Miguel Braganza (then Michael) was one of the batch of prominent youngster in the Scouting movement in the 1970s. In this, he talks about movement he knew, camps in Saligão, and more…
Category Archives: Goa
FN’s posts about the region called home.
Dr Robert S Newman, a longterm friend of Goa with insightful views on it
I ran into a paper written by “Bob” Newman when a young student at the Goa University. Being my argumentative self, I wrote a packed aerogramme full of questions and disagreements. “Bob” responded with a patient and polite reply. Over the decades, I’ve enjoyed his writing, and gone on to read it rather closely…. And here’s why.
The Travails of Being a Cartoonist in Today’s Goa
A freeflowing chat with Alexyz, who everyone reading an English language newspaper in Goa over the past three decades or more should know….
On Twitter…
These days, I’m sometimes active on Twitter. With one of the shortest usernamesin the world @fn https://twitter.com/fn
Village portraits, mostly expat achievers
So glad that this book’s author’s granddaughter (Giselle Lobo) gave me one of the few copies left, and also allowed it to be reproduced for the reader one-and-a-half generation after it was written.
The copy I have is falling to pieces. Literally. But in the meanwhile, we hope to have an ecopy of the same out soon.
Floreat Saligao (which means May Saligao Flourish, the author tells us) is a book of “profiles of eminent people of Saligao” by C. Hubert de Souza. I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting Mr de Souza, but knew his late son (the popular and articular speaker/preacher/priest) Fr Desmond de Souza (CSsR) and other members of his family, including Giselle. She has resettled back in the village and is doing a great job with educating children with special needs here and elsewhere.
But I remember, as a seven year old, our teacher Ida (in…
View original post 146 more words
Ten of the best: novels about Goa
The Guardian of the UK recently published a listing of “10 of the best books set in Mumbai”. See Taking the cue from that listing, here’s a compilation of my own favourite ten novels set in Goa or her people.
* * *
Lambert Mascarenhas, Sorrowing Lies My Land
Undoubtedly one of the most neatly-crafted novels written in colonial times, whose story still resonates. My edition dates back to the 1970 Goa Publications reprint (“Price Rs 15”).
“The mountain far away, wearing a cloak of muddy brown, stood there against the azure sky, ragged as a tramp drowsing in the noonday sun. The May heat seemed to have scorched the very roots of the trees on it — the heat, merciless and cruel, which also cracked our fields, blistered our feet and made us perspire profusely.”
* * *
Peter Nazareth, The General Is Up
Damibia is a fictitious land-locked country in East Africa, in which a demented army general takes power and begins a brutal rule of surrealistic dimensions. Try telling any ex-Africander from Goa that!
“George (Kapa) was sometimes irritated by Goan hypocrisies. For example, he knew, although most Goans were very careful not to talk about it with him, that Goans thought the main prob Samajwadilem facing Africa was tribalism. They seemed to exempt themselves from the whole problem, as though they were not tribalist in their behaviour.”
* * *
Orlando da Costa, O Signo da Ira
.
A novel published in Salazar-ruled Portugal, and hardly adequately noticed in post-1961 Goa. A not-so-romanticised image of the Goa that was. Its Margao-linked author wrote to me after we met long back: “Indeed, it was an obsession that travelled with me from Goa in September 1947. I was 18 years old. After some unsuccessful attempts, I gave up — I thought — until I was about thirty, thirty-one.”
“As the harvests of the vangana appear along the meadows and the wind ripples the green horizon, the still-damp earth shivers with an intense, fertile joy. Even the fieldworkers are dazzled by the sight. They feast their eyes on the stalks, patiently hoping that the grain will become so fat and golden that it falls of its own accord.” (Translated)
* * *
Leslie de Noronha, The Dew Drop Inn
Another work that doesn’t get the attention deserved.
“The studio photographer, also gay, offered to do the oiling himself. Fortunately he had been warned by Armstrong to keep his hormonal churning under control, so Steve was quite safe and blissfully unaware of the photographer’s pleasant, if hard, reactions. The session went smoothly. The art pulls were an instant success with the white band of untanned skin looking very sexy.”
* * *
Silviano C Barbosa, The Sixth Night
Linda Cardoso grows up in Portuguese colonial Goa, and this book gets its title from the Goan belief that the goddess who visits the child on her sixth night determines her fate forever.
“The natives of Australia and Canada have native rights and privileges because the White Europeans signed treaties with them. But in India, the Aryans never bothered about such treaties with native Shudras and made the whole country theirs.”
* * *
Eusebio Rodrigues, Love and Samsara
This novel, set in 16th century India, blends “history, adventure, love and spirituality on the background of the arrival of the Portuguese, which caused a clash of civilizations”. 611 pages of finely set type.
“The stern Vasco da Gama, whom I had met in 1498, had changed into a butcher in the course of four years. Infuriated because the ‘pardesi’ Muslims had sacked the Portuguese factory in Calicut, he had exacted a hideous revenge. He lay in wait off Mount Eli for pilgrim ships returning from Jiddah.”
* * *
Margaret Mascarenhas, Skin
Pagan Miranda Flores leaves America, her job and her lover, to journey back to Goa and learn of dark and distant family secrets.
“Once her cousin Carmen said to her, ‘You know, for someone who’s terrified of planes, you sure fly a lot.’ At the time, she had been working for an international news agency … jetting back and forth between the corporate office in San Francisco and the eastern and southern regions of Africa, where she reported on civil unrest in Angola and Mozambique and on the thousands of people killed and mangled by landmines.”
* * *
Braz Menezes, Just Matata
Ten-year-old Lando sees Africa and boarding school life in Goa through his mischevious eyes; a charming story.
“‘Lando’, Mom calls out from the kitchen window, ‘Have you and Simba been creating the usual matata [trouble] for Mrs Gelani?’ ‘Of course not, Mom,’ I reply. ‘Dogs will be dogs. Simba simply loves Mr Gelani’s pyjamas.'”
* * *
Belinda Viegas, The Cry of the Kingfisher
The story of three Goan women, already being recognised as a voice of feminist writing from this small region.
“I also felt guilty about Zarella. As if I was somehow responsible for her behaviour and that I should make up to Mama and Papa for whatever they felt was lacking in her. So that we could be a happy family again. It made me resolve to do my best and work as hard as I could.”
* * *
Antonio Gomes, The Sting of the Peppercorns
Shades of Orwell, as the tumultuous Goa-Portuguese relationship of centuries gets reflected in the twists and turns of lovers, turmoil and tough times that come with drastic changes, distance and migration. Who wins? Who loses? If you expect the mere claims of victim-hood coming from a post-colonial society, this could surprise you.
“Paulo dropped the first bombshell: ‘I have no intention of assuming any position now under India; besides, I don’t know Indian or British law.’ He hurriedly continued looking at his mother and father and addressing his father. ‘I’m going to Portugal. I will need some financial support in the beginning. I give you my word in a year or two I will be on my own.'”
* * *
[Contact the columnist on fn@goa-india.org or 2409490 or 9822122436, after 1 pm.]
Stray Mango Branches…
More Matata-Love after the Mau Mau
A hundred years young… almost!
The young Jesuit Kelwin Monteiro promptly agreed and shared a copy of the latest issue of Dor Mhoineachi Rotti. It is now online and free to access here.
Kelwin wrote:
As assured, kindly find attached to this mail the January issue of the Dor Mhoineachi Rotti. Feel free to put it on any website or blog, so that it reaches to the maximum number of people! I will send you the issues every month! This is the 99th year of its publication. The year 2015-16 would be the Centenary Year of publication!
Great going… The magazine is in Romi Konkani (or, as sometimes interestingly called, Amchi Bhaas). It is priced at Rs 10 per issue, Rs 100 for a year’s subscription, and Rs 500 via airmail to any overseas address.
You can contact its editorial office at the Thomas Stephens Konknni Kendr, BB Borkar Road, Alto…
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Rare, antiquarian, second-hand, and “loanable” Goa books
Do you have any Goa books falling in the above categories that you might be willing to share and/or sell with other Goa Book Club members?
If so, please list them. I have quite a few Goa-related book which can be referred to at my home (or borrowed, if duplicates are available). The single-copies of these books I’m reluctant to share for obvious purposes. Older Goa books tend to be hard to find and, often, impossible to replace.
Translations, typesetting… Konkani
Just to put you in touch with a young lady (who did her graduation in Konkani and is now doing her Master’s in History), who’s open to doing translations (English-Konkani) and also typesetting in Devanagari:neelamtatkar499 at gmail.com
Neelam, feel free to join the Goa Book Club. There are authors here who might need translation services. It could also whet your appetite for books related to Goa.
ADDENDA: Anwesha Singbal write:
Hi. even i would be interested in translation jobs. I have been already empanelled on the government list too. Thanks. Email: asingbal@gmail.com. Contact: 9923442746Sunetra Jog (sunetrajog at gmail com) adds: Hi Rico, Even I am interested in translations from English to Konkani or Marathi and Devnagari typesetting also.
The Wikipedia… Making it Happen in Konkani
As you might be aware, the Dalgado Konkani Akademi and the Centre for Internet and Society Access to Knowledge Programme (Bangalore) are jointly organising a two-day Konkani Wikipedia Workshop to promote Romi Konkani in cyberspace, and on the Wikipedia in particular.
The workshop will be held on November 16/17, 2013 at the Krishnadas Shama Central Library, Pato, Panjim. But even if you’re far from Goa, you can help take this initiative forward.
What you can do to help:
- Get in touch, pick up suitable articles to translate into Romi Konkani.
- Work to locate sharable articles suitable for Romi readers.
- Share your photographs via the Wikipedia, that can feed into this effort.
- Edit articles in Romi Konkani, if you have the skills here.
- Encourage others to contribute and share their skills and knowledge.
- Pass the word around specially in colleges and among students.
To participate in the workshop, contact Jose Salvador Fernandes, Secretary of the Dalgado Konkani Akademi 9881810832 or dkakademi@gmail.com
If you cannot make it to Goa or cannot join the workshop, but would like to volunteer from afar, contact me (FN, SMS 91-9822122436 or fn@goa-india.org ) and we’ll see how best we can match your skills with the needs.
It’s also possible to contribute to the Wikipedia in other languages and scripts. Build knowledge and make it happen…
Interesting talk, very relevant points…
Panjim by nite
The Pipe Organ at Rachol Seminary
The pipe organ at Rachol Seminar, Goa on the west coast of India.
XCHR, a photo
XCHR, Xavier Centre of Historical Research, Goa.
Back, visiting
Been a long time since I’ve been here! No excuses…
Makeover in a village hamlet — passion provides the punch
- By Frederick Noronha
MUDDAVADDI, Saligao: From a demure salwar-khamiz to a gym suit in one minute. That’s the time taken for the transformation of Kanika, a young lady who entered a newly-renovated first storey in this residential hamlet of narrow lanes on a Tuesday afternoon.
In one monsoon, meanwhile, Ramesh Ghadi has converted a significant part of the mind-set of his village of Saligao (Goa) into a surprisingly fitness-conscious one.
Ghadi returned after 16 years from the Gulf, and spent some time managing health-clubs in five-starred deluxe hotels back in Goa. But, quickly enough, he shed the security of a job in favour of launching out on his own dream.
Late in the Summer 2013 he launched Ghadi Fitness, at Muddavaddi, tucked a little distance off the CHOGM Road. Now, he already has over two hundred persons on his rolls, and with his cool approach takes the message of staying fit to the average middle-class Goan village.
His diversity bulges like his muscle. A Konkani poet himself, Ramesh has staged Konkani plays in the locality temple. His story is typical of the Goan youth with much talent, hidden and waiting for long to be tapped.
On the Saligao-Net group on Facebook [http://www.facebook.com/groups/saligaonet] he’s also known for charming posts about the Goa of the 1970s that he grew up in, often accompanied by a photo clicked on his mobile phone’s camera. He describes the humble folk in a charming style through the simple ways of his writings.
But ‘passion’ is a concept that Ramesh repeatedly talks about. And believes in.
He builds his gym with this emotion; and how! Not just does he attract young men with bulging biceps, but he has lured many first-timers from Saligao and its neighbourhood to think of keeping fit by sweating it out four or more times a week.
From all signs, they’re taking to it with enthusiasm.
“We do hear noise from the gym,” says Ramesh’s wife Anushka with a smile, herself in a black track suit, but seemingly enjoying the near-celebrity status her hubby has gained in his locality with his unusual approach. The gym is a floor about their traditional home, done up with earnings from the overseas stints of Ramesh and his brother Digambar (Diga).
Once you’re in, you get the idea that this is not just about any gym. It a village club. Together with his personal training, Ramesh offers personal talk. If he sees a journalist in you, the focus will go on interesting aspects of a Goa which don’t get written about.
The village sarpanch (council chief) joins in exercises here on some days. So do others whom one might not link with being fitness freaks. You can meet your schoolmate Mark, whom you didn’t spot in decades, and some mums sneak off to don their gym shoes after the kiddies pack off for school.
Don’t be surprised to see Facebook posts of the 50-something Ramesh, telling you what one gymmie has just achieved in the field of fashion. “Everyone says our police are unfit. Meet Manoj,” he says, pointing to a muscular cop who comes to work-out with Sandeep and Suwanand, who are also policemen by day. Or night, depending on their shift, I guess.
Ramesh has the gift of the written word too. He told me, in his soft-spoken and quiet manner, of an essay he wrote in the village school, Mater Dei, that a generation ago struck his teachers as unusual and outstanding even then. He’s still a man with a hundred-and-one stories to narrate. From local lore, to focussing on the village footballers of the 1970s, and even ghost stories from Saligao, he can tell it all.
But there’s a story behind the Ramesh Ghadis of Saligao too.
In the 1970s, a retired Army employee from South India — whom everyone called “Joseph Sir” — settled in Saligao with his family. He then set up a rudimentary village gym, with the rough and ready equipment available in those days of scarcity. As a result, at least four to five village boys gained life-long careers from that initiative — often working at top health clubs and as swimming coaches in the Gulf.
Today, many of them are back home. Contributing to their village in their own unique ways.
Ramesh was himself at the Ramada’s there. “I know enough Arabic to discuss gym topics,” he says with a smile.
It’s not that Saligao didn’t have a gym earlier; but that was seen as meant for more hard-core training for serious-minded young men. Now you see people in their “sweet sixties” (Ramesh’s term) to young women coming in after work. The former to stay fit, some of the latter to gain weight!
Ramesh says of his long stint in the Gulf. “Once, when visiting home for the Ganesh festival, I looked around at the village pond (the site where the festival ending culminates) and realised I didn’t recognise 60% of the people present. That was when I decided it was time to come home,” he says.
“With my writing in cyberspace, people now know I’m not just a toughie with muscle,” Ramesh told me recently. But then, you can’t blame those who meet him for noticing the bulge on his arms, chest and more at first glance!
###
Location: Muddavaddi, Behind St. Anne’s Chapel.
Phone : 9850450055
Timings : 6 am to 10 am. 4 pm to 10 pm.
Charges : Rs 1000 for entry. Rs 500 per month.
Understanding Indian diaspora’s complexities
Understanding Indian diaspora’s complexities
IANS Sep 17, 2013, 12.00AM IST
(Understanding Indian diaspora’s…)
Book: Indian Diaspora and Transnationalism
Editors: Ajaya Kumar Sahoo, Michiel Baas, Thomas Faist
Publisher: Rawat Publications, Jaipur rawatbooks.com
Pages: 442+xiv
Price: Rs.1,150
Like the parable of the Elephant of Hindoosthan, the Indian diaspora is indeed a strange animal; difficult to map, complex to comprehend and wide in its scale. “Migrants,” says this book, “no longer simply cross borders to live elsewhere but regularly turn this ‘crossing borders’ into a lifestyle of its own”.”
“Indian Diaspora and Transnationalism” sets out to “present not only an important overview of the state of the study on Indian transnationalism but also act as an important source of inspiration to think beyond the concept and the way it has been studied so far”.
Seventeen essays, three editors, and over 400 pages go into this effort. The range of approaches and diverse themes chosen make this an easy and fairly interesting read, even for one not directly connected with the subject itself. Some essays have been compiled from other sources, as the acknowledgements page makes clear, but the choice is interesting nonetheless.
Early on in the hard-bound volume, its three editors raise issues of “theoretical developments and practical implications” of Indian transnationalism. They point out that, with over 25 million people, India’s “is now one of the largest diasporas in the world”. Continue reading Understanding Indian diaspora’s complexities
Backstage Battles… and the Sometimes Harsh Realities of Goa
Technorati Tags: goa, music, entertainment, youth culture
By Frederick Noronha
In the midst of the monsoons, when Goa’s fair-weather friends and tourists have quite deserted the place, collegians and other youngsters reclaim the dance-floor. If you’re past a certain age, you might have never ever heard of this event, but in fact the Battle of the Bands has going great guns for the better part of the last decade.
The duo behind this event are artist-designer Bina Nayak (now based in Mumbai) and Keith Fernandes (an ex-Bombay Goan, now based squarely in Goa).
AUGUST 15
Each year, on August 15, convenient because of the national holiday, the day-long Battle of the Bands draws hundreds of young people, from Bardez and beyond. It is usually held in the Parra-Arpora area. Its aim? “To get back the lost glory of live music. To fight to be heard amongst all the DJs!” explains Bina Nayak.
In 2003, Keith Fernandes came up with the idea of the Battle of the Bands (BTB, for short) because there were then hardly any live music shows, especially in the Rock music space in Goa.
But at that time there were plenty of DJ shows happening in Goa and elsewhere. Like, for instance, the War of the DJs, which was huge then. The Battle of The Bands aimed to give a similar push to Rock bands, its founders suggest.
At that time, there was also a Rock band competition in the open air auditorium at the Kala Academy, which somehow had stopped in the 1990s. Incidentally, that was a college band competition and Keith and his group had even won it one year. Also, the popular entertainment-music space called the Haystack in Arpora (run by the late musician August Braganza of Mapusa), had been discontinued somewhere around that time.
Being a musician himself and the son of a Jazz musician, Keith felt the need to “do something” for the Live music scene. Things fell in place.
BEST BANDS
The Bands rocked the event from 2003 to 2006. “We got the best bands from Goa, Pune, Bangalore and even Mumbai. Bands like Infra Red and Mogh. But [over time] the quality seems to be deteriorating. We started getting DJs and dance groups from the first show itself. They wanted to play for free during the breaks or while the bands got ready. We never turn away talent. But once these guys got a foot in — they just got better and better!” says Keith. Continue reading Backstage Battles… and the Sometimes Harsh Realities of Goa
Good gosh!
This is embarassing! I’ve not made a post here for months, and Goa Streets calls this one of the ten best in Goa.
Fredericknoronha.wordpress.com
One of the first journalists to exploit the power of the Internet, Frederick Noronha blogs about Goa and books, and issues that concern both. The books that he publishes under Goa 1556 are profiled here, along with vintage Goa photos, videos of events in Goa, lists of useful links on Goa and loads of photos of everything under the Goan sun.
Frankly undeserved!
To be fair to myself though, I keep sharing content via cyberspace… but not in a proprietorial, visit-my-site/blog way. So you’ll find my tracks elsewhere, not necessarily organised in one place.
Merle Almeida’s new book in Goa
Gulf ahoy?
Gulf ahoy?
Was recently involved in starting a Facebook network (open to members only) of ex-Deccan Herald “alumni” and was surprised to note how many ex-colleagues from Bangalore too had landed in the Gulf. Goa could do better?
Anyway, here are some job links in…
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Was recently involved in starting a Facebook network (open to members only) of ex-Deccan Herald “alumni” and was surprised to note how many ex-colleagues from Bangalore too had landed in the Gulf. Goa could do better?
Anyway, here are some job links in…
shared via WordPress.com
Navhind openings
Why be elsewhere when you can be the most important person everywhere?
Grow big with The Navhind Times. The newspaper that offers high prestige and good pay.
The Navhind Times. Serving Goa since 1963
You can join us as:
A senior/staff reporter or…
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ToI, Goa: Copy editor, senior correspondent, etc
Times of India, Goa in its edition dated Monday, Dec 27, 2010 advertises the openings for the following staff:
* Copy Editor/Senior Copy Editor/Chief Copy Editor
2 to 8 years of experience
Code GCE* Senior correspondent
2 to 8 years of experience
Code GRP
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A rich tapestry of history, clothing and passionate prose
Book Cover: http://bit.ly/ModaGoa
A stunning collection of photographs and illustrations, interwoven with the stories of people and events that shaped Goa, this book documents, for the very first time, the unique history of Goan costume.
In this, his tribute to Goa, Wendell Rodricks studies the factors that shaped Goa’s distinct garment style. From Buddhist drapes that carried forward the elaborate style of later Hindu costume, to the fine brocade coats of the Muslim Tughlaq rulers; from the Portuguese invaders who had to improvise their traditional Renaissance dress to suit the hot Konkan climate to the Western-style dresses of the newly converted Goan Catholics, Goans are what they are today because of the many peoples and cultures that touched their land. It was inGoa that the first ever Indo-Western garments evolved.
Different faiths, tribes and foreign cultures coloured the Goan clothing heritage, creating a style that is a unique blend of international aesthetic and Indian emotion.
Wendell Rodricks places this history of Goan costume in the spotlight with an archive that has never been researched before. Through illustrations by European travellers, a wealth of photographs by Mark Sequeira and India’s finest fashion photographers, and access to the fine clothing and jewellery of Goans, Wendell Rodricks makes a debut as author to reveal a rich tapestry of history, clothing and passionate prose, taking the reader to the beauty and backwaters of India’s golden state.
As Sathya Saran says, ‘[This book brings together] all the years of being a casual writer of serious articles to a head, putting his discipline and knowledge, and his love of his craft and his region to good use, creating for posterity a document that generations of students and readers can find inspiration from.’
Wendell Rodricks has put the tiny Indian state of Goa firmly on the fashion map. Establishing his own label in 1990, he moved to his ancestral village in Goa in 1993, creating memorable collections each season, inspired by many emotions. Known as India’s guru of minimalism, he gave the country resort wear, minimalism and ecofriendly clothing before the words were coined. He has written for many periodicals and books, has lectured on world costume History for eight years, interned at museums in Lisbon and New York and has been researching the history of Goan costume for eleven years. This is his first book.
Goanet A-C-E!
Arts ~ Culture ~ Entertainment
www.goanet.org
Writing, for children…
Anita Pinto’s ‘Tales from Golden Goa’ was something I first came across when my now-teenage daughter Riza needed some reading material. Rather, material to-be-read-to. The fascination with which she lapped up the Goa-based stories was really heart-warming.
There was a greater chance to come across an Enid Blyton, or a Beano or Bunty comic from the UK, or even an Africa-oriented Lance Spearman (aka The Spear) comic.
Now things have changed. A little. Aren, the second child, enjoyed Anita’s writing as much. The writer is releasing her second book of specifically Goa-focussed short stories for children this weekend (Oct 22, Saturday) at 5 pm at the Kala Academy. While looking at that subject, one was wondering how many options children looking for local reading material actually have. Functions like these could be an excuse for taking stock and building links among those focussed on the important job of writing for children.
A quick (and incomplete) rummage through my book collection tells me that a few but determined set of individuals have been writing for children in Goa. Perhaps they do so even if there the channels for distributing more such writing is yet to be effectively built.
For instance there’s Anne de Braganca Cunha (Goan Whoopee, Goan Tales for Children, 1999 and The Greedy Monkey, Mosaic Books, New Delhi); Surekha Panandikar (The Bridge at Borim, National Book Trust, 1999), Odette Mascarenhas (the Alfie Alphonso series), the late Olivinho Gomes (Konkani Folk Tales, NBT, 2007) and ex-Tanzanite (if not mistaken) Dr Susheela S Fonseca (Touched by Love, a novel for youth, 2005).
There have been magazines too, like the Prashanti Talpankar-edited one in Konkani (Rajhauns ani Bhurghim) and the children’s section in BIMB, ‘The Bookworm’ magazine from the children’s-library-and-more initiative of the same name, another by Rinald D’Souza, now a Jesuit priest, and musician-ad guru Alex Braganza’s own mag for youth. I’ve not seen copies of these lately, except for The Bookworm but could be simply out of touch.
On posting a query to Twitter, I got a couple of crucial reminders: Merril Diniz @MerrilD pointed to (my long-time friend) Mario Coelho of Ponda, while Prof Ramrao Wagh @ramraowagh pointed to another old friend, Rajashree Bandodkar-Karapurkar who, as he rightly noted, writes for children and her focus is on popular science.
Last weekend, I ran into Vishnu Wagh, the prominent writer active in the Marathi-Konkani space, theatre and other fields. Among the names he mentioned were Gajanan Jog of Taleigao, Kumud Naik okf the Goa Konkani Akademi, Rajini Bhembre of Curchorem, Milan Talaulikar of Tonca, Prof Prakash Parienkar, Dilip Borkar’s Bimb journal, sections within the Sunaparant and Marathi Gomantak Hello magazine, and Chandrakant Rama Gawas of Keri-Sattari.
There are others too, who while they don’t write exclusive for children, do have some of their writing which could be suitable to young people. For instance, Vinayak Sadashiv Sukhthanker (see his Tales & Tellers of Goa, 1974), Rahul Alvares’ adventures with snakes and his adventures during a sabbatical year after school (‘Free From School’, 1999), Luis S R Vas (Modern Goan Short Stories, 1971). Eulalia Alvares is from Mangalore, whose grand-neice, if I do not get it wrong, bears the same name and similar interests and is based at Margao.
While all this might sound like a long list, the point is (i) writing for children in Goa is still hard to come by (ii) it is written in different languages and scripts, with few translations among these, only dividing the small local market further (iii) some initiatives and writers have stopped or ceased (iv) there isn’t much happening on a consistent basis.
One hopes more could be done to promote this field, badly needed to stimulate the imagination of our kids.
ENDS
The writer can be contacted on fn@goa-india.org or 2409490 or 9822122436. First published in The Gomantak Times, Goa.
Veni, Vidi… Goa
PUBLISHINGNeXT conference in Goa, Sept 2011
Discussing social media in Indian publishing. Publishing-Next.com #pubnext Goa, India, Sept 16-17, 2011.
PublishingNeXt, conference. Goa Sept 2011
Selling books at the Publishing-Next.com #pubnext conference, Goa 16-17, 2011… That’s Manoj.
PublishingNeXt, conference. Goa Sept 2011
Goa -Old Photos… the diaspora in Africa
See some age-old historic photos online at the Goa Old Photos group. http://bit.ly/ieNVmY
Via Flickr:
Dr. Euclid de Souza, vice-president of Goan Overseas Association, Joseph Anthony Zuzarte Murumbi, Foreign Minister, Kenya, Luis de AssisCorreia, Pio Gama Pinto MP Kenya and Rosario Gama Pinto at a Barclays Bank, Nairobi sundowner in 1964. Photo from the collection of Luis Assis Correia.
Rui Lobo renders a Konkani mando, and more
Engineer Rui Lobo, a good friend and a great guy, performs (with Eular Gomes on the tabla) at the release of Selma Carvalho‘s book Into the Diaspora Wilderness:
Goa sports links in cyberspace….
OFFICIAL
Sports Authority of Goa
http://tsag.org/?pg=visstat
FOOTBALL
Goa Football Association
http://www.goa-fa.com/
GFA-links
http://www.goa-fa.com/?q=node/5
Sporting Clube de Goa
http://www.sportingclubedegoa.com/
Salcaocar Sports Club
http://salgaocarsc.com/
Dempo Sports Club (Wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dempo_SC
Churchill Brothers
http://www.churchill-brothers.com/main.php
Sesa Goa Football Academy
http://www.sesagoa.com/aboutscdf.htm#football
CRICKET
Goa Cricket Association
http://goacricketassociation.com/
CHESS
Goa State Chess Association
http://goachess.com/
Goan chess blog
http://goanchess.blogspot.com/
BODYBUILDING
Goa Body Building and Fitness Association (Facebook)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/GOA-BODY-BUILDING-FITNESS-ASSOCIATION/95798352958?v=info
CYCLING
Goa Cycle Club
http://www.cyclists.in/group/goacycleclub
Goa Cycles: Rides, advocacy and more with the Goa Cycle Club
http://goacycles.wordpress.com/
BADMINTON
Goa’s ‘Professional Badminton League’
http://www.facebook.com/notes/sandeep-heble/goas-professional-badminton-league/181738157211
TREKKING
YHAI National Trekking Expedition GOA
http://yhaindia.org/files/adv_programs/description/Goatrekking.htm
WATERSPORTS
National Institute of Watersports-Goa
http://niws.nic.in/
Barracuda Diving India
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/barracuda-diving/
Goa water sports link
http://www.pressreleasepoint.com/goa-and-dona-paula-sports-club-offer-variety-watersports
Goa sports fishing
http://www.goa-sportsfishing.com/
Ask Laila on sports in Goa
http://www.asklaila.com/article/Goa/Get+Sporty:+Sports+Centres+in+Goa/79925/
DIASPORA
Doha Goans Sports Club
http://www.goa-world.com/goa/org/doha.htm
Manchester United Fan Club || Goa
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=41510756767&ref=search&sid=502514643.2468033804..1
CAMPUS
SPREE-National sports festival of BITS-Pilani, Goa campus
http://www.bits-spree.org/
LISTINGS, MISCELLANEOUS
Goa sports links on JustDial
http://search.justdial.com/srch/search_cwa.php
Sport Goans blog
http://sportygoans.blogspot.com/
GoGoa: Water Sports and Diving
http://www.gogoa.com/diving-goa.html#Water-Sports-&-Diving-In-Goa
Goanet Sports
http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-sports-goanet.org
Goa Futsal League
http://www.facebook.com/search/?init=quick&q=goa
football#/group.php?gid=77168647415&ref=search&sid=502514643.2468033804..1
Sports of Goa-Indfy
http://www.indfy.com/goa-india/sports.html
This is incomplete, work in progress. Kindly send me any more links of interest related to sports in Goa. Thanks!
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POP — the Panjim Open Philharmonic
It’s no big name, but this is a bold experiment. It’s open, and it’s in Panjim (the tiny capital of Goa, India). Anyone can join in. All you need is an instrument, and the ability to read music. Rui Lobo, an IIT-ian whose main trade would have been hardware design, is the conductor, and it’s a baby nurtured by him and Rocky Lazarus. Very innovative!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YIu0eWXGFA
And a whole set of photographs here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/sets/72157622726357296/
Goa, shrines, photography and controversy
There is still scope for discussion about what should be the rules for photography within a religious shrine, and outside a religious shrine (but within its property). I can understand the ire of those who feel they are being reduced to a spectacle when their intention might be to run a house for prayer.
Besides, there can be a far detailed discussion on principles of photographing persons, as I realised while searching for some other views on this subject.
Centre for Media Literacy has this page “Photo Ethics: Aim High When You Shoot” which raises issues about how people should be treated on camera. (In Rajan Parrikar’s original post, the issue was not people, but since JoeGoaUK raises it…)
Some pointers which struck me as worth considering:
* [W]hen photographing people do not treat them as if they were things.
* Do not take people’s pictures, give images, especially to the imageless.
* Never depict people as useless or inadequate. It is their helplessness which has to be shown.
* Do not invade anybody’s privacy except when it is necessary for depicting certain social situations.
* Yet, boldly reach into personal life, bearing in mind that the photographs you take are your brothers’ and sisters.
* There is no need to prettify people and objects; they have their beauty, and a good photograph exudes beauty.
* Sensationalism diverts attention from the essential.
* Shun extra long lenses. A short lens draws you near your subject.
* Try to establish a rapport with the person you photograph.
* Your social concern is to document life with empathy.
* Be true to the image people want to have of themselves, but at the same time do show what you believe is their real image. The dignity of the poor, in particular, demands that their situation be known.
* A documentary coverage can never be total. Complete a biased image by another biased image.
* Be an iconoclast – a destroyer of established images.
* Photos should not be used to exploit the persons portrayed.
* Ethical documentary photography is not your sole responsibility. But your photographs encourage certain responses in the viewer.
http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article141.html
We can agree to disagree, but all I’m saying is that the issues involved as not as simple as they first seem.
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Remembering yesterday’s Goa… via Benaulim
PHOTOFEATURE :: By Frederick Noronha
Victor Hugo Gomes had been bugging me to visit Benaulim, and, as usual, I kept postponing. A man of few words (except when he’s writing detailed articles on themes like Goan music!), he just kept telling me, “You come and see for yourself.”
Finally, we did make it there.
His collection was the most amazing set of objects of the Goa of the yesteryears that I’ve seen at one place. That this artist and former curator of the Museum of Christian Art had done it all by himself, no state funding, and in his own home (with support of his lecturer-wife Alie, short for Aldina) is
all the more creditworthy.
In his collection, you can unwrap the story of Goa’s agriculture, cullinary practices and more. There are pots of every shape and size from yesterday’s Goa. There are spoons, and other kitchen utensils. Another collection deals with agricultural implements, and the technology — however simple, it was effective and sustainable — of the Goa of the past.
On Monday evening, November 2, 2009, Mario Miranda inaugurates the Goa Chitra museum, as Gomes calls it. As we forget what life was in yesterday’s Goa, this venture is a powerful reminder of a simple people, living simple sustainble lives. In a manner that probably made us more
contented than we are today.
Pots in their rich diversity:
The artist behind it all: Victor Hugo Gomes
Kitchen technology: simple but eco-friendly, human-driven grinders
A torture chair from the past? Note the spaces to tie hands and feet.
Goan tools, in diverse shapes and sizes
Can you guess what each is used for?
Measures and agri implements, from another day.
The artist’s home
Soda water bottles. Remember?
Beer, from Madras.
Windows 1950s
Baskets
The cutter’s arm
Ladles, of wood
Benaulim, where the museum is set
Scenic setting for such a succinct story.
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A Survival Guide to Social Media and Web 2.0 Optimization’ by Deltina Hay
Checking out details of ‘A Survival Guide to Social Media and Web 2.0 Optimization’ by Deltina Hay. Interesting http://ping.fm/ZeXoV
FN: The View From My Window 