DEATH OF A TIATRIST ACE FOOTBALLER.

It is with deep regret and sorrow I write this piece on the news I  got thru the obituary in Herald dated 26^th inst. of the death of Peter Gomes from Calangute and who was not only an ace Tiatrist but more than that an ace footballer of yesteryears.   During those good old days he developed his soccer skill in that soccer skillful school at Arpora and also in his village at Calangute that was known to produce some of the finest Goan footballers and Peter Gomes was one of them. 

It was somewhere in 1958 first time I saw him playing at Calangute in a friendly festival match against the then mighty Salgaocar comprising 4 ace Pakle footballers. When they entered the field, Salgaocar players with their body language indicated that they will toy with their hosts but Peter Gomes under their bar diving from one end  of the Pole to the other and in acrobatic style punching the ball over the bar, Calangutcar thwarted almost every attempt of their guests who were nervous till the last minute equalizer scored by one of their dynamic Paklo forwards.

Peter Gomes was like a one man team and then immediately Salgaocars recruited him.  That was the dream team of Calangute comprising galaxy of extremely good players such as Eustaqio, Bhaskar, Joshe and Coutinho.  He had unique distinction to shake hand with Premier Nehru who was the chief guest when Salgaocar played their first match for Durand Cup in Delhi in 1962.

Peter Gomes was also the best Tiatrist composing and singing very good songs, mainly the comedy. He was  a member of Young Stars of Goa troupe. He had one more unique distinction to direct and stage "ZAGOR & TIATRO as one Show first time in the history, at Calangute near his house. As a footballer he travelled all over India and as a Tiatrist he travelled all over the Gulf.  He represented Goa at Sanosh trophy many times. 

In his death Goa lost a great footballer of whose type we may not easily get another and as a Tiatrist Konkani Stage lost a gigantic artiste.  May his soul rest in peace.

A.Veronica Fernandes,

Candolim.

Tel:7507394349.

WHO IS SUPREME? PARTY OR INDIVIDUAL?

On 21.12.16  at  Araddy Vaddo, Candolim, during the “Corner Meeting” of Michael Lobo of BJP, attended by a fairly huge crowd, the local Sarpanch Sandra requested the voters to re-elect Sir Lobo on the basis of his individuality by ignoring his BJP tag. During the last election the same Sarpanch asked the voters to re-elect another Sir, the defeated Sir Agnelo Fernandes. I don’t know which Queen conferred the Knighthood on these Sirs to address them as such. Why this sudden change now in the stand of the  local Sarpanch and her colleagues is not known but it is imperative for the voters to know it if Sandra and her colleagues believe in democratic transparency.

Sandra cannot take the voters for a ride and voters are not “Ghanttaboil”, she cannot take the voters for granted. This is not a dancing session, yesterday one party and today another, this is nonsense. Voters are not “Khapurlim” who in one Konkani Proverb is described as “Khapurleak khuim kulei Sarke and Thanaim sarkim”. Because of her call last time, voters supported Congress and made BJP as their enemies. This time is Congress as their enemies? What is this?  Who gains in this Aya Rams and Gaya Rams business? We want to know the real reason behind deserting Agnelo Fernandes and his Congress by Candolim Panchayat headed by Sarpanch Sandra. Otherwise in the next election Sandra may come up with another party’s candidate. People in Candolim is losing their confidence on Sandra because she is proving to be volatile.    

          

However,  as per one story the problem started it seems when the major portion of the loot collected thru Bribe was by precedence pocketed by the last time defeated Sir which is not acceptable by other partners in the crime. No wonder, some Panch members and the Sir accumulated huge wealth when their salaries are miniscule.  The looters in Goa are looting the entire loot for themselves only when that money is meant for the welfare of the people.

Secondly, can we ignore the party tag of the candidate while voting for his individuality even though it is good? For any important issue of public interest can the elected representative overpower his party’s decision? Currently, is there any MLA in BJP rank who got hormones in his body to defy the party’s diktats?  If yes then there would be a voice raised seeking justice for Fr. Bismarque and for Terakol & Vanxim locals, so too against the IT attack on Catholic Church and many more issues.  If the Party supremo instructs any of its members to lower his Pant, he has to, otherwise he is out of the party.  And among the Catholic members there is not a single member in the ruling segment who got guts to challenge the party’s decision however anti-Christian that decision may be.  Even the so called great and strong the late Mathanay Saldanha had no balls to oppose the anti-Christian decision of Parricar government of knocking down the annual Christian holidays including on Good-Friday.   

Once the candidate is elected, he becomes a slave of the party even though he is elected not by the party but by the voters whose decisions he must follow. Will the elected representative assure us that he will ignore his party’s decision and support the voters’ decision because it is the voters who are supreme since  they elect him and not his party?  

Meantime, Congress in Calangute constituency will sink further if the defeated candidate is re-nominated as its candidate in the coming election. People are waiting to teach him again the lesson of revenge which he was teaching to the constituents when he was in power. Also people wants to know the source of income of any candidate contesting in Calangute constituency. For this, Luizin Faleiro as party president must declare his first because “charity begins at home”. Faleiro and Digvijay please take this as an ALERT.

A.Veronica Fernandes.

"ARC OF HOPE" - HOME FOR THE AGED (FEMALES) IN CANDOLIM.

During the Portuguese rule and even later on for some more years, there was only one Asilo (Old Aged Home) and that too only for males in Candolim at Pintos Vaddo.  Nowhere else was there any such an Asilo in the surrounding areas nor in the ambient villages.  The inmates in this Asilo which is still running well under the care of Goa government, are from all over Goa.  During those good old days spending one’s life in Asilo means a sort of lowliness but now it is somewhat different. And precisely because of this mindset Asilos are mushrooming almost in every village all over Goa.  In Candolim itself there are now two, one for the females  as well known as “ARC OF HOPE” situated at Murod, opposite to the Church.

Seen above is "ARC OF HOPE"

ARC OF HOPE was the initiative taken under the banner of St. Vincent de Paul and was started with the blessings of the then Archbishop Raul Gonsalves in April 1981. Now at 92 sheltered at Arc of Hope, Ms Esmeralda Gomes as In-Charge of this Home shouldered the responsibility for 32 long years to look after the inmates there. The current Home was inaugurated in 1984 in a plot gifted by one local lady Sr. Cristalina when she felt it was the need of the hour to house the inmates in a more spacious place.  In order to raise funds for the construction of this Home the people behind this project went begging for help almost to every house in Candolim besides organizing Dramas and other activities. Additionally, like a Bom Samaritan, Mr. Frank Simoes a kind hearted local helped this project financially and with the assistance of the then Spiritual Director Fr. Victor Rodrigues who supervised the working of this project, this project got a boost.

Seen above is one of the rooms for the inmates

In 1987 the ground floor followed by the first floor two years later was completed and now the entire project is ready as seen in the picture, thanks to the extra ordinary efforts put in by the dynamic team of the management that supervises this ARC OF HOPE, it has the capacity to accommodate 40 inmates under the care of efficient In-Chharge Ms Teodolina who is ably supported by two assistants, namely Lolita and Tulsi.  Besides, weekly once a doctor visits the Home to check the inmates’ health condition and a Nurse too every morning.

Seen above are some of the inmates

To keep the inmates happy they are provided with TV and In-door games and those who are capable are allowed to do the Stitching, Hair-dressing and other such jobs. The birthdays of the inmates are also celebrated with their family members at Arc of Hope.

Once a week the local Parish Priest celebrates the Holy Mass for the inmates and daily they recite 3 Rosaries. For the security of the inmates, a C.C.T.V. is also installed.

                                         One inmate preparing Envelopes from old Papers

Seeing the humanitarian work done at ARC OF HOPE, the villagers and visitors help generously the Home in Cash and Kind besides once a month on first Sunday outside the Church they do the collection in aid of their needs.

By seeing the poor – needy – aged with a smile on their faces, the great mission of Vincentian looks fulfilled.  The great credit for this achievement goes to all those involved in running this great project. May God Bless them all.

A.Veronica Fernandes.

POLITICAL SCENARIO OF CALANGUTE CONSTITUENCY.

The recent confrontation in Calangute between the two political heavyweights, namely Calangute MLA Michel Lobo and Calangute Dpty. Sarpanch Joseph Sequeira is the clear sign of the fierce events to take place all over Goa.  It is said “once tasted, Lion will never give up the blood (power)”. Both my friends are very popular in Calangute constituency.  As an MLA, Mr. Lobo has done a good developmental work in the constituency as no  MLA in the past has done but that does not mean he did a favour, on the contrary Mr. Lobo has done his duty for which he was elected. However, he surely deserves compliments for doing his duty well in fulfilment of his given promises. Where all other previous MLA’s failed Mr. Lobo succeeded in Calangute constituency.

Mr. Lobo is become a Lokhpriya in Calangute constituency and being so his candidature for BJP is a forgone conclusion. Last time also with the support of Joseph Sequeira, Mr. Lobo won his Seat but will it happen again minus Joseph support?  It is doubtful especially when the wave is anti BJP mainly because of its communal agenda even though Lobo is liked by the constituents there. But  Lobo is bound to follow the party diktats in which case he will have to surrender to the party decision meekly however much he may dislike those dictates because party is supreme otherwise he will be castigated.  He may be Secular,  Non-Communal and Pro-Goan but his party is not. That means he has to follow his party’s principles.

On the other side, Congress  party has not so far  declared its party candidate for Calangute Constituency though two names are making noise, one of Joseph Sequeira who enjoys better public support and the other of last defeated candidate who if re-nominated there is every possibility for history to repeat and again Congress to lose and lose miserably because now people do not want candidates who are proud, revengeful, arrogant and those who accumulate wealth thru illicit means.   

The best option for Congress and other parties trying to unseat the BJP is to get together under one Umbrella which is of paramount importance. If non-BJP parties want to contest the Calangute Seat independently and individually then all are going to lose and lose miserably.  This is the reality in Calangute Constituency.  

A.Veronica Fernandes.

WHAT WE WANT FROM OUR CANDIDATES.

Election is approaching very fast. Before any candidates are imposed on us without consulting us, we must make our wish very clear on our candidates.

First of all, our candidates whoever they may be, must have a good character, they must not be known to demand bribe earlier as Panchayat Members or MLA’s or Ministers or in any form of their public life, they must declare their wealth and also they must declare how they accumulated their wealth.  We want to know how many of the candidates managed to own fleet of expensive cars, number of Hotels, number of Mistresses and number of Bouncers. We also want to know whether they are involved in human trafficking and demanding sexual favours for the official work they do.   

We further want to know from these candidates what was their role in getting justice for Fr. Bismarq.  Do they approve the government decision of attacking Catholic Church thru sudden IT circular and do they feel it is wrong to select only the Catholic Church while leaving others scot-free? Do they support MEI - grant to Church Schools?  Do they support Konkani and its elevation in Roman script? Will they swear that they will not defect to any other party once elected? Will they observe Secularism in dealing with the public even by opposing their party stand and their government principle?  Will they oppose their government stand if it goes against secularism and minorities?

This is the only opportunity for the electorate to discuss with their representatives and get the proper answers  to their queries thru the direct process of democracy.  Hence, we must make good use of this opportunity to grill them once in five years.  

These are the very important queries to all the election contestants we as electorate must ask when they come at our doors for campaigning and canvassing.  This is the only opportunity the voters are getting to reprimand our candidates for their failure in fulfilling their given promise.  This will be theright time for us to show our real democratic power.  Early Democracy is based on this prnciple.  This is called real "DEMOS KRATIA"

A.Veronica Fernandes.

42 YEARS OF WEDDED LIFE OF JERRY CAL.

To my Beloved Wife Teresa

42 Years of Wedded bliss we complete today (14.12.16) 
Even though its been 5 Years you've gone away
My heart still beats,
My life still Yearns for you to be beside me .
Your my first and only love.
Miss you Teresa.

GOAN CATHOLICS ARE PATRIOTIC.

This is to thank Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas for openly voicing out the hardships Catholic community is facing in Goa, on 3^rd of this month at Old Goa feast while delivering his sermon. In the past no Catholic Leader of the Goa Church gathered courage to preach like this. My compliments to Bishop Mascharenhas. Our Church since te invasion of Goa by Bharat on 19.12.61 is living in fear of the majority community because our Church leaders have no trust in Indian SECULARISM though it is constitutional.  Secondly, many in the majority community are become communal.  Any humiliation, any hardship and any discomfort to Catholics in Goa are silently absorbed by the Catholic Church leadership in Goa without even a murmur openly. When Catholics were put into inconvenience, leader of Catholicism in Philippines revolted against the government of Ferdinand Marcos.  So did Fr. Torres in South America. So much so, Fr. Torres turned like a Terrorist against government machinery there to protect his Christian duty to serve the downtrodden.

Bishop Mascarenhas said “Catholic Church  and  its community is a faithful and a peace loving community involved in nation building”. Moreover, Catholic community is a strong patriotic community not only in Goa but also in India.  If not then General Francis Sunit Rodrigues a Goan would not have been elevated to the position of Army Chief of India and the other Christians namely Admirals Ronnie Pereira and Stan Dawson would not serve as chiefs of the naval staff and Air Chief Marshall Denis de la Fontaine as chief of air staff.  The greatest patriots among Goans who fought for Goa’s freedom from colonial rule were Goan Catholics like Pintos & Abe Faria from Candolim and Parliamentarian Francis Luis Gomes from Navelim.  Moreover, the Pintos were Catholic Priests who indicated greatest patriotism for Goa than for their vocation.

   

Our Church authority is afraid that its protest over unfair treatment to Catholics may be misunderstood because those who put fear in Catholics in Goa feel they are more Indians and Christians are less. Unfortunately, in Goa there is no leader from our community to fight for us openly but rightly.   Even the late Mathanay Saldanha the Cabinet Minister on whom we were counting so much remained a silent spectator when Parricar dismantled Christian holidays. And regretfully, currently there is not a single MLA in BJP group on whom Christians can count on their open support. They look so slavish that to please Parsencar and Parricar they would condescend to any level.

I admire Bishop Mascarenhas for being open and vocal in putting forth our grievances. It is time for Christians now to be assertive of their rights forcefully and peacefully. By opening our mouth if  our Church authority feels it is useless then by closing our mouth it is any better?   

Goan Christians are great patriots, their patriotism and their contributions in the development of Goa and India should be highlighted in the Church sermons regularly and also taught in the Diocesan schools so that they are known for what they did for Goa. The new and young generation of Goans are not well aware of what our  elder Christians have done for the cause of Goa.

 A.Veronica Fernandes.

 

                

NEW AUDIO CD "GOLMAAL" OF FRANCIS DE TUEM.

Currently the most popular Tiatrist and the topmost political singer and script writer/director Francis de Tuem,  last week released his 12^th new Konkani Audio CD consisting of 13 songs. All these 13 songs are composed by Francis de Tuem and the musical score was beautifully provided by Maestro Joaquim D’Souza and his troupe.  It is very pleasing to the ears that give an extra booster to this Album. From these 13 songs 9 excellent solos are excellently rendered by Francis de Tuem on different topics mainly political.  The remaining songs namely Duo, Trio and Quarter rendered by the currently best singers of Konkani Stage, namely Bushka, Lawry Travasso, Marcus Vaz and Xavier Gomes besides Comedian Selvy and Baba Levi.  Qualitatively this CD is much higher than the others available in the market at the moment and precisely because of this its sale is going very well.

Bushka rendered one very interesting solo in a serene voice on the topic that one husband in India recently carried the dead body of his wife on his shoulders in the absence of Ambulance in the hospital. It described the very pathetic situation existing in some parts of India. This news highlighted by the national media put India into shame especially Parricar who ironically rates India higher than Pakistan when India does not even care for the dead body. 

Xavier Gomes sang one solo on the ill effect of “Smart Phone” on Children which is very philosophical while Lawry Travasso rendered his solo on Life Enjoyment,  meaning: we must enjoy life when we are young.  One beautiful and meaningful Duo “Maim” on the greatness of one’s real mother was rendered by Francis de Tuem and Baba Levi while another Duo “Madd” on Coconut converted into Grass was rendered by Francis de Tuem and Selvy.  It is a hard hitting song against government. The trio on “F.C. Goa” in particular and football in general is an excellent one and it was rendered by Francis de Tuem-Marcus Vaz-Lawry Travasso which contained lot of important information on origin and original place of football, contribution of Arpora School in Goan soccer under its founder and founder Principal Fr. Lyons etc. This was composed after a thorough study of this subject.  It is historical and informative as well.

The title song “Golmaal” rendered by Franca de Tuem with a chorus sarcastically descrbes the mess government made in Goa. It is a perfect mockery of the chicanery of BJP government in Goa.  One of the all time best songs in this CD is “Sant Antonio” rendered by Francis de Tuem.  Its composition is great and historical as well and its musical score is fantastic, Violin steals the whole show. It mentions miraculous St. Antonio Church at Siolim.  This song should be a great gift of Francis de Tuem to the people of Siolim and also to the devotees of St.Antonio.   It tells that He was “Portugalchea  Lisboa ghanvant to zolmolo, Italia Padua ghanvant ontorlo, moron ekach vorsa bhitor Sant zalo”.

 

The Trio “Dettol se Dho” is very piercing against Government, rendered by Francis de Tuem-Lawry Travasso-Marcus Vaz. It describes many ugly incidents committed by the BJP government.  It is worth listening and it exposes certain hidden incidents committed by the BJP government.

“Question Mark” is yet another very interesting song rendered by  Francis de Tuem which resembles Kid Boxer’s songs full of “Mhonneo, Ghoddneo ani Vopari”. It is very rich in “Vopari, Mhonneo and natural Ghoddneo”. Examples: “Kombo poilo ou Tantem poilem, Question mark”.  Sogleam sukneank ami postat pun Kanvleak kiteak possinant, question mark”.  Sogleo pikleleo vostu zoddtat pun Khadd kiteak zoddonant”. “Chani xempddi aloun kiteak roddta, question mark”. I enjoyed it very much.

Another very interesting solo rendered by Francis de Tuem is “Radie TV Fodda” in which the singer hits very hard those who came to hit him at Margao when the RoseFerns Tiatro was in progress. In this song the singer directly blames Mickey Mouse saying those goondas, (te goonda Mickey Mouse-an daddleat mhonn  koule”, te Mickey Mouse-ache munis civildad naslole), came to hit him.  It is very powerful and daring song. It also discloses the incident where his wife was involved in confrontation on the Stage and because of this he openly apologized.     

BRICS is another powerful solo by Francis de Tuem on the recently held international Meet  in South Goa because of which some development took place especially of Roads. He also compares this Meet with CHOGM eldin Goa at Snquerim TAJ some years back.

“Goenchi Douot” is the last but very beautiful song Francis de Tuem sings describing how the mining wealth of Goa is controlled by a few businessmen instead of sharing it with all Goans.  It is very informative solo which gives you details of how Goa’s wealth is looted by the very few.

A.Veronica Fernandes.

INDIA - PAKISTAN WAR CLOUDS.

These days, BJP government at the Centre is creating artificial clouds of war against Pakistan giving an impression that war is the only solution to stop Pakistan from waging a proxy war against India thru the terrorists who are constantly creating problems for India especially in Kashmir.

First of all, let me say openly that I strongly condemn Pakistan for helping the terrorists to create problems in India by killing Indian soldiers and even innocent civilians. In no way these heinous acts are acceptable.  But will the war against Pakistan solve the problem? Somebody the other day suggested an all out war against Pakistan till the entire Pakistan comes under the possession of India.  This is like dreaming.

If India wants to wage a war against Pakistan, do we have now a professional and a competent Defense Minister like Israeli Moshe Dayan or American Dick Cheney? We have at the helm of our defence affairs an immature and ignorant in military affairs defence minister Manohar Parricar.  He may be an expert and qualified in some other field but surely not in defence. If by relying on his Zero knowledge of defence system and war techniques, go to war against Pakistan, I am afraid we may fall in further problems and end in a way we ended in 1962 War with China whence India was totally destroyed, our soldiers were butchered and hundreds of acres of our land grabbed by China.   This happened because our the then defence minister Krishna Menon was ignorant of War games.  Though he was sacked from the Cabinet immediately after that war but because of his lack of knowledge on this subject India suffered a humiliating defeat and that was the only defeat independent India suffered from our neighbours.

India under BJP is in a mess, nothing is moving well, people are disgusted with the government machinery.  BJP came to power by openly declaring that they will do something good, better than Congress but with the naked eyes one can see nothing but clouds looming with fascism and RSS-ism.  BJP is proving now that it wants to implement its hidden agenda of turning India into a Theocratic State. All the BJP leaders are having a mindset of parochial and sectarian thoughts.  They will never develop India, on the contrary they will take India back to the Stone Age.

India is blaming Pakistan for sending terrorists to India.  I don’t know how far this is hundred percent true but one thing is certain, in Pakistan its own people and government are also suffering from terrorism perpetrated by the indigenous Pakistani terrorists only.  Their aim is not only to hit India but also Pakistan and it is a pity that Pakistan officially is incapable to control these terrorists.  Secondly, Pakistan being an enemy of India, we cannot expect Pakistan to kiss us.  They are our worst enemies and wherever possible they will surely hit us.  In view of this, is it not our duty to lock our doors properly and man them with efficient guards instead of keeping our doors open and vulnerable for our enemies to enter?  When Mumbai attack took place, where were our Coast guards? Sleeping.  Indian officials are on record to sell even atomic secrets to our enemies for a Whiskey bottle.  In view of this how can we rely on such people to protect India?  Indians are known to be the best bribeabe commodities and greater the rank greater is degree of bribe.    

Once again I condemn Pakistani backed terrorists infiltration on Indian soil but the solution for this is not war but diplomatic negotiation and discussion, if necessary to involve third party closer to Pakistan.  India got good diplomatic ties with al the Muslim, Arab and Western countries. Their good offices must be sought to enlighten Pakistan instead of counting on war.  War will never solve this problem because both the neighbours are nuclear powers but India is too decent, too matured and too advanced nation compared to Pakistan that is ready to do any amount of sacrifice to destroy India, fully or partially.  I came across Pakistanis in Kuwait who are ready to go into extinction but will be happy to see India should disappear partially at least. They have inborn anger against India for dismembering Pakistan and creating Bangladesh out of one unified Pakistan.  They will forgive anything to India but never and NEVER the war against Pakistan to create independent Bangladesh.  

Pakistan is a hurt nation and I disagree with those Indian statements saying India should bring Pakistan under its banner thru a fierce war.  Those who think in these terms are day dreamers and idiots. Even if I get Pakistan free of charge, I will never accept that part of the subcontinent.  Qualitatively that part is backward and cruel and also militant compared to India and it will be impossible for Indian administrators to control them. In this case, they will do more harm to India and Indian interest though India may have such ambitions because of its hegeomonistic lust that prompted India to annex militarily so many neighbouring territories including Hyderabad, Kashmir and Goa.   Because of India’s hegeomonistic ambition, Zulficar Ali Bhutto first gave a call to manufacture an Atomic weapon to deter India from further dismembering Pakistan after the birth of Bangladesh.  Said Bhutto in his masterpiece “If I am Assassinated” written in the prison cell where he was confined after sentencing him to the gallows:  “We will rather eat grass but will definitely produce an Atom Bomb”.     

A.Veronica Fernandes.