokank to hansta. More at: http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2014/02/dorzo-na-dilip-borkar-khoim-ani-kiteak.html www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com -- To leave error unrefuted is to encourage intellectual immorality Karl Marx --
[Goanet] ROMI ANI NAGRI: MENDDREAM MODEM LANDDGEANK KOXE PORIM PARKHUN GHEVCHE
http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2013/11/romi-ani-nagri-menddream-modem.html Dale www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com --- To leave error unrefuted is to encourage intellectual immorality Karl Marx ---
[Goanet] The Battle of the Konkanis: Separating Wolves from the Lambs
In response to Prabhakar Timble's article in NT: http://roundtableindia.co.in/index.php?option=com_contentamp;view=articleamp;id=7008%3Athe-battle-of-the-konkanis-separating-wolves-from-the-lambsamp;catid=129amp;Itemid=195 Dale www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com --- To leave error unrefuted is to encourage intellectual immorality Karl Marx ---
[Goanet] Shillong Xarant Romi Konknnichi Khobor
http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2013/10/shillong-xarant-romi-konknnichi-khobor.html D www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com --- To leave error unrefuted is to encourage intellectual immorality Karl Marx ---
[Goanet] KA and script row
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Konkani-back-in-script-row/articleshow/22955814.cms?intenttarget=no Find my writings @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com --- Push thought to extremes -Louis Althusser ---
[Goanet] Common Sense and Hindu Nationalism: Why Catholics in Goa are not Hindus
http://kafila.org/2013/09/16/common-sense-and-hindu-nationalism-why-the-catholics-in-goa-are-not-hindu-albertina-almeida-others/ Dale Find my writings @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com --- Push thought to extremes -Louis Althusser ---
[Goanet] Toddzodd: Konkani Review
~ Zatichem ani protinidhitvachem rajkaronn (politics of representation) koddek dovorlem zalear, Pandharinath Lotlikar ho Konknnintlo ek boreantlo boro borovpi oxem amcheamni mhunnonk zata. Tachi bhas sundor ani rosall. He kadom’borint bore hansovpache khinn amkam vachunk melltat. Dekik, Carnival Ball-ak Babushachim kelolim fokanddam. Zorui ami Toddzodd hea utrache don bhag kele zalear amkam don vegllim utram mellttat: todd (mhonnge toddop) ani zodd (mhonnge zoddop). Novo somaz ghoddunk vechea poilim, zatichea bhedbhavacheo sankhlleo ami toddunk zai. Magir amkam toddzodd korchi gorozuch ghoddiye poddchinam.~ http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2013/09/zatinchim-durgam-ani-toddzodd.html Dale Find my writings @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com --- Push thought to extremes -Louis Althusser ---
[Goanet] The Goan in Goa: A Response to Arvind Adiga
~For the Goan in Goa and for the marginalised elsewhere in the country, it is not useful to simply be squeezed into a preset notion of Indianness, but for that very category to be critiqued at every turn for its lack of inclusiveness by design.~ http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?287735 Find my writings @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com --- Push thought to extremes -Louis Althusser ---
[Goanet] THE ACADEMIC, ECONOMIC, AND EMOTIONAL POLITICS OF KONKANI: A RESPONSE TO ARTI DAS
of the State systematically went out of their way to ridicule Tiatr suggesting that it similarly lacked standard. This, despite the fact that reputed scholars like Pramod Kale, Rowena Robinson, and Goa University’s Rafael Fernandes have recognised the dynamism of the tiatr form. The story of Konkani since Liberation, and especially since the adoption of the Official Language Act, has therefore been a history of the destruction of an organic and vibrant language in order to prop up the artificial language dreamed up by a small segment of the Goan polity, more obsessed with Brahmanical purity and pedigree than the health of a polity and a language. Not only does this serve to limit literary and linguistic possibilities based on caste and class, but it also undercuts avenues of growth outside of the limited imagination prescribed by such intention. To its credit, the essay does refer to the Chief Minister indicating that “it is important that we include various dialects in our writing.” However, this stray phrase would not make much sense to a reader unfamiliar with the quiet but intense battles being conducted behind closed doors. Further, this recognition by the Chief Minister has come about as a result of intense efforts not only to reviving organic Konkani, but also to give it political recognition. Yeoman service in this regard has been rendered by the Dalgado Konknni Akademi, RomiLipi Action Front, and the Tiatr Academy of Goa, three multisectarianfora that have acknowledged the problems that have been caused by the exclusionary strategies of the official Konkani language establishment. As a result of their efforts, one can notice a certain renaissance as artistes long starved of state support now have a sense that their language is not something to be ashamed of, but one they can be both proud of and producti ve within. We would also like to point out that the whole idea of a single “mother tongue” has been severely criticised in more recent scholarship, pointing to the fact that the real geographies of any language are much more complex. Indeed, it has been the insistence on colonial, racist, and out-dated notions of a single mother tongue that has resulted in the complicated tensions between those who prefer to use Marathi as public language, and those who prefer to use Konkani, and the wicked suggestion that the demand that state support be offered to schools that provide primary education in the English language is anti-national. Giving that these essential facts were missing from the article, we believe it risks misrepresenting the complexity of the Konkani language in Goa. As such, we would appreciate it if the editor gave prominent space to this letter as a way of recognising the diversity of the Konkani language, and especially the presence of the Roman script, and non-Antruzi dialects. Jason Keith Fernandes, Taleigāo – Goa Dale Luis Menezes, JNU Delhi/ Quepem – Goa R. Benedito Ferrão, Porvorim – Goa A version of this letter was first published in the Navhind Times, in the My Take section, on 2 Sept 2013) Find my writings @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com --- Push thought to extremes -Louis Althusser ---
[Goanet] Arso review in Konkani
~Kaim nattkuleancho hangasor hanv ul’lekh korunk sodtam. Maim hea nattkuleant, Alroy-ak sirvis mellunk ek lak farik korunk zai asta. Punn te itle duddu taka mellttole zalear tannem poilim Saibinn mãycheo murteo moddunk zai asta ani Saibinnicher bhavarth dovorpant kaim boreponn ani faido nam oxem soglleank kollit korunk zai asta. Alroy oxench korta ani rokddoch taka aksident zata. Toxench Tallnni hea nattkuleant, ji zaun asa kanni dog supurlea bhavanchi, tanchi avoy tankam promannikponnan lisanv korunk sangta ani apunn bazarant veta. Eklo bhav tallnnek sampoddta ani aplea ixttam barabor khellpak veta ani thoimsor buddun morta. ‘Devan-khast-laili’ osle vichar Pri. Michael Fernandes-a sarkea tornattea padrin soddun diunk zai. Amchea jivitant unneponnam asat, chuki ghoddtat hem monant dhorun ami amchem jivit jiyeunk zai, oslem novsorlolem chintop khub gorjechem.~ Check http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2013/08/ek-anki-updes-ani-sondex.html Dale Find my writings @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com --- Push thought to extremes -Louis Althusser ---
[Goanet] A Matter of Time: Review
~There is, I would claim, a lament for the loss of bhatkarponn or landlord-ness in demolition of a big, palatial house. I would suggest that the demolition of the palatial house is symbolic not of a changing Goa that affects us all, in the sense that all diverse people are included but only a certain, restricted segment of the Goan society who were privileged at the fag-end of Portuguese colonialism. Thus, to return to the main themes of A Matter of Time, how can this book, drawing from the experiences of what appears to be a very happy childhood claim to represent all the children of Goa? Would the childhood of Coutinho or her characters be the same of, say a Gavddi child? Would we ever mourn the loss, consciously or subconsciously, of the demolition of a khomptti (hut)? Indeed, if one carefully observes the cover of this book, it does not depict children playing traditional games or scenes of a by-gone era that children of yesterday cherish today, but an idealized palatial house that was owned by the privileged.~ http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2013/08/of-houses-and-childhood-nostalgia.html Dale Find my writings @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com --- Push thought to extremes -Louis Althusser ---
[Goanet] brazinho soares: Konkani Munis
~ Taking the contentious romi-nagri issue as a case-study in his recently submitted doctoral thesis on the “Citizenship Experiences of Goan Catholics”, Jason Keith Fernandes argues that as caste plays a central role “in moulding the figure of the ideal citizen-subject” anybody who “fail[s] to embody the figure of the Konkani munis, a figure that is modelled on the Saraswat Brahmin” (p. 22) is considered to lie outside the boundary of legitimate Goan citizenship. This claim is made by borrowing the context of nation-states wherein there is only one ideal citizen-subject. Thus, in the case of the cultural productions of the Roman lipi as well as the persons who embody the culture of the Roman script are seen as lacking in standard. It is with this insight in mind I would like to place before the reader an alternate ideal-type, a Konkani munis who has as much a legitimate right to represent and take the culture of Goa forward on the road of progress.~ Read more @ http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2013/08/brazinho-soares-konkani-munis.html Dale Luis Menezes Find my writings @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com --- Push thought to extremes -Louis Althusser ---
[Goanet] dances of goa: review
'Further problems emerge because this documentary tries to understand Goa’s traditional practices through a nationalistic lens where one origin is sought and where Christianity is understood and is brushed aside as an historical accident. Take for instance the comments of Pandurang Phaldesai, (then) Member Secretary, Kala Academy, Goa: “Our ancestors have the same roots. Same culture. Due to historical accidents (itihasik apghat) two religions emerged. But our culture remained the same. Our heritage is the harmony that we have maintained.”' Read more @ http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2013/07/dancing-to-same-old-tune.html Dale Luis Menezes Find my writings @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com --- Push thought to extremes -Louis Althusser ---
[Goanet] Kotrin review
For a review of Willy Goes' KOTRIN in romi see http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2013/07/goychi-mukti-ani-mog.html Dale Luis Menezes Find my writings @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com --- Push thought to extremes -Louis Althusser ---
[Goanet] Operation Vijay: review
BETWEEN NATIONALISMS: OPERATION VIJAY AS THE ULTIMATE SOLUTION By DALE LUIS MENEZES A few weeks ago, while reviewing Suresh Kanekar’s autobiography (a large part of which dealt with the author’s experience during Goa’s freedom struggle) I had claimed that accounts and histories regarding Goa’s decolonization were viewed through a sacral veneer of nationalism and were hagiographical in the presentation of their narratives. However, I had also pointed out that Kanekar’s memoir could be used to think afresh about Goa’s decolonization. I shall continue to grapple with this theme in reviewing Shrikant Y. Ramani’s Operation Vijay: The Ultimate Solution. Ramani has attempted to give a blow-by-blow account of the Indian army’s action in Goa. He says that he has used both Indian and Portuguese sources. Using such multilingual sources is a requirement of methodology but the problem here is that Ramani is not critical of his sources. In many places he has, as admitted in the preface, “literally” reproduced entire documents or primary sources; one sometimes has no clue where Ramani is presenting/discussing his arguments and where he is reproducing his documentary source. The use of source material from the Indian and Portuguese sides, it must be mentioned, does help the reader in the corroboration of the events/incidents. 19 December, 1961 was a momentous event not only for Goans but also for the international community led by the United Nations. A brief survey of the academic writings that were produced before and after 1961 (including an interesting essay by Oliveira Salazar, the dictator of Portugal) suggests that the debate has been either condemning/delegitimizing India’s claims or justifying them. But a critical engagement with these ideas and arguments is missing in the book. What we get is a rather simplistic, nationalist understanding from the perspective of the Indian nation-state. 50 years later, we need much more critical and probing reflection where, apart from the great leaders, statesmen, gallant soldiers and international politics, ordinary men and women – people who had/have diverse responses and experiences to the armed action of the Indian troops also find place in our histories. Ramani in his entire 420 pages does not even consider the insecurities and uncertainties fel t by the population, but everywhere we are told that the “civilian population” gave a “welcome [to] the Indian troops…” Another reason why Ramani’s leaning towards a nationalist paradigm of history is inadequate is how he understands and perceives the history of Goa. Firstly, Ramani glosses over the native contribution in the establishment of Portuguese rule in Goa, such as the help rendered by a certain Mhall Pai Vernekar. The Estado sustained for so long only because it was propped up time and again by native elites as well as the once wealthy casado (married Portuguese settlers) population. Thus, to trace a long, linear, monolithic trajectory wherein “…Albuquerque reconquered it [Goa from Adil Shah] on 25th November 1510 where they remained till the time of Independence of India and thereafter upto 19th December 1961when they were…forced to leave Indian soil forever” is found to be problematic. We also need to recognize that the New Conquests were incorporated in the Estado between 1763 and 1819. “Old Goa,” he says, “is a city of ruins but some relics of Portuguese architect ure dating back to 16-17th centuries still survive.” A simple trip to Old Goa would prove otherwise. Ramani recognizes that “[t]oday India and Portugal…are trying to forget the dark pages in their historical past and learn lessons from history.” But relying entirely on statist sources and histories and not engaging critically with them, Ramani himself has, unwittingly or not, fallen into the trap of ‘forgetting history’. What on the other hand he ‘remembers’ is the same old textbook-narratives that we are all familiar with and thus, nothing new is contributed by the book. Ramani asserts that “this is not a book of historical fiction”; yet the footnotes, citations and bibliography do not conform to scholarly conventions which would make one question the veracity of what is written and the scholarly rigor put into the writing of the book. By trying to demonstrate that a nationalist paradigm of history is inadequate, my aim is not to delegitimize the sacrifices that many made for decolonization. On the contrary, what I am trying to put across is that to reduce the history of Goa’s decolonization solely to an episode of the action of the Indian army is a great disservice to the people of Goa and even Portugal, who at that time, let’s not forget, were under Salazar’s dictatorship. We need to recognize that although colonial relations have ended (with India’s armed action); the coloniality of relations still exists, as Fr. Victor Ferrao has demonstrated in his Being a Goan Christian
[Goanet] Being a Goan Christian: Review
COLONIALISM AND OTHER CROSSES By DALE LUIS MENEZES • “I call for a theological appropriation of the history of Goa.” (p.73) The history of conversion is the alter ego of the history of Christianity in India despite Christianity predating Portuguese and British colonialism. Any reflection on the position of Christians and Christianity in India always has to depend on historical knowledge and narratives. Being a Goan Christian by Fr. (Dr.) Victor Ferrao is one such philosophico-theological reflection on the position of Christians in contemporary Goan society. Drawing on his intense engagement in philosophy and theology, Ferrao tries to understand the history and the historical processes as also the various kinds of discourses surrounding Portuguese colonialism, different forms of resistance to colonialism and its effects on the Goan Christian of today. What follow in the book is a thought-provoking analysis as well as a plan for the future – for the Christians to assert their rights and fight the marginalized, subaltern position imposed on them. Having established that ‘difference’ is fundamental to human existence, Ferrao asserts that “a Goan Christian does not have to account for being ‘other’” and s/he can create his/her own self through Christian values and ethics. Why is there a need to assert this ‘otherness’ and call for the creation of a new Christian self? The answer lies in the conversion to Christianity and the colonial experience. The dominant Hindu discourse (the ‘other view’) understands the colonial experience in terms of ‘ritual pollution’ and the converted Christians as polluted. The ‘purity/pollution’ principle, argues Ferrao, forms the basis of ‘othering’ the Goan Christian and as a consequence is used to disenfranchise them. This is a very important insight as we can now better understand why allegations such as “anti-nationals” and “agents of the Portuguese” are hurled at the Catholics in contemporary times. The above point is further buttressed by arguing that colonization resulted in the loss of the ‘self’ (or identity) for the Hindus and Christians. The Goan elites during the Portuguese rule identified with the colonizer as a way to recover this ‘self’. In post-Liberated Goa, this recovery of ‘self’ happened with the dominant community identifying and integrating with a Hindu culture of mainland India. This project now saw the Catholic as de-nationalized whereas the Hindu was not burdened as such. Ferrao argues that the Christian “ethics of integration and love” are contrary to the notion of ‘purity and pollution’ and thus, a suitable response will be to understand such a notion and “construct[…] ‘ethics of compassion’.” But I suspect this is easier said than done as the Goan Church and Church hierarchy is ridden with caste prejudices which are not taken into account. Also, these ethics of compassion invites the Christians of today “to understand the pain of our Hindu brethren.” Fair enough. But we also need to recognize that colonial and post-colonial experiences have also hurt and pained the Christian in many ways and that, as new research in history demonstrates, most of those who experienced this “pain” five centuries ago saw conversion to Catholicism as a promising alternative to gain higher ritual status and land. The writing of history from a brahmanical position and the narratives that it has produced (such as that of Parashuram) indulges in “overwriting and underwriting” of the history of Christianity in Goa. Such a history tries to compress a long period of time into a nebulous entity making possible the identification of the Christians of today “with the colonizers of the pasts.” The burden and onus of making things right is entirely on the Christians, according to such a discourse. Ferrao identifies this tendency but also believes that it is the Christian who has to do all the work. There is a problem here as Ferrao tacitly accepts the ‘victimization-of-Hindus’ theory that conceptualizes the Hindu as infallible. The chief concern of this book is an inter-faith dialogue between Catholics and Hindus. One gets a sense that the categories are monolithic in conception whereas the actual segmented nature (past and present) has been glossed over. Thus, an issue like caste (which shapes our social life in more ways than one) occupies little space. Although the author recognizes (in a footnote) that Hinduism as we know it today might have taken birth in British colonialism, the native pre-Portuguese population is still ‘Hindu’ for the author. Goa’s Islamic past and the “pain” of Muslims due to colonialism is sadly missing and which needs to be integrated in future projects. It must be said that this book is dense but one which is a must read. This short study is not enough. A deeper and elaborate reflection would surely alleviate the burdens and crosses ‘we
[Goanet] Goa's Liberation and Thereafter: review
FREEDOM-FIGHTERS, ACADEMICS AND GOA’S DECOLONIZATION By DALE LUIS MENEZES If 15 August, 1947 is considered as a momentous day in the history of the Indian nation, 19 December, 1961 can be considered to be the Goan equivalent of the ‘Indian Independence’ whereby it is largely agreed upon that ‘Liberation’ from Portuguese colonial rule was achieved after 450 years. The corpus of perceptions handed down to us regarding Operation Vijay launched by the Indian State is often viewed through a (almost sacral) veneer of nationalist history, wherein vivid images of Goan freedom-fighters being brutally assaulted and tortured by the Portuguese police and military shape and define this discourse through art, literature, poetry and songs. But one cannot deny the fact that this particular slice of history and the role of freedom-fighters in it have not been critically assessed. Happily for us, due to a wonderful memoir by Suresh Kanekar, we can shift our thinking in this direction. Suresh Kanekar is the father of the best-selling novelist Amita Kanekar, though Suresh Kanekar is a well-known academic himself, having few books and numerous research papers to his credit. He has also previously authored a novel called Of Mangoes and Monsoons. Suresh Kanekar’s memoir Goa’s Liberation and Thereafter: Chronicles of a Fragmented Life is roughly divided into two phases: one, where as a very young student he enters, head-on into the freedom struggle and gets incarcerated for five years in Aguada and then again for a few more months; and in the second phase, he describes his life as a student of Psychology in Poona, in the US and finally in the Bombay University as a faculty member. Though the latter part of the book is interesting as it chronicles Suresh Kanekar’s battles with an inefficient and lackadaisical administration and also gives a glimpse of his cantankerous and enfant terrible side, I shall however largely dwell on the former part of the book as it is more relevant to Goan history. Suresh Kanekar describes his cavalier days as a student, first in Goa and later in Poona. He was a happy-go-lucky person who decided to join the freedom struggle after the arrest of Pundalik Gaitonde. But young Suresh Kanekar was not fired by any patriotism or nationalism and joining “the Goa freedom movement was a matter of escapism at worst and romanticism at best, with hardly any idealism or patriotism involved. Conceivably, in my case, patriotism was the first refuge of the scoundrel. I became seriously committed to the freedom movement only after I was arrested and put behind bars,” Suresh Kanekar discloses. Suresh Kanekar does not try to fit his account in the established moulds of hagiographies about the Goan freedom struggle and thus, his book can be useful to look beyond the nationalist paradigms of history. One can find a very detailed and vivid description of Suresh Kanekar’s arrest, interrogation and the final incarceration in Aguada – where he was imprisoned for five years. What will strike the reader is that nowhere in the account stories of physical brutalities against the political prisoners are present. Life in the jail “was uneventful after the preliminary hearings. We had settled down to a routine of cooking, eating, cleaning, and so on,” he says. In fact, one can find Suresh Kanekar having a pleasant and civil time with the Portuguese guards in the Aguada prison. When the prisoners had any complaints they would write petitions to the authorities and generally they were given a patient listening. Even when they did not wish to stand to the Portuguese flag as a mark of respect and homage, the prisoners after non-violent disobedience and a few petitions achieved their goal and, “one fine morning the sergeant or corporal on duty came to our hall and told us the commander-in-chief had determined that we should no longer be forced to stand for the flag. I practically danced with relief and joy.” Finally when Suresh Kanekar completed his term of imprisonment and was released, this is what he had to say, “I never saw Aguada again, although I had and have wonderful memories of the place. I had been sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment and I had been behind bars for five years and twenty-five days. Those five years were the best five years of my life till then. They changed me into a much better person than I was before imprisonment.” Suresh Kanekar narrates a particular incident about Mohan Virginkar, the then vice-president of the National Congress (Goa). He was supposed to offer satyagraha in April 1955, but failed to appear at the site after he developed cold-feet. “[B]ut unfortunately for him his name was announced on the All India Radio along with the names of other satyagrahis who had genuinely offered satyagraha on the specified day. The next day he was arrested and put behind bars. When he was sentenced
[Goanet] Handbag: review
FOUR WOMEN AND A NOVEL OF SUBSTANCE By DALE LUIS MENEZES We may have heard a lot of stories about the seafarers. These men, generally from a Goan Catholic extraction, work for nine months of the year and spend the next three months on leave. While the representation, it can be claimed, has so far been centered on the trials and travails as well as the scandals of the tarvotti, the stories of their wives have not been told as much as they should have been. Also, it must be borne in mind that the stories of the wives of the seafarers may have been featured in the Romi novels called romanxis; these, however, have died a sudden death due to Machiavellian machinations and hence been wiped off from public memory. Having said so, I do not think that these romanxis were ever successful in providing a strong woman’s perspective in this tarvotti narrative. In the recent spurt of Romi Konknni novels, I claim that we have exactly this woman’s perspective in the form of Sharon R. Fernandes e Soares’ debut novel, Handbag, recipient of the 2012 Konknni Martir Florian Vaz Award instituted by the Thomas Stephens Konknni Kendr. Her novel, for me, becomes very interesting as to a large extent it reflects the reality of the wives or spouses of the seafarers: their fears, their insecurities, their pathos and their joys. In this review, I shall compare and assess the work of Sharon Soares with a mini-ethnographic study that researched and reported on the lives of women living in Bombay and Goa and whose husbands were seafarers. This study is by Helen Sampson, titled “Left High and Dry? The Lives of Women Married to Seafarers in Goa and Mumbai” [Ethnography 6, no. 1 (March 1, 2005): 61 – 8 5]. The novel opens with Lisa, the protagonist, narrating her own life as well as the lives of three other women of whom we come to know through the agency of Lisa. These three women incidentally happen to live close to each other. Veronica is the contemporary of Lisa, with a very young daughter. Flory is an old woman well past her prime and Helen is a single woman, who, upon her transfer, comes to the village of Raia as a bank manager. In due course of time these four women develop a deep friendship that not only provides company for leisure but also becomes their support group. Barring Helen, all the other three women are married to seafarers. Flory is married to Bosco who is now retired and spends most of his time at the local tavern and beats up his wife regularly. Lisa is married to Russel and Veronica is the wife of Edmund. If we closely observe the characters of Lisa and Veronica, we find that both these ladies despite having loving husbands and pleasant in-laws still yearn for domesticity and the ideal family structure to be completed. In a way these characters convey the hardships of women who have to look after the household in the absence of their husbands. This particular response can be seen in Sharon Soares’ novel. However, the abovementioned study by Sampson has shown that there can be another response: that of women taking charge of the household. This response is much more complex as such women “…had learned to manage finances; deal with mechanics, electricians, and plumbers; change light bulbs; pay bills; negotiate with bank ma nagers; and generally undertake a whole range of traditionally masculine roles. Whilst some told me that they made efforts to revert to their ‘feminine’ role in the intermittent periods when their husbands returned home on leave, many others explained that they were unable to do so or chose not to do so. Regardless of their response to their husband’s return, all women living independently from their in-laws described living lives in which their social networks and contact with the outside world had expanded as a result of establishing single family households. Nevertheless many said that they remained conscious of the continued pressure from their communities to conform with traditional gender roles.” Another issue that is tackled in this novel is of the (alleged) promiscuity and extra-marital affairs. It was one of Lisa’s fears that her own father who worked in Kuwait was having an extra-marital affair and this she believed had caused her mother’s death when she (Lisa) was very young. When such a similar situation is faced by Veronica, where she dreams that her husband is cavorting with another woman, it is the support group that holds Veronica together during such difficult times. There are some tense moments before Veronica realizes that her husband is indeed faithful to her and that when he would return home, it would be for good. Such a support group, Lisa feels, could have stopped her mother’s death as her mother was helpless against the onslaught of wagging tongues in her village. Sharon Soares beautifully handles this situation in her novel as even in the study quoted above, the women “…described being conscious
[Goanet] My Journey Through Wonderlands: Review
GOAN GAZE, WONDERLANDS AND WANDERLUST By DALE LUIS MENEZES Once upon a time, travelling for pleasure was a privilege that was reserved only for the wealthy. And hence such kind of travel was always viewed as being exotic. With the turning of the tides and time, the opportunity to travel became available to the middle-class and as one can observe, it is this class of people that make a large chunk of ‘holidayers’ in any destination. The production of travelogues is an interesting genre of literature, for often such travelogues are a dialogue and engagement with the land travelled to with the land that the traveller hails from. There is always a comparison between the geography, history and politics and it is this comparison that can possibly give insights into various aspects of the destination as well as of the traveller. With such a frame of mind, I opened Brenda Rodrigues’ travelogue My Journey Through Wonderlands. Brenda and her husband, Joe are vastly travelled persons. The list of their travels becomes mind-boggling when compiled: USA, Scotland, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Africa, China, Southeast Asia, Canada, Northeast India and many, many more. Careers of travel spanning 40-odd years, Brenda and Joe Rodrigues have seen it all! A passionate writer and a keen observer, Brenda would write short travelogues which were then sent to friends and family as newsletters. These newsletters are now the backbone of this book, spanning 400-odd pages! Before getting into the nitty-gritty of the book, an interesting detail which one gets to know about this globe-trotting couple is the amazing and brilliant network that they have established of friends (that also includes priests) and family across India and the world. After reading the book, I must say that Brenda and Joe Rodrigues have made clever use of such a network. In this aspect they must be seen as immensely lucky too, as they have friends and family who “insist” and pester them to visit their native countries or regions, offering sometimes even free air tickets. How I envy them! Turning our attention to the book: the first and foremost aspect of My Journey Through Wonderlands that needs commenting is the structure that the author has chosen. Brenda Rodrigues has decided to follow a chronological structure rather than a thematic or geography-centric arrangement of her writings. Now this gives rise to a problem because Brenda Rodrigues has travelled to one destination many times over a period of many years and because there is an over-emphasis in maintaining the chronological structure of the narrative, many sections seem to be repetitions or read like staccato notes of a faithful court reporter. The author’s aim seems to be to report everything that she has seen and this need diverts the author’s attention from a deeper engagement with the history, geography and politics of the lands she visits. She tries hard to produce comments on the things and places she has seen, but with description being central to her reporting, the stray one-line comment s that we find seem to be digressions and out-of-place. Such details that one can easily find using the internet need not be repeated in a travelogue which could be unique (or in a sense is unique) for a very Goan gaze that it provides. Because of our peculiar location as the ‘Orient’, we need to know exactly how Brenda Rodrigues as a person (as well as a woman) engages with the history, the people and the politics of the places she has travelled to. Hence, the author in the humble opinion of this reviewer should have asked herself, when she had set out to compile her writings for a wider audience, as to what unique insights she could have brought to her writing that would be different from so much literature that has already been produced about all these places. The author has travelled to the regular tourist spots and even those less-travelled ones but fails to provide insights regarding the people and the places. A great opportunity seems to have been lost despite the availability of an amazing network of well-wishing frie nds and family. The reason why I consider travelogues interesting and take them extremely seriously is because they represent the Other for the Self. In this sense, I feel that the travelogue of Brenda Rodrigues has not been able to shake off some of the colonial imageries and metaphors. For instance, she perceives herself as travelling to “wonderlands” as the title suggests and through her book there is a conscious or unconscious acceptance of the lens of colonial exoticization through which she views the Other. This way, what is disappointing is that even Goa becomes an exotic land. A further parallel with the colonial imageries and metaphors is that having spent her entire life in Bombay (apart from the globe-trotting!), after retirement Brenda and Joe Rodrigues decided to buy
[Goanet] Sopon: book review
MIDDLE-CLASS ETHOS AND GOAN DREAMS By DALE LUIS MENEZES Even after a very brief and cursory browsing of the new literature that is emerging in Konknni in the Roman script, one realizes that the authors or writers are deeply concerned with issues like the Goan identity or Goanness, the loss of the way of life that was once cherished, the influx of migrants (from other states) and the general corruption and sorry-state-of-affairs of the Goan political life. The realization at the end of the play/story/novel that good triumphs over evil and thus leading to a happy ending has been an enduring trope and one that needs to be critically analyzed by the writers as well as the readers. The idea that the authors generally try to convey is that by reforming one’s own individual life and by walking the path of rectitude and righteousness, eventually, would lead to the betterment and happiness of society. James Fernandes’ Sopon, I would argue, falls somewhat (but not entirely) in this trend of Konknni literature in the Roman script. A high-school teacher by profession, writing plays, it seems, have so far been a hobby of James Fernandes. The plays in this collection have been staged at various competitions and the title play, Sopon, has even been made into a short film by the Goa Doordarshan Kendr. Throughout the pages of the book one would notice that a particular middle-class ethos resonate and echo: the characters have generally completed their graduation (BA of course!) but have trouble in finding a job because to get appointed to a job, one has to pay a hefty bribe which runs into lakhs of rupees to the government officials. The father on the other hand is the idealist – Gandhian almost – who is also worried about getting his rapidly ‘aging’ teenaged daughter married. This is the broad setting or context in which the first play Ekuch Sot is situated and such echoes and resonances can be heard or seen in the remaining nine plays. The onus is on the elderly male characters to guide the rest of the characters (and hence also the reader) to the path of righteousness. It is clear that James Fernandes is highly influenced by Gandhian ideas. But Gandhianism has proven to be highly problematic in the light of the recent Dalit critiques of it (especially the Poona P act) and the Anna Hazare movement (or more aptly a fiasco). The influence of Gandhi and Anna Hazare is much more visible in his play Sopon. Hence what I would like to stress is that without a critical understanding of Gandhian ideas and politics, our own ideas which we base on Gandhian notions can potentially be problematic. A teacher that he is, the first two plays give the impression that James Fernandes is essentially writing for children. In the play titled I Love You Daddy, James Fernandes tries to engage with caste. The protagonist of the play – a young boy named Willy – questions many bigoted and casteist assumptions. But this issue is not taken any further and gets lost, even subverted, in the binary oppositional logic of borem (good) and vaitt (bad) in the progression of the plot. Now since this particular play seems to be for children, even subtly broaching the issue of caste provides us with a lot of challenges. We need to think how not to make our children casteist bigots, that they (many of them) inevitably seem to become when they grow up. How to sensitize our children to the violence and oppression of caste is a question that needs serious consideration. An interesting literary innovation (or should I say twist) that is found in the work of James Fernandes is the representation of Catholic and Hindu characters. Inasmuch as one can find Catholic drunkards, there are also a substantial number of Hindus, who take to the bottle. One can argue over here that this inversion of representation of Hindu characters is a response or reaction largely to the stereotypical representation of Catholics as it cannot be denied that the drunk is a ‘John’ or a woman of loose morals is always a ‘Sandra’. Let’s face it: alcohol consumption is not a religious specific habit or bad habit. James Fernandes has written these plays so as to provoke or awaken our social conscience thereby leading or prodding us to positive social action. But he always locates the problem of a lack of social conscience in the individual. If the individual changes, the world would be a better place. To a certain extent this can be a truism. But excessive and deterministic focus on the individual can make us miss the larger picture which is the structures and processes that are a part of our social life which may be a much more malignant cause for the social ills. For instance, if we take the problem of plastic, it is not only the individual who needs to have civic sense but the larger system that we are a part of, needs to change as well. Consider the following
[Goanet] Cozinha de Goa: Review
TABLE FOR TWO: HISTORY AND TRADITION OF GOAN FOOD By DALE LUIS MENEZES If one were to browse through the cookery section of any reputed bookshop, one would definitely find a book (or many books) about Goan cuisine and gastronomy amidst several books dealing with diverse cuisines. What we eat and how we eat becomes part of our culture and identity. Food-related stereotypes are perhaps the few that we may not resent; that Goans are like fish out of water without fish, for there are Goans who are vegetarians and some do not like the taste of fish. For a person whose relationship with food has thus far been confined to only consuming it, reviewing a book about cooking and the history and tradition that surrounds such an act can be an unnerving task. Cozinha de Goa by Fátima da Silva Gracias is not a cookbook per se. It deals with the history and tradition of Goan food and includes some recipes as well. Along the way, Mrs. da Silva Gracias also reminisces about her own experiences with cooking and researching about Goan food. A historian who has authored books on colonial health and hygiene and women in Goa, Mrs. da Silva Gracias has crafted Cozinha de Goa in a Maria Aurora Couto-esque fashion, providing us with a daughter’s story in between. Along with acquainting the reader with the text of Mrs. da Silva Gracias, I would also like to situate her work as primarily trying to assert a Goan identity. I would try to point out a few possibilities and limitations as well. In trying to link cookbooks or books that deal with a particular cuisine to questions of identity, I shall refer the reader to a study of Caribbean cookbooks published in English which would help us in charting new understandings of books on gastronomy. B. W. Higman, the author of the paper titled, ‘Cookbooks and Caribbean Cultural Identity: An English-Language Hors D'Oeuvre’ says, “It can be argued that the emergence of the cookbook marks a critical point in the development of any cuisine and that the specialization and ramification of texts has much to tell about the character of national, regional, and ethnic identities. For these several reasons, a study of the history of cookbooks published in and having to do with the Caribbean can be expe cted to throw some light on what it means to be Caribbean or to identify with some smaller territory or grouping, and how this meaning has changed in response to social and political development.” The basic position that Mrs. da Silva Gracias assumes in writing this book and one theme that runs through the entire book is that of the east meets west. The meeting of east and west may have greatly influenced our food habits and culture but the use of this cliché over simplifies our understanding. Although Mrs. da Silva Gracias recognizes that Arab, Chinese, Brazilian, African, Anglo-Indian and other influences have enriched Goan food, the same is not reflected in the text; the treatment to these influences is meager. On the other hand, the picture that forms in the reader’s mind is that of Goan food being composed of the Catholic and Hindu cuisine. Such a line of thought is limiting, as is demonstrated by the following quote: “Portuguese rule created a culinary gap between the Hindus and Christians. On conversion, meat became part of the new diet of the Christians. Different measures and decrees introduced new food habits and discarded old ones.” We know today that tribal or aboriginal populations of South Asia before Hinduism and the advent of the Portuguese consumed meat on a regular basis and by making such assertions, Mrs. da Silva Gracias’ claims search for a pre-Portuguese past that is Hindu by conception. Food can be used to challenge the fascist arguments of what is Indian and foreign. This ‘Indian’ versus ‘foreign’ debate today has been defined by right-wing understandings of our history and culture. But nobody is aware about many of the food ingredients that were not native to the land and which should have effectively led us to question the whole idea of what is foreign in other spheres of social life: for instance, our dress. Although Mrs. da Silva Gracias could have used food to comment on such narrow tendencies, I still hold that some of her claims are useful to us, “The chili revolutionised Indian cuisine. Few realize that the chili, now widely used and deeply embedded in Goan and Indian cuisine, was a stranger to our continent and that it had been brought in from the Americas only a few centuries ago.” Or consider the following where the native is not Indian but Brazilian, “During my earlier visit to Brazil I noticed that even canjee [pez in our language ] was popular in some parts. Some Brazilian researchers believe it came to them from sixteenth century Goa. In Brazil it went through changes. The Portuguese had already added chicken or chicken broth. The Brazilians included bay leaf, garlic
[Goanet] A Spoke in the Wheel: review
IN SEARCH OF DHAMMA By DALE LUIS MENEZES • If change could be brought by a king, why did the Buddha become a beggar? (p. 382) • The Buddha preached his Way, they went theirs (p. 334) Before Hinduism, in Ancient South Asia, Buddhism was a major religion. What the common man as well as the student of history knows about Buddhism has come, generally, from the old Jataka story of how the Buddha who was a prince was isolated from all the ills of the world and a chance encounter with old-age, sickness and death transforms his whole life, eventually leading to his enlightenment. Sadly for all of us this legend has been – verbatim – passed off as history. The Buddha is viewed as godhead, when charting the history of Buddhism with the actual historical processes that the Buddha as a person had experienced, given scant attention. How we understand and construct the history of Buddhism (or for that matter the history of any other religion of Ancient India) is on many occasions found to be lacking in a rigorous imagination coupled with erudition. While studying Buddhism, I have always felt that the thrust is on the philosophy (and sometimes only philosophy!) rather than the historical conditions that required such ideologies and philosophies – such as Buddhism – to be produced. Hence, when I read the debut novel of the Goan writer and academic Amita Kanekar, now based in Miramar, I felt that my knowledge and imagination about the Buddha in particular and the historical setting of Ancient India in general was enriched. A Spoke in the Wheel (2005) by Amita Kanekar, to be simply put, is a novel about the Buddha and Buddhism along with other historical personages. In attempting the portraits of such historical personages like the Buddha and the Emperor Asoka, Amita Kanekar also interrogates the history of that time as well as critically examines the conventional wisdom that has been handed down to us. (In particular, the thrust is towards rethinking the whole nationalist historiography and construction of Ancient Indian history). The protagonist of the novel is a monk named Upali, who has been commissioned by the great Emperor Asoka himself to produce a biography of the Buddha in prose. The novel opens in 256 BC, four years after the bloodshed in Kalinga and three centuries after the death of the Buddha. Upali, a native from Kalinga, had witnessed first-hand the destruction of Asoka’s military campaign there. He is now based in a small monastery, in the middle of a thick and treacherous jungle. Upali is portrayed as a scholastic who has to work with legends or suttas which contain several discrepancies in their content as a primary source. He is caught between providing a faithful account of the life of the Buddha as well as staying loyal to the spirit that Gautam, the Enlightened One, had embodied. He is an upstart, getting into frequent arguments with the elders on the finer theoretical points of the Buddha’s life. Upali, through his keen, interrogative mind and fearless questioning of the handed-down-wisdom manages to produce an account that shocks and revolts a lot of elder monks. But the Emperor Asoka likes it. A Spoke in the Wheel gives a picture of the time when the first largest empire in history was consolidated in South Asia; the author describes the cities, the people and the social atmosphere in which the daily business was carried out with much élan. The Mauryan Empire under Asoka was vast containing equally varied identities: tribal, caste and class. Amita Kanekar is not just writing a novel, but is also arguing, informing and providing an alternate view of the history of Buddhism and Ancient India. For instance, consider the very popular myth about the 84,000 stupas that were constructed by Asoka. She says, “…since he ruled some thirty-seven years, averages 2,270 each year, or more than six a day, a feat clearly impossible for anyone not Beloved of the Gods.” Did the Buddha really lead a sheltered life totally buffered from the harsh realities of the world? Amita Kanekar argues otherwise, “He probably led the most luxurious life possible, but it was not that of a lotus-eater. Otherwise Shudodhan [Buddha’s father] could never have hoped to make his son Chief after him. It was a time of confusion, even chaos, and a Chief had to at least understand both the old and the new divides, to defend his own interests and also swing popular feeling behind him. It was a tall order, as Shudodhan knew only too well.” It is also interesting to note how perfectly Amita Kanekar weaves the importance of iron in the whole narrative. Yes, although this ubiquitous dark metal transformed our society and history, sadly this is not taken into much consideration by most established scholarship when discussing the history of Buddhism. Amita Kanekar’s concern and commitment to the cause of the subaltern
[Goanet] Budd'tti: book review
DELUGE AND DAMNATION By DALE LUIS MENEZES Writing a debut novel can be a tough task. Inexperience can be a major hindrance. The plot may digress and may not be able to hold the attention of the reader. If such manuscripts do not go through a process of critical surveying, followed by the tightest possible editing, then the end result could be a bad reading experience. The review of Budd’tti, a novel by Manuel Fernandes in the Roman script will discuss such a shortcoming and also try to read the plot (or plots) of the novel along with the contemporary social and political Goan world. Manuel Fernandes has written and directed a few tiatrs and has presented his plays on the All India Radio. He is a regular writer who has published his writings in many Konknni mastheads, especially Gulab. Budd’tti or flood is a novel which takes its inspiration from the Biblical tale of Noah and the deluge that God had sent on the earth. Manuel Fernandes has tried to use the symbolism of the Flood and how it inundates everything, in trying to comment about the abysmal and egregious conditions of Goan political life and also (I suspect) the declining moral values of Catholic families. But in attempting to invoke this symbolism as well as wrapping a moral message for his readers, Manuel Fernandes’ novel fails to live up to the expectations. The plot changes directions several times; to the effect that it seems that the author is abandoning one strand of narration and starting a new one, only to discard it once again. The novel opens with Ronald, a small-time cloth merchant and his wife Ravina who are very devoted to each other. But there is a sudden twist in the story: Ronald starts having an affair with a young widow, Sofia. Ravina is divorced by Ronald and he drives her out of the house – and into destitution. In another turn of events, Ronald is shown as leading an agitation against a pollution-causing factory. This agitation snowballs into a popular movement which propels him into politics. In due course of time he also becomes the Chief Minister of Goa. Agitation against big industries is an important theme in the book and I believe it is included in the narrative because in recent times Goa has gone through many such agitations. But though Ronald is the protagonist and contemporary politics a major space for comment, the author seems to be struggling to keep these strands tied together in a unifying narrative. Ravina is shown as migrating to Bombay, only to make a dramatic and somewhat surreal entry in the end. Manuel Fernandes had tried to keep the suspense for the last, but such a model does not succeed in providing a coherent and believable ending. Along with the revamping of the plot in the editing stages of the book, the author also had a lot of scope to expand and develop his existing narrative. Elaborating more on the characters and the plot at the beginning of the novel would have, in my opinion, provided a solid base to the narration. Meanwhile, due to his power and influence Ronald starts indulging himself in corrupt practices. He starts smuggling arms and precious metals as well as making under-the-table deals to set up pollution-causing industries. Ronald chances upon a hidden vault when constructing his house and he converts it into an underground cave; a haven for his contraband. This hidden cave is accidently discovered by Felicio, a journalist who puts his principles and the ethics of the profession first and follows them to the book. After a lot of rather bizarre twists and turns, Ronald receives punishment for his evil deeds. His criminal activities are exposed (though in a way that would never stand a chance in a court of law!) and he has to run away from the long arm of the law as well as the frenzied fury of his voters. Ronald escapes to the surrounding jungle and returns in a state of destitution and injury to a dilapidated house, where he breathes his last. During his funeral, suddenly, the sky becomes overcast and there is a torrent of rain. And since the novel is set on the banks of the Zuari (Cortalim to be precise), the banks of the river overflow and the resulting flood washes the coffin and with it the corpse of Ronald into the sea. What Manuel Fernandes has tried to do is to use Ronald as a symbol for the rot in Goan society, where everything that we cherished has been destroyed or is on the verge of destruction. Ronald is the corrupt politician who is selling dear Goa for his own benefit, not for a second thinking about the general public or listening to the voice of his conscience. And somewhere, between so much gloom and doom, there is a longing for the good old days; for an ideal to be realized We can find a caution in the novel, that if we don’t wake up fast, along with our “coffins” we will also be washed away in the sea of nothingness. This metaphor
[Goanet] Fr. Victor Ferrao on Romi Literature
POWER, POLITICS AND TRAUMA: THE CASE OF ROMI LITERATURE By DALE LUIS MENEZES The close interrelations of power, hegemony and history in the politics that surround a language and/or script were brought to the fore by Dr. Fr. Victor Ferrao, Dean of Philosophy and Professor of Rachol Seminary. Dr. Fr. Ferrao was delivering the Late Fr. Freddy J. da Costa Memorial Lecture organized by the Dalgado Konknni Akademi (DKA) at Tiatr Academy’s Conference Hall, Panaji on July 19, the eve of Fr. Freddy’d birth anniversary. Fr. Freddy who is known for his journalism and writing in Konknni was incidentally the founding member of the DKA as well as its first President. Dr. Fr. Victor Ferrao who recently released his book, Being a Goan Christian: the Politics of Identity, Rift and Synthesis, was awarded PhD for his thesis on ‘Involving God in an Evolving Universe: Dialogue between Science and Religion’ and has taught at Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune. A highly erudite scholar, Dr. Fr. Ferrao who has published many papers in various journals, argued his case with finesse. He spoke on the topic of Romi Lipintlem Konknni Sahitya: Kal ani Az [Konknni Literature in the Roman Script: Past and Present]. Rather than providing a descriptive history of the books and authors in the Roman script, Dr. Fr. Ferrao took the debate to a very intellectual level, focusing instead on the larger and much malignant issues of power, hegemony, linguistic politics and the changes wrought by colonialism. (Incidentally, some felt that Dr. Fr. Ferrao was deviating from the topic). Needless to say, the thought-provoking lecture left the audience, which also included t he Journalism students of St. Xavier’s College, Mapusa, with much to chew on. Driving straight to the point, Dr. Fr. Ferrao invoked the Swiss linguist Ferdinand Saussure and said that no language has a natural script. He then went on to explain how we create words and represent them with scripts and how meaning is then encoded in them. And drawing from the thesis of Sausure, he stated that he was not prepared to accept “that any script could be ‘natural’ and ‘scientific’ to a language.” Dr. Fr. Ferrao tried to locate the problems of script of Konknni as well as the Medium of Instruction (MOI) in the Portuguese colonialism and believed that there were close linkages between these issues, historically speaking. The proponents of ek bhas, ek lipi, ek sonskrutay [one language, one script, one culture] are misguided, he said. By making such an argument, Dr. Fr. Ferrao asserted that a “forgetting of history” takes place. And since Dr. Fr. Ferrao identified colonialism as intimately tied with our problems today, he dwelled quite at length on the differences between British and Portuguese colonialism as well the Orientalist and nationalist scholarship of the 19th century that had produced knowledge through racist and upper-caste lenses. Dr. Fr. Ferrao was of the firm opinion that such frameworks should be abandoned. He also brought to the discussion two insightful concepts of “colonial difference” and “coloniality of power”; the former being the difference between the foreigner and the native where the foreigner projects himself as superior while the latter concept was the acceptance of foreign power without any question. Dr. Fr. Ferrao while acknowledging the contribution of the missionaries in creating a corpus of Konknni literature also recognized the “side benefits” that it may have provided for the Portuguese state. This indeed was a new insight. Elaborating on the theme of “forgetting of history”, Dr. Fr. Ferrao cited the example of Manthan, a recently-released book in nagri by the Professor of Konknni at the Goa University, Dr. Madhavi Sardesai. Commenting on Eduardo Jose Bruno de Souza’s novel (which was the first in Konknni), Dr. Sardesai claimed that this novel gave a picture of the state of the Konknni language when it was released while at the same time expressing regret that there were many Portuguese words used in the text. “Madhavi Bai forgets history yet again. For the spoken language always borrows and lends,” said Dr. Fr. Ferrao. Although Dr. Fr. Ferrao conceded that the literature of Konknni in the nagri script is great or “mahan”, he admitted that this literature was relatively young. He said that there was an attempt to invent a long and glorious past. This, Dr. Fr. Ferrao said, was being achieved by finding the roots and origins of Konknni in Sanskrit. If we keep the many scripts of Konknni aside from the mainstream, can we develop the language, he questioned. Dr. Fr. Ferrao stressed that the events of the 16th and 17th centuries are evaluated by the frameworks of the 19th century Hindu lenses. Taking the help of established scholarship that has convincingly demonstrated that ‘Hindu’ was a relatively recent invention due to foreign invasion
[Goanet] Toddzodd: Book review
CASTE AND COMPROMISE By DALE LUIS MENEZES Love triumphs all, is a theme that is not new to any of us. We have experienced this theme in movies, TV soaps and literature: the lovers go against all odds to assert their love for each other and to gain acceptance in a wider society of their (generally) clandestine affair. I have always felt that such narratives provide a utopian picture of the real world for us. Things are not always as black and white as they are made to appear… Pandharinath D. Lotlikar’s debut novel Toddzodd joins the long list of such narratives. He is no stranger to the readers of Konknni, having contributed to various magazines and having written both in Romi and nagri. Formerly with the All India Radio and Durdarshan, he decided to publish his first novel in the Roman script because he wanted his novel to reach a wider audience all the while acknowledging the important contribution of writers in this particular script to the corpus of Konknni literature. The story that Pandharinath Lotlikar sets out to tell is one which moves back-and-forth between many identities: Catholic-Hindu, rich-poor, upper-caste-lower-caste. The protagonist of the novel is Suzan who is Catholic, as the name suggests. Suzan is also a girl coming from a financially modest family and as suggested by the narrative of the novel, one can safely presume that she is of low-caste birth. She falls in love with the son of her boss and their amorous affair eventually leads Suzan to unwed pregnancy. Although the son, who is known as Babush, agrees to marry her, there is a lot of opposition from his family. Hence, Suzan has to abort the child and due to the stigma attached to unwed pregnancy, along with her mother leaves for the Gulf where her father is employed. Suzan has a very sympathetic and ‘modern-thinking’ uncle. He is of the opinion that narrow barriers such as caste and wealth should not come between the union of two people. To that effect, Suzan’s family visits the house of Babush to discuss the marriage arrangements. But they are driven out very unceremoniously and due to influential contacts of the father of Babush with the police, they even get arrested. Babush is cast as a playboy, who even after the fiasco with Suzan does not stop his philandering and hedonistic ways. After a few years Suzan returns back to Goa. Due to his immoral behaviour, Babush receives a lot of infamy and his chances of a happy married life are impaired because of his previous record. Babush starts to drown his sorrows in alcohol, which concerns his parents. His parents Mr. and Mrs. Khomvtte (Khaunte) are these elitist bigots who like to keep their distance from the ‘others’ and who never fail to insult those people who are low-castes, for instance Subhada’s friend Udai. The story takes a turn when their daughter Subhada elopes with a boy from Bihar. It is here they realize that Subhada’s friend Udai, who was from the barber’s community and who had just completed his studies in medicine could have been a suitable match for their daughter. The bigoted parents realize their faults and set out to make amends. Bubush now has to redeem himself in the eyes of Suzan because he realizes that he still has feelings for her. Since Babush helps Suzan’s family in a nasty property dispute involving an unscrupulous builder from Delhi, things start to change for the better. In the end they get married and even the estranged daughter and son-in-law of Mr. Khomvtte are reunited with the family. Happy ending! Although there is a happy ending to this novel, I believe that there are many issues that the author has raised and some that he has glossed over and such issues need to be critically examined. In order to break the narrow shackles of caste, Pandharinath Lotlikar suggests and in a way endorses least possible interference by adults when the question of their children’s marriage is concerned. But the rubric of adlem chintop (old thinking) is too broad or vague to discuss caste divisions or religious divisions. There are no clear-cut indications of whether the author is pointing towards caste or religion. The idea that inter-caste/religious marriages can lead to greater social justice and general happiness is not something that one can easily accept because the power and gender relations of caste and marriage are much more confounding than the simplistic view that we find in Toddzodd like, for instance, “Vornna vevostha” or Varna hierarchy is no longer existent in contempo rary and technologically advanced times. Although Suzan is the protagonist of the novel, her role is that of the passive bystander. Most of the decisions pertaining to her life are either made by her uncle, Antao or she is shown as having no other option but to accept what fate has in store for her. When Suzan gets married she is shown to have converted
[Goanet] EM AND THE BIG HOOM: Review
MOTHER AND MADNESS By DALE LUIS MENEZES Em and The Big Hoom is the debut novel of the Bombay-based journalist and litterateur Jerry Pinto, who has his roots in the village of Moira. A well-known figure in the journalistic circles, it came as no surprise when the imminent publication of his novel was much talked about in the press and what is more, an excerpt from the book was also published by a very prominent publication. This novel has received rave reviews in the national press, with the Indian Express calling it “insanely good” and such celebrity writers like Amitav Ghosh and Kiran Desai giving a huge thumbs-up for it. Following the release of the novel Jerry Pinto was featured in major national dailies, giving many interviews and never once failing to charm us by his wit and depth of thought. So when so much good stuff has been in the air about a novel that everybody says is good, I opened Em and The Big Hoom with a lot of premeditated ideas. The title of the book is at once enigmatic. It gives nothing away: the fact that it deals with a mentally ill protagonist, Imelda or Em and her dutiful and devoted husband Augustine or The Big Hoom. The couple has two children, Susan and a son: the narrator of the novel who curiously remains unnamed. The Narrator (let’s call him that) is on a quest to learn about the genesis of his mother’s illness; what was it that triggered it in the first place and why was his father standing rock-solid besides his mother despite everything. He tries to understand his mother and at the same time come to terms with his mother’s mental illness. Telling this story then becomes an act of catharsis for the Narrator. The novel describes the family, with all its eccentricities, laughter and tragedy. Jerry Pinto in his novel has tried to see the humane side of a Goan Catholic working-class family battling with mental illness. The family is dysfunctional. They live in a crowded and chaotic city – Bombay; in a one-bedroom-hall-kitchen flat. The Narrator has to endure these pressures, all the while dealing with his own adolescence as he ekes out a living for himself. Along with the story of his parents, the Narrator also tells about his frustrations, hopes and fears. This novel is dark and brutally honest, yet it is told with lively humour and has a host of colourful characters. Em is a lady who smokes a lot of beedis, has frequent bouts of mania and depression, and who tries many times to kill herself. She doesn’t hesitate to talk about her sex life with her children, much to the discomfort of the Narrator! The Big Hoom on the other hand, is a reserved person who is the rock of the family while Susan, the daughter, appears to be playing a less significant role. The Narrator has to construct the story from scratch as the details that he seeks have to be patiently obtained from Em. He has the daunting task of sifting through the enormous amounts of notes and letters that Em wrote, for she had this habit of jotting her musings and thoughts down on paper. Jerry Pinto has written a delightful novel and there is no doubt about it. For a topic as serious as this, one breezes through the pages with effortless ease. His lilting prose provides this space for empathizing with the Mendes’ of Mahim, who are battling with mental illness in their family. The portrayal of the Catholic family is unlike the stereotypical rubbish that the film industry has been churning out over the years, and one that the rest of this country believes to be true. And since we are on the topic, novels like Em and The Big Hoom and Savia Viegas’ Let me tell you about Quinta, which are published by ‘big’ publishers, could go a long way in changing this perception about the Goan Catholic. The novel also raises a few issues about the idea of motherhood. Em loves her children but she seems to be against the idea of motherhood. For she says that she didn’t wanted to be a “mudh-dha” [her inflected version of mother] and that she would be stuck “being someone whose definition isn’t even herself.” The portrayal of Em is not the regular romanticized, ever-loving-ever-giving mother but a more nuanced and a complex one. The son on the other hand seems to be torn between his love and duty towards his mother and trying to find his own independence and space away from his mentally ill mother. He also fears that his mother’s mental illness might be transmitted to him through the “genes”. Perhaps this is why the Narrator tries so hard to understand his mother and take care of her. Jerry Pinto also attempts to paint a picture of the grind that mentally ill patients and their families have to go through: how patients are treated in hospitals as well as the attitudes of the doctors and society. Although there was space for a damning indictment of how the system operated during the times the novel was set in, Jerry Pinto does not channel much of his
[Goanet] Book Review: Arso
26 ONE-ACT SERMONS By DALE LUIS MENEZES Theater in Konknni is a form of art that is very popular in Goa. Of late, it is heartening to note that many manuscripts are being published and a decent corpus of tiatrs and plays are now available for the general reader. Of the many tiatrs and collections of short one-act plays, Arso: 26 Nattkuleancho Jhelo by Fr. Michael Fernandes is one such book. This collection under review, consist of twenty-six one-act plays and the novelty about this book is that the titles follow the sequence of the roman alphabets from A-Z. Fr. Michael Fernandes is a young priest hailing from Benaulim. He has published his writings in various Konknni newsmagazines like Jivit, Gulab, Goan Review, V. Ixtt and some periodicals published by the Church in Goa. An alumnus of the Saligão seminary, Fr. Michael had also contributed to the nagri Konknni daily Sunaparant in its Campus Reporter section. A versatile writer experimenting with such diverse forms of writing such as essays, stories, poems, lyrics and besides being a playwright Arso is Fr. Michael’s first book. If we take an overview of Fr. Michael’s collection, we would find that these plays are written to impart good moral values. The plots are simple and move in a direction that allows the author to end with a homily. Issues such as teenage love, respect for elders and parents, honesty, Christian values, concern for the environment etc are discussed in Arso. Fr. Michael also discusses issues like the Goan identity and heritage in the face of rampant changes due to external influences and the in-migration of people from other states. After reading the book, one gets this impression that the main purpose of the author is to impart a virtuous and moralistic message to the readers and the audience. A recurring feature of the book, that one notices, is the rapid change-of-heart to lead a good, moral life of the bad characters found in the book. The way these characters pledge to reform themselves sometimes appears to be too easily done and that the author has taken shelter in conven ience. Given the time and space constraints of a one-act play, such brevity is however understandable. In Bãym or Well, Fr. Michael stresses the importance of our traditional wells and also the need to conserve water. The use of a particular Saxtti dialect in this play makes interesting reading. In fact there are a few other instances where Fr. Michael has also experimented with other dialects, which is quite a commendable task. In some of the plays, the dialogues for lay characters are written in a way a priest would preach a sermon (for instance in Advogad), which makes the scene being enacted seem unreal. Is there a need to use lofty examples from the Bible at every turn of the phrase? That we should care for our old parents is one message that runs throughout the book. The position that Fr. Michael takes on such an issue is not a new one and we have all heard such arguments at various platforms. Fr. Michael’s position will be clear from the following quote from Inam’ where Marcus, a character in the play says thus: “Dor eka putak ani dhuvek mhozo ulo – tumchim avoy-bapuy kitlim-i zanttim pasun zalear, tankam pois korum nakat, nhoi mhonn azilant-ui ghalum nakat. Kiteak, je tyag ani koxtt tumchim avoy-bapuy tumche khatir kaddtat te sonvsarantle her khuinchech monis kaddchenant.” [This is my call to every son and daughter. No matter how old and infirm your parents may be, do not turn away from them, nor admit them in an old-age home. For they have toiled for you like nobody else in this world]. Though in agreement that we should care for the people who love us, is it always practical and feasible to walk the path that Fr. Michael is suggesting? I would also like to single out another play that could have benefitted from some fresh thinking by a very young priest like Fr. Michael. In Maim (Mother), in return for a lakh of rupees which would secure Alroy a job, the idols of Mother Mary need to be destroyed and he has to proclaim that there is no use in believing in Mother Mary. Alroy does as he is required by “the group” and immediately he meets with an accident. Or in Tallnni or Temptation, which is a story about two brothers. Since their mother has to go out shopping, she tells her two boys to sincerely sit down and study for their exams which are fast approaching. One brother succumbs to temptation and goes out with his friends to play – only to drown in a river in an act of Devan khast layli (God has punished). This idea of divine retribution should be abandoned by young priests like Fr. Michael. Rather than continuing with old and stale ideas, Fr. Michael could have infused his writings with a new spirit, one that celebrates life with all its faults and shortcomings. I shall stop here lest I begin to sound too preachy! Though many of the themes
[Goanet] Book review: Goa's Foremost Nationalist
‘ENFANT TERRIBLE’ OR GOA’S FOREMOST NATIONALIST By DALE LUIS MENEZES If there is one Goan, writing in Portuguese, who has enjoyed a decent literary corpus of translation into English and a steady stream of media and academic attention, it has to be José Inácio Candido de Loyola, more popularly known as Fanchu Loyola. In 2007, the journalist Alexandre Moniz Barbosa had translated and compiled a series of Fanchu Loyola’s essays titled Passionate and Unrestrained (See my review on GT: 21 July, 2010 ). Earlier, in 2000, another collection of his essays was also published. This collection, which is presently under review, is edited by the Jesuit Charles J. Borges and translated by Lino Leitão. This review will try to focus on the many introductory essays at the beginning of the book and also try to pose a few new questions vis-à-vis the writings of Fanchu Loyola. Besides the editor and the translator of the book, essays of Carmo D’Souza, Yona Loyola-Nazareth, Fanchu Loyola’s octogenarian daughter now based in Canada and Joseph Barros are also included. They familiarize us with the book as well as try to give an insight into the life and times of Fanchu Loyola. These introductory essays or notes are not critical of Loyola’s writings and his political ideologies; they do not go any deeper than providing a brief biographic sketch, thereby giving the impression that they are more like secular hagiographies. However, the short essay that the daughter of Fanchu Loyola wrote is remarkable. Returning after an unsuccessful meeting with Nehru where Loyola tried to convince the Prime Minister to have a plebiscite in Goa, Yona Loyola-Nazareth recalls, “I never comprehended the depth of his love for Goa till he returned to Bombay in 1958. He returned from a visit to Jawaharlal Nehru in Delhi quite defeated and disconsolate. I could not fathom his distress. He paced restlessly up and down the hallway, sighing until I could not bear it any longer. I questioned him. His answer puzzled me at that time, ‘My child, we have lost Goa. You and I have lost Goa.’ Lost Goa? In 1958? He then proceeded to tell me that although he had done his utmost to persuade Nehru to conduct a plebiscite in Goa, he was convinced that with Krishna Menon at the helm, a ‘military take-over’ of Goa was imminent.” Fanchu Loyola was a nationalist, but not like the ones who were fighting for the inclusion of Goa into the Indian Union. He was opposed more to the dictatorial reign of Salazar and, as this book makes it amply clear; he never challenged the sovereignty of the Portuguese over its colonies in India. The idea of Fanchu Loyola – the man – that this collection of writings provides is markedly different from the ones that the newer collection Passionate and Unrestrained provides. In the latter Loyola appears to be cautious and civil, though a fiercely outspoken man but in this collection under review, Loyola comes off as an enfant terrible (to borrow the words of Joseph Barros). He spoke critically and directly of the policies of the government and could be very caustic towards his intellectual rivals. Fanchu Loyola replying to one Pereira Batalha concluded his letter thus, “…I view my enemies as tiny frogs and you, Sir, among them is the tinniest, a very tiny ant and despicable. Giants like me crush them under their feet.” Loyola constantly uses terms like “public” or “people” in this collection to indicate popular support to his views and policies and that his views and policies are in conjunction with the larger public. At this point we cannot forget that most of Loyola’s writings were published in the journal of his own party (India Portuguesa) as well as other journals he established and edited. As of now all we can say is that Loyola’s views were at best claims that need to be rigorously interrogated or tested. The question as to which class of people Fanchu Loyola and his party men were trying to woo, can shed new light on the dynamics of politics of those times. Though a lawyer himself, it is interesting to note that Loyola never used the law or his legal acumen to discuss remedial measures for the social problems he was discussing. He would stress that the people had degraded morally and had become cowards and it stopped at that. Rather he waxed eloquent on the economic questions and ills of the state, like an economist using tabular data and statistics to argue his case. However, it must be said that he was an avid supporter of enacting and amending legislation to increase the economic productivity of the land. A case in point can be his advocacy of legislative measures to increase agricultural productivity rather than fertilizers and improved irrigation! Loyola was a believer in agriculture bringing economic prosperity to the land, with small-scale and cottage industries supplementing agriculture. This is one area where his idea of modernity is of much interest. Fanchu
[Goanet] Book review: Land of the Sal Tree
IDEALIZED PASTS: AN INTRODUCTION TO SALIGÃO By DALE LUIS MENEZES Fr. Nascimento J. Mascarenhas is a very well known priest in Goa. Apart from being a priest for many decades, he has also authored several books on the clergy of Goa and is also intimately associated with the Archdiocesan bulletin Renovação. Fr. Nascimento was and is actively involved in various online forums about the village of Saligão in particular and online Goan forums in general. And through contributing village-related articles and trivia on such forums, The Land of the Sal Tree was born, a book entirely devoted to the myths, history and people of Saligão. Fr. Nascimento’s project promises to be a very novel one as all those quaint traditions, superstitions and trivia of a uniquely Goan village are included in the book. This book – as the author is humble enough to claim – is not an individual effort. Fr. Nascimento had the earnest backing of many Saliganvkars, chief among them being the Canada-based illustrator of the book Mel D’Souza and Frederick Noronha. Mel D’Souza (who is also a journalist and author) is a genius in drawing and sketching and his lines enliven the text and take the reader to an altogether different experience. In Acknowledgements, we do find Fr. Nascimento honestly considering Mel to be the co-author of the book, and Mel in his “trademark modesty” asking his role to be “played down”. The book introduces us to the village of Saligão: its various wards or vaddes, the prominent houses and monuments of the villages, the well-known as well as the not-so-well-known village personalities and the various stories that Fr. Nascimento as a young boy had heard and which stayed with him for the rest of his life. Fr. Nascimento also reminisces about his boyhood that was spent in Saligão and the various people who shaped his personality. The book is a remarkable introduction to a small village of Goa and a project that has the potential for emulation by other villages as well. Dr. Olivinho Gomes’ Village Goa, a book on the village of Chandor can be mentioned in this context. Though academic, it can help in guiding such projects. Fr. Nascimento’s account of the construction of the Mae de Deus church is truly illuminating. He has dug out a lot of facts from the archives. But the lengthy list of the costs and materials incurred to build the church (pp. 104-112) could have been included as an annexure as it mars the flow of the book. The Land of the Sal Tree is not connected by a single large, unifying narrative. It is rather a collection of diverse stories written with and viewed from the eyes of passionate nostalgia (or should I say saudades?). It gives us an idealized picture of Sailigão; a picture the younger generation will be in awe of, but one that they may not be able to relate to. This book presents a rather fossilized picture of the past and it seems to yearn for a veritable museum where all that was cherished will be preserved as it is. Amongst the many interesting stories that Fr. Nascimento narrates, is one of a boy called Galdinho (related to Mel D’Souza apparently) who climbed the steeple of the Saligão church in a bid to impress a girl! But by far the most surprising and awesome story in the book is of Anthony de Mello, one of the luminaries of Saligão. Anthony de Mello was a great cricketer who put Indian cricket on the world map and was also instrumental in establishing the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The words of Vijay Merchant, another doyen of Indian cricket are produced here, as appearing in the book: “For sheer cricket administration capability, confidence and enthusiasm, there was never anyone to equal de Mello. He was the man who organized the Board of Control for Cricket in India, was its first Honorary Secretary, India’s cricket representative in international cricket conferences, and, finally, its President…His trump card was his bowling and tremendous enthusiasm� ��Anthony will always be remembered as the builder of stadiums without having anything in the bank to his credit…there will never be another Anthony de Mello in Indian cricket.” Surely now, Anthony de Mello rightfully deserves one of the stadiums of the Goa Cricket Association to be named after him. The book is neatly written with the quality of the language standing as a salient feature. But the various articles that have been collected in this book could have been edited further to avoid repetition and to maintain the focus on the theme that is the village of Saligão. Many of the traditions, superstitions and habits that are found in Saligão are also found in rest of Goa, such as the traditional games that were played and the way certain festivals are celebrated. Such commonly-occurring traditions and customs should not have been singled out for elaborate treatment. In tracing the history of the village and its
[Goanet] KOTRIN: book review
LOVE IN TIMES OF DECOLONIZATION By DALE LUIS MENEZES “Gõyank suttka mellunk thoddinch vorsam urlolim. Doxim vattamnim suttke zhuzari chollvolli choloytale. He chollvollintlo ek zhuzari aslo, Zuzart. To bhiyenastanam Purtugezam add zhogoddlo. Sogllo lok tachi toknnay kortale. Tachi toknnay aikonuch Catharina tachea mogant poddlem. Gõychi suttka korunk zhuztanam Zuzartan aplo jiv vompun dilo. Hech karonnank lagon ‘Catharina’ hem sobit nanv ‘Kotrin’ zalem,” [The Liberation of Goa was just round the corner. The Freedom Fighters were taking the movement forward. Amongst the many, Zuzart was one such Freedom Fighter who fought without any fear against the Portuguese. Everybody admired him and this public admiration made Catharina fall madly in love with him. Zuzart became a martyr while fighting for Goa’s freedom. It is due to this reason that a beautiful name like ‘Catharina’ became ‘Kotrin’] thus goes the intriguing and interesting in-flip cover blurb of Willy Goes’ latest Konknni novel in the Roman script . Smartly written, this blurb immediately sucked me right into the kadombori! ‘Kotrin’ is set against the background of the Liberation of Goa from the Portuguese and the language agitation to make Konknni the raj bhas of Goa. Kotrin actually is about two women. Though seemingly parallel, eventually they intersect: Catharina, the one who falls madly in love with a freedom fighter, of whom she has only heard about but has never set eyes upon and as a consequence loses her sanity and Venisha, an MA student of psychology who due to chance and academic interest starts investigating and probing the life of Catharina. The novel opens with Catharina/Kotrin being in a bad state of mental health where she thinks that she is pregnant with the child of her lover. Being a freedom fighter, Zuzart was being hounded by the Portuguese police and in particular by a tyrant called Agente Monteiro. As fate would have it, in the present times there is also another police inspector called Monteiro, whose daughter is Venisha. Since Kotrin knew that Agente Monteiro was the one who had killed Zuzart, she would curse this present-day ‘Monteiro’ on the streets in a loud voice. Once, during a public function Venisha hear Kotrin’s rants against ‘Monteiro’ and thinks that the woman is actually cursing her own father – Inspector Monteiro! This sets Venisha on a mission to find the truth about this insane lady. Throughout the novel, Venisha is portrayed as comparing and contrasting her own life with that of Kotrin and sometimes their lives overlap. Venisha also comes in contact with Dr. Alvaro, a friend of Kotrin’s family and who also hails from the same village as Kotrin’s. Dr. Alvaro and his wife, whenever possible, try to take care of Kotrin, who by now is wandering the streets and sleeping in parks and bus stands. It is through Dr. Alvaro that Venisha learns about Kotrin: how she became what she became. We are told in the novel that Catharina’s infatuation and attraction towards Zuzart was only due to his bravery and dedication to the cause of the Liberation of Goa. Catharina had never seen Zuzart, but had only heard the villagers speak highly of him. Further in the novel we are told that such an obsession of Catharina is due to a childhood habit where she wanted anything that others praised and liked. In an otherwise well written and smoothly flowing novel, the characterization of Catharina should have been improved and elaborated. The reader would have liked an intense psychological portrait of Catharina as to why she behaves in a certain way. Certainly, here was the occasion to introduce a complex character, for it is the mental structure of Catharina that forms the keystone of the novel. That a childhood habit of obstinately wanting whatever others like/praised could lead to insanity is a notion weak in its conception. Since the novel is set against the background of such historically significant events like the Liberation of Goa and the language agitation, a few comments on such a genre of novels would not be out of place. It is heartening to see that writers in the Romi script of Konknni are experimenting with such models of narration. Hopefully, it would spawn more such novels. But using real historical events can be tricky. On one hand it gives one scope to comment on events like decolonization, contemporary politics (like in Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children) but on the other hand if the multiple voices of history are not recognized and understood properly, one runs into the risk of repeating anachronistic clichés in history. For instance, when Willy Goes talk about freedom fighters and the liberation movement, the idea is that everybody was against the Portuguese colonials. But this is not so. Many were just fighting against the dictatorship of Salazar and not against the Portuguese. The novel ends
[Goanet] Report of National Seminar on Scripts and Languages in Modern India
For a report on the papers presented and the discussion that followed at the National Seminar on Scripts and Languages in Modern India, with Special Reference to Konkani see: http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2012/03/scripting-new-future-towards-inclusive.html Dale Luis Menezes Find my writings @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com --- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---
[Goanet] The General is Up: Review
CONTRADICTIONS AND DILEMMAS OF THE POST-COLONIAL WORLD By DALE LUIS MENEZES Peter Nazareth, the African writer of Goan origin is well known as a novelist and a literary critic. He has written several essays and book reviews in leading international journals and has also edited a few anthologies. In a Brown Mantle was his first novel. Peter Nazareth was one of the earliest Goan-origin writers from Africa to have written novels in English. This review will focus on his second novel The General is Up. Published by Writers Workshop and hand-bound by Tulamiah Mohiuddeen with cotton handloom sari cloth, the review will try to place his work in a wider post-colonial world with its changing politics, issues of domination, emancipation and alienation and the hopes and aspirations of a diasporic Goan community that seems to be forever on the move. The General is Up is set in the fictitious country of Damibia at a time when a despotic military General comes to power with the help of vested Western interests and orders all the East Indians (Indians and Goans) to leave the country by “the next moon”. Peter Nazareth obviously is making an allusion to the real country of Uganda when Idi Amin drove out most of the Indians from that country. One wonders why Peter Nazareth chose to churn out a fictitious country rather than make a direct reference to Uganda itself, especially because a disclaimer to that effect is also issued by the author. Peter Nazareth describes the plight and pathos of the Indian community and most importantly the Goan community facing deportation. Interestingly as one reads the novel, one realizes that although most of the characters face deportation, they have no other country to enter as refugees. Much of the novel is unfolds in the Goan club where all Goans come to unwind and enjoy the company of fellow Goans after a hard day of work. Through gossip and political discussions, Peter Nazareth shows how the club becomes a meeting place for a diasporic community as well as a symbol through which a collective identity that is different from the larger society is asserted. The club becomes the nerve center of the political life of the Goan community, because as the times change, a native Damibian is elected the Vice-President of the Goan club setting aside the taboo of racial intermingling. David D’Costa, a high profile civil servant, emerges as a protagonist of the novel. But because of the transfer of power from the British to the native Damibian, David has problems in proving his citizenship of Damibia, though in his heart he feels very much like a Damibian citizen. David has to run from pillar to post to secure citizenship for himself, his wife and his children but due to several bureaucratic hurdles and red-tapism in the concerned Damibian ministry, he has to leave the country and migrate to Canada. Apparently, no other country (including India) apart from Canada is ready to accept these new stateless people. Of course, Canada’s generosity is not motivated by a humanitarian spirit but to selfishly gain from the ample pool of efficient and trained civil servants, doctors, lawyers, etc that the crisis in Damibia creates. The whole novel takes place in an environment of suspicion – by the British, Damibian and Indian governments – and as such owning a passport not only means affluence and international mobility but also having a state and a government to protect you. We can see the work of Peter Nazareth as a comment (or perhaps even critique) on the effects of colonialism and the consequences of the process of decolonization and also how colonialism in a somewhat modified form is still persisting in “post-colonial” societies. For instance, observe this brief excerpt: “Only a fool, a simple, brutal, childish fool would not have known that the presence of the East Indians in Damibia was part of the game. To imagine that the colonial rulers would be willing to just hand over independence! Hah! After all, their entire economies had been built up out of their empires. No, they were far-sighted. Wherever they went, they brought in a buffer, scapegoat middle-class, usually from another part of the empire. So when Independence came, the people would be made in a thousand ways to blame these foreign scapegoats as the real cause of the continued problems facing the people…When the price of clothing went up, let the people blame the Indian shopkeeper – the people would not know that the European-owned banks had raised the overdraft charges.” (pp. 78-9) Though politically most of the world is freed from colonialism, the vested interests of the white Western world still dictate terms to the “underdeveloped” third world. In this regard, I recall the noteworthy essay that Anne McClintok wrote. Titled “The Angel of Progress: Pitfalls of the Term ‘Post-Colonialism”, she argues that for a lot of countries
[Goanet] Interview of Bernadette D'Souza
Read an exclusive interview of Bernadette D'Souza, who was recently elected as New Orleans' first Family Court judge. Bernadette D'Souza was born in Quepem, Goa and was educated in Bombay before moving to the US. Link: http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.in/2012/02/interview-with-bernadette-dsouza-new.html Dale Luis Menezes Find my writings @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com --- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---
[Goanet] Book Review: Jesuit Heritage in Goa
WHITEWASH, RED STONE AND THE JESUIT HERITAGE By DALE LUIS MENEZES The Society of Jesus has come a long way from the time the first Jesuit missionary had landed on the shores of Goa. Taking an initiative into scholarly work, the Jesuits, right from the start have actively compiled dictionaries/grammars for Konknni as well as other languages. Involving themselves actively in the spread of Christianity, among other things, required the construction of churches and chapels. A new book on the Jesuit-built churches in Goa (thank you, Francisco “Xik” Dias of Dramapur for gifting me your copy!) gives one the impression that throughout the five centuries that the order has been here, the Jesuits have been as busy as the bees. Most of the magnificent churches – the brilliant white façade against a lush green background – that we are so used to in any Goan landscape and which we believe to be our cultural heritage, were built by the Jesuits. One of the simplest ways to recognize a church built by the Jesuits is to spot the insignia, IHS, which is displayed in a very prominent place in the church. Listed in this book are nearly 80 churches (and some chapels too) that were built by the Jesuits. Jesuit Heritage in Goa by Savio Rodrigues SJ is a coffee-table book with photographs by Rinald D’Souza SJ and Shannon Pereira SJ. This book is dedicated to Fr. Moreno de Souza who had immersed himself in researching about Goan churches and whose four volumes in Konknni (Bardezcheo, Saxtticheo (2 Vols.) and Tiswaddecheo Igorzo) are a testament to his scholarly work. In his dedication Savio Rodrigues says, “Fr. Moreno could not wait to see the publication of this book, which has now seen the light of the day, thanks to the insights he shared with us. We gratefully acknowledge his willingness to accompany us on a tour of the churches of Ilhas, just three months before God called him to Himself. His long hours of research, revealing interviews, and finally his books on the churches in Goa have contributed immensely to the publication of this book.” This book briefly tries to acquaint the reader with each of the churches that the Jesuits built using history (not exactly the hardcore one), anecdotes and traditional lore. The pages of this book are full of photographs and anybody who needs quick and concise information about a particular church can profitably refer to this book. Though informative, the prose sometimes lacks the delightfulness of a coffee-table book. More revisions could have been certainly welcome. Interesting traditions associated with a particular church could have been woven in the text to make the overall prose more delightful. One just needs to browse through a Mario Cabral e Sa authored coffee-table book on Goa to understand what I am talking about. The layout and printing of this book is neatly and artistically done. I must give it to the two photographers who provided the images for this book. There are some stunning pictures in this book and credit should be given to Rinald and Shannon for their dedicated effort. But some of the photos did not capture the beauty and detail of the churches. Like the photos of the detail of the façade of the College of St. Paul bearing the Jesuit monogram (p. 17) and the sanctuary of the Church of Our Lady of Hope (p. 119). This book did raise a question in my mind: why did the Jesuits of today feel the need to publish a book about their own heritage? The answer is that, maybe, they want to reclaim their heritage and remind us of their legacy. Due to the Pombaline reforms the Jesuits, along with other religious orders, were driven out of Goa. The Jesuits were the most affected because they possessed enormous amount of property and, as this book has shown, some of the biggest churches were built by them. Though they have lost control over their material property, their intellectual heritage and legacy cannot be forgotten. Perhaps, the Jesuits are trying to assert this point. “Suppressed and expelled centuries ago, some Jesuit legacies refuse to remain repressed. They remain alive in the people. Probably prior to the rock-strong foundations of stone, the Jesuits first built faith-foundations among the people themselves,” Savio Rodrigues says in the opening few lines on the Colva Church. One of the most interesting vignettes in this book is the one on the Ponte de Linhares, the bridge that connects Panjim to Ribandar. This is a Jesuit contribution to a secular building. “The Ponte de Linhares was built by the Portuguese Viceroy, Count of Linhares, Dom Miguel de Noronha, between 1632-1633. It was meant to link Panjim with Ribandar and the City of Goa. The Portuguese sought the technical expertise of the Jesuits of the College of Saint Paul (Paulistas) in 1632 to build the massive bridge that was to be the longest in the whole East. The 3,026 metres long bridge was built on alluvial
[Goanet] Book review: Let me tell you about Quinta
--- Annual Goanetters Meet --- Annual Goanetters Meet - January 3, 2012 - 12:30 - 2pm Tourist Hostel, near the Old Secretariat, Panaji (Panjim) Planning to attend? Send an email to eve...@goanet.org with contact details --- Read the review of Savia Viegas' latest novel LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT QUINTA @ the following link: http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.com/2011/12/from-attic-to-mansion.html Dale Luis Menezes Find my writings @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com --- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---
[Goanet] Book review - Medieval Goa
COLONIAL HISTORY, POST-COLONIAL INTERPRETATIONS By DALE LUIS MENEZES Teotonio R. de Souza is an authority on Indo-Portuguese history. The doctoral dissertation he had submitted to the University of Poona was published in 1979 as Medieval Goa: A Socio-Economic History. Thirty years later, a second edition of the book was published thereby displaying its usefulness and academic merit. This text was widely distributed and read. It sought to “…get closer to the common man’s reality [and]…replace the myth of a ‘Golden Goa’”. There was such a need because, “During colonial times, Portuguese studies were concentrated largely on the history of navigation and expansion of Christianity by the Portuguese in the East. They do merit attention and their long-term consequences can hardly be ignored. However, following the end of colonial era, it was necessary to maintain the historiographic balance and to question the exaggerated myths about the ‘Discoveries’ and ‘Civilizing Mission’ of Portugal, and the playing down of, or ignoring, the harmful consequences that accompanied and followed those feats and mentality.” I had read this book a few months ago and had always hesitated to write a review because I feared that I might not be able to evaluate the book properly. But as a student of history I have tried to read whatever Dr. de Souza has written. This review is written mustering much courage and much effort to marshal my thoughts in the right direction. Medieval Goa focuses mainly on the ordinary people of the urban areas and the country side, which included native as well as Portuguese commoners who had suffered and were victimized by the policies and excesses of colonialism. Dr. de Souza’s work marks the first formal and best known effort in Goa to write histories that are not dynastic in nature and by including the race and caste relations of the rulers and the natives Dr. de Souza has moved away from the Nationalist paradigm of giving us conflict-free and sanitized accounts of the past. Just as the noted historian of Ancient Indian history, Romila Thapar has credited the writings of the Marxist historian D. D. Kosambi as a watershed moment in Indian history writing, Dr. de Souza’s work can also be termed as a watershed moment in the history writing of Goa. The influence of Marxism on the work of Dr. de Souza can also be observed in the pages of this book. Shifting the focus from the (suspected) greatness of the rulers of the past to the socio-economic conditions is a major Marxist contribution to Indian historiography. Besides, Dr. de Souza also uses words like ‘Praxis’ which brings to mind the Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci who reinterpreted Marx and his ideas and who was jailed during the fascist regime of Mussolini referring to Marxism in his prison notebooks as ‘philosophy of praxis’ to escape the prison censors. Praxis means a set of examples for practice. A major contribution of this book is the recognition that native elements had actively collaborated in the empire-building activity of the Portuguese. I shall reproduce a few excerpts below: …when the Portuguese captured Goa, the success of the Portuguese was made possible by the native Hindu population which fought side by side with the Portuguese to defeat their former Muslim overlords (p. 6). After 1656, when the Bijapuris had to grapple with both the Mughals and the Marathas, they had no energy to spare for further conflict with the Portuguese. However, the latter was not free from embroilment in the politics of these powers since many of these provincial officials, the desais, had revolted against their masters and sought frequent refuge in the Portuguese territory. The Portuguese secretly favoured the guerilla movements of these desais to keep the powers concerned distracted with campaigns to bring the rebels to book (p. 12). The Hindus in Goa were not just shopkeepers and tax-farmers. They were in every kind of trade and profession, and were much appreciated not only by their common clients but every religious and State official (p. 84).” Caste and racial prejudices seeping into the Christian realm in medieval Goa can be observed by the following excerpt, for many of us are generally of the naïve opinion that caste does not exist in Christianity: “Where social integration was concerned the Christian preaching of brotherhood and equality of all men did not prevent the missionaries from establishing religious confraternities (confrarias) based on castes: and, just as their doctrinal wealth failed to promote greater social cohesion, their vast income and unlimited political influence did not achieve proportionate results in raising the standard of living of their native converts. Even in admissions in their own ranks, religious orders, particularly the Jesuits, maintained strict racial qualifications during the period covered
[Goanet] A tribute to Tony Gomes @ the Quepem Film Festival
Check the video to find a tribute to the late Tony Gomes, a famous musician from Quepem, Goa at the Quepem Film Festival by Walter Menezes. Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwF6uwBQQAk Find my writings @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com
[Goanet] Book Review: Snapshots of Indo-Potuguese History: Pangim - I
HISTORY OF 'PANGIM' IN SNAPSHOTS By DALE LUIS MENEZES Panjim, the capital of Goa, has very few rivals as far as beauty and architecture in the whole of India. Its wide roads with huge shady trees lining them and the many Indo-Portuguese houses give one a feeling of great joy. I particularly like to take a walk from the Kala Academy area to the ‘ferry’ bus stop whenever I happen to be in Panjim. The cool and salty breeze of the Mandovi acts as a balm on frayed and irritated nerves. This is a city that we all love and cherish. This city has changed a lot during the last 10 years. So what do we do if we want to know how Panjim looked like when it was established and how it has grown and evolved ever since? Vasco Pinho’s Snapshots of Indo-Portuguese History – I: Panjim would be a great beginning. Vasco Pinho’s book is a collection of events and monuments associated with Panjim. Along with Panjim he also explores the areas that surround this city: Dona Paula, St. Inez and Taleigao. This book is not arranged in a chronological sequence because the aim of the author is only to present the main “vignettes” and important events in the life of Panjim. The topics dealt in the book are described briefly and they surely appeal the reader. Vasco Pinho was compelled to write this book because, “…the entire stretch of Indo-Portuguese history has been converted into an object of relentless attack whenever and wherever it suits some of us. As a result, the level of ignorance about this period is not just palpable, it is incredible.” Earlier I had made a reference to the cool and salty breeze of the Mandovi. The etymology of this word “Mandovi” had always bothered me as I came to know that many places outside of Goa were also called Manddvi. But not anymore. Pinho explains, “The name Mandovi or Manddvi is thus derived from the office where duties were collected or from the local practice of collecting mandd (duties) on goods during the pre-Portuguese Hindu and Muslim periods.” A custom-post in Persian or Farsi is known as Mandubi, and that explains, I guess, why many places in India have a name closely similar to Mandovi. A very tragic incident which occurred in the Mandovi is also narrated. “For the people of Goa, the Twentieth Century began on a tragic note. A major disaster occurred on December 3, 1901, at 7:00 a.m. The motorized launch ‘GOA’ capsized while crossing the Mandovi from Verém to Pangim. Of the estimated 165 passengers travelling by that launch, 81 met with their watery grave. The passengers were on their way to Velha Goa’s Feast.” Vasco Pinho further informs us that, “On December 3, 1902, a cross was erected on the southern bank of the Mandovi, near the Caes dos Gujires, in memory of the 81 persons who had perished in that disaster.” This book is not written in a style that can be termed academic. It was also not intended to be so in the first place. But the information contained in the pages of this book could come in handy to a scholar researching about Panjim. There is also another reason: all the inscriptions on various monuments in Panjim are translated in English. One need not run from pillar to post to read the Portuguese writings, especially because not many Goans can boast of proficiency in the Portuguese language. Most of the book is a collection of facts (or should I say glimpses?) strung one after the other, which while making the narrative rather stilted, could be used to study how the city grew in time and space. Vasco Pinho could have arranged the various events, monuments and buildings in his book in such a way that it would give a picture or a sense of the development and evolution of Panjim. Many photographs which this book contains are not large enough and one has to tax one’s eyes to search for the details. In this snapshot history of Panjim, the human angle or the people feature rather rarely. It is a history of this building, that street or some other monument or landmark. I recall Shakespeare once remarking, “What is a city without its people?” On the other hand, it is worthwhile to know what how a particular street or building was known in the past. This is because in the recent years, Panjim has been at the receiving end of cultural fundamentalism and chauvinism. Efforts are being made to erase names and things that “sound” or “look” Portuguese. Against this background of dark foreboding, Vasco Pinho’s writing would serve to preserve the memory – or rather the history – of this city we love so much. Vasco Pinho also tells us that after liberation Panjim became Panaji, which is a Marathicized version of the Konknni Ponnje. A list of all the Viceroys and Governors of Portuguese India is also given in the annexure. Lastly, a word of praise must be made to this ‘self-published enterprise’ of Vasco Pinho. The first edition came out in 2007
[Goanet] The making of the matolli
Check the following photo feature for some of the fruits and vegetables that are tied to the matolli. The readers can help by identifying the English and scientific names (if possible) pf the various fruits and vegetables in photographs. The comments section is open. Link: http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.com/2011/09/making-of-matolli.html Dale Luis Menezes. Find my writings @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com
[Goanet] whitewash, red stone book review
THE ‘GOANESS’ OF GOAN CHURCHES By DALE LUIS MENEZES The lush Goan landscape is dotted with many spectacular and magnificent churches. The whitewashed façades of the churches makes it impossible for any of us to pass by and not notice them. However, many will not know the history of the architectural evolution of these churches – the when, how and why. Since the day I started contributing articles to newspapers on some unique historical events and monuments of Goa (mainly churches), the problem of locating reading material that would provide some details and improve and augment my understanding of Goan churches has been frustratingly scant. However, I have consulted with fruitful results, Fr. Moreno de Souza’s four volumes in Konknni (in Romi script) featuring the churches of Salcete, Tiswadi and Bardez. Whitewash, Red Stone by Dr. Paulo Varela Gomes, a professor at the University of Coimbra, Portugal and who formerly was the delegate of the Fundação Oriente, Goa, was a welcome addition to my personal library. I feel this book will forever change our understanding about the architecture of Goan churches and also function as a harbinger, altering in the process, our understanding of Goan social history as well. The crux of Dr. Gomes’ book is to emphasize the ‘Goaness’ of Goan churches. The first line of the first page of this fascinating book makes this abundantly clear: “The Catholics of Goa and other former Portuguese possessions in India created churches and houses that are unique in the world history of architecture.” The story of the architectural evolution of Goan churches begins in the City of Goa in the 16th century. From there Dr. Gomes takes us on a guided tour throughout Goa, picking some of the most spectacular and magnificent churches for his discussion and shows us how they represent watershed moments in the history of the church architecture of Goa and how Portugal is not the only region to have influenced the architecture of Goan churches. “But apart from its European origin, the European inputs that influenced Goan builders and patrons from the 16th to the 20th centuries did not originate from Portugal alone and sometimes did not originate from Portugal at all. Certain essential typological traits in Goan churches simply do not exist in Portuguese architecture. They bring to our memory places like northern and central Italy (exterior side elevations, niches along the interior of the naves), or Flanders (vaulting systems). This is hardly surprising considering that the religi ous orders within which most architects of Goan churches were trained in the 16th and 17th centuries were multi-national bodies with priests of pan-European origin or who had travelled extensively throughout Europe,” he says. Speaking of the non-Portuguese and sometimes even non-European influences on the Goan churches, Dr. Gomes mentions the Islamicate influence (social and cultural complex historically associated with Islam and the Muslims, both among Muslims themselves and even when found among non-Muslims) from the court of Bijapur. The octagonal towers employed in the façade of the St. Francis of Assissi church comes from Bijapur “…due to the influence of the architecture of the more important political and cultural centre of the Deccan in the second half of the 17th century: the Sultanate of Bijapur. European ambassadors, merchants and artists travelled to Bijapur frequently. The Bijapuri court was highly cosmopolitan, cultivated and open to people of all creeds.” Dr. Gomes also tells us about the role of the caste system in making the decision as to where a church should be located and also shaping the architecture of the Goan churches. The European priests, shrewd as they were, did not want the churches they were building to identify with any particular caste group which inhabited a particular area and hence they chose locations that were far from the settlement. The churches also left an impressive mark on the sylvan landscape of Goa. The ganvkars who took over the churches that the Jesuits and Franciscans had built and later enlarged and renovated them make interesting reading. The distinctly Goan church did not evolve overnight. Dr. Gomes after extensive travelling and sifting through centuries-old documents and architectural styles and influences, informs us, “The cupoliform-façade churches, a Goan ‘invention’ if ever there was one, constitute the climax of the evolution toward a characteristically Goan church…” The last major development in Goan church architecture is the influence of the Gothic architecture from 19th century onwards. These are called neo-Gothic churches because there were some Goan elements in it. This type of architecture developed chiefly in Bardez and Marmugão and the reason Dr. Gomes gives is that, “…all neo-Gothic Goan churches of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and all the neo
[Goanet] Tales from the Attic book review
A NOVEL FROM THE ATTIC By DALE LUIS MENEZES In 2007, Dr. Savia Viegas, a Senior Fulbright scholar, published her debut novel Tales from the Attic, a story set in the village of Carmona around the time when the last vestiges of the Portuguese colonialism in South Asia were about to come to an end. Self published under the banner of Saxtti Foundation, Savia’s novel was a welcome addition since not much fiction was published from Goa. But times have changed, it seems, for the better, with a lot of books, including fiction, being published and forums on the internet actively engaged in discussing various topics pertaining to the written word from Goa. The novel opens in a hospital, with the protagonist Marri (who was baptized as Maria Dominica Viegas) recollecting her past during a delayed return to consciousness after a surgery to remove her infected uterus. The story is written with gentle and subtle humour and wit. The eccentricities of the Goan catholic life are brought out in very broad and prominent outlines like the invocation of a plethora of saints by Marri’s Xamai, is one such example. Marri was a child who was born after many years of marriage, and many prayers later, to Tito and Preciosa Viegas. Being the only child and falling frequently ill, she was pampered and could have her way any time and any how she pleased. Her Xamai, grand-aunt and Coincao, the maid were always ready to look after her every ailment and need. Marri spends her entire childhood with the support of medicines. Due to her frequent illnesses, she is only dressed in petticoats (64 in all!). When Marri is around 10, a migrant family from Karnataka comes to Carmona. The migrants were lovers, who had eloped because the man was low caste and the woman the wife of a Brahmin. The priest and some villagers take it upon themselves to bring these non-believers into the Christian fold. Coincao, the maid, at the behest of the village priest, agrees to be a godparent to Jose, one of the children of the migrant couple. Jose is a young boy with a powerful physique and equally powerful sexual urges. In the course of games with Marri (as Marri had no company of children of her age), he molests her. Marri suffers in silence. Then a few years later, while cleaning the closet with Jose, Marri, tired of the abuse and unable to take it anymore, pushes him off the ladder, thus killing him. (Although, everybody thinks Jose slipped and fell off the ladder.) The Konknni and Portuguese words and phrases in this novel are not italicized or indicated in some other way. Why is this so? It is simply because this novel is written for the people who are already familiar with such words. This is a novel which Savia has written for her own people; which means for us! The text in some of the pages is arranged in a way that reminded me of Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things. For instance, on pp. 17-18, rather than the normal paragraph, a big list is given about the various diseases that plagued Marri. The narration is also as delightful as that of Arundhati’s novel. Marri is also a girl who is born with grey-green eyes. The question of the Aryan migration is discussed, one day, in her class. Marri feels that she too is an Aryan owing to her grey-green eyes, her fair-skin and aquiline nose. Shanta her friend gets were angry and says, “All Catholics come from the lower jatis. The pr-o-s-el-y-t-i-s-i-n-g priests gave land to the shudras and m-le-ch-h-a-s and converted them to Christianity.” The grey-green eyes, it is revealed, resulted from the miscegenation of a distant relative of Marri and an Arab trader who had grey-green eyes. When I had first read the book four years ago, it occurred to me that the genetic pool of Goans possibly may have many more influences than the Aryan and Dravidian and Portuguese. Turning around 20, Marri finds her parents’ ploy to marry her to a distant cousin of hers (the ‘Kissing Cousin Plot’). She refuses much to the chagrin of her father. The conflict and tension in her house makes her withdraw to the attic. Finally, she realizes that she has to get away from her house and everybody and everything. So she moves to Bombay where attending college she falls in love with Azad, a student involved in organizing unions for the working class. Azad flushes an idol of Ganapati in the commode to fully imbibe the ideology of the political party he is associated with. They get married and two kids later (Swapna and Suraj), Marri divorces Azad because she feels stuck in the marriage. It is in the final few chapters that the narration seems to end abruptly. I felt that Marri’s years in Bombay could have had more details thus augmenting the novel some 20 or 25 pages more. The decisions that Marri makes and the emotions that she experiences while in Bombay are not exactly explained, leaving the reader groping in the dark
[Goanet] inside/out book review
WORLD CLASS ‘INSIDE/OUT’ By DALE LUIS MENEZES Inside/Out: New Writings from Goa, edited by Helene Derkin Menezes and José Lourenço, when released a few months back, did grab a lot of headlines. Much of the publicity was due to the inclusion of an essay by the noted novelist and partly Goa-resident, Amitav Ghosh. According to an internet forum message, the book did well, as immediately after its launch, nearly 650 copies were sold. When a celebrity writer of the stature of Amitav Ghosh is associated with a book that is published from a place more known for matters and things other than literary, there is always a fear that the writings of the other contributors may not receive the attention they deserve. But, I can assure you, nothing of that sort has happened here. All the writers in this anthology are members of a diverse and vibrant group called the Goa Writers, launched in 2005. All were given a very vague and abstract theme: Inside Out, which they had to interpret in their own way. The result: a very beautiful and immensely satisfying collection of writings that we can all be very proud of. Like any good anthology, this book has an abundance of short stories, poems, memoirs, photographs and essays. Amongst them, Walking as Art is a free verse poem by Isabel de Santa Rita Vas which reminded me of Ogden Nash who is known for his free verse poetry. Isabel, like Nash, writes with a lot of wit and humour and at the same time gives us much to munch over. I am not someone who enjoys poetry but Isabel’s keen eye and deft words surely made me realize that walking is not just a simple act. There is a philosophy about walking and I found this extremely amazing. Similarly, Mario Coelho’s poem, written for children and peppered with lively and amazing characters, is also a treat to read. The contributors in this book are Goans, expat Goans, non-Goans or foreigners. Most of them, after spending a childhood or sometime outside Goa have now made Goa their home. So, for many of these contributors, the interpretation of the abovementioned theme narrows down to writing about their memories or experiences in the land that they were formerly living in. There is an interesting essay penned by Vidhyadhar Gadgil. He first came to Goa as a teen along with a few friends and confesses to drinking as if there was no tomorrow during that particular holiday. Gadgil was domiciled in Goa before moving to Kathmandu. He discusses the dynamics of who is an ‘insider’ and who is an ‘outsider’. I find this interesting because Gadgil is giving a call to all Bhailes to come under an organization called Bhailyancho Saad (The Voice of the Outsiders) and gives them the slogan: Garv se kaho hum ghanti hain. On one hand he makes a case for the ‘outsiders’ while on the other hand he confesses to calling (not loudly) some bunch of smelly labourers on a bus “Bloody ghantis”, thus taking pleasure in ethnic and class superiority that only ‘insiders’ can enjoy (according to him). Such a statement, I guess, reveals that not all non-native people can come under the all-encompassing identity of ‘Outsiders’. There is definitely a dif ference amongst various ‘outsiders’ and a hierarchy by which the natives and the affluent and educated ‘outsiders’ try to keep the poor and powerless ‘outsiders’ at the lowest levels of the access-to-valued-resources chain. As a student of history, I always look forward to personal stories: the stories that our parents and grandparents tell us and which now the children put on paper. Veena Gomes-Patwardhan’s Granny’s Goa does exactly that. She tells us how her great grand-parents would travel all the way to Caranzalem so as to run a bakery there. Fatima da Silva Gracias tells a personal story as she tries to find out some facts about an old family photograph in The Unresolved Mystery of a Family Portrait. Aimee Ginsburg’s One Still Here is an interesting tale of three Jewish women: herself, her grandmother and Catarina da Orta, the sister of Garcia da Orta who was burned at the stake, all linked together in different times and spaces. Amitav Ghosh has written a small essay called Anthony Vaz. Anthony Vaz, we are told, had compiled a dictionary of nautical terms that would help the English officers to communicate with the native sailors. Ghosh writes about the importance of preserving such dictionaries, “With the vanishing of wind-powered merchant vessels, this entire apparatus (of words as well as things) has more or less disappeared from the face of the earth. This is precisely the values of books like Vaz’s: they give us a glimpse of a way of life that is now extinct. …I am convinced that there are many yet undiscovered manuscripts languishing in Goan houses. Let us hope that they will soon come to light.” I am a big fan of the writings of Amitav Ghosh. Reading his many books and essays, I am
[Goanet] Another Coin Goes for a Toss: Photo feature
From the 30th of June this year, the Reserve Bank of India withdrew the 25 paise coins from circulation. In the process, they have joined the likes of 1, 2, 3, 5, 10 and 20 paise coins which ceased to be legal tenders a long time ago. It is reported that the cost of minting a 25 paise coin exceeds its actual value and hence was no longer feasible to mint I share some of the coins with you that have ceased to be legal tenders @ http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.com/2011/08/another-coin-goes-for-toss.html Comments or your memories are welcome on the blog. Dale Luis Menezes Find my writings @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com
[Goanet] reflected in water - book review
REFLECTING IMAGES OF GOA By DALE LUIS MENEZES I had read Reflected on Water: Writings on Goa about a year ago and had completely forgotten about it. A few months back, Jerry Pinto, the Bombay-based journalist who has edited this book, came down to Goa for the Goa Book Club meet. This rekindled my interest in the book and I said to myself, I must read it again with greater scrutiny. The book contains essays, excerpts, short stories and poems of many personalities and on diverse topics that are related to Goa. Jerry Pinto says that the pieces in this book are like mirror images of each other; offering contrasting images which at times are true and sometimes are false. This book in a way gets us to rethink about the images and perceptions that are generated about Goa. Some of the pieces genuinely tried to look at Goa afresh, while others were seen entirely from racist and casteist frameworks. In At Donna Georgina’s, William Dalrymple describes a visit to a landowning, upper caste Catholic lady. He begins by skimming over the history of the Portuguese in Goa. One gets the impression that Dalrymple is subtly trying to poke fun at things Portuguese. Britain (England) has always assumed a superior status over Portugal for over many centuries. Why else would Dalrymple describe the portrait of a viceroy as “…he looks as if he is on his way out of a brothel,” as well as point out the “accent heavy with Southern European vowels”? Elsewhere, in this particular essay, Donna Georgina in response to Dalrymple’s remark about the liberation of Goa gets visibly miffed and says, “Did you say liberation? Botheration more like! (emphasis in the original)” and that Goa was invaded by the Indian army rather than liberated. Misunderstanding Goa is an excerpt taken from Prabhakar S. Angle’s Goa: Concepts and Misconcepts. It is an attempt to do away with the many wrong ideas that got circulated in the media regarding Goa. Prabhakar Angle tries to say that Goa is a place that was devoid of any Portuguese influence. In an essay titled “Some Contrasting Visions of Luso-Tropicalism in India” [(1997) Lusotopie: 377-387], the noted Indo-Portuguese historian Teotonio R. de Souza has this to say about Angle’s Concepts and Misconcepts, “Obviously Prabhakar Angle is on a war-path against ‘lusotropicalism’ and exudes strong prejudices against the style of living and behaving of the Goan Christians. Such an attitude takes him to easy generalizations, and to close his eyes to obvious realities, even though they may affect only a minority of the Goan population, namely about 35% Goans who profess Christianity and had closer cultural-religious contact with the Portuguese… Angle and several others [like him] need to be understood as part of the cultural resistance against the disturbing effect of the Portuguese colonial and missionary policies, and as such they are not without foundation. But it would be ridiculous to close one’s eyes to the reality and refuse to admit that the Portuguese presence did not leave deep traces in India for good and for bad.” Angle’s bias is clearly visible when he wrongly spells Percival Noronha’s name as Perceval Narona (I wonder why it was not edited in this book). On p. 9 and p. 16, there is a quote which William Dalrymple attributes to Donna Georgina (p. 9) while Prabhakar Angle says that William Dalrymple is quoting Percival Noronha (p. 16). Who exactly said it? The extract From Goa and the Blue Mountains by the 19th century British traveler, Richard Burton is also a repetition of biases as his racist world-view is well known. The reader would find many articles or essays that reminisce (or rather is it Saudades?) about the “good old days”. Take for instance Laxmanrao Sardessai’s The Goan Bread Vendor. In this essay, Sardessai laments the extinction of the unddo (or oondo as the translator of this essay spells it) from Goa. The Konknni aphorism Te poder gele ani te undde-i… is frequently used. “Look at his bread – all the paos are the same colour and shape, like all citizens who are ‘equal’ in today’s democracy,” as he observes regarding today’s bread. What does a statement like this mean? Laxmanrao Sardessai is not wrong to lament the loss of a delicacy which as a child he cherished but should the poders (bakers) stay in the same economic position they were always in? Shouldn’t they and their children have a shot at a better life? Naresh Fernandes writes about his tedious and winding search of the elusive humerus of St. Francis Xavier in Macau in Tomb Raider: Looking for St. Francis Xavier. Naresh is an awesome writer and every time I read his work I say, “Damn, when will I write like him?” In this essay Naresh also discusses the problems of contemporary Christians in India, how they are perceived and after so many centuries of contact, is Christianity really foreign to India? Of course
[Goanet] Skin - book review
THE DNA OF SLAVERY By DALE LUIS MENEZES There are only a handful of novels in English that have been written by Goans or persons of Goan origin/ancestry. Margaret Mascarenhas’ Skin is one of them. This novel was first published around 10 years ago by Penguin. For the last few years I have come across sporadic references on the internet forums regarding Margaret’s novel and I always nursed a desire to read it. Last year when Goa1556 took the opportunity to republish it, I was of course thankful –the book was finally in my hands! The protagonist of Margaret’s novel is Pagan – half American and half Goan, half white and half brown (the name stuck because her parents being liberal-minded did not baptize her and hence her grandmother in Goa considered her a pagan). A gruesome and horrifying experience as a war-reporter in Angola shakes Pagan’s mental health and she decides to find her roots after she nearly kills a man harassing his wife on a street in San Francisco. When Pagan reaches Goa, she finds her grandmother (an ogre of a matriarch in her younger days) on her death-bed. She fails to recognize her because Pagan’s skin has been tanned due to her stint in Angola. Throughout the novel, the skin or colour of the skin plays an important role. Skin, like its many colours, assumes the role of superiority when it is fair and that of servitude and hardship when it is dark or darker. And the skin also comes to represent the tension surrounding race and caste relations. Livia, her aunt starts narrating to Pagan her family history, “Before the Portuguese came, we were Kamats – Saraswat Brahmins who had migrated to Goa from northern India centuries earlier. One branch of the family converted to Catholicism in order to retain their land and assets… [the Saraswat Brahmins] were given high-level government and administrative posts.” Bernardo, the grandson of a wealthy merchant named Afonso Miranda, inherits all the property and by marrying a rich, young heiress, starts the lineage of the Miranda Flores’ – Pagan’s family. Bernardo thinks it fit to venture into slave-trade as, for him, trade in slaves was more profitable than trade in luxury rarities. However, the real story is different – one which differs from aunt Livia’s sanitized version and is told through Esperança – the descendant of slaves that were brought from Angola. Esperança narrates the torture and hardships that were inflicted upon her ancestors by Pagan’s family. Here’s an excerpt, “But it was the colonial edition of history, not the true story. The true story had been given to Esperança by her mother, who had received it from her mother, and so on.” Just like the mitochondrial DNA, which we can only receive from our mothers, the stories or histories in Skin are relayed by women. (As an afterthought, how about calling this mitochondrial narration?). Women are at the center of this novel. Their longings and losses are skilfully portrayed. The men who genuinely love the women in this book die an untimely death and the ones who don’t, meet a ghastly end. The plot of Skin is multi-layered, a saga that spans many generations and centuries with the story moving from America to Africa to Goa and Daman. Written in prose that flows smoothly, this book also includes enlivening folk-tales of Angola. The use of myths and folk-lore seems out-of-place as some of the major twists in the plot are made to depend on magic and the supernatural. Margaret weaves a complex tale with characters trying to make peace with their past, their history. Since Margaret is a product of the Goan diaspora, in some pages of the book one finds her reminiscing about the natural beauty of Goa and commenting on the culture and politics of the land – sometimes expecting the natural surroundings of Goa to be preserved like in a museum, frozen in time and changeless, and at other times hitting the nail where it ought to be struck, “Our culture, thinks Pagan. Goa has been overrun by so many cultures, no one knows who they are anymore, much less what culture they belong to. The Goan Catholics are trying to be Hindus. The Goan Hindus are trying to be Maharashtrians. Only the tribals know who they are. But for how long?” Pagan’s search reveals to her, through the stories of her childhood - and those that are narrated by her aunt Livia and Esperança – that her blood is a mixture of Native Goan, Castillian (Spanish) and African genes. Pagan tries to come to terms with the atrocities that her ancestors heaped on the African slaves and their descendants while at the same time trying to cope with her own personal and psychological issues. The whole novel is about the journey that Pagan undertakes – physical, spiritual and intellectual – in tracing her roots and reconciling with the past. The artwork of the cover of the Goa1556 edition done by Ravi Kerkar and Crisologo Furtado
[Goanet] Special Olympian - Jesus Rebello
Dears, In the link below, find a few photographs of the felicitation ceremony of Jesus Rebello. Hailing from Quepem, Goa, he won a gold, silver and bronze medal at the XIII Special Olympics in Athens, Greece. Link: http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.com/2011/07/special-journey-from-goa-to-greece.html Dale Luis Menezes Find my writings @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com
[Goanet] Article on Rivona church
“WE HAVE NOT ABANDONED THE OLD CHURCH” By DALE LUIS MENEZES For many of us, the steep climb to the spring at Rivona and later the frolic at the spring itself has always been a memorable experience, prompting everyone to ‘chill-out’ time and again. But every time we may have made a trip there, a small church at the start of the climb to the spring may have gone unnoticed. Even if it was indeed noted, at best it was just a perfunctory glance which soon was forgotten. The church looks like a chapel owing to its size. A brief visit to this church first and conversing with the parish priest, two days later, revealed a great deal about the efforts of the villagers to preserve the church and also the problems they are facing at present. The Our Lady of Rosary Church was actually a chapel in the beginning. The Archdiocese Directory of Goa and Daman, 2006 informs us that, “The chapel of Rivona was built in 1890 and affiliated to the church of Tilamola [or Tilamol]. Rivona became a separate parish by the Provision of April 1, 1940. Since 1952 it has been entrusted to the pastoral care of the members of the Society of Pilar.” Years later when the congregation grew in number, the old church became inadequate. The present Our Lady of Rosary church, a kilometer or so away, was opened to the faithful in 1962. The old church fell to neglect. It was the desire of the parishioners to preserve it as many had intimate memories of the church. Many parishioners wanted to come and offer prayers as this was the place where they received their holy sacraments. Their efforts bore fruits and in 2008, the church was renovated. But will mere renovation guarantee that a church which is not frequently used not fall prey to neglect again? I put forth my fears before Fr. Aurelio Rodrigues. He assured me that once every week a mass is celebrated in the church and during the Lenten season, the cross which stands tall in the chancel area is taken in procession to the new church and later brought back to its original place. “We have not abandoned the old church,” Fr. Aurelio said. Although the efforts of the parishioners of Rivona are laudable and the small step that they have taken is definitely in the right direction, I do feel that there are many areas that still can be improved upon. A wooden balustrade in the unassuming church divides the chancel from the rest of the body. In front of the main wooden altar lies the cross – the one which is taken out in solemn procession every Lenten season. The efforts to restore the wooden altar must be commended. But many improvements could have been made over the simple varnish and paint job. Perhaps, the good offices of the Archbishop could step in and along with experts ensure that proper and scientific restoration of the wooden altar is done. It is pertinent to note that the altar pieces in many of the Goan as well as Daman churches are not a cut-copy-paste affair from Europe; they have been enriched by native ingenuity and design and hence are very important entities of our history. Though neglected in the past, these altars have caught the attention of the scholars who now try to understand them in new and proper historical perspectives. The wooden pulpit has also undergone some form of restoration. But this has been haphazard. Whatever artwork existed has been painted over with a coat of pink distemper. The flooring of the church is well kept. A small porch at the entrance seems to be a later addition and looks shabby. Some parts of the façade too need to be repaired. While visiting the church, I was accompanied by my father and another fellow Quepemkar Ivor Gomes, whose innovative design to enlarge the nearby Quepem church was featured in Gomantak Times as one of the “10 Ideas That Rocked” Goa (GT: 28.12.2009). On our way back and over a cup of tea, we discussed the heritage potential of the small church owing to its proximity to the famous Rivona zhor (spring). It could well become a stopover that showcases the history and culture of Rivonkars. When questioned, Fr. Aurelio Rodrigues mentioned that there was space crunch to build a compound wall around the church. But lack of space to build a compound wall should not – ideally – come in the way to give the church a facelift. Fr. Aurelio also cautioned, “The zhor is private property. Visitors dirty the place by littering. If this continues, the owner may one day restrict access to the spring.” The architecture of churches in Goa does not in any way ape that of Portugal or Europe. It has emerged from the interaction of (to use a cliché) the East and the West. Native Goa and Europe and/or Middle East. Upon closer scrutiny, one finds in these churches a distinct expression of its own which can assist people to approach and interpret their own history and culture. While commending the efforts of the priests of Rivona
[Goanet] What is history? - a book review
HISTORY AND THE FISHMONGER’S SLAB A review of E. H. Carr’s acclaimed reflections on the theory of history and the role of the historian By DALE LUIS MENEZES In a recent episode of the hit animation series The Simpsons, the doting Marge is shown as a college student (with her hair gracefully brushing her shoulders) coming out of a particularly enlightening history class. She runs to Homer and says, “Homie, did you know that history is written by the winners?” Homer Simpson, in his characteristic dim-witted behaviour guffaws and says, “But I thought it was written by the losers!” Jokes and puns aside, what do we understand by the term ‘history’? For many of us, the most tiresome and tedious subject in school that needed to be studied was history. The chore of remembering each and every event chronologically as well as the dates (year or sometimes even the day!) was just too much of a burden, a drone of facts that needed to be digested, just like a bitter medicine. But such a sombre view of history, in my opinion, results from the misguided pedagogy of our educational system. History is much more vast and meaningful, too. E. H. Carr in his What is History? tries to explain the meaning of history, how a historian should, ideally conduct him/herself and how history ought to be. First published in the 1960s, this book is considered a classic and serves as a good guidebook to approach history. In short, Carr discusses the philosophy of history. Against the background of Carr’s book, I would also like to explore a few issues of teaching history in our schools. An essay by Gananath Obeyesekere in the Economic and Political Weekly a few months back pointed out that “…no one can be certain about what actually occurred in history and one must be satisfied with ‘reconstructing’ history from the bits and pieces of evidence that we possess. History is always a matter of interpretation and interpretation permits considerable leeway for disagreement.” Carr also makes a similar point, “The belief in a hard core of historical facts existing objectively and independently of the interpretation of the historian is a preposterous fallacy, but one which it is very hard to eradicate [emphasis mine].” He states the example of Caesar crossing the Rubicon as constituting a historical fact. Many beasts of burden as well as people have also crossed the Rubicon which equally qualify as historical facts but are not considered by the historian as such. Carr says that, “The facts are available to the historian in documents, inscriptions and so on, like fish on the fishmonger’s slab. The historian collects them, takes them home, and cooks and serves them in whatever style appeals to him.” The metaphor of the fish and the fishmonger should have no trouble in etching itself in the minds of Goans! To me, as a student of history, these abovementioned observations are basic. In schools (as well as in the universities) we are made to believe that whatever is in the textbooks is true. But since history is an interpretation there can be counter-arguments; are the students in a classroom encouraged to disagree and counter-argue? Without knowing what exactly is history, is it prudent to start learning history? Wouldn’t a parent be mortified and horrified if a child is taught how to solve quadratic equations without knowing the basic additions, subtractions, divisions and multiplications? And what would be the cognitive state of the child subjected to such misguided pedagogy? Importance of knowing the background of the historian is discussed by Carr. It is very important to know the biases of a historian as they would make him/her choose certain facts and discard the rest for historical interpretation. His/her analysis too would proceed in a way that supports his/her ideological leanings and biases (or “buzzing”). “Study the historian before you begin to study the facts. When you read a work of history, always listen out for the buzzing,” Carr says. I do find the definition that Carr gives about history very holistic, “‘What is history?’ is that it is a continuous process of interaction between the historian and his facts, an unending dialogue between the present and the past.” In the Indian and Goan contexts, the colonial historiographies were replaced by Indian/Hindu nationalist historiographies; at the same time some scholars tried to move in a post-colonial direction while not falling in the traps of questionable triumphs of nationalism (a good example would be Teotonio R. de Souza’s Medieval Goa). We need to realize that history is not a static entity but a dynamic process shaped by the political climate and the problems existing at that point of time. A process that continues… History primarily depends on written sources. Carr criticizes the tendency of historians to believe whatever is in the written documents. “If you
[Goanet] Rock-carvings, Pansaimol: Photo Feature
Dears, Find a photo feature at the following link on the rock-carvings at Pansaimol, ahead to Rivona. Feedback/comments welcome on the blog: http://daleluismenezes.blogspot.com/2011/06/pre-historic-rock-carvings-at.html Dale Luis Menezes. Find my writings @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com
[Goanet] Kokoy: Konknnicho Khambo
KOKOY: KONKNNICHO KHAMBO By DALE LUIS MENEZES The death of John Gomes, who was affectionately known as Kokoy, on May 24, 2011 has left the tiatr community in particular and the Konknni community in general in deep sorrow. He had written tirelessly on tiatrs and its personalities for many decades, travelling the most distant places of Goa to get his stories. John Kokoy composed over 3000 songs and has two audio cassettes – Sopon and Gõy Apoita – to his credit. Besides lending his voice in numerous tiatrs and cassettes, John Kokoy also wrote a few tiatrs as well. Atancho Sounsar, Devacho Hukum Padricho Gutt, Guneanv Konnacho, Dubhav, Poriksha, Fukott Charlie are his well known works. John Kokoy was the recipient of the Goa State Cultural Award. John Kokoy wrote most of his articles for the Romi Konknni monthlies like Gulab and Jivit while also contributing to the English press. His qualities of head and heart and his immense love for Konknni came in for much praise during the condolence meet held in Margao and organized by Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG) on the 9th of June, 2011. Many tiatr lovers, tiatrists and prominent personalities were in attendance to condole the death of John Kokoy and to provide solace and comfort to the bereaved family. Speaking on the occasion, noted tiatrist Anil Kumar said, “John Kokoy was a keen observer and thinker. He had the art of asking questions in such a way that the desired response was elicited and at the same time the interviewee had no clue as to what exactly was going in the mind of John Kokoy.” This resulted into numerous articles on the personalities of tiatr and last year they became the backbone of a book titled Tiatr Palkache Khambe released during the anniversary celebrations of Jivit, a Romi Konknni magazine. Agnelo Alcasoas of Queeny Productions who attended the condolence meet, distributed a few copies of the same at the gathering. Teotonio D’Costa on the other hand dwelt on the humbleness of John Kokoy which he found in abundance during the brief period that he had known him. During the meet, Sharon Mazarello pointed out that John Kokoy had composed more than 3000 songs but sadly had only two cassettes to his credit and that his work need to be extensively documented. Roseferns, another noted tiatrist and the Vice President of TAG praised John Kokoy for the extensive knowledge he possessed about tiatrs. His mind was a treasure trove, he added. Speaking on his reviews of tiatrs that were staged, Roseferns felt that they were “balanced” and his criticism was always “constructive”. Roseferns also appealed to the family of John Kokoy to handover any material/manuscripts that they possessed so that TAG and the Dalgado Konknni Akademi (DKA) could publish and/or document the same. Sabina, the Iron Lady of Konknni Stage (a title given by John Kokoy himself) expressed her deepest regret in not being able to attend his funeral. Chimtti bhor mati legun ghalunk mellonk na [I was not able even to put a handful of earth in his grave], she added. Premanand Lotlikar, President of DKA, recalled memories when they travelled together for Tiatr competitions at Kala Academy, Panjim. During the last few years of his life, John Kokoy moved to Bombay. It was during this time that he went “out of reach” and most of his friends lost contact with him. But one fine day, the DKA President recounted that he received a call from John Kokoy informing him that his leg was amputated. Jessie Dias mooted the idea of visiting sick artistes; which was readily accepted by Tomazinho Cardozo. He assured to make available the services of the TAG office vehicle in such situations. Tomazinho Cardozo, the President of TAG said that more than a tiatrist, John Kokoy was a writer who wrote about other artistes , gave them much desired publicity expecting nothing in return. “John Kokoy was responsible for keeping the memory of tiatrists alive. It is our duty to forever remember John Kokoy as well as other persons like him who have contributed immensely to the Konknni cultural milieu,” Tomazinho said. He used the opportunity to again appeal for unpublished scripts for publication and documentation. It is said that the importance of a well is seldom known until it runs dry. The death of John Kokoy will be a case in point, who wrote so selflessly and tirelessly on tiatrs and tiatrists. John Kokoy surely has left a vast void in his death. A visibly moved and touched Webly Gomes, the nephew of John Kokoy thanked everyone on behalf of the bereaved family. The brothers of John Kokoy, Frank and Baldwin, shared the dais along with Tomazinho Cardozo and Roseferns. Writing about other khambe (pillars) of the tiatr stage, John Kokoy himself was a khambo (pillar) amongst tiatrists and Romi Konknni writers! Comments/feedback @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com (A version of this article appeared on Gomantak
[Goanet] S-S-S-noring Business
Dears, Check my blog for a photo feature of vendors making snoring business in Panjim. Dale Luis Menezes. Find my writings @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com
[Goanet] New Lease of Life for Carambolim Church
Dear Sir, Kindly publish my article on Goanet. Thanking you, Dale Luis Menezes. A NEW LEASE OF LIFE FOR CARAMBOLIM CHURCH By DALE LUIS MENEZES Goa is dotted with churches that are lofty, beautiful and are many centuries old. Many are well preserved while others are less fortunate and find themselves in a state of disrepair. Some of the churches which were once unique and timeless have been demolished to make way for a bigger or a newer (mostly newer) church of concrete. Most of the churches that were demolished or are in the process of being demolished were razed due to the ignorance of the lay parishioners to the uniqueness of the structure and also due to the failure of the higher officials of the church (along with the lay parishioners) to recognize its heritage potential and historical value. Quite close to Old Goa, we find an example of preservation befitting mention wherein the church was renovated and restored and its erstwhile splendor revived: the Church of St. John the Baptist in Carambolim. According to the Archdiocese Directory, 1984, this church was founded in 1541. Originally a chapel, this church was elevated to the status of a parish under the tutelage of Dom João Afonso de Albuquerque (1539-53), the then Bishop of Goa. Fr. Moreno de Souza in Tisvaddecheo Igorzo tells us that during the earlier days the feast of St. John the Baptist was celebrated with much pomp and gaiety with the Viceroy and State and military officials in full attendance. They would enter the parade riding on horsebacks and mock-fights were staged accompanied by music. After the High Mass, the long, regal procession would begin and terminate at the College of St. Paul’s at Old Goa. The architecture of the façade of the church, informs Jose Lourenço in The Parish Churches of Goa: A Study of Façade Architecture, is in the mannerist Neo-Romanesque style (as are most of the churches in Goa). Standing boldly against the clear blue sky, it has 5 bays and is 3 storeys tall. The center of the façade starting from the main arched doorway is stacked in the sequence of Arch-Rectangle-Oculus-Relief. It has a single bell tower to the left. The main doorway is framed by fluted Corintianized columns. The peculiarity of the altar is that it has panels containing paintings depicting various incidents of the life of St. John the Baptist, including his beheading at the insistence of the daughter of Herodias. The main altar is dedicated to the patron saint, while the side altars show a crucified Christ and Mother Mary. The pulpit of this church is unique because the motif of the “mermaids” can be clearly seen. These mermaids are depicted as if they are carrying the weight of the pulpit. This unique church was in a state of neglect until the charismatic Fr. Conceição D’Silva took the charge as the parish priest from Fr. Lino de Sa, who had already begun the work of restoration by plastering the walls. In his brief tenure of three years, Fr. Conceição, recipient of the State Award for Meritorious Services to Society, completed the whole restoration work giving the church, in the process, a new lease of life. The whole woodwork of the main altar, the subsidiary altars and the pulpit are now richly adorned with 24 carat gold, giving us a glimpse, perhaps, of what the church may have looked like a few centuries ago. Experts for the gold gilding work were flown in from Portugal. Now the church basks in pristine and clear light and the gold is seen shimmering. The floor was repaired as well, with the specialists, this time, coming from Bangalore. Imported chandeliers from Portugal now adorn the church. Near the transept of the church, an azulejos composition of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper has been installed. The space around the church is paved with pavers and the church compound, the church property and the adjacent football ground have been fenced in stone and cement. The flooring of the Parochial house was also improved. All these improvements, informs Fr. Conceição, is bringing a lot of tourists to Carambolim, many of them genuinely interested in the history and the architecture of the church. Fr. Conceição is of the frank opinion that the old churches must be preserved and protected. Perhaps, it was this line of thinking which had propelled him to preserve and restore not only the church at Carambolim but also the one at Mandur where he was posted prior to his appointment at St. John the Baptist Church. Fr. Conceição along with the parishioners has spared no expense even for procuring new pews and a state-of-the-art sound system along with the restoration work. In a few days’ time, the 800-plus parishioners of the St. John the Baptist church will bid adieu to a priest who has not only attended to their spiritual needs, but has also given a commendable facelift to their almost five-century old church
[Goanet] Free From School
Dear Sir, Please publish the following book review. Dale Luis Menezes. FREEDOM AT 17 By DALE LUIS MENEZES When we are in a classroom, particularly that of a school, the world outside seems so much fun. One can’t wait for the last bell to ring and dash out of the classroom with howling urgency. I particularly never liked the air-tight regimen and unnecessary memorizing of information, which all students had to undergo in schools. So, when a copy of Free From School landed in my hands, I started to read it immediately. Here was one book which suggested an alternative to learning in school. What more could anyone who had a difficult experience in school, ask for? A few months ago I had read the slim book titled Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich. This book when published in 1971 had caused quite a controversy. What Ivan Illich quite simply suggested was to do away with schools to have a better society. The ideas that Ivan Illich suggested instead of formal schooling way back in the ’70s, I feel, had little practical use but with the rise of internet his ideas can be looked into afresh. Schools are not necessarily the temples of learning; they are also used by the ruling elite to propagate ideologies that justify their power. The French philosopher Louis Althusser in his Lenin and Philosophy and other Essays says, “…the school (but also other State institutions like the Church, or other apparatuses like the Army) teaches ‘know-how’, but in forms which ensure subjection to the ruling ideology.” Ivan Illich’s book is firmly rooted in academia. Rahul Alvares’ Free From School, on the other hand, is an honest and delightful account told by a 17 year old, who took a break after his SSC (scoring a whopping 87% marks!) examinations to find his ‘true calling’. Since Rahul was finding school becoming “quite a chore”, his parents Claude and Norma, decided to offer him a year’s break after completing the SSC examination to do anything of his choice. Both the parents observe that schools, “…often does not encourage learning. In fact there is good evidence that learning stops once schooling begins.” There was only one condition imposed on young Rahul: that he would maintain a regular diary and produce monthly accounts of special events and experiences. When we read this book it is not important to consider how well Rahul wrote this book. What is more crucial to note is what Rahul and his parents dared to do. Since Rahul was interested in wildlife, his parents left no stone unturned to see to it that their son got the maximum exposure in an area of his liking. The result: Rahul ended up travelling far and wide all by himself to various zoos and wildlife sanctuaries to gain some experience and learn about the various types of animals. Snakes seem to have a special place in Rahul’s heart. “In fact, as mum tells it, I seem to have gone out of my way to befriend snakes as a child. I would be afraid of dogs…they had teeth and could bite, but snakes didn’t appear to have any…,” he explains. Rahul gives an account of the various places he travelled and the institutions in which he apprenticed during the one year sabbatical. Along with his memoir, Rahul gives some tips to breed and take care of fishes, measures to be taken in case of snake bites, garbage disposal, etc. Since he travelled on his own, managing money and preventing theft was also Rahul’s main concern while on the go. If our interest propels us to learn any facts or information our chances of retaining them and actually using them in our daily and practical lives is greater. Rahul too, had such an experience in a crocodile research facility near Chennai, “Apart from my practical studies, there was a huge library at the Croc Bank where I would browse through several books on crocs, snakes, monitors, turtles, the works. It was always with great pleasure that I would search for information about something that I had learnt or seen that day. And the best part is that although I didn’t have to memorize the facts for any examination, nothing of what I’ve read has gone out of my head.” The experiences of the Alvares family indicate that we can look beyond school. If the grind of mugging up the whole textbook(s) leads to the destruction of creativity in a child, is there a difference between a student and a factory worker working at the assembly line? This book is in no way a guide for parents who feel that the present education system does more harm than good and who would like their children to try some other things. This book, in fact, serves more as an inspiration for parents wanting to take the plunge in cold water. This book says, dive in, the water is very refreshing! Since the choice of Rahul to take a sabbatical and pursue a career that was other than that of the clichéd doctor and engineer, he surely must have faced a lot of questions. The nosy neighbours, the annoying relatives or even
[Goanet] Khell tiatr competirion, Quepem
Sir, Kindly publish the following article. Thank you, Dale Luis Menezes. IMPROVING AND ENCOURAGING TALENT IN TRADITIONAL KHELLS By DALE LUIS MENEZES Despite the onslaught of cable and other more glittering forms of entertainment, the traditional khells have survived all odds. The khells along with the tiatrs are the most loved form of theatre amongst Goans, especially Catholics. Originally, the khells were performed on the ground and hence were called zomnnivoile khell. These khells which were staged during Carnival in Quepem received a shot in the arm due to the efforts of the Navyug Vikas Manch, Quepem. The Navyug Vikas Manch held the prize-distribution ceremony of Konknni Traditional Folk Play Festival organized during this year’s Carnival on 11 May, 2011. The folk plays were staged at various places in Quepem and were judged by a panel of three eminent judges: John Claro Fernandes, the noted tiatrist from Quepem, Jose Salvador Fernandes, the secretary of Dalgado Konknni Akademi and Jerome Rodrigues, a music teacher from Quepem and former conductor of Kala Academy’s Goa Symphony Orchestra. The khells are a traditional part of the Carnival celebrations which consists of three one-act plays called partios. A total of seven troupes participated in the competition taking the overall sum of individual actors to more than a hundred (inclusive of musicians and back-stage support artists). Seby de Quepem’s Him Amchim Konn? was adjudged as the best play. Ubaldo Fernandes (Salam’ Tuka) and Celina Fernandes (Sonvsar Mon’xak Haloyta) bagged the best acting award (male and female respectively). The best child artist (male and female) award went to Floid Fernandes (Sonvsar Mon’xak Haloyta) and Kenisha Fernandes (Tunvem Mhaka) while the funniest comedians (male and female) were Saldie Colaco (Pois Kelo Mhaka) and Jenifa Simoes (Gõychi). The prizes for the best Kant, best direction and best script was bagged by Jose de Velim (Pois Kelo Mhaka), Seby de Quepem (Him Amchim Konn?) and Xavier de Sanguem (Tumkam Visvas Asa?) respectively. Twins in real life, Clarina and Clarissa Gonsalves (Fottoilem) and Bobet de Quepem received special mention awards. Clement Goes (Him Amchim Konn?) was judged as the best musician. All the participants received a certificate, a gift and a Romi Konknni book of either short stories or one-act plays. The winners of special awards received a memento. The later tiatr had its antecedents in the zagors and khells and organizing competitions of this nature will only ensure that such traditions and heritage is kept alive. Case in point proved to be the competition organized at Quepem during the Carnival. Remedio Rebello, member of the Navyug Vikas Manch informed that because the judges could pay a visit anytime to any venue where the plays were staged, the directors and actors had put in much hard work and people were able to enjoy some good plays. Since most of the people residing in the interiors and backward areas of Quepem rarely come to the cities during Carnival, staging the plays at their doorsteps “made them feel very happy,” informed Mr. Rebello. He further revealed that the competition was organized with the main intention of improving and elevating the standard of the khells, which are a part of our heritage. I tried to get some local feedback on the plays that were staged and although many felt that this was a good beginning, much is needed to be done as far as standard is concerned. The talent and enthusiasm is very much there, only it needs to be channelized in a proper way. Many of the performances were raw but a diamond only becomes a diamond when properly cut and polished. On being asked how he felt after winning the best play award, Seby de Quepem said, “It was a great moment. This award is encouragement enough for me to pursue bigger forms of the drama.” Commenting on what improvements should be made in the traditional folk plays he said, “A message needs to be conveyed through every song and skit. There should be no vulgarity and foul language included in the play as they are always meant for family viewing.” The chairman of the Navyug Vikas Manch and the MLA of Quepem, Chandrakant (Babu) Kavlekar, when contacted said, “We are going to continue organizing this festival every year as it would lead to a healthy competition amongst the directors of Quepem.” Asked if any workshops would be conducted to improve the standard and impart guidance in khells, he said, “Whatever steps that are needed to be taken to encourage talent in khells and tiatrs, will be taken by our trust.” The students of the Fr. Agnel School of Music and Performing Arts led by Fr. Mark Furtado, enthralled the audience with a rich repertory of instrumental music at the beginning of the awards ceremony. Seby de Quepem, who won the award for the best play, has already been motivated enough to leap from the ground
[Goanet] DALGADO DIS CELEBRATIONS
Sir, Please find the link to my article BRIGHT PROSPECTS FOR ROMI KONKNNI ON THE BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF MSGR. DALGADO @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com. Comments/feedback welcome on the blog. Dale Luis Menezes. Find my writings @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com
[Goanet] Konknni Cinema Dis
For the kind favour of publication. REMEMBERING THE FATHER OF KONKNNI CINEMA BY DALE LUIS MENEZES Tiatr Academy of Goa (TAG) in association with Dalgado Konknni Akademi (DKA) observed Konknni Cinema Dis (Day) on April 24, 2011. It was on this day, in the year 1950 that the first Konknni cinema – Mogacho Aunddo – was premiered. This film was produced and directed by A L Jerry Braganza, who also acted in the lead role along with Leena Fernandes. Since Mogacho Aunddo was the first Konknni film on the silver screen, A L Jerry Braganza has rightly been considered as the Father of Konknni Cinema. Rajendra Talak, noted Konknni filmmaker and recipient of many national awards, graced the function as the Chief Guest. The presidents of the TAG and the DKA, Tomazinho Cardozo and Premanand Lotlikar respectively too shared the space on the dais. The gathering was welcomed by Premanand Lotlikar. In his speech, the president of the DKA, stressed on the immense contribution of A L Jerry Braganza to Konknni films. A L Jerry Braganza ventured in a place that no one before him had dared to go, he said. In order to raise the finances for the movie, A L Jerry Braganza visited each and every kudd (Goan club) in Bombay and did not hesitate to collect a donation of even five rupees. The shares of ETICA (Exchange Talkies of India, China and Africa) which co-produced the movie came in for a special mention during the function. What was interesting to note was that Premanand Lotlikar, by a dint of good fortune, came across a share certificate of ETICA and displayed the facsimile of the same to the gathered audience. He also shared a letter, which states that the said company was also in the process of producing two documentaries, but unfortunately no record so far is available of them, the DKA president informed. He also opined t hat perhaps, due to the huge financial resources required to make a film, A L Jerry Braganza may even have taken loans without thinking as to how to repay them. Rajendra Talak in his address marveled at the feat achieved by the Father of Konknni cinema. He said that even with the latest technology and equipment available, the task of making a film is not rendered any easier and hence it would be have been a lot more difficult to make movies during the time of A L Jerry Braganza. Rajendra Talak suggested that such a historic day like this and such a colossal contribution to Konknni cinema by A L Jerry Braganza merits not a modest function like the one organized by TAG and DKA but a full-fledged Konknni film festival lasting a few days. He pledged his full support to any future endeavours by TAG and DKA (which incidentally do have big plans in the future). Rajendra Talak was also happy to inform that the number of people going to theatres to watch a Konknni movie is steadily increasing. There is a need, he stated, for directors and producers to continuously offer good Konknni cinema as people are starting to appreciate such films. The common thread running through all speeches of recognizing the true contributions of personalities hitherto neglected (like A L Jerry Braganza) and giving them their due was also found in the address of Tomazinho Cardozo. He was of the opinion that comparing Konknni films with that of Bollywood films was not proper. This is because Bollywood films are made on a huge budget compared to a budget of a few lakhs spent to produce Konknni films. By unceremoniously dismissing a Konknni film as substandard, Tomazinho opined, that we dismiss the hard labour of everyone associated with the film. It is our duty, he stressed, to purchase a ticket and watch every Konknni film as that is the only way films in Konknni can thrive. The formal function was followed by a brief musical programme wherein Succoro de Santacruz, Sonia Fernandes, Clarissa Fernandes and Maria Cardozo belted out hits from Konknni films and they were accompanied on the keyboards by Mukhesh Ghatwal. Walter Menezes compered the function and gave valuable information about Mogacho Aunddo. (A version of this article appeared on Gomantak Times, dt: April 27, 2011) Comments/feedback @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com Find my writings @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com
[Goanet] Trikal -- movie review
Kindly publish this article on Goanet. GOA THROUGH THE EYES OF SHYAM BENEGAL This article is written on the eve of the release of Dum Maaro Dum, a movie mired in controversy for the alleged callous misrepresentation of Goa and its people. To be very honest, I always found the portrayal of Goa and Goans (especially Catholics) in Bollywood movies very stereotypical and one-dimensional. I had no hope or faith that in future movies, Bollywood would bring a fuller and unbiased characterization of a Goan – and especially the Catholic Goan – until, on the recommendation of a friend, I watched Shyam Benegal’s Trikal (1985). The story centers around the elite Souza-Soares bhattkar family. The matriarch, Dona Maria has a daughter Sylvia and an illegitimate daughter of her husband Senhor Ernesto named Milagrina, whom she adopts and who works as a domestic help. Sylvia has two daughters of marriageable age – Anna and Aurora and two small sons. The movie opens with the narrator, Ruiz Pereira returning to Goa after 24 years. The whole story is told in flashback. The opening scene of the flashback is of the death of Senhor Ernesto who lies on his bed, mourned by his family and friends while his wife, Dona Maria listens to Portuguese Fados sitting in an armchair. In the graveyard, after the coffin is lowered, a strong gust of wind blows kicking up a storm of dust. A symbolic foreboding of Goa on the brink of a fierce tempest in the days to come? The whole movie is very much Goan. The many Goans associated with the movie (Mario Cabral e Sa and Remo Fernandes to name a few) together with Shyam Benegal (a native Konknni speaker himself) as the director has resulted in the production of a truly meaningful and thought-provoking film. Shyam Benegal has taken pains to incorporate the minutest details of Goan village life. The camera gently and poetically captures the graceful scenes and characters. I particularly liked the diction of the Konknni and Portuguese words and names (Saiba bhogos/ Kaklut kor Dhonia). Trikal is a movie of two worlds – or rather two social milieus. On one hand we have the chandelier-lit ballrooms of the elites and on the other, the dim and sooty kitchens of the servants. The immaculately tailored suits and frocks and the kaxttis (loincloth) and puddvims (dhoti). The depiction of the Latin rite during a church service and the serenading too finds a good space in the movie. Trikal tries to bring the realities of the elites as well as the poor to the fore on the eve of Goa’s Liberation and at the same time raises some interesting (not always overtly) questions. During the dinner after Senhor Ernesto’s funeral, Dr. Simon Pereira makes a speech about the imminent invasion of Goa by the Indian army and raises a toast to his dear departed friend, not with imported scotch but with the local feni! He passionately makes a claim that Goa has a better future ahead under the new rulers. The dinner table is also divided by some who would like the Portuguese to continue ruling and some asking for an ‘independent nation’ status. Elsewhere in the kitchen, the servants are indifferent as they are skeptical that a change of rulers will bring about any significant change in their economic condition. In doing so, Benegal might have stumbled upon a historical fact that those directly affected by Liberation were mostly the elites of Goa. Perhaps. Due to Senhor Ernesto’s death, the engagement ceremony of Anna to Erasmo (who flies specially from Lisbon or Lisboa as in the movie) is put on hold. The hyperventilating, tantrum-throwing and forever weeping Sylvia requests Dona Maria to skip the customary mourning. Dona Maria on her part wants the permission of her dead husband and hence, using Milagrina as a medium, invokes the ghost of Senhor Ernesto. But rather than the ghost of her husband, the spectres of people wronged by her family resurrect. It is interesting to note that the ghosts of the Ranes (Vijaysingh and Kuxttoba) are the only ones depicted in the movie. The Ranes, we are told, fought tooth and nail against the Portuguese. The landed bhattkars surely must have wronged not only the politically active but also the politically subdued. Ruiz (the narrator and nephew of Dr. Simon) is madly in love with Anna, but his love is unrequited. At the behest of his nephew, Dr. Simon proposes their marriage to Dona Maria only to be given the cold shoulder. Anna, however, is deeply in love with Leon, a nationalist who escapes prison in Lisbon and who is hiding in the basement of the Souza-Soares residence. Erasmo realizes that Anna is pregnant, but not by him. The engagement is broken. Dr. Simon again offers marriage of Ruiz to Anna. Dona Maria in a final no says that their caste is not the same. Caste affiliations do run deep (even now). Finally, on 19th December, 1961 along with the Liberation of Goa, Anna
[Goanet] kind favour of publication
CANADA’S 55+ PUT PEN TO PAPER By DALE LUIS MENEZES In the recent years it seems that the Goan diaspora is speaking out. This is evident from the fact that a number of books have been published which deal with the history of Goan migration, the causes of such a migration and the experience(s) resulting from settling in a foreign land. These books have a decent ‘visibility’ in the various bookstores in Goa as well as on the internet. I would rate Selma Carvalho’s Into the Diaspora Wilderness as one which articulates migration-related issues in a succinct way (reviewed by me for GT: October 6, 2010). Goa Masala, an anthology of stories by Canada Goans, is one such voice of the diaspora. This book was conceived by the 55 Plus Goan Association (55PGA) of Canada. “Our vision was to capture for the future the many stories that resided in people’s minds, and which otherwise might not have seen the light of the day,” says Rudy Fernandes, the President of 55PGA in the foreword. The book, running into 260 pages contains 41 essays and stories by many prominent Canada Goans above the age of 55. I am of the opinion that the Goa Masala project is a very ambitious one. What it aims to do is to safeguard for the future Canada Goan generations an ‘identity’, a form of Goaness if I may say so. A major achievement of the 55PGA – for which they must be lauded – was that they were able “to get reticent Goans to put pen to paper.” These writings, in a way, are expected to function as the Prehistoric cave paintings containing hunting, fishing and other scenes that were meant for the next generation. At the outset, I should state that I do not intend to do a full-fledged book review. While reading the book, I realized that this was a text essentially dealing in personal histories. These personal histories do help the historians in understanding a larger historical process – in this case migration in general (or migration to Canada in particular). The importance of personal histories that would contribute to a better and nuanced understanding of a larger historical process is stressed by Pamila Gupta from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa when writing about the migration of Mozambique Goans living in Maputo (to which I shall later return). What I was really looking forward to, in this collection, was these ‘personal histories’ against the social, economic and political background of Canada. Let’s call this, the ‘Canada experience’. Most of the writers (including some who were coerced to write) in this anthology have immigrated to Canada from Africa and rather than their ‘Canada experience’, the nostalgic and adventurous reminisces of living in Africa and hunting trips in the African jungles as well as homecoming to or vacations in Goa find a greater print place. While there is certainly nothing wrong with it, the successive repetition of more-or-less the same plot-line renders a good portion of the book monotonous. Along with the ‘African Adventures’ and ‘homecoming’, wouldn’t it have been better if Canada too was featured in the narration? After all, Canada is the country that all the writers have adopted as their new home. The essay, The ‘canonization’ of Manny Sequeira! by Manuel Sequeira makes an earnest (and perhaps only) attempt at explaining his assimilation into Canadian society but falls a little short. Similarly, most of the essays do start promisingly but lack a good ending. Meriting special mention is one particular story that I immensely liked: The Chutney Mutiny by Alice Pinto. The editor(s) of this book could have used their red pens with a greater flourish. One can’t help but notice that the narration is not free flowing in many cases. In the foreword, a disclaimer is added: “The stories featured in this publication have not been fact-checked for authenticity by the 55PGA, the publishers or the editors. Authors of the individual stories assume full responsibility of their own stories.” Maintaining authenticities as well as technicalities is the responsibility, I think, of the editors along with the authors. Consider this confusion: On p. 162, the author, Pliny X. Noronha, writes that, “…a member of our clergy informed that in fact St. Catherine of Alexandria…is the official patron saint of Goa” to which the editor introduces a footnote saying, “She was until recently; today the patron saint of Goa is the Blessed Jose Vaz.” Jose Vaz is only beatified and not canonized ergo; he can’t be a patron saint. I shall now return to the case study of the Mozambique Goans. In 2009, Pamila Gupta wrote an essay, “The Disquieting of History: Portuguese (De)colonization and Goan Migration in the Indian Ocean”, in the Journal of Asian and African Studies (44[1]: 19-47). Due to the dearth of archival and reference material, Ms. Gupta had to rely on life histories of the Goans who had migrated to Mozambique. She uses a “biographical
