With my heart crying, I
write this piece with deep sorrow and chagrin on the sad demise of our
friend, colleague and strong supporter of Goan causes including that of Konkani
language. Xavier Mendes yesterday at GMC Bambolim, Goa. Xavier Mendes came to
Kuwait somewhere in 1979 after his younger brother Derick and later on their elder brother Felix too joined
them in late seventies. When they all the three brothers came to Kuwait, they
started taking part in our Tiatros organized in Kuwait mainly in the Church
Hall and Keefan Hall. When I established my contact with all the three brothers
who were staying together as a very well knit family with strong bond of which type nowadays one rarely sees, I disclosed my idea to all the Mendes brothers
of financing from Kuwait the starting of peoples daily in Konkani that was
christened as ‘NOVEM GOEM”. Xavier Mendes along with his other two brothers
younger Derick and the elder Felix gave me strong booster to go ahead. Then I said
we will organize 1 or 2 Tiatros to raise fund for this daily and I told them
every artiste will have to act free of charge, for this proposal they immediately
agreed and not only they but even all others acted free except Musicians who were
very adamant and arrogant towards the Konkani cause. Finally we organized two Tiatros
for this cause without paying a paisa to the artistes, for both these Tiatros
Xavier Mendes along with his other 2 bothers shouldered major responsibility to
make these Tiatros successful.
Xavier Mendes seen addressing a Meeting in Kuwait
After some years, Xavier
Mendes stopped acting in Tiatros because he got himself involved very deeply in
the Church affairs in different fields whence the era of Mendes Bros. came to a
halt. By being involved in the Church circle he helped the Church in organizing
Choir and other religious activities. It
was during this period he got married to his wife Theresa who is a very kind and
loving person, they have two children, one son and a daughter.
Then after a long gap I
requested Xavier Mendes to take part in
the Show we organize at Indian Embassy Auditorium in honour of Fr. Gabriel Dias
as a farewell to him since he was leaving Kuwait after serving Kuwait about 7
years. With Xavier Mendes saying ok,
other two brothers also joined him to make this Show a great success. As a farewell
gift to Fr. Gabriel, Xavier Mendes composed a beautiful song on Fr. Gabriel
which was rendered by all the three brothers very beautifully. In fact Xavier Mendes was very smart as far as singing
part is concerned. He was doing comedy
role along with his younger brother Derrick and they both creating peals of
laughter in the audience while the elder
brother Felix playing the role of a decent man which with his majestic
personality he used to perform beautifully.
Xavier Mendes’ besides
Stage and Church roles, used to take part in many of the activities for the
cause of Goa and Goans and as a matter of fact he was an asset for us while in
Kuwait especially during the Konkani movement.
He was always a source of encouragement for me, almost in all the activities
that we organized in Kuwait for the cause of Goa and Goans.
The Trio of Mendes Bros. Xavier in the middle
In Kuwait while doing
comedy roles he used to perform cabaret dance so perfectly well that one was at
a loss to recognise that he was the real Xavier Mendes. With his empty mouth in the manner of
whistling, he used to play Trumpet just like the original Trumpet. When he along
with his other two brothers first time came on the Stage after his father’s
death, the legendary comedian Anthony Mendes, he created sensation mainly because
people noticed a lot of resemblance in him and his late father. He is by nature
very innovative creating something or the other while playing his role. He was perfect in doing the mimicry by
imitating the voices of many persons.
Seen extreme left is Xavier Mendes attending the public function in Kuwait.
Once he told me that their
coming on to the Konkani Stage was because of the death of their father when
they were young still in the school because their father was opposing them to
become Tiatrists. During those days Tiatrists enjoyed no respect in the society,
most of them were drunkards and womenisers and afflicted with other vices. But if their father was alive now, he would
be surprised to know that all his three sons maintaining high profile and dignified discipline. By moving with Xavier and his other brothers
too, I found they are very decent, disciplined and of high character
personalities. The way Xavier along with his other 2 brothers behaved in
society, they don’t look like ordinary tiatrists but extra-ordinary human
beings.
A. Veronica Fernandes.
