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Showing the churches of Old Goa to Merlin, a Dutch woman, the
protagonist of Carmo D'Souza's novel Angela's Goan Identity
thinks: "Her own Goan character was so much like the fusion of those
arts. Goans were moulded into two cultures [Eastern and Western]. The
two cultures were blended and yet could be separated. When needed,
one side could be pulled, stretched and exaggerated to predominate
over the other. It's a kind of a mechanism Goans use, to meet a
situation, requiring adjustment. Goans are at home, whether in the
deserts [sic] of Africa or the cities of America. The Goan community
is found integrated into all the communities of the world." As a
Goan, I find this a telling observation; but the novel tempers it.
Angela is born into a Goan landlord family in the last stage of
portuguese. We get glimpses into the feudal behaviour of the landlord
class, the relationship of Goan Catholicism to Hinduism, the
Portuguese educational system, the invasion by India, and the new
system under the Indian government (which some Goans cannot adjust
to, leaving for Portugal even if they are the sons of freedom
fighters or Hindus). Dom Manuel named his daughter "Anjali", but the
priest insists on calling her "Angela". The work is a bildungstoman,
but its concern is the growth not so much of Angela as her
understanding of Goan identity.
Each member of her family marries an "outsider": John, a sailor;
Merlin; Mervin, a doctor whose mother was a servant to Angela's
family, father a customs officer in Africa and grandmother a
fisherwoman; Joseph, a teacher from Kerala. A classmate, a Hindu,
marries a Portuguese woman. And Angela marries Milka, a Sikh. Each
"outsider" has something to offer. John says it is sailors who have
built the Goan identity because culture is dormant in every Goan and
needs a journey across the seas to evolve. When there is a referendum
on whether Goa should be absorbed into Maharashtra or be a state,
Joseph, who loves quoting Shakespeare and Keats, delivers such a
nationalistic speech that someone says, "That man has a Goan heart
and feelings." Milka refers to art outside fiction: the famous Mario
does justice to Goa "because he brings a lot of Goan craziness
beautifully on the canvas" with a sense of humour, just as D'Souza
does in the novel. Praising their honesty, Milka says that Goans have
been asleep since the seventeenth century.
It is tempting to wake up from a long exploitation by asserting a
fixed identity, but D'Souza valorizes change. The last Portuguese
governor is praised for not following instructions to institute a
scorched-earth policy. Of his daughter's marriage to Mervin, Dom
Manuel thinks, "Class and caste would slowly disappear. Somewhere,
somebody had to begin." Angela marks "her old ideas wrong, one by
one... in her memory computer. Those hippies were really upsetting
her ideas."
D'Souza's notion that outsiders are helping retrieve Goan identity
is borne out by the Goans in the fiction of Rohington Mistry and
M.G.Vassanji, particularly the narrator/historian of the latter's
prizewinning third novel, The Book of Secrets(Toronto, 1994; see
WLT 69:1, p 210). There is a question mark at the end of D'Souza's
novel, "venturing its gentle reader to think on," as Ashwin Tombat
says in his foreword. Goan identity may be like the Goan dish
bebinca, made by Dona Isabella with the assistance of Merlin:
"Each layer is baked separately to its proper colour, before they are
joined to make a whole."
Dr. Carmo D'Souza can be contacted c/o Mr. Ismael D'Souza,
Porbavaddo, Calangute 403510 Goa India. His book is available for
sale by mail-order (postage, packaging extra) from
The Other India Bookstore at Mapusa
There is a whole collection of books on Goa written by Goans and foreigners alike - books that you read and, in time, forget about; but Images of Goa by Ben Antao, is a book I just couldn't put down. I could read it and read it again and again, if only to get my mind's eye to do a regular "action replay" - to bring into sharp focus those intimate and seemingly villages scenes, which only a true Goan can fully understand and appreciate.
The author, an academic of no mean repute, has obviously written this delightful little book with almost poetic vision of the everyday village scenes and happenings in Goa. He misses nothing, and captures all by his vivid and life-like descriptions of even the simplest of sights - e.g. the clever movements of the variegated crabs on the beaches, or even that intricate and mystery -shrouded web surrounding the dowry system in Goa; all this expressed in his inimitable and skillfully humorous style.
The varied attractions of the "ladainha", the GOAN (not "Goanese" he is at pains to point out) wedding, superstitions and ghosts, the monsoon ritual, funerals and death, all find a generous slot in the 16-chaptered book. Nor does the humble toddy tapper, Pedro, escape mention. He has a whole chapter devoted to him.
For the expatriate Goan who has spent his childhood and early adulthood in Goa, this book will evoke many memories of yesteryears; for those who have not visited Goa or made only fleeting trips, the book is living testimony (if ever one were required) of Goa's chequered history, and the uniqueness in the whole collage that goes to make up the Indian nation.
It is a book every Goan family should treasure - a book you will enjoy reading and never tire of. No Goan ever tires of Goa, but if ever you do ( and I hope you never will) I can only, with apologies to the great Dr. Samuel Johnson, say, ...... "when a man is tired of Goa, he is tired of life...."
The author, Ben Antao emigrated to Canada in 1967 where he is currently a high school teacher of English and a financial consultant. Copies of the book can be obtained by writing to:
IMAGES OF GOA
Author: Ben Antao
Book review by Mervyn Maciel
Ben Antao
205 Finch Ave West
Willowdale, Ont. M2R 1M2
Canada
Tel: 416/225-9047 or 416/250-8885
Fax: 416/250-8885
email: 75762.2665@compuserve.com
END
Fish Curry and Rice
A Citizens' Report on the State of the Goan Environment
Compiled by Claude Alvares of the Goa Foundation for ECOFORUM
At first glance the book title "Fish Curry and Rice" suggests another recipe book. This not a cookbook but study of Goa's ecology complied by Ecoforum, a network of environment groups. Goans rely on the ocean for fish, the fields for growing rice, and the coconut palm for the main ingredients of curry. When these three food sources are threatened by the uncontrolled growth of industry and tourism, the ecosystem and the lives of folks living there are under severe threat. This book is an excellent source of educational material on our heritage. It also make a convenient coffee-table book, and helps to introduce Goa to guests.
Copies of the first publication were sold out. Copies of the second printing are available from:
The Other India Bookstore
Above Mapusa Clinic,
Mapusa 403 507 Goa,
260 pages; Rs 200.0 in Goa.
Complete Information for Tourists
Hello Goa! 1995 is a 100 page tour guide in colour printed on coated paper.
This publication has been presented in four languages (English, German, French and Italian) and provides interesting information and colour pictures that capture the true essence of Goa. The categorized section at the end of the book tells you everything you need to know on tourist services .
This is also another excellent coffee table book, and those not fortunate enough to visit Goa, should request a copy from home.
Published by Directorate of Tourism, Government of Goa. Cost rs 95, $US 3
Book on Silolm
Strange stories of Siolim and other fascinating tales are contained in a new book called "Siloim" by Sebastian D'Cruz, priced at Rs 100. This 189 page soft cover publication is available from the author at his home in Villa Cruz, Marna-Siolim.
New Books on Goa
Two books on Goa have been published in India over the past year, and are
recommend both for Goans abroad .
Glad Seasons In Goa
Author - Frank Simoes
A sentimental, highly nostalgic memoir by the Bombay adman. Simoes writes
of receiving nostalgia as inheritance from his roots in a Goan area of
Byculla. The book also profiles some leading Goans (Remo, etc.), but is
best when describing Simoes's adventures in buying a fisherman's house in
Candolim and converting it into his own, private, retreat. The book has a
U.K. publisher. In India it is put out by Viking.
The Womb Of Saudade
Author - Lambert Mascarenhas
The writer should be familiar to readers of Goa Today.
In contrast to Simoes, Mascarenhas actually lives and grew up in Goa. His
book is equally evocative of that chief Goan attribute- nostalgia, but
lacks the sentimentality of the outside observer. His stories are
occasionally bitter, often scathing, unflinching in their insiders view of
Goan life. Unfortunately, this book is only available in India (Rupa?)
Also recommend is Ravan and Eddie by Kiran Nagarkar
It contains an excellent portrait of Goans who live in a "chawl" (tenement)
in Bombay. The book is funny, and despite a brief flirtation with fantastic
realism, is an accurate, intelligent contribution to modern Indian
literature.
Abstracted from Goa-Net
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