Saligao Serenade

by Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas

In the old days there were few mendicants in the villages of Goa. Those that did exist were neither professional beggars of the type one encounters in the cities of India today nor were they unknown vagrants. They were persons from the village, mainly from the labour class. Due to disability or old age, and having no close kin to support them, they were forced to seek alms for a living. Some of them had been rich, but after squandering their wealth in vice or due to some misfortune, were reduced to penury and begging. Read the rest of this entry »

by Fr Nascimento Mascarenhas

Nestling in a coconut grove and overlooking paddy fields is the Saligao Institute, which is housed in its own building at Arrarim in Saligao. It was inaugurated in 1929. It provides its growing number of members with social, literary and cultural activities. Indoor games are popular. The cemented badminton court adjoining the institute’s building also serves as a popular open-air dance floor. In recent years many valuable books on literature, economics, current affairs, biography, fiction and even child welfare, have been added to its well-stocked bookshelves, thanks to Alfred D’Cruz from Cruz-vaddo / Bandra. Read the rest of this entry »

by Valmiki Faleiro

Foxes from the cane fields they might have been, going by village nickname the enterprising sons of Saligao earned for taking up large-scale sugarcane cultivation in their village. But, “Foxes of the Desert” (with due apologies to Gen. Erwin Rommel) several of them sure were. Let us, briefly, take a peek at some of the valorous sons that Saligao gave to the nation as officers in the defence services. Read the rest of this entry »

by Fr Nascimento Mascarenhas

It has been said that folk songs of a country or region “reveal the soul of a particular race”, and that “the art of the people is the voice of their heart and truest confession of their thought”. In this sense, the Goan folk songs are historical documents that record the feelings and doings of the Goan life from birth to death.

There are about thirty distinct (surviving) types of folk songs in an area of roughly 3,500 square kilometres. In other words, Goan folk songs are certainly the greatest treasure in “the great song wealth of the microcosmic India that is the Konkan,” which is now ten centuries old. They are also the best known, thanks to Christian contribution. The Christian Goan Folk Song may be divided under two categories: Religious and Profane. Read the rest of this entry »

by Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas

Our forefathers in the villages of Goa lived for the day, occupying themselves mainly with fishing and farming. Not having any water bodies of significance during the last couple of centuries, the village of Saligao was not witness to much fishing activity. However, fishing was a significant occupation for the neighbouring villages of Calangute and Sirula, and it was from these villages that Saligao obtained its fish. We had salt-water fish from Calangute and fresh-water fish from Salvador do Mundo and Britona. At times we went to Pilerne during the rainy season to fish with makeshift fishing rods and bait; it was an exhilirating experience for us youngsters. Read the rest of this entry »