Antonio is right. Barao de Cumbharjua was the inspector of schools at that
time. In fact they wanted the schools to be shut down. But people from Salcette
opposed the closing down of these schools. Educating the masses was not in the
interest of the colonizers nor the Goan upper castes.
Richard
Great narrative by Tony Fernandes on the Laidanha. In my village at least, the
description in this day and age, fits to a T. I never miss a Laidanha, and
join the singing with gusto, and look forward to the boiled Chonne or chick
peas, and a quick peg of Uraak. I celebrated the Laidanha for
Three R's? Someone said (can't recall who) that in colonial Goa there
were 4 R's. The fourth being the rebec. FN
In my opinion we should pay tribute to Mestri of the parochial school who
trained villagers in
hymn singing but sadly training in 3Rs (Reading, Writing and Arithmetic )
was given
Thank you Tony Fernandes for your detailed description of a Goan tradition
called Ladainha.
In the colonial days i.e. in the forties and fifties, a ladainha in my
village was almost a routine
evening affair.People who came to the chapel for ladainha were mostly poor
and uneducated
villagers, but
I'm not too sure I agree with you on the neglect of the 3Rs. A number of
mestris taught their students how to read music.
Besides I knew of a number of supposedly uneducated people who could read and
write, although a mite labouriously, and these guys were field labourers.
And some of
