Mario also has to say something about Goa and Goa under Portugal rule. He starts his column saying mixed reactions in Goa. Read more at:
http://www.navhindtimes.in/panorama/memories-triggered-sagres Memories Triggered by Sagres; Published in Panorama of NT on: December 5, 2010; By Mário Cabral e Sá Mixed reactions in Goa to the arrival of Portuguese training ship Sagres are still playing on my mind. The bureaucracy, Governor downwards, at first seemed to be receptive and friendly, then, perhaps motivated by the threats and reactions of freedom fighters, many of whom suffered unspeakable acts of cruelty at the hands of Fernando Revez Romba, his henchman Casmiro Monteiro and others of his ilk, short of packing off the ship, cold-shouldered the invitations of the Portuguese ambassador and the captain of the ship to the social functions they hosted. The people, the always large-hearted and hospitable Goan, the ever forgive-and-forget Goan, seem to be grateful to the Portuguese for the many good things they did, most of all for the red peppers they brought along and for the xitcoddy that characterises Goa, gave Sagres and its crew a warm embrace. Those invited to the party fully enjoyed themselves. The fishermen of Vasco bay dressed their boats with festoons and gave the ship and its crew a hearty send off. Diplomats will be diplomats and find ways to unburden themselves of their grief. On this occasion, the Government of Goa heard in silence the Portuguese Consul Generals subtle dig: that Portugal was the first nation to vote for Indias permanent membership of the UN council. On an earlier occasion, the then president of Portugal, Dr Mário Soares said in the plainest of words that he and other anti-Salazar Portuguese victims fought for their freedom as fearlessly as their Goan counterparts. At Peniche, the gruesome jail, he was lodged a few cells away from our own Puruxotoma Kakodkar. The Portuguese earned a bad name as colonisers for other reasons, which are historically well documented. To be short, they were cruel as evangelists and they were shameless womanisers. We know by now why. As evangelists they committed themselves to the Vatican to fazer muita cristandade - to make as many conversions as they could, whatever the means. Their methods of concertinos in Goa differed widely from those followed in the Northern Provinces, a widely confusing toponimic because the same provinces were known in Vasai (Baçaim) and neighbouring areas as East Indies. To them, Goa being the westernmost possession in India, was the West Indies, while Vasai being North of Goa was the capital of Northern Provinces. Fr Thomas Stephens who evangelised in the area was an Englishman. Not for him the Latin frothiness of the Spanish and Portuguese Jesuits who evangelised in Goa. Thomas Stevens learnt devnagri and spoke Konkani and Marathi. Before he converted a native he first taught her/him the Bible, not assorted prayers jaculatorias. Bible studies were necessary in his parishes. I spent some time in Vasai and know the difference between the curricula of Vasai and Goa parish schools. Another difference was that the Portuguese settled in the Northern provinces were married to Portuguese women, often enough war widows. For reasons to all appearances basically chauvinistic, Portugal firmly discouraged their men from taking their wives to overseas postings, but only for a while, till the consequences of that policy stared them in the face. The Spaniards, on the other hand, encouraged men to take their women. When Hervan Cortez conquered Mexico in 1519, the Spanish coloniser or soldier was given eighteen months to bring his wife if he had one or, then, he had to marry a native woman. But Portugal had its arguments. It was alive to its special circumstances. It was much smaller and, therefore, much less populated than Spain and could not afford a population drain. Then, America was just across the Atlantic. The journey, certainly, was not devoid of risks and perils, but it offered more options of shelter in times of distress like the islands scattered on the Atlantic coast around the hump of Africa. An additional reason was that it would be imprudent to have women on long journeys, lasting months, six or more, in ships loaded with men, some, if not most, prisoners on parole, the only kind of persons other than daredevils and adventures, who might feel motivated to involve themselves in an exercise of dubious utility which the countrys eastward expansion eventually proved to be. The precedent of Madeira from where Christiano Ronaldo hails and which was Portugals first major overseas venture had not been very inspiring. Unforeseen difficulties had arisen. One reads in Rosto Feminino Da Expansão Portuguesa, a 2-Volume collection of papers and essays on the subject brought out, opportunely by the Comissão para a Igualdade e para os Direitos das Mulheres (1995) in a paper by João Adriano Ribeiro, assistant professor of the University of Madeira, entitled A Mulher na Madeira Nos Seculos XV-XVI, some extraordinary cases. To mention one: Dona Isabel de Abreu, a rich widow settled in a village of Arco de Calheta, caught the attention of António Gonsalves da Câmara, a nephew of the Capitão-Donatârio, a lessee of state land for easy translation. In true mediaeval style, Gonsalves decided to take the woman of his fancy by force. He was persuaded to withdraw the siege he had laid to her house, so that formalities for a peaceful wedding could be settled within a day. Accordingly, the man presented himself the next day along with an entourage of 50 men. But Isabel, perhaps contrary to general expectations, bluntly, spurned him. The man reacted by going back to Lisbon, if only to return after a few years. This time, he along with his armed men, forcibly took Isabels house. The authorities, stunned by the suddenness of the event, energetically intervened. The long and short of this Rocambolesque story is that Isabel finally, if reluctantly, agreed to the marriage. But her sister, Angela Abreu unhappy at the turn of events, complained to the King. As a result, an enquiry was ordered. António, in order to escape the consequences ran away to the Canary Islands and Isabel, as it behoved of a deserted wife, became a nun. Meanwhile, António distinguished himself as a warrior and was as a reward pardoned by the King and returned to Madeira only to learn that the woman for whose sake he had caused and undergone so much trouble was now inaccessible to him being a recluse in the convent of Santa Clara. Much more difficult to understand are the incestuous and, to all appearances, consensual relationships of Tristão Teixeira, one of the earliest known poets from Madeira. Appropriately he was nicknamed O das Damas, the ladies man. He was investigated in 1485 by Judge Bras Afonso Correia and found to be living in concubinage with his sisters Branca and Guiomar, niece Cecília and even his own daughters. He was proceeded against, recalled to Portugal, found guilty, but apparently was offered the option to redeem himself through a valorous action. He decided he would go to Ceuta at his own expense with his own men in his own boat, and rescue two compatriots being held there by the Muslim ruler. Consequently, he was pardoned in 1496 and allowed to retain the captaincy he had been holding in Madeira before the incredible events he unchained. Nothing is known about the fate of the ladies or about the circumstances that led four closely related women to their incestuous association with Tristão Teixeira. But clues abound. Amélia P Hutchinson, director of Portuguese Studies, Modern Languages Department, University of Salford UK, in her paper Dea ou Deabus (Goddess or Devil)? published in Rosto Feminino mentioned earlier comments that in general Portuguese women who lived overseas left their houses only thrice in their lifetime: to be baptised, to marry and to be buried. Anyones heart would bleed for the unfortunate women.