[Goanet-News] Goan women have played major roles in literature, sciences, music and many fields, says new book
PANJIM, May 29: Beyond the "boundaries of their homes", Goan women have attained a host of achievements in fields as diverse as literature, history, the sciences, medicine, art, music, the stage, painting and sculpture, and even for their work related to the United Nations. But, the story of Goan women has taken its time to be told, according to Fátima da Silva Gracias, the historian-author of a new book, just back from the printers. The 352-page hardbound book is called 'Trailblazers: Some Goan Women Achievers' and contains word-sketches of the achievements of some 119 women from Goa. Some go back to the late 19th century, while others are still active and working in the field, with more decades to contribute. There are those from the world of writing and art. But nearly two dozen entries are also related to Goan women in medicine and other sciences. Among these are Emelina da Cunha Costa (1973-1972), who was one of the first three Indians women to graduate from the Grant Medical School in Bombay. She specialised in Bacteriology and was also an opera singer. Other prominent names from this field which Goa might have all but forgotten include the Kenya doctor Mary Matilda Pereira de Souza (1890-1953), and other prominent doctors like Myrtle de Noronha (Bombay), Escolastica Gracias e Peres, Anita de Souza, the Hawaii-based Maria Cristina Snyder, prominent psychiatrist Adelia Peres e Costa (1928-2019), Karachi's Sylvia de Sa, Ratan Counto-Naik, and even Dr Reita Faria Powell of Tivim (better known as Miss World 1966). Beyond medicine, Goan women have earned their name and fame in botany, cancer therapy, evolutionary biology, research, and even travelling to Antarctica for scientific research (Helga do Rosario Gomes). In her introduction, the historian Silva Gracias, says she began work on this book soon after the outbreak of the 2020 Covid pandemic, amidst challenging times, lockdowns, archives and libraries in Goa being shut. She comments: "The need to write these profiles of Goan women was felt for a long time. Women are contributors to, and bearers of, culture. Goan women living in Goa, other parts of India and overseas have made outstanding contributions to a vast range of activities covering education, writing, science, sports, art, political and cultural activities. "They have participated in and won international beauty contests. Goan women have made their presence felt at world bodies such as the United Nations. Yet not much has been written about them, until recent times." In her book, almost all the women listed have been "born in Goa to Goan parents, born to Goan parents outside Goa, and women whose one parent has been of Goan origin." Obviously, the diaspora too has played a huge role in making its contribution. For the work, the author collated profiles as narrated by the person profiled, or with the help of information from their families, and even from "my research on Goan women for over thirty years from libraries, archives and private collections in Goa, Bombay and Lisbon." Silva Gracias notes that women in Goa received no formal education until the 19th century. The first primary school for girls was set up at "Nova Goa" in 1846. She traces the growth of education among Goan and diasporic women, including how daughters of those who migrated to British Indian cities like Karachi or Poona studied medicine in Bombay. Yet, in times when the only space "permitted to women" was their homes, some became educationists, prolific writers and eloquent speakers (Propercia Correia Afonso). Others went on to write the history of villages they were part of, such as Chandor. Some became travel writers and contributed to distant newspapers. One of the women featured (Leonor de Loyola Furtado Fernandes, 1909-2005) even studied in a seminary. Short story writers, pharmacists, multilingual translators, professors, theatre people, authors, playwrights, curators, journalists, lawyers, that's not all... and even a member of the censor board. Women from Goa have fitted in to all these roles. The languages they've worked in is impressive too -- Spanish, Catalan, Esperanto, French, apart from more commonly encountered English, Konkani, Portuguese, and Marathi or other Indian languages. Music, expectedly, brings in great talent and variety. From Hindustani (Anjanibai Malpekar, Kesarbai Kerkar, Mogubai Kurdikar, Kishori Amonkar, Lata Amonkar, Asha Bhosle, Ashalata Wabgaonkar, Varsha Usgaonkar Sharma) to Opera, Jazz, piano and violin. Art -- painting, sculpture, curating and film-making -- shows another set of talent. But in the United Nations, Goa has a current Assistant General Secretary (Ligia Noronha), a member of the Portuguese Permanent Mission (Maria Virginia Braz Gomes), a former principal of the United Nations International School at NY (Lea Vaz Rangel-Ribeiro), among others. The book will be featured at a curtain-raiser on Saturday morning, May 29, 2022 at 10 am at the Maquinez
[Goanet-News] 41. Two more acts of Portuguese Resistance (Valmiki Faleiro)
By Valmiki Faleiro A few minutes past 8 am of 18 December 1961, or about one hour after the bombing of the radio centre at Bambolim and the airport at Dabolim, the Portuguese Governor General / C-in-C left the capital city and headed for the last redoubt of Mormugao. (Of the many cock-and-bull stories floating at the time, one story said that he went to Mormugao because he wanted to flee from Goa by air. If that was so, he would have easily travelled aboard any of the two civilian aircraft that escaped from Dabolim -- with his permission -- later that night, as seen last week.) (Another fantastic story was that Air Vice Marshal Erhlich Pinto came snooping into Goa some days before the ops. Only the thoroughly unlettered could produce such stories. Air Vice Mshl Pinto was India's AOC-in-C Operational Command, Indian Air Force -- and the most likely next Air Chief but for an unfortunate helicopter accident in J&K on 22 November 1963 that killed him together with some top Indian Army officers like Lt Gen Daulat Singh GOC-in-C Western Command, Lt Gen Bikram Singh GOC XV Corps, Maj Gen NKD Nanavati GOC 25 Division, Brig RM Uberoi commander 93 Brigade and the chopper pilot Flt Lt SS Sodhi. Air Vice Mshl Pinto was way too big to be a snooper!) The Governor General/C-in-C issued no fresh orders now that the assault had begun. This meant that the defence plan, Plano Sentinela would remain in force -- delay the enemy at the borders with conventional or guerilla tactics, fall back to the riverfronts when no longer possible to halt the enemy advance and explode the bridges, hold back the enemy on the other bank of the river for as long as possible, and when that too was difficult, gradually fall back to the last redoubt, Mormugao, and defend it at any cost -- until UN intervention arrived. By 10:30 am, 18 December 1961, Captain (later General) Carlos de Azeredo, appointed as the Coordinating Officer of the security forces in Goa only days before, took command of around 500 troops retreating from other positions, to form the second line of defence -- from St. Jacinto Island to Issorcim, across the isthmus of the Mormugao peninsula. He had trenches dug rapidly, fortified with coconut trunks to fend off enemy artillery ... and for weapons, an equally ridiculous duo of Lewis light machine guns and ancient rifles. Recall that Capt Azeredo believed the Plano Sentinela was "totally unrealistic and unachievable". Yet, one could say foolhardily, Portuguese defenders staged three acts of resistance in Goa. The first as seen was at the Anjediva Island, where they held Indian naval forces at bay for some 30 hours, with a comparatively high loss of lives. There were two other notable acts of resistance in Goa proper. One was a skirmish at Verna staged by Portuguese troops retreating from Margao to the last redoubt at Mormugao. The other was the resistance put up by the lone naval destroyer in Goa against three Indian frigates at Mormugao. Oddly, both incidents heralding the Portuguese exit evoked history of their entry into Goa 451 years before -- and the name of the man who had conquered Goa in 1510! Let us consider only the Verna incident of 19 December 1961 today, and the naval battle at Mormugao that occurred a day earlier on 18 December 1961 (together with the historical significance of the two events) next week. The skirmish in Verna: 2 Bihar Battalion of the 63 Infantry Brigade was pressing from Margao towards Vasco da Gama. When it reached Verna at around 2.00 pm, it was told of the presence of 450+ Portuguese soldiers of the Agrupamento Afonso de Albuquerque, an undersized battalion retreating from the military camp at Rawanfond, Aquem Baixo, near Margao. They were in a fallback to the last redoubt at Mormugao and had halted at Verna. 'C' Company of 2 Bihar under Captain NK Bhandari was ordered on the left flank to cut off the road behind the enemy position. 'B' Company under Major MM Bose charged from the right flank. The Portuguese opened up with small arms fire. The brief but fierce encounter accounted for the largest number of casualties on both sides in Goa. On the Portuguese side, 27 officers, 23 sergeants and 398 soldiers surrendered (448 in all, the rest perished), and 14 armoured cars, 21 jeeps and a large quantity of arms and equipment were seized. "There were about 450 prisoners [Portuguese POWs at Verna]," recalls freedom fighter Dr. Suresh Kanekar, who, together with Purushottam Kakodkar and Ronald Coutinho of Margao, was proceeding to Vasco da Gama in Coutinho's car. Kanekar says he "naturally thought of the number matching closely the years of Portuguese colonial rule imposed on Goa" (Kanekar, 2011, Pages 146-147). As the encounter progressed, 4 Sikh LI reached Verna and, as seen before, was ord
