A year ago, 12th of January 2011, at 6.00 in the morning while I was preparing to dress up to go to work, I received a phone call from a lovely voiced lady asking me first whether I got the news of Rosary Ferns. I thought because of her lovely voice she got some lovely news to give it to me at this early hour and when I said No, she told me with sorrow in her tone ‘Rosary is expired’.When I exclaimed saying What? There was total silence on our voices further. At this moment I felt the roof above has collapsed and fell on my head as my brain became numbed for few moments.Immediately then I called Rosary’s eldest brother Fidelis Fernandes and when I said to him Fidelis, recognising my voice he immediately started crying. It was now fully confirmed that the news given to me early in the morning at 6.00 by Elvira D’Souza was cent percent correct. Then and there I decided to go to Goa for the funeral.
Then I came to my company, applied for emergency leave, collected my Passport, came back, booked the Indian Airlines ticket that night to fly home. Meantime everyone started calling me, some asking confirmation of the news while others offering condolences. It was really unbearable time.
IC flight from Kuwait landed at Dabolim at 7.00 AM and since I was heavy Luggageless passenger, immediately came out from the Airpot and went straight by Car not to my home Candolim but to Colva at Rosary’s place. While entering his house I tought seeing his dead body I would collapse but instead my legs became stronger seeing his body in the coffin because when I cast my first glance at his dead body I noticed freshness on his facial appearance. This gave me a false impression that he was not dead but just sleeping.
When I entered the parlour where his body was kept, everybody started looking at me, some not knowing who I was while Rosary's mother, one sister, wife and two sons knowing who I was but giving me an impression that they did not recognise me. I looked at them all and they looked at me, they recognised me but found it impossible to admit that I have reached Goa so soon from Kuwait. It looked from their facial appearances that their eyes were deceiving them to admit the reality of my presence there. Then while standing in front of Rosary's coffin I felt all around there athmosphere very wetty, wet due to the enermous amount of tears shed there by everyone crying over the dead body of Rosary. Then I said to myself within me only "Rosary, Oh my dearest friend Rosary!! I deny my tears to you because your Coffin is fully wet due to the wet athmosphere created by the tearful cries of your mother, three sisters, your wife, two sons and all around you there needing no more tears from my eyes. Hence, Rosary my dearest friend Rosary, I deny my tears to you because you are already wet".
Though my eyes listened to the command of my brain not to cry yet my heart refused because after all heart is heart where love is concentrated and stored there in the form of liquid. Within a few seconds my heart ruled over my brain and it burst out within splashing its liquid inside my body and pouring out thru the holes of both my eyes in the form of Tears like a sping thereby making me cry like a baby. Seeing me crying thus, Rosary's mother screamed saying "Puta mojea, poi re Veronic eila mellpak tukam, then Antonette Rosary's younger sister screamed loudly, I leaned on the wall from where Antonette caught me. Everybody there then came to know who I was.
The sudden and untimely death of Rosary Ferns a year ago at this young age was a great blow for the development and promotion of Tiatro Art as a whole. In him he had a lot to impart for the cause of Tiatro, Mando – Dulpod, Operettas, Songs and Konkani Albuns. But God’s wish to take him away from us denied him the previllege of enriching further the Konkani Tiatro Art. Very few in the Konkani Tiatro World has done what he has done. His greatness lies more in his development of Tiatro Art not by being in Goa and Bombay where you have lot of facilities but by being in Kuwait a foreign country where there are so many difficulties and restrictions. Here lies Rosary’s greatness more because within the minimum of facilities he acquired maximum of benefits for Konkani and Tiatro Art.
He was a very humble man by nature without any pride and external show. Harshness was foreign to his nature. Even those who tried to finish him from Konkani Stage he showed no revenge against them. He was a great fighter not using his physical might or deadly weapons against his opponents but thru his peaceful intellectual capacity. By using his excellent brain work he produced better Tiatros and Songs which totally eclipsed his opponents, they are all gone into Limbo now. Eye for an Eye and Tooth for Tooth was not his doctrine, this was the doctrine of King Hamurabi the ancient King of ancient Mesopotamia. On the contrary he showed affection for his opponents by giving them opportunities to promote their Tiatro talents in his own Dramas. He was helpful for the new comers to promote them on Konkani Stage, this was his unique contribution for the development of Konkani Stage.
From Goa and Bombay he brought almost all the top Tiatrists and Directors to participate in his Dramas in Kuwait and they all worked under his direction, some of them rendered songs composed by him not only in Kuwait but also in Goa.He had great wish to compose one song on my life and my contribution in society and community in particular but when I declined my permission for this he was deeply hurt saying ‘Nobody will know you as I know and as such I alone can describe you better than any songster’. Still to keep my one work immortal, he rendered one song in his last VCD Thank You Kuwait where he showed me thru our movement in Goa for the cause of Kuwait’s liberation, this movement was done in 1990/91 thru my initiative. When I saw this VCD released after his death I was astonished but to say thank you Rosary, I had no chance because meantime death has taken him away from this planet.
In his family circle he was loved the most by almost every member of his family and he brought all the family members closer to one another. During his lifetime he led a very decent and upright life.In his death Konkani Stage lost a great Stage Artiste, a great Playwright, a great Director, a great Composer, a great Songster, a great Manddekar and a great Konkani Sho Organiser.
May his soul Rest In Peace.
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.
