CONDOLENCES - THE LATE ALEX MARTINS.

KUWAIT  KONKNNI  KENDR deeply mourn the sad demise of Alex Martins and offer its profound sympathies to all his children and other family members.

May his soul rest in peace.


KUWAIT KONKNNI KENDR. 

THE LATE ALEX MARTINS.

It is with deep grief and regret I got the news yesterday in the afternoon of the sad demise of Mr. Alex Martins at Vintage hospital, Panjim, Goa, a week before he was admitted there. 

Alex Martins was a very good human being, kindhearted and charitable person and above all, a great lover of Goa and Goan causes. He worked in Kuwait Airways for over thirty years and retired from there and after involving in a small business venture returned to Goa for good to settle down at his residence in Taleigao, Ilhas, Goa.

A father of 5 children – 3 daughters and two sons, all coming from abroad were at his bedside during his death.  He was a very good family man.        

Though he was the son-in-law of Calangute, I came in contact with him only in Kuwait during our movement for Konkani.  Later on he joined Kuwait Konknni Kendr as executive member and served Konkani cause thru KKK activities.

Graduated from JJ College of Arts in Bombay he was a very good Fine Artist and displayed many of his Artworks in Bombay and elsewhere.

After joining Kuwait Airways in supervisory position he helped many Goans to get employment there and even outside by using his personal influence.  As a man he was very dignified and decent, always up-to-date in dress code.  A very humble man and soft spoken as well.

He was a good Tiatrist and staged his Tiatros in Bombay and Kuwait, allwritten and directed by him only.  He had the unique distinction of producing the first ever Konkani Video Film “Guirestkai” from Kuwait in early eighties.

During my association with him, he played the role of my Guru on many subjects by advising me in right direction and also guiding me properly. He was very much responsible to encourage me to take up oratory for which I am grateful to him.

It was first time in the history in Kuwait that Konkani activities were conducted in 5 Star Hotel and it was organized by Kuwait Konknni Kendr, our colleague Alex Martins was very much encouraging in this direction.       

 

In his death Goa lost a great son of Goa having all the great qualities of pristine Goan, such pristine Goans are rarity now.

 

May his soul rest in peace and may God give courage for his children to bear this colossal loss.

 

A. VERONICA FERNANDES,

GOA.  

     

BEHBEHANI ? HARAMI !!

It was in the month of October 1990, somewhere on 1^{st or 2nd. two months after the invasion of Kuwait. I was preparing myself to make arrangement to leave Kuwait by the end of that month and since I had some household items to dispose of, I found one Iraqi customer whom I sold my Washing Machine. When that customer took the Machine down on the ground floor he was caught by the Iraqi soldier who took the customer to the nearby Police Station for questioning whether it was robbed or purchased. The Police Chief at the Police Station summoned me to confirm the truth.}

When I told the Police Chief the truth he would not believe me but I insisted on telling the real truth. Then he asked me to show him my ID where it was indicated my employers name as Behbehani. When he saw this name his face became red with anger and catching me by my beard he shouted at me saying "BEHBEHANI? HARAMI !!." For this I retorted fearlessly saying "Sir, Behbehanis are my employers and sponsors and they are nice people and not HARAMI". Then again he shouted at me giving some abuses and commanding me to get out and leave Kuwait immediately with the inssulting words "ella rue".

My entire working career in Kuwait I spent under Behbehanis at their Shuwaikh division "Behbehani Motors Co." where I worked for 38 years and during this long period I found Behbehanis as very good people as human beings and also as employers. They ere humane, very kind hearted and non harassing employers, very systematic and very erect. Unnecessary without any appropriate reason they would not harm any emplooyee nor hurt any employee however small he or she may be. They are highly sophisticated and highly dignified. It was honour for me to work for them. In one word I can rightly say that they are Godly people.

Behbehanis in Kuwait are might and power wielding extremely high influence in all the segmets of the Kuwaiti society. Somewhere in late seventies when the elder son Mr. Ali Morad Behbehani of the president of the company the late Mr. Morad Yousuf Behbehani, got married, the wedding reception was held at Kuwait Sheraton with the attendance even of the entire Kuwaiti Cabinet headed by the Kuwait's premier Sheikh Saad. This was the first time in the history of Kuwait as far as I know such an occasion was held. This was due to the mighty power of Behbehani family.

During the 8 years war between Iraq and Iran in eighties, the economy of Kuwait was undergoing stress and because of this financial stress some companies including some mighty ones started reducing the salaries of their staff. But Behbehanis never followed them, on the contrary Behbehani gave increament to their staff. This shows the might of Behbehanis.

According to their tradition, Behbehanis never interfere in your personals affairs, outside matters they do not link with your work. No expatriate in Kuwait among Goans was involved in extracurricular activities as I was during my residence in Kuwait. Because of my such activities I also received jealousy from some community member. In oroder to punish me for doing such activities, some members of the community sent a fax message to the president of the company Mr. Morad Y. Behbehani against me for writing articles in the local Newspapers and elsewhere and requesting Mr. Behbehani to terminate me from the job. Unfortunately for them and fortunately for me according to my source in our Head Office Mr. Behbehani just threw this scrap into the Waste Paper Basket. If it was somebody else there might have been action taken on me but not in Behbehani.

Accroding to my experiennced observation in Behbehani, I can rightly say that Behbehanis are godly people and not and NEVER HARAMI. In fact the real HARAMI in Behbehanis are the rascal Managers who are manning the Behbehani business empire and who are real responsible persons to tarnish the very fair image of Behbehani. During my long years stay at Behbehani with the exception of one or two,  never I found any Manager worthy to hold managerial position. Not only many of them  were professionally, educationally, wisdomatically and morally rascals but as human beings they were extremely selfish never bothered to do justice for the staff working under them. They were selfish making use of their Chairs only for their own benefit by harassing and neglecting others. As human beings their quality was very poor. They survived there on their jobs as one eyed persons among the blind whom they kept supressed. Some of them were so cruel that the acted like Iraqi soldiers during the invasion of Kuwait.

During my entire tenure in Behbehani I noticied nothing but Nazism, Racism, Narrow Arabism, Maharaja-ism and Regionalism practiced by the managers who are real HARAMI and who for the sake of their job security and easy flow of money will even sell their wives because as per my information a few of them were first class Pimps. And these Pimps and rascals bring bad name for Behbehaniis.

Otherwise Behbehanis by themselves are excellent people, very charitable and NOT HARAMI. May God Bless them.

 

 

A/ Veronica Fernandes,

Goa.  Tel: 7507394349.