ON FIRST DEATH ANNIVERSARY OF MRS. FELIX MENDES.

According to Tiatrologists especially the elders with whom I came in contact very often, Anthony Mendes was considered as the best comedian of Konkani Stage, of all time. Those who have seen him acting on the Stage will surely admit this fact as I have admitted after watching him and comparing him with others of his time and those after him. When he died about 44 years back the Konkani world in general and Tiatro world in particular fell into total silence. All his three sons were young then doing their schooling, so too his two daughters. The onus for their upbringing naturally fell on Mrs. Anthony Mendes who with the help of God did her duty towards her five children excellently. With the exception of his yongest daughter, all the other four children of Anthony Mendes turned out to be excellent Tiatrists. If Chris Perry attained major success in his second Tiatro again with Lorna on the forefront, it was mainly because of all the Mendeses, namely Felix – Xavier – Derrrick & Theresa. Soon after the death of Anthony Mendes who was scripting his Tiatro and due to his sudden death left it unfinished, his three sons took the mantle of his late father and they themselves completed the unfinished Tiatro of their father and staged it in Bombay and all over Goa. In this Tiatro all the three youthful and baby faced sons of the late comedy wizard wearing black pants and bluish shirts rendered such a sorrowful trio on their beloved late father that many in audience moisted their eyes with tears while listening to this trio. As a young boy I was one of them too in th e audience. Some of the members of the audience were heard even murmuring thus “sarke paichech baxen tondan, chodd korun modlo ani daktto. Churchure poranche, burgeponniruch pai melo, Devan tankam voir kaddche”. No doubt, they enjoyed enormous sympathy for them because of their father yet I can rightly say that they have inherited lot of excellent qualities of their father and put these qualities into practice they have worked tremendously. It was due to their sterling hard work they reached to the top on Konkani Stage. When they left India for Kuwait they were darlings of the crowd. The vacuum they have created on Konkani Stage in Goa and Bombay has still remained unfilled and as a matter of fact it will never be filled.

As per the information available during those days, their mother was very instrumental in encouraging and supporting her sons in climbing the ladder of Tiatro though the late Anthony Mendes was heavily opposing his sons to enter the Konkani Stage. So much so, as per yet another source, he did not even want his sons to watch him acting nor watch any other Tiatro. For over a decade after the death of their beloved father, Mendes brothers ruled supremely over Konkani Stage. Their trio entry on the Stage would turn the packed Hall and “Mattou” into thunderous applause. This was the rare gift from God any Tiatrists could enjoy and Mendes brothers surely come into this rare gift. Tiatro business is like an industry now and it is a very much money making profession unlike w hat it was during those days, thirty years back. Money is the need of the hour for all and taking this need into consideration Mendes Brothers migrated to Kuwait one after the other in mid seventies, first came the younger Derrick somewhere in 1976 followed by him immediately the middle one Xavier and the eldest Felix who is respected by all in the family as a fatherly figure. They all brothers first time acted together on Kuwait Konkani Stage in 1977 at Keefan Hall where they captured the hearts of every attendee by their sheer stage genius.

When I formed in Kuwait “Novem Goem Pratishthan Kuwait Somiti” in 1978 to raise funds for the establishment of People’s Konkani Daily Newspaper “Novem Goem”, my rapport with Mendes Bros. enhanced tremendously because they as great lovers of Konkani, Goan culture, tradition and also as topmost Tiatrists in Kuwait having tremendous respect in Society, had great influence on Novem Goem move in a positive direction. Before the establishment of Novem Goem move, they all assured me in one of our meetings of their full support for the establishment of People's Konkani Daily. In view of this they all three brothers acted free of charge for two Tiatros we organized in Kuwait during that time to raise funds for Novem Goem. Their contribution f or the cause of Konkani will remain in the history of Kuwait Goans as excellent. I needed them for the promotion of our activities and Konkani Mae needed them to raise funds for Konkani Daily. They fulfilled their obligation towards Konkani which gave them so much of name and fame.

While they were actually and practically helping and cooperating with us, their wives namely of Felix “Pia Mendes” and that of Derrick were the great source of inspiration for them. Xavier was still a prized bachelor then. Purely on Goan tradition they were all staying together as a well knit homogenous family entity. Their family unity was worth admiring and emulating. My first contact with Felix wife the late Pia Mendes started during this period since I was regularly frequenting their place to discuss the issue of Tiatros for Novem Goem and since Mendes Bros. were playing a major role, my meeting with them at their place was imperative. Whenever I entered their house, along with her husband she used to welcome me with broad smile and purely in Goan tradition would offer me soft drink with sweets and other eatables and leave me and Mendes Bros. to discuss our topic without interfering in our discussion. This was yet another excellent attribute of pristine Goan tradition. As I know her she was very affectionate but a reserve woman. A soft spoken woman she would like to listen to my talk whenever it was possible. She always showed her love for Goa, Konkani and Tiatro. Her amicable approach to me as a guest always made me at ease with Mendes Bros and because of this attitude in her I managed to play my role for the betterment of Konkani and Tiatro along with Mendes Bros. She was the woman with superlative qualities first as a wife to Felix with total reverence to him and secondly as a caring loving mother to her children. With her majestic physical stature and attractive characteristics she made Mendes family more majestic and more attractive. In her death last year, Mendes Brothers lost one of the p illars of their family. May God give courage to Felix, his children, his brothers and sisters and everyone in their family to bear this colossal loss at an young age. I have no more words to express except to say “Thank You Pia” for always affording me nice treatment at your place like your own brother. May Her Soul Rest In Peace.

A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.

PIA MATILDE MENDES
Born: 11 October 1952
Died: 01 December 2007

There will be a holy mass on Monday, 1st December 2008, 6.30 pm, at Holy Family Cathedral Church - Kuwait City for the soul of late PIA (PIEDADE) MATILDE MENDES, belowed wife of Felix Mendes, mother of Anthony, Melisa, Vanesa & Savio; Grand-Mother of KATLYN; Mother-in-law of Lizelle and Christopher. Sister - in - law of Xavier/Thresa Mendes, Derreck/Adeline Mendes, Thresa/David Fernandes and Emilia/Zachria Rodrigues.

The bereaved family requests all their relatives and friends to kindly accept this as the only intimation.