The 312-page book is about the “histories, legends and traditions of Saligao, a typical Goan village”. . . . → Read More: Land of the Sal Tree]]> The launch of “Land of the Sal Tree”, a book on Saligao written by Fr. Nascimento J Mascarenhas, will take place today, the 26th of April 2012, at the Mae de Deus Church in Saligao, after the evening services.

The 312-page book is about the “histories, legends and traditions of Saligao, a typical Goan village”. It would be of interest to anyone who knows this village of Goa, to those who have encountered or seek to understand a Goa of the yesteryears, as well as to the visitor wanting to know more about what makes Goa unique.

An additional attraction in the book is a collection of over 80 artistic illustrations by Mel D’Souza, a Saligaokar based in Brampton, Canada. Check out some of his delightful illustrations at this link.

The book is priced at Rs 350 in Goa.

Copies of the book are expected to make their way to Abu Dhabi (via Maxwell Coutinho), Canada (via Mel D’Souza), and to Dubai. In Saligao, the book can be purchased also from Saligao Supermarket Fernandes Medical Stories (Saligao Panchayat Building), Dilip Kamat’s Stores (Arrarim), Mr D’Souza Fast Food (along the CHOGM Road), among others. It is already available at Golden Heart Emporium (Margao) too, and is expected at other major outlets soon.

For bulk orders, contact the publishers, Goa,1556 (goa1556@gmail.com or +91-832-2409490).

On Friday the 13th of January 2012, the Costa Concordia cruise ship hit a rock and partially capsized off the coast of Italy. Of the 4252 passengers and crew aboard, 17 died and 16 are still unaccounted for as of yesterday, 30th January. Our hearts and prayers go out to all . . . → Read More: Goa’s worst ferry disaster]]> by Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas

On Friday the 13th of January 2012, the Costa Concordia cruise ship hit a rock and partially capsized off the coast of Italy. Of the 4252 passengers and crew aboard, 17 died and 16 are still unaccounted for as of yesterday, 30th January. Our hearts and prayers go out to all the families of the victims and those still missing in the Costa Concordia accident, and especially for Russel Rebello from Mumbai, a steward on the ill-fated Costa Concordia, and the only Indian still unaccounted for among the 203 Indians that were on board the cruise ship (202 Indian crew members and 1 Indian passenger).

The capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship. (Pic by Rvongher)

The Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster took place almost exactly a century after the infamous Titanic tragedy of 15th January 1912, and brought to my mind the terrible Goa ferry boat disaster that took place on 3rd December 1901 in Goa.

Goa ferry accident

On that fateful day, the launch “GOA” capsized while crossing the Mandovi river from Verem to Panjim. There were around 170 passengers on the Goa ferry, of which 81 met their watery grave. The passengers were on their way to Old Goa, dressed in their Sunday best to attend the solemn feast Mass of St. Francis Xavier. The dead included 34 males and 47 females, of which 15 were children.  Of the victims on the ill-fated ferry, 21 were from Saligao, 17 from Calangute, 12 from Reis Magos, 10 from Candolim, six from Nagoa de Bardez, six from Parra, two from Siolim, two from Nerul, two from Pilerne and one each from Arpora, Anjuna and Panjim.

Mandovi memorial cross

A cross was built on the southern bank of the Mandovi, near the Caes dos Gujiras, Panjim, in memory of those who perished in the worst Goa ferry accident ever, and installed on 3rd December 1904. Two plaques were fixed on the pedestal, one on the northern side and the other on the southern side, both engraved in Portuguese.  Here is the English translation of the inscriptions:

“In memory of the 81 victims of the tragedy of the launch GOA on December 3, 1901 – dedicates the Goan diaspora of Aden.”

“In memory of the unfortunate 81 victims of the tragedy of the launch GOA that took place on 03-12-1901, this unique landmark is dedicated by the Goan diaspora of Aden requesting all those who pass by this place, a prayer for their eternal repose.”

This cross is still standing at the original spot and is protected by a canopy. Incidentally, one of those rescued from the capsized Goa ferry in the waters of the Mandovi was an eight-year-old boy, Faustino de Souza, who later joined the priesthood and became the founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Holy Family of Nazareth (SFN) in Sancoale, Goa. The nascent congregation was housed in the ancestral house of Blessed Joseph Vaz in Sancoale on 16th June 1935.

Here is a list of those from Saligao who were confirmed as dead in the Goa ferry disaster of 1901.

1. Leopoldina de Sousa, 30 years, married.
2. Crystalina de Mello e Souza, 30 years, widow.
3. Luciana de Figueiredo, 39 years, wife of Santana Vaz.
4. Anna Candida Gomes, widow of Damião Caetano de Mello, 53 years.
5. Pedro dos Remédios, son of Caetano dos Remédios, 58 years.
6. Adelina Vas, daughter of Santana Vaz, married, aged 31 years.
7. Caetano Francisco Nunes, son of Joaquim Manuel Nunes, married, 36 years.
8. Robertina Vaz, daughter of Lourenço Caetano Vaz, age 15 years, spinster.
9. António Vicente Saldanha, son of Caetano António Saldanha, 20 years, married.
10. Joaquim Mariano Fernandes, son of Domingos Fernandes, bachelor, 28 years old.
11. Adelina Coelho, daughter of Manuel Coelho, 50 years old.
12. Escolástica dos Remédios, daughter of Pedro dos Remédios, 18 years old.
13. Rachel Gravatinha de Souza, daughter of Pedro Caetano de Sousa, married, age 17 years.

In spite of a search by divers from Dona Paula and Ribandar, sailors from the naval gunboat “Mandovy” and the crew of a patmari from Chapora, several of the passengers of the capsized Goa ferry remained missing and unaccounted for and were presumed dead.

However, in the case of the Costa Concordia accident 110 years later, we still hope and pray that Russel Rebello will somehow be found and rescued, alive and well.

References:

• PINHO, Vasco, Snapshots of Indo-Portuguese History – I Pangim, 2007
• Death Registration Book, 1901, Mãe de Deus Church, Saligao, Goa.
• The Seer and the Server by Rev. Fr. Faustino de Souza, published by the Congregation of the Sisters of Holy Family of Nazareth, Sancoale, Goa, 1993.

“Recently I heard an appealing analogy for the faith experience. It seems that a small boy was flying a kite high up in the sky. Soon a low-drifting cloud encircled the kite and hid it from view. A man passing by asked the little boy what he was doing with that string in his . . . → Read More: Experiencing faith and who God is]]> 1.

“Recently I heard an appealing analogy for the faith experience. It seems that a small boy was flying a kite high up in the sky. Soon a low-drifting cloud encircled the kite and hid it from view. A man passing by asked the little boy what he was doing with that string in his hand. “Flying the kite,” the child responded. The man looked up at the sky and saw only the cloud in an otherwise clear sky. “I don’t see a kite up there. How can you be sure that there is a kite up there?” The child replied, “I don’t see it either, but I know my kite is up there because every once in a while there is little tug on the string.”

“In the same sense I know that there is a guiding hand in mine as I proceed along the path of my life. I know there is a light, not mine, that shows me the way I am to go, one step at a time. I know that the Lord walks with me. And there is a deep and warm sense of gratitude in my heart to walk this way with everyone as my companions. With the Lord’s guidance and in their company, every once in a while there is a little tug on the string. Thanks for letting me tell you about it.”

[Excerpted from The Christian Vision].

2.

“Once upon a time I used to think: “If I improve, become more charitable, eliminate my frequent faults of commission and omission, if I pray more, and so forth, God will love me more.” I am now convinced that this kind of thinking involves a serious misconception of our loving God. It is simply incompatible with a true vision of God. Again, it is making God to our human image and likeness. It ascribes to God that kind of you have to earn it type of conditional love with which we humans often pretend to love one another.

 

“Almost all of our human experience has been with conditional love – if you change… if you do this or don’t do that… I will love you. So we have to sit with this thought of God’s conditional, freely given love, and think about it for a long time. We have to soak in the realisation of God’s love in prayerful meditation. The truth of covenant, the truth that God could have made a world without you or me, but that such a world would have been incomplete for him—these are truths that are taken in slowly and realised only with the help of grace. God wanted you and me just the way we are, because… simply because this is the you and this is the me he has always loved. God is love. This is all God ever does.”

[Excerpted from The Christian Vision].

I knew two twin-brother priests known as “Zonvle Pat’tiu”, namely Fr. Cosme José Feliciano Cordeiro and Fr. Tomé Damião Nicolau Cordeiro from Saligao, who practised  this type of love and in silence spread the fragrance of God’s love as they daily walked from home to Saligao Church or St. Anne’s Chapel to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass or visit the Blessed Sacrament. They were examples and guiding lights to us youngsters and in every parish that they worked they spread God’s unconditional love by their lives, a fact that was experienced and is remembered even today by their parishioners.

-  Compiled by Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas

After I wrote about what some of the Goan villages of Bardez in the north of Goa are famous for, one or two people chided me for confining my scope to just one part of Goa. As this essay was also posted on GoaNet, I presume others too must have had . . . → Read More: What Are Goan Villages Famous For? – II]]> by Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas

After I wrote about what some of the Goan villages of Bardez in the north of Goa are famous for, one or two people chided me for confining my scope to just one part of Goa. As this essay was also posted on GoaNet, I presume others too must have had similar feelings. Dr Nandkumar Kamat of Goa University sent me an e-mail in which he stated: “By Indian standards our Goa villages may be small, but there is so much to tell.” He was kind enough to share with me a few gems: The village of Morajim (Morgim) was known for the best toddy (sur), Siolim for oysters (kalvam); Calangute and Colva for mackerels (bangede), Sancoale for mussels (shinanye); the best asago rice came from Carambolim; and, the  best korgut rice from Calapur and Combarjua.

Well, let me attempt to make the list a little longer, and satisfy all my hungry and thirsty friends!

The Goan village of Arpora is famous for the tasty Oddfoddcheô gollxeô (Jew fish), Arambol for solar shrimps and coconut feni; Agassaim for chourissam (sausages) and sweet-potatoes; Assagao for flowers, especially abolim.

The Goan village of Banatarim is known for its bazaar, famous in Goa for fruits that are used to decorate the Matoli during Ganesh Chaturthi; Benaulim for narl (coconuts); Britona is famous in Goa for oysters (kalvam);

Colva is famous for its beach and for the Fama de Menino Jesus. The village of Colvale in north Goa is famous for its flat-stone fish “Ballu” and jaggery; Chapora for ximpiô (shells) used for white-washing, and vinegar; The island of Chorao is famous for its mango called Chon’necho Malcurada and Carmona for boram; Curtorim for “Keleanchem Fest”; Calvim is famous for big prawns, mullets.; Corgao for cashew feni, in fact the whole Pernem taluka is known for cashew fruit; Guirim is famous for buffaloes (redde) – “Girvoddche redde Porra vhorun vikhle” (Munn’nni).

Macazana is known for its big khazan fields and for the variety of vegetables grown in former times; Majorda and Parra for watermelons; Morjim for its mudd’doxeô (lady fish); Mapuça for its Friday weekly market; Margao in earlier times was famous for bamboo stalks and Borda for Peranchem fest; Mormugao is famous for its murmu (pearls).

Goa Velha is famous for konguô (sweet potatoes); Tiracol is famous for rock fish; Siridao for oyster shells used for windows of Goan houses; Orlim for copra; Santana for cucumbers (Touxeanchem fest); Oxel is famous for palm feni; Pirna for pirni rice; Santo Estevam (Jua) for bendde (lady fingers); Raia for Rai toleantu sai masolli; Velim is famous for xinnanneô or zob (shell-fish) and was once a trading centre. Cabo de Rama is famous for rock fish like red-snapper and for lobster.

Besides, the Goan villages of Benaulim and Sancoale are famous for their connection with Blessed Joseph Vaz, so also Anjuna and Pilar for Venerable Fr. Agnel de Sousa.

Practically every village in Goa is famous for the feast of its temple and/or church. Margao and Panjim are famous for Purumentachem Fest at the end of May, which in the old days was held so that housewives could stock up on provisions before the imminent monsoon. Pomburpa is famous for the Feast of Our Lady of Candelaria on February 2nd – Pomburpechem fest dubleancheam porank nhoi – as well as for its fountain (zôr); Goa Velha for Santanchem pursanv, the Procession of Saints; Shirgao-Bicholim for the Zatrotsav of Goddess Lairai, a festival wherein the ritual of Agnidivya (walking over burning coals) is performed by the Dhonds; Fatorda, Farorpa and Zambaulim for their Zatras; Siridao for Pejechem Fest.

Old Goa is famous for its churches, especially the Basilica of Bom Jesus and the observance of the feast of St. Francis Xavier on December 3rd; Cuelim, Arossim, Cansaulim (St. Thomas parish) as well as Verem and Chandor are all famous for the Three Kings Feast; Panjim, Margao and Moira for the Feast of Immaculate Conception; In the churches of Our Lady of Hope at Candolim and Our Lady of Assumption at Velsao, the feast of the Assumption is celebrated, also known as Boa Morte Saibinn.

Bambolim is famous in Goa for the miraculous Holy Cross, now called Fulancho Khuris. Marcel and temples in Ponda district are well known for their respective temple feasts. Orlim is famous for the festival of umbrellas and for copra for extracting oil; Sinquetim-Navelim is famous the Festa de Leques (fans);

Naroa is famous for its fair on the feast of Ostom or Tirta; Dramapur is known as the seat of religious learning – it used to be a pilgrim centre. Siroda was famous for its temple singers/dancers (devadasi), immortalised in the deknni Hanv Saiba Poltodi Vetam.

Arvalem, Dabolim and Aquem for caves; Dudhsagar and Arvalem are a very big tourist attraction in Goa for waterfalls; Salvador do Mundo, Taleigao and Raia are famous in Goa for the harvest festival.

The Goa village of Ucassaim was famous for mestri (choirmasters) and mogrenche kolle; Cuncolim for sofa & chair carvings and Benaulim for carpenters;

Then there is the Rachol Seminary at Rachol, house of formation for Catholic seminarians, which this year is celebrating the Fourth Centenary of its foundation. Rachol is famous for the monthly pilgrimage to the image of Christ, so also Varca, which has a yearly pilgrimage to the image of Christ.

There are many English high schools in Goa these days, but St. Joseph High School, Arpora and Mater Dei Institution, Saligao were the first schools in Goa that sent students for the Matriculation examination

Finally, Borim is famous in Goa for Borechi Tar. Ami kollvontam Borieche tari… Boreche tari dada Borieche tari…

[I am extremely thankful to my friend Joel D’Souza from Assagao for some of his inputs for this piece. You may also like to read the earlier essay What Are Goa’s Villages Famous For, which covers some of the villages of Bardez. Please send in your comments with additional inputs for other villages of Goa].

At present, the official languages of Goa are Konkani, Marathi, English and Portuguese. For many centuries, Marathi was the cultural language of the Hindus, which continued to be so during the Portuguese regime whereas after the conquest of Goa by the Portuguese, the Portuguese language (besides being the official) and . . . → Read More: Languages of Goa]]> by Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas

At present, the official languages of Goa are Konkani, Marathi, English and Portuguese. For many centuries, Marathi was the cultural language of the Hindus, which continued to be so during the Portuguese regime whereas after the conquest of Goa by the Portuguese, the Portuguese language (besides being the official) and later the English became the cultural languages of Hindus and Christians as well.

Konkani – Lingua Franca of Goa

Even then, the Konkani language always remained the “Lingua Franca” of the Goan masses, a people’s language indeed. It is well known that Marathi for centuries received official recognition in Maharashtra, it was the court language of the Maratha rulers while Konkani never did so either from the native rulers that held sway over Goa or, except for a short time, from the Portuguese, but notwithstanding all these vicissitudes, it survived all these centuries as a people’s language.

Marathi is written in Devnagri script but old Marathi books are found to be written in Balbodh, Mhoddi and Kanarese characters, whereas Konkani language is written in Devnagri, Kanarese, Roman and even Mallayalee script.

Under the Portuguese, the Konkani language in Goa seems to have been encouraged by Afonso Albuquerque himself and his policy was followed by a number of governors that succeeded him. The ecclesiastical authorities through Provincial Councils had ordered the missionaries to study the language under the penalty of their being debarred from undertaking pastoral work in the parishes. Consequently, a plethora of books like grammars, dictionaries and catechisms came to be published in the Konkani language in Goa among the Franciscans and Jesuits – for example the Doutrina Cristã by Thomas Stephens and Flos Sanctorum (Life of the Saints) by Amaden de Santana.

Thomas Stephens Konkani Kendra, Alto Porvorim, Goa

The civil governors were also at the forefront of the Konkani language Renaissance. For instance, one Viceroy, Antonio de Mello e Castro, took up the study of the Konkani language, as he said, to better serve the country and its people. But later, dark clouds began to appear on the Konkani sky. The missionaries themselves fell into a torpor and lost interest in pastoral affairs and thereby in the study of language, probably because the tropical climate began to tell on them. To remedy the situation, native priests were appointed by them as their assistants to deal with the people. This indifference in later years turned into direct resistance against the language inasmuch as they influenced the government itself to pass a Decree (Álvara of 22-06-1684) ordering all the natives to study the Portuguese language within three years. This order later was corroborated by the Archbishop of Goa, D Lourenco de Sta. Maria, who in his Pastoral letter (21-11-1745) to the Goan Christians declared that the ignorance of the Portuguese language would stand as an impediment (canonical of course) for the celebration of marriages among the Christians.⁽¹⁾ In spite of all these checks and setbacks, Konkani never died but it rose, like the phoenix of the fable, from its own ashes and now did gain every momentum in our days.

Konkani’s Second Spring

After integration of Goa into the Indian Union, however, Konkani’s second spring commenced as one of the main languages of Goa. The protagonists of this movement were the great Varde Vallaulikar (better known as Xennoi Goybab), Monsenhor Rodolfo Dalgado and a host of others, who by their works have shown the world of letters that Konkani can stand on its own feet, and therefore claim to be an independent language. The Sahitya Academy in Delhi gave recognition to Konkani as an independent language in February 1975 and the Central Government of India declared it as an official language and placed in the Eight Schedule of the Constitution of India. This led eventually to declaration of Goa as an independent State of India during the prime ministership of Rajiv Gandhi (1987). The Statehood Day is celebrated in Goa every year on 30^th May.

References:

(1) BRAGANÇA PEREIRA, A B de; Etnografia da India Portuguesa, p.197.