Fernando do Rego
fernandodor...@yahoo.com
Let me share the news about the great
event which took place at the Fundacao Oriente-Goa, on
Saturday (April 18, 2015) evening to honour the noted Goan
nonagenarian Percival Noronha, and release a book in his honour.
Fundacao Oriente was the very first Portuguese institution
that came to Goa after Liberation in 1961 -- in the mid-1990s
-- and that was after Indo-Portuguese relations were
re-established following the “25 de April” (Revolução do
Cravo) Revolution which put an end to the dictatorial times
in 1974. A new era started and this ward of Fontainhas was
chosen for their office in a residence that belonged to the
Fonseca family. It happened twenty years back and Fontainhas
was enriched along these two decades with more history with
the various programs that it organizes, including the yearly
Monte Music Festival in Old Goa with Indian and Western
music, presented by both Hindus and Catholics.
Here I wish to make a suggestion to the Fundacao Oriente that
this music festival should be transferred to the Our Lady of
the Immaculate Conception Church, Panjim, which was first
built in 1541 as a chapel by the Portuguese, was replaced by
a larger church, as seen now, in a wedding cake shape and
much alike the Sacre Couer in Paris. In alternate years, it
may also take place in the “Adro” (The Churchyard) of the
Church of Margao which celebrated 450 years a few weeks back
with the release of a book *Soaring Spirit* by the well known
journalist Valmiki Faleiro.
If the Monte Festivals are attended, say by 500 persons or
less, these two suggestions me will delight some ten
thousands. If, you agree with me, please support the
suggestion by writing to Dr Eduardo Kol Carvalho, the present
delegado of the Fundacao Oriente at delegadoem...@gmail.com
A Remembrance of the past
One of most memorable session which I attended
years back, was when Fundacao Oriente paid homage
to Orlando Costa. He was a great friend of mine
from the Liceu days (1940-47) and after a long
chat, we wished with an "afectuoso abraço", never
thinking that it would be the very last one. That
session also gave rise to something interesting: a
friend of mine sent to me from Lisbon a Portuguese
magazine which gave a detailed report. It was
illustrated with two photos of the two speakers:
one of Fr. Martinho Noronha (with the caption
reading 'Manohar Sardesai') and the other of
Manohar Sardesai (with the caption of 'Fr Martinho
Noronha')! I went with it to the residence of
Manohar who on seeing it had a hearty laugh and
commented: "Maka padri kello, Fernando-bab?" (You
made me a priest!)
What I also appreciate about the Fundacao Oriente is that
their motto and endeavors are not "levar a cultura Portuguesa
ao Oriente" and so they don’t make a point event to have all
their sessions in Portuguese, when the hall would be empty/
But back to the point, who is this Percival? Here are some
examples of his innumerous activities.
The Indo-Portuguese Friendship Society-Goa:
Delivering a lecture on the topic, 'Heritage and
Indo-Portuguese Furniture' organized by the
Indo-Portuguese Friendship Society-Goa in Panjim,
historian Percival Noronha spoke of the piquant
problem of parish priests selling off valuable
antique furniture and ornaments from old churches.
Not only artifacts in churches are being sold to
the highest bidder, Noronha brought up the Cabo Raj
Niwas where over the years, a steady stream of
artifacts have been given or taken away. He also
spoke of how haphazard modern constructions added
to lovely old churches, were ruining their
aesthetic purity. It is evident that we do not
care for our heritage. As the Diocese of Goa had
sold to the builders the rich lands in Caranzalem
which the Conego do Souto Mayor had bequeathed to
it, he stopped being a practicing Catholic that he
was!
Portugal honors an Indian Historian
Portugal conferred one of its highest civilian honors to this
Indian historian closely associated with Goa and its past.
President Anibal Cavaco Silva announced in Lisbon that his
country would honor Percival Noronha, one of Goa's foremost
historians and chroniclers of past, with the title of
'Commander' of the Order of Prince Henry the Navigator. The
awards are given to Portuguese Diaspora and foreign citizens.
Dedicated Cooperator of the Governments
Percival Noronha was a very important government officer
during the Portuguese regime especially during that period
when Gen Vassalo e Silva was the Governor.
After Liberation, he preferred to continue to give to his Goa
all that could of his talent and experience. He was the
Chief Information Officer when Goa was liberated and went on
to hold several key positions in the Goa administration, and
is known for his work on chronicling Goa's history. When Goa
had its first Government of the late Dayanand Bandodkar, the
Chief Minister would come to Percival's home to consult him
on many administrative matters in which he was not
conversant.
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet (CHOGM)
As the first Director of Tourism, he gave Panjim coastal
green belt by planting thousands of Casuarina trees from
Campal to Miramar, and was one of the architects behind
successful organization of Commonwealth Heads of Government
Meet (CHOGM) Retreat in Goa during 1983. He took over the
responsibility of training special guides. The training
material he produced on historical places, personalities and
monuments continues to be precious sources of information
even now also prepared a detailed description of all the
historic places in Velha Goa for the benefit of the Prime
Ministers of the CHOGM, which included Indira Gandhi,
Margaret Thatcher, Pierre Trudeau, etc.
The Indian Heritage Society -- Goa Chapter:
He rejuvenated the Indian Heritage Society-Goa Chapter, the
first organization to celebrate world environment day, and
published a souvenir on local environmental issues. He
supported conservation and protection of khazan lands and
salt pans of Goa and collaborated to produce model heritage
conservation legislation.
Association of Friends of Astronomy
Noronha joined astronomy enthusiasts to found the Association
of Friends of Astronomy. He spotted talent among students &
youth and encouraged them in amateur astronomy. Several of
those students went abroad to study advanced astronomy. In
the year 1982 due to the zeal and perseverance of Panjim
resident and retired government officer Percival Noronha, the
Association of Friends of Astronomy (AFA) was founded by a
group of astronomy enthusiasts in Panjim (Goa).
Basically dedicated to the appreciation and popularization of
amateur astronomy, the association was successful in founding
the Public Astronomical observatory at Panjim (PAO). It
became the first public observatory in India to be funded by
the government and run voluntarily by an NGO. In the initial
years of formation, the Members of AFA concentrated on
stabilizing the organization by acquiring telescopes,
instruments and infrastructure for the observatory; a modest
beginning was also made in starting a library by getting
astronomy and science books and subscribing to different
magazines. Different activities like school programmes,
lectures, study tours, exhibitions, workshops, star parties,
competitions, quizzes, photography outings were started and
are still being sustained by the present members.
The Christian Art Gallery
He worked closely with historian-professor Teotonio Desouza
to catalogue the precious heritage of Christian art scattered
throughout churches & chapels of Goa and that led to
establishment of the Christian Art Gallery which Goa earlier
did not have.
He continues to champion the conservation of 42 forts and
defense locations of historical and archaeological importance
and organized a tour of the then minister Subhash Shirodkar
to demand a 'no development zone' around major forts of Goa.
Numerous scholars from Goa and outside tap him for
information on wide ranging subjects. "There is no
other authority in Goa on Christian art, urban
history, Indo-Portuguese furniture and ivory,"
asserted Nandakumar M. Kamat, a writer, in an
article in the Navhind Times.
The Museum of Christian Art is one of the few institutions of
its kind in Asia. It is run in the former colonial capital
of Old Goa, home to heritage monuments today. When it was
set up, in 1994, it was the only museum of Christian art in
Asia. It was set up with the cooperation of the Fundacao
Oriente and Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian, (Portugal) and the
Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH),
New Delhi. Earlier, it was located at the Seminary of
Rachol, Salcete, Goa. Later for the convenience of the
tourists it was transferred to the Santa Monica Monastery in
Old Goa.
The museum houses a very important and unique
collection of Christian art objects spanning from
the 16th century to the middle of the 20th century.
Recognized the world over as a perfect symbiosis of
two cultural manifestations, Indian and Portuguese,
these Indo-Portuguese Christian art objects besides
their antiquity are known for their Indian
(predominantly Hindu) contribution and whether
ivory, silverware, woodwork or embroidered
liturgical vestments, they are all of surprising
richness and perfection.
He continued this cooperation with the Church of Goa even
after leaving it as related above.
Contacto Goa
Several years back, the television broadcaster RTP-I from
Lisbon broadcast regularly a programme called Contacto Goa,
arranged and presented by Nalini Elvino de Sousa e Afonso.
Many times Percival Noronha was projected with his opinions
(even in the company of his Persian cat on the table while he
works!), and so seen all over the Portuguese speaking world.
What I cannot understand why in the R.T.P. programmes, we
can never see a Goan! Only in the news and that too from
lately is Antonio Costa, the son of Orlando Costa, who may
turn out to be the new Prime Minister of Portugal, while its own.
Contacto Goa also interviewed Goan politicians like the Eng.
Manohar Parrikar, today the Defense Minister of India.
His Heir
In one of my many visits to him, I asked him who would
inherit his rich collection of books and documents so
precious. Presto! Came a two word reply: "Xavier Centre"!
All know that it is an institution that belongs to the
Jesuits and founded by Dr. Teotonio de Sousa and to the
X.C.H.R. where we went together many times.
For the release of this book too, my wife and me were pleased
to be invited (once again). The book is titled *Percival
Noronha: Um goes exemplar* It was on Saturday, April 18, 2015
and the book was released by the Consul General of Portugal
in Goa, Dr. Rui Carvalho Baceira, in the presence of Dr.
Joao Amorim, Director and member of the Executive Committee
of the Fundacao do Oriente-Lisbon.
Quite as expected, the hall was full of guests from
practically all over Goa like Loutolim, Curtorim, Divar,
Betim, Pangim, Margao, etc.. The walls of the hall are now
adorned with paintings of the famous Goan Trinidade, father
of Angela Trindade.
After the speeches, Mrs. Aurora Couto introduced, and the
book was released by the Consul General of Portugal Dr.
Baceira. The book released is a collectanea of Percival
Noronha's own articles at different times and curiously most
of them are in English while the name of the book is
*Percival Noronha: um goes exemplar*.
I did appreciate the real truth in this name. If
Fundacao Oriente had any phobias, it would call it
'Um Indo-Portugues Exemplar'. It is introduced by
an article of Dr. Carlos Monjardino (Presidente do
Conselho de Administracao da Fundacao Oriente)
enriched with many photographs from bygone days.
There are also some 'Depoimentos', included by the
former Delegado of Fundacao Oriente Goa, Dr.
Adelino Rodrigues da Costa and the Goan Amilcar da
Costa of this ward but based in Brussels.
There are, my friend, just some of the activities of this
gentleman that I knew from my childhood being also a resident
of Fontainhas, just like another 'Savant' Aleixo Manuel da
Costa, author of the unique *Dicionario da Literatura Goesa*
in four volumes, published by the Fundacao Do Oriente.
The future of the Portuguese language in Goa
Curiously, even though the Fundacao Oriente is a Portuguese
institution, everything from the invitation to the speeches
was in English thus confirming that the Portuguese language
is little by little vanishing from Goa. It was only Percival
Noronha, when he went to the mike to thank, did so in
Portuguese while the audience clapped.
As a matter of fact, the Portuguese language has never been
banned in Goa after Liberation, but the social and political
situations did not make it an essential language. Even
otherwise, even the last Censo da Populacao done by the
Portuguese in 1960, showed that out of a population of just
six hundred thousand only 2.5% had declared Portuguese to be
their mother tongue, and that included the Portuguese troops
present in Goa.
Today the population is over one-and-half million. Even
though the Portuguese in declining in Goa, I am pleased to
inform that the Goa University whose Vice Chancelor is Dr.
Satish Shetye (also a son of this ward and grandson of Prof.
Ramochodr Naik who was the last Director of the Escola
Normal) and under the direction of Dr. Delfim Correia da
Silva (from Portugal) does conduct classes of Portuguese.
Classes for the MA have been conducted since 1987-88, and for
the BA is done in St Xavier's College at Mapusa and Chowgule
College in Margao. The PhD is expected to start soon.
In the M.A. there were 44 pupils and 222 for various
optional courses offered by the Portuguese and the Lusophone
Studies Department of the University. The Fundacao Oriente
also conducts courses in Portuguese at various levels.
The Garden Cocktail Party How poetic!
After the meeting, a get-together took place in the manicured
garden which must have been established decades back by the
Fonseca family. It reminded me this poem of Tagore: The
Gardener/ Who are you, reader, reading my poems an hundred
years hence?/ I cannot send you one single flower from this
wealth of the spring,/ one single streak of gold from yonder
clouds./ Open your doors and look abroad./ From your
blossoming garden gather fragrant memories,/ of the vanished
flowers of an hundred years before./ In the joy of your heart
may you feel the living joy that sang one spring morning,/
sending its glad voice across an hundred years?
In this ambience, the Fundacao delighted the guests
with Portuguese wines and risóis de camarão and
other delicacies. I think that in certain circles
in Portugal, some call such meetings as 'beberete'
what I find ridiculous because no one was a
'bebado' (drunkard) and it was a very interesting
encounter of friends cheering with the
'tchin-tchin; of glasses. What was missed perhaps
would be Monte Festival style recorded music in the
background like 'fados e guitarradas', the Goan
Manddo... solos in konkanim by Sonia Sirsat and by
Lata Mangueshkar, the Goan Nightingale.
These are, my friend, are my personal impressions of the
homage paid to Percival Noronha. In case any of you would
like to send him an email, his contacts are (phone) +91 832
2225726 Mobile +91-982212566. Please note that if you wish
to phone, do avoid his siesta break from 12.30 to 16.00!
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