Joseph Anthony Vaz, the first Goan Officer of the prestigious Indian Civil Service (ICS), had roots in Saligao.  Son of Antonio Caetano Vaz from Donvaddo in Saligao, Goa, Joseph was born in Karachi on 22 April 1875. He was the first member of the Goan community and among the earliest . . . → Read More: The first Goan ICS Officer]]> by Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas

Joseph Anthony Vaz, the first Goan Officer of the prestigious Indian Civil Service (ICS), had roots in Saligao.  Son of Antonio Caetano Vaz from Donvaddo in Saligao, Goa, Joseph was born in Karachi on 22 April 1875. He was the first member of the Goan community and among the earliest to pass the Indian Civil Service examination.

St. Patrick's High School, Karachi

A bright student of the famed St. Patrick’s High School in Karachi, he continued his distinguished career at the D. J. Sind College in that same city. Joseph Anthony Vaz then proceeded to England for higher studies. At King’s College, Cambridge, he obtained the B.A. and LL.B. degrees in 1898. Joseph Anthony Vaz sat for the open ICS examination in the same year and passed with flying colours.

On his return to India, he was posted to the Bengal Presidency where he distinguished himself in the various roles assigned to him and soon rose to post of Deputy Commissioner.  Joseph Anthony Vaz was awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind Gold Medal in 1921 in recognition of his contribution to the Bengal Gazetteer and also for working tirelessly almost round-the-clock during the Bengal famine. At the time he had risen to the post of Collector and District Magistrate of Bankura. Unfortunately he died suddenly while on a trip to Bangalore while still in office in 1921, abruptly bringing to an end a promising career. He was buried in Nagpur, the birthplace of his wife Matilda.

Joseph Anthony Vaz perhaps inspired other Goans to excel in civil service. His son-in-law Anthony Lancelot Dias was the second ICS officer with origins in Goa (Assagao). Then, one of A L Dias’s sons-in-law, Peter Lynn Sinai, topped the 1956 public services commission merit list and joined the Indian Foreign Service.

I got to know Vitorino Francisco Saldanha, a prominent personality from the village of Saligao, when he finally returned to Goa from East Africa. I felt good when he affectionately tapped my head and spoke sweetly to me on a fine Sunday in May in the early fifties.

Vitorino Francisco . . . → Read More: The businessman in East Africa]]> by Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas

I got to know Vitorino Francisco Saldanha, a prominent personality from the village of Saligao, when he finally returned to Goa from East Africa. I felt good when he affectionately tapped my head and spoke sweetly to me on a fine Sunday in May in the early fifties.

Vitorino Francisco Saldanha

He wore a sun hat, his attire was elegant but simple, he sported a moustache and walked in a stately manner. He looked a gentleman to the core. In the later years of his life he moved about in his Ford car, one of the few four-wheelers we saw in those days.

His son-in-law, Hubert de Sousa, described him as follows:

“To amass wealth in business requires a high degree of intelligence, shrewd business acumen and a tremendous capacity for hard work, and Mr. Saldanha had all these characteristics in abundant measure. He displayed his intelligence in his ability to handle finances without having had the knowledge of accounts and banking. His shrewdness was shown in his foresight in buying land and plots in Nairobi, which in a few years became gold mines of that fast-growing city as far as their location was concerned, and became worth many times the price he paid for them.

“Vitorino Saldanha’s hard work in the building up of his three business houses in Mombasa, Nairobi and Nakuru was shown in the long hours he spent in his shops and estates in putting up edifices that were modern in design and construction for that time and which were eventually sold for five times their original investment.

“He hardly had any education except in music at church school, where he learnt to play clarinet and reading music. Thus when he was in Ceylon he played the clarinet in an orchestra, mastered sufficient English to deal with the government and other officials in connection with his business and properties.

“Vitorino was very generous. He was the benefactor of Saligao Church, Saligao Institute as well as the Seminary of Saligao-Pilerne. At that time his contribution to the seminary was large. His portrait is displaced in the parlour of the seminary. He always had a ready helping hand for those who approached him. His life was calm, methodical, serene and always busy. His food and drinking habits were also good, hence he lived a long life of 87 years to see his sons and daughters well placed in life.”

Hubert de Sousa says: “Vitorino Saldanha was an excellent card player and excelled in that skill-cum-bluff game of Trook, which was widely played in Goa until a few years ago and which has now lost its attraction. He had a real poker face and it was extremely difficult to guess whether he was bluffing or was in earnest with the cards. In the end it was usual for his side to win.”

[Vide:  Floreat Saligao by C. Hubert de Sousa]

Among the galaxy of successful businessmen from Saligao, Miguel Rosário D’Souza, who was fondly known as M R, stands as a pioneer who blazed the trail of East Africa for the people of Saligao. He was from the ward of Salmona in Saligao, and in 1884 went to . . . → Read More: The Merchant Prince Of Saligao]]> Compiled by Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas

Among the galaxy of successful businessmen from Saligao, Miguel Rosário D’Souza, who was fondly known as M R, stands as a pioneer who blazed the trail of East Africa for the people of Saligao. He was from the ward of Salmona in Saligao, and in 1884 went to Zanzibar and set up his first business in Mombasa about five years later. The firm was one of the oldest established there, and had a letter of recommendation from Sir Charles Eliot (a former Governor of British East Africa), Lt. Col. J Will, and other noted gentry.

He set foot in Mombasa in those early years, though no one can tell for certain how and why he got there, when Africa was yet a wilderness and the Masai were a warrior tribe roaming the countryside with their spears and shields hunting the numerous lions that inhabited the area.

The British Government, which had taken possession of Kenya and Uganda and later Tanganyika from the Germans, decided to open up the country by building up the East African Railways from Mombasa on the coast to Kisumu on the Lake Victoria Nyanza. In 1896-97 a whole host of English engineers, surveyors, etc. were sent to Mombasa to make a start of the construction.

Shrewd businessman that he was, M R anticipated the needs of these people and carried large stocks of groceries, wines and spirits, soft goods, tobacco, cutlery, stationery, novels, boots and shoes. Tailoring and boot & shoe making was a speciality of the firm.

He flourished and became rich, but as the work was too much for him to handle alone, he had brought his brother-in-law, Vitorino Saldanha, into business as an assistant and followed this up by hiring Agostinho Figueiredo, an experienced businessman from Goa, as a second assistant.

As the railway progressed to Nairobi, M R sent Vitorino Saldanha to open a shop there and later on Agostinho Figueiredo was given the task of setting up shop in Uganda.

The shop in Nairobi was ideally located and showed handsome profits. Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, being at a high altitude, enjoyed salubrious climate and became the centre of the government, the seat of the European community who were there as bankers, merchants, businessmen and government servants.

This shop at Nairobi also stocked all the materials required for safaris that the Europeans and their friends often participated in, carrying back with them the skins and antlers of animals that they had shot, to decorate their houses.

M R was also a lover of sports and instituted the M R D’Souza Gold Trophy in Kenya. M R died in Nairobi and was buried in the Old Hill cemetery where on a tomb stone the following words stand inscribed: “M. R. D’Souza, Merchant, died on the 28^th of March, 1906, 44 years of age”.

M R’s son Tommy Emar was known to me. I also knew Tommy’s wife Lira from Mudd’davadi and their children Cedric, Blandina and Stephen. Tommy Emar had instituted the Tommy Emar Gold Cup (Hockey) for girls in Bombay. After M R’s, death Vitorino Saldanha was taken into partnership by M R’s wife. His sister and he further expanded the business and opened a new branch at Nakuru, the resort of the British farming community. This branch prospered too in meeting the needs of the farmers and their foreign assistants.

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[Note: C Hubert de Souza gifted his book “Floreat Saligao” (printed and published by F D Dantas at the Printwell Pres, Luis de Menezes Road, Panjim, on 6^th May, 1973) to Fr Nascimento. This article is based on an essay from this book, with extracts reused by permission.]

The Vijay Marie Hospital run by the Sisters of Charity at Khairatabad in Hyderabad, stands as a monument to the pioneering efforts of Dr Irene Olive de Souza Rebello back in the 1940s. Giving up her lucrative medical practice, she started a free dispensary for the poor in a small shed, . . . → Read More: Champion Of The Downtrodden]]> by Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas

The Vijay Marie Hospital run by the Sisters of Charity at Khairatabad in Hyderabad, stands as a monument to the pioneering efforts of Dr Irene Olive de Souza Rebello back in the 1940s. Giving up her lucrative medical practice, she started a free dispensary for the poor in a small shed, and gave not only medical treatment but also spiritual comfort to her patients.

To help Dr Irene in her charitable work, Lady Rama Rao, on behalf of the Indian Women’s Council, gifted her a mobile van. In appreciation of her humanitarian mission, the late Nizam Nawab Mir Osman Ali Khan donated a plot, on which the Vijay Marie Hospital today stands.

Irene was the eldest daughter of Mr and Mrs A.E. de Souza of Saligao / Secunderabad. She was married to the late Clement Ambrose Rebello, former Commissioner of Textiles, Hyderabad.

Irene did her primary and secondary studies in Hyderabad. For her professional course in medicine, she and her younger sister Lyra (wife of Hipolito Saldanha) joined the Lady Harding Medical College cum Hospital at Delhi, where both the sisters graduated. Lyra later obtained her FRCS (England), while Irene continued her post-graduate studies.

Dr. Irene was a lecturer at the Osmania Hospital, a Catholic Actionist, an active member of the National Council of Catholic Women and the Margadarsi Movement. She worked in a number of social organisations in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. The Holy Father Pope Pius XII conferred on her the title of “Pro Ecclesia Et Pontifice” for her selfless service on behalf of the poor and neglected.

In a world where human values are becoming more and more distorted, the life and work of Dr. Irene de Souza Rebello renews faith in the innate goodness of human nature. In a relentless manner she expended herself in the service of the poor during the last 25 years of her life.

She expired on 8th October1972 at the Vijay Marie Hospital of which she was a founder member. Her husband Clement dedicated their home as “Dr. Irene’s Memorial Clinic”. Here is a doctor and a great social worker of our village who sacrificed most of her life to help the downtrodden. May Dr. Irene’s example be an inspiration to all of us.

Roque de Mello was the brother of Anthony Stanislaus de Mello, the grand moghul of Indian sport, from Sonarbhatt in Saligao, Goa. Roque, like his brother who was born in Karachi, received good encouragement from their sports-minded father, who stressed the Latin dictum “Mens sana in corpore sano” (A sound mind . . . → Read More: Saga Of Selfless Heroism]]> by Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas

Roque de Mello was the brother of Anthony Stanislaus de Mello, the grand moghul of Indian sport, from Sonarbhatt in Saligao, Goa. Roque, like his brother who was born in Karachi, received good encouragement from their sports-minded father, who stressed the Latin dictum “Mens sana in corpore sano” (A sound mind in a sound body).

Roque was sent by his father to England to study for the Bar. Barely 22 years of age, fresh from a brilliant career as a barrister in London, boarded a ship bound for Bombay when tragedy suddenly struck. The ship had moved off the coast of France when what they dreaded most did happen—the ship was torpedoed by a German submarine. As the ship’s sirens blared, the clarion order of the Captain was given: “All hands to the lifeboats”. Soon there was a rush to the ship’s boat stations. It was a sad day for Roque and hundreds of European passengers aboard the S.S. Maloza during World War I.

Roque was about to fix his life jacket when he came face to face with a badly limping Englishwoman. He felt a deep compassion for her physical disability in the supreme hour of the crisis when death hovered over the ship. Instantly, he took off his life jacket and fixed it on her. Then he made a dash for another life jacket. It was too late. The ship was fast sinking and Roque went down to his watery grave. The grateful Englishwoman, as an eye-witness reported to the press later, burst into tears on seeing the youthful stranger who gave up his life for her and met his death at sea.

In England and America the press carried accounts of the great tragedy and the heroic act of Roque. On making close inquiries later in England, the Englishwoman, in a touching letter to Mrs. de Mello, quoted the consoling and noble words of the Bible: “Greater love no man hath than that he giveth his own life for another.”

This incident was narrated by Anthony de Mello to J Patrocinio de Souza & Alfred D’Cruz, and is recorded in their book Saligao: Focus on a Picturesque Goan Village [May 1973].

The saga of heroism of Roque de Mello speaks volumes of the compassion he had for people around him. Unfortunately such values of self-sacrifice without expecting anything in return are quickly fading from our midst. As we approach Holy Week during this season of Lent, it is perhaps appropriate to reflect on virtues such as those demonstrated by this brave man. May the Passion of Christ strengthen us today, as it did the young and promising Roque de Mello on that fateful day of the sinking of the steamer S.S. Maloza.

If Etelvina de Melo, from Sonarbhatt in Saligao, were alive today, she would surely have been honoured with an award on International Women’s Day (which is observed on March 8th) in recognition of her pioneering work in the field of women’s education in Saligao.

Etelvina de Melo was born on 1st . . . → Read More: The Trail-Blazing Educationist]]> by Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas

If Etelvina de Melo, from Sonarbhatt in Saligao, were alive today, she would surely have been honoured with an award on International Women’s Day (which is observed on March 8th) in recognition of her pioneering work in the field of women’s education in Saligao.

Etelvina de Melo was born on 1st January 1869. She was one of the seven children of Nicolau de Melo from Sonarbhatt, six of whom were girls. All the daughters, except Etelvina, were sent by their father to do their schooling in Bombay. Etelvina remained in Saligao, where she did her Portuguese studies and at the same time learned to play the violin. As she showed keen interest in studies, her parents decided to send her too to the convent school in Bombay where her sisters were studying.

She excelled at this school and later decided to take up teaching as a career. She surprised everyone by joining the Carmelite Order in Madras, but soon she learned that her vocation lay elsewhere, and so returned home.

In the year 1900, Josinho de Sousa, the Headmaster of St. Mary’s Boys’ School located within the Salmona ward of Saligao, founded a branch called St. Mary’s Girls’ School in the same locality for the education of girls. With Etelvina de Melo in charge, the school was the first English school in Goa for girls. Etelvina was ably assisted by Ernestina de Souza in the task of running the school.

Under the careful supervision and direction of Etelvina, St. Mary’s Girls’ School became very popular and girls from far and wide came to study there; for this reason, boarding facilities were also set up. Etelvina de Melo imparted not only bookish knowledge, but gave also sound moral, physical and social education. Her motherly concern for every girl and her emphasis on the refinement of their personality and social behavior made her a household name, and St. Mary’s attained fame as the foremost institution for girls all over “Estado de Goa” (Goa State). General proficiency and character-building were other strong points of the school. Etelvina firmly believed that service to the old, infirm, poor and helpless was akin to service to Almighty. She led by example in this regard, and her students invariably emulated her, without the need for coaxing or castigation.

Over a period of time the building housing St Mary’s Girls’ School deteriorated and was badly in need of repairs. In 1930, the school was shifted to Etelvina’s own residence and she began to run it independently but with limited activity. Meanwhile, two other schools where girls could study were launched and began to gain in prominence. One was the co-ed Mater Dei Institute, bordering Saligao-Calangute. The second was Costa’s School in Mollembhatt, with a separate section for girls housed at the Tabravaddo residence of Salvador Cordeiro (the grandfather of singer Lorna Cordeiro). With these schools also in operation, the number of students at St Mary’s Girls’ School began to dwindle gradually.

As Etelvina de Melo was advancing in years and becoming increasingly feeble, she felt the need of handing over the affairs of the school to her niece Mother Bridget, who was the joint founder (along with the Dutch Franciscan Monsenhor Salesius Lemmens) of the Order of the Franciscan Missionaries of Christ the King (FMCK), with headquarters in Karachi.

As Mother Bridget already had her own responsibilities, she was not inclined to contact her aunt or talk to her. However, Rev. Monsenhor Alcuino advised her to write to her aunt in Saligao. On receiving Mother Bridget’s letter, Aunt Etelvina was instantly filled with tremendous peace and joy. She wrote back immediately and invited the Sisters to come without delay. “I could have wished for nothing better,” Etelvina (affectionately called Ethel) remarked.

All this happened in 1945. After successfully overcoming all the regulatory hurdles, Mother Bridget obtained permission from the Patriarch of Goa, who had already been  made aware by the then Vicar of Saligao of the advantages of having a Girls’ High School run by competent and well-qualified nuns. On 13th May1946, Mother Bridget along with three other nuns – Sr. Mercy from Moira, Sr. Clare from Mahim in Bombay, and Sr. Ubaldina from Loutulim – took over the school from Etelvina and resumed its operation at a private house in the Cotula ward of Saligao. After completing all the formalities and obtaining the requisite recognition and affiliation from the authorities, the nuns shifted their school to a house on the main road at Arrarim. Subsequently, the foundation stone of what is now called Lourdes Convent High School – the offshoot of St. Mary’s Girls’ School in Salmona – was laid on 15th September1953 in Sonarbhatt.

Etelvina de Melo passed away on 28th February 1949. Though long gone, Etelvina will always be remembered as the pioneer of girls’ education in Saligao, and this trail-blazing educationist lives on through the many girl students she educated and groomed, and also through their offspring.

Sources:

• Footprints on the Sands of Time; by Sr. M. Ursula, FMCK.
• She Blazed the Trail in Girls’ Education; article by Sunita D’Cruz in Saligao Newsletter, Bombay, Oct-Nov-Dec 1985
• Souvenir Mae de Deus Church (1873-1973), Saligao.
• Souvenir St. Anne’s Chapel (1843-1993), Saligao.

Just before an international cricket tournament commences or a cricket  Test series involving India is imminent, cricket fever gradually builds up to a frenzy all over India. But few of today’s Indian cricket followers would be aware that it was Anthony Stanislaus de Mello – with ancestry in Saligao, Goa – . . . → Read More: The doyen of Indian cricket]]> by Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas

Just before an international cricket tournament commences or a cricket  Test series involving India is imminent, cricket fever gradually builds up to a frenzy all over India. But few of today’s Indian cricket followers would be aware that it was Anthony Stanislaus de Mello – with ancestry in Saligao, Goa – who was responsible for putting India on the cricket map of the world in the early part of the last century.

Anthony de Mello, doyen of Indian cricket

This is what Vijay Merchant, one of the leading lights of Indian cricket of yesteryear, had to say about Anthony de Mello: “For sheer cricket administration capability, confidence and enthusiasm, there was never anyone to equal de Mello. He was the man who organised the Board of Control for Cricket in India, was its first Honorary Secretary, India’s cricket representative in international cricket conferences, and, finally, its President. It was he who built cricketing relations between India and England and later India and Australia. He was chiefly instrumental in building bridges between India and other international cricket countries. His trump card was his bowling and his tremendous enthusiasm. When he became the President of the Board, he introduced many measures which were conducive to better cricket, greater discipline, more involvement and generally higher standards. Whatever he may have done as a cricketer, as an administrator, as one guiding the destinies of Indian cricket, Anthony will always be remembered as the builder of stadiums without having anything in the bank to his credit. How he managed it only he knew… there never will be another Anthony de Mello in Indian cricket.”

Hailing from Sonarbhatt in Saligao, Goa, though born in Karachi on 11 October 1900, Anthony first proved his mettle in sports at his school – St. Patrick’s, Karachi. He captained his school teams in athletics, cricket and soccer.

The father of Anthony de Mello, who hailed from Saligao, was among the earliest people who took the boat from Goa to Karachi and made good there. Anthony and his brother Roque went to England to study. Roque studied Law and Anthony joined Cambridge University. He was good at both hockey as well as cricket at Cambridge. However he was recalled back to Karachi by his parents due to the unfortunate and untimely death of his brother Roque. That cut short his career at Cambridge.

Hubert D’Souza from Nigvaddo in Saligao recalls Anthony de Mello’s studies in Simla. He says: “I knew Tony personally in Simla when he gave up studies at the Inter Science level in 1917, took up a job there and gave me all his college books with a remark – these will be of more use to you than me.”

After he returned from Cambridge, Anthony de Mello’s prowess on the cricket field caught the roving eye of the Maharaja of Gwalior, a great patron of sports. He enlisted his services at the Gwalior Motor Transport Company, at which Anthony rose to become the managing director. He was also involved with Gwalior Potteries and intimately connected with the English firm of Gowan Brothers of Delhi.

In 1928, Anthony de Mello was instrumental in founding the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Thanks to his persistent efforts, his forceful and lucid presentation, and his influential contacts abroad, his application on behalf of India and Indian cricket was given prompt and due consideration by the Imperial Cricket Conference in London. In 1929, India was accepted a member of the Conference. He thereby put India on the cricket map of the world for the first time. In 1993 Anthony de Mello initiated the famous Cricket Club of India (CCI).

In 1937 he realised his Indian cricket dreams by building the Brabourne Stadium at the CCI in Bombay in record time. His portrait adorns the halls of the CCI adjoining the Brabourne stadium and his profile is outlined on the CCI website [Sadly, a recent update to this website has omitted his profile]. His interests did not cover only Indian cricket, but also extended to other activities. He built the National Stadium at Delhi and was a key organiser of the first Asian Games there in 1951.

Brabourne Stadium

“The success of the first Asian Games in Delhi is mainly due to the herculean efforts and organising ability of Anthony de Mello.” This spontaneous comment by Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India in 1951, summed up Anthony de Mello’s great organising skills and administrative acumen.

He was the founder of the Asian Cricket Conference in 1948 and was unanimously elected its first president. While in England he successfully negotiated for the first English cricket team to play in India.

Although he hobnobbed with princes, maharajas and the highest government officials, Anthony de Mello was approachable to the common man too and knew no caste or class barriers. He was the founder of the Asian Table Tennis Federation and the Vice-President of the International Table Tennis Federation. He saw to it that the 19th World Table Tennis Championship was held at the Brabourne Stadium in Bombay in 1952, and by this feat he proved his tremendous organising ability. He also built the Vallabhai Patel Stadium in Bombay at the NSCI.

In his 342-page book Portrait of Indian Sport published by Macmillan of London, which he dedicated to the Indian sportsmen “among the best in the world”, he made an assessment of India’s activities in every sphere of sports including Indian cricket.

Until his death, Anthony De Mello was a devout and practicing Catholic. The Knighthood of St. Gregory was conferred on him by the Holy Father Pope Pius XII, and he was allowed to marry a gracious Parsi lady, Rita Mody, under the Pauline Privilege. An ardent Indian nationalist, he had visualised a “big stadium for the land I love, Goa, when freedom comes, and a pavilion for my dear youth in the village of my ancestors, Saligao.” But that was not to be. He died in May 1961, before he could give concrete shape to his dream.

[with inputs from Eutropio Pinto and Hubert D’Souza in Arrarim, Saligao]

References:

• Saligao: Focus On A Picturesque Goan Village; J Patrocinio de Souza and Alfred D,Cruz
• Saligao, Golden Jubilee (1936-1986); Saligao Union, Bombay

The late Armando de Souza, with roots in Saligao’s Cotula ward, was the co-founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Evans Electric Pvt. Ltd. in Mumbai. The firm, founded in 1951 by Armando de Souza and Silus Evans, has branches operating in Sancoale, Goa, and Bilaspur, as well as in the northern . . . → Read More: The electric entrepreneur]]> by Fr Nascimento Mascarenhas

The late Armando de Souza, with roots in Saligao’s Cotula ward, was the co-founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Evans Electric Pvt. Ltd. in Mumbai. The firm, founded in 1951 by Armando de Souza and Silus Evans, has branches operating in Sancoale, Goa, and Bilaspur, as well as in the northern and southern regions of India.

I had a chance to meet the Goan entrepreneur Armando in Saligao at the time of the feast of Mae de Deus in May many years ago. That year, he was the president of the feast. A tall figure dressed in his “opa e murca” and carrying the staff of the Confraria de Mae de Deus de Saligao, Armando was thanking Our Lady for his assiduous climb to the top with Evans Electric, and also for giving him a superb memory, which he put to good use when writing articles for the Saligao Newsletter.

Armando was witty and at the same time his talk had substance that gripped one’s imagination. He knew lots of facts and faces of Saligao, and this was evident when he recalled and described a particular situation or personality with relative ease and flair. He read a lot, observed keenly and lost no opportunity to learn; then, whenever feasible he placed his thoughts on a platter for one to accept or reject. Never the sleeping fox that counted hens in his dreams, Armando strived to convert most of his dreams into reality.

At that time, the Editor of the Saligao Newsletter was Alfred D’Cruz (Cruzvaddo/Mumbai), and the Associate Editors were Joseph St Anne (Donvaddo/Mumbai) and Raymond Dantas (Grande Morodd/Mumbai). In the Jul-Sep 1985 edition of the newsletter (Vol 1 No 2), Alfred D’Cruz wrote an article on Armando de Souza and his company, from which I reproduce below an excerpt:

“Drive along the busy and bustling Mahakali Caves Road in Andheri (East), Bombay’s galloping and sprawling suburban industrial complex, and your roving eye will easily catch sight of an imposing building with well-manicured lawns. It is Evans Electric Company, one of Bombay’s leading industrial firms of over 30 years’ standing in the specialised field of rebuilding, rewinding and redesigning of electrical equipment, complete with a most sophisticated testing laboratory. Bombay’s leading newspapers: The Economic Times, The Times of India, The Indian Express and The Financial Express had reported not too long ago a major breakthrough by Evans Electric Ltd. It has built a reputation as a “trouble shooter” for the country’s large power plants. The Times of India, in fact, had on June 22, 1978, in a report from its correspondent, observed that the firm had saved the country Rs.10 crore in foreign exchange by commissioning two damaged sets of the thermal power plant of the Uttar Pradesh Electric Board. All this has merited for Evans Electric a gold medal from the Transworld Trade Fair Authority and the award of the Green Leaf from FICCI.

“Who was behind it all? How and when did it all start? It is an inspiring story of a man who started from scratch, boldly surmounted heavy obstacles and rose to the top. Go through a large sheaf of files, official reports, commendation certificates and press clippings and you will get an answer. Meet a tall, fair, debonair, smiling, youthful-looking man with a jaunty gait—Mr. Armando de Souza. At moments, a touch of sadness grips him. He lost a promising son and recently his wife.

“Today, Evans Electric has scaled higher peaks. Evans has also developed its own Pneumatic Coil Forming Machines which are exported the world over. The gross sales of the Bombay Company alone annually are almost Rs 2 crore.”

Armando de Souza evinced keen interest in the village affairs of Saligao as well as in Saligao Union, Mumbai. He was a self-made man who worked his way to the top. I always read with gusto his short articles on Men, Matters and Memories in the Saligao Newsletter and other reviews related to our native village. Like William Cowper in Hope, I would like to say: “Such stuff the world is made of.”

Journalism runs in the blood of this Dantas family, and Norman Dantas was a well-known and widely respected journalist of Goa. Son of Damasceno and Bridget Dantas of Grande Morod in Saligao, Norman was born in 1953. He graduated from St. Xavier’s  College, Bombay University, and . . . → Read More: Norman Dantas – A Journalist Par Excellence]]> by Fr Nascimento Mascarenhas

Journalism runs in the blood of this Dantas family, and Norman Dantas was a well-known and widely respected journalist of Goa. Son of Damasceno and Bridget Dantas of Grande Morod in Saligao, Norman was born in 1953. He graduated from St. Xavier’s  College, Bombay University, and joined Goa Today, first as Associate Editor and then Executive Editor. Thereafter he worked as Assistant Editor, O Heraldo, Executive Editor, Goa Post, and again Deputy Editor, O Heraldo.  In 1986, he helped in the formation of the Goa Foundation. He died on 21 March 1998, shortly after he had completed editing the book The Transforming of Goa published by The Other India Press.

“The purpose of this book,” wrote Norman Dantas, “is to help Goans break out of the fossilized amchem bhangarachem Goem (‘our golden Goa’) mindset and to promote a better understanding of where we really are at.”

The Transforming of Goa attempts to focus on Goa and the Goan identity as it has been – in flux and transformation – between the tradition-bound Portuguese period and the present India-oriented, development-driven democratic times.  The book takes a closer critical look at Goa’s changing face and thus provides a much needed counterpoint to the considerable mythification that Goans are subjected to.

I knew Damasceno and Bridget Dantas and their children during the time they were living at Fontainhas, Panjim. I was a frequent visitor to their residence in the early seventies as both Damasceno and Bridget were members of the Christian Family Movement (CFM) and I was a young priest in charge of the CFM, although I was pretty much a CFM myself – that is, Confused Father Mascarenhas! We would talk about their children’s careers and the other members of the Dantas household at Saligao. Raymond Dantas, a household name in Saligao Union Bombay being its President (1966-67) and Associate Editor of Saligão Newsletter (1985), and Damasceno Dantas himself owner of a printing press known as Printwell Press, Luis de Menezes Road, São Tomé, Panjim, are the other Dantases from Grande Morod making this journalistic fraternity.

In the introduction of the book The Transforming of Goa, Norman Dantas says: “It is difficult to find a Goan who will not thump his (or her) chest and declaim proudly, “Hanv Goenkar!”  But it is a far more knotty task to find two of the tribe who will agree on who or what is ‘Goan’.  The conundrum grows and the debate continues, in bars, balcões, and buses.  Disagreements are dissolved with the jest—now almost epithetic—that for every two Goans, there are three opinions.  So each holds his own and goes his ‘Goan’ way.

“More than casual attempts have, of course, been made to define the Goan identity.  Eminent sons have often been asked and native litterateurs have essayed to distill the essence of Goanness.  Their offerings too have been as varied as the numerous kinds of ‘pure’ feni available nowadays.  But, both formal and informal endeavours bring one thing to the fore: the Goanness so dearly held to is a romantic notion fixed in the hoary past with little or no relationship to contemporary reality.

“This nostalgia characterizes the Goan psyche today better than anything else, even as it indicates a ‘national debility’: an inability to synthesize deep love for ‘the motherland’ with the jagged edges of reality.  The infirmity and its consequences are reflected most sharply in this state’s politics – the lack of clarity, the uncertainty of choice and the concomitant confusion about which why and how Goa should go.

“Some say Goans have themselves to blame and one cannot reject the charge out of hand.  But it can be argued that the vast majority of Goans have had little opportunity to become capable of analyzing and understanding the larger forces at work in the changing world around them.  For years, pre- and post-Liberation, forced migration of thousands, for employment, has created the distance which makes hearts grow fonder for an idealized home shorn of everyday problems.  Then again, coming out from under the colonial yoke into the ‘free air of democracy’, the Goan people have been led by politicians as blind perspective, but made worse by singular devotion to self (and of course, pelf).  The post-Liberation ‘free press’ dominated by big business, has not helped the cause of popular enlightenment either – in fact, at almost every crucial moment, it has opposed the popular interest. And then, almost all ‘serious literature’ appearing on bookshelves has been glorifying the Goa of yore, primarily for the edification of the tourist visiting this no-longer-paradise.”

Among the 11 authors who have contributed essays to this book is Saligao journalist Frederick Noronha, whose two erudite essays are titled “Of Forged Tongues and the Mother Tongue” and “Popular Protest and the Free Goa Press”.  Commenting on Noronha’s essays, Editor Norman Dantas writes: “His identification of several factors and undercurrents which transformed what should have been a straightforward exercise into the biggest controversy of the last decade provides good clues to what hampers unification of Goans and emergence of a universally shared perception of their identity.”

Norman Dantas had a warm, humane nature; the thoughts of thousand confused Goans tortured his mind and his heart went out to them in full measure.  His untimely death in 1998 robbed Goa of one of its finest thinkers.