Saligao Serenade

by Mel D’Souza

When I was a lad growing up in the village of Saligao in Goa, the first monsoon rains in June were always welcome. They flooded the paddy fields and topped up the village wells that had dropped to a low water level in the preceding dry months. Trees would be cleansed of all the dust accumulated on their leaves, and they would sparkle in their green glory.

Although the term “monsoon” conjures images of incessant rainfall, the rainy season actually had breaks of light drizzles and a fair share of sunny days. However, there would be the odd heavy thunderstorm that would have the village awash in water. This is when the runoff from higher ground would gush into narrow lanes and drain into culverts connected to open storm-water sewers that discharged into the Arabian Sea. The open wells would be full to almost ground level and, if this happened to coincide with the feast day of São João (St. John the Baptist) on June 24th, it would be time for some of the young men in the village to venerate the saint with a big splash! 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 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 In this sense, the Goan folk songs are historical documents that record the feelings and doings of the Goan life from birth to death.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

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[This piece on soprano Joanne-Marie D’Mello was written by Fr Nascimento in January 2002. Since then Joanne has studied at the Royal College of Music in London and gone from strength to strength as a singer. Joanne will next be performing at the Lunchtime Concert Series on 9 April 2010, St Martin in the Fields, Trafalgar Square, London]

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The day was 27th January, 2002. It was 5 o’clock in the evening. I decided to visit my friends Joe and Jean D’Mello at their residence in Barro-vaddo, Sangolda, as I had not seen them for some time, and also wanted to meet their children Joanne-Marie and Jovito. The young Joanne, a mezzo-soprano singer, had recently been profusely praised for her performance at the Kala Academy in Panjim. Read the rest of this entry »

by Fr Nascimento Mascarenhas

The people of Goa have always had a fascination for names, and take the naming of their children very seriously. In days gone by it was not unusual for an infant to be given three, four or even more names – after patron saints, forefathers, famous figures from history, and miscellaneous tongue-twisters. In addition to all these given names, later on in life many were lovingly bestowed with one more – a nickname. Read the rest of this entry »

by Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas

As my friend Salvador Mascarenhas and I continued to walk through the vaddo (ward) of Cotula in Saligao, we found ourselves at the house of the late Sebastian Pinto. He was an Africander, a social worker, and always smiling. Opposite is Amanda Lopes e Souza’s residence—she is now in Portugal. She was a good pianist and a very amiable character. She was senior to us at Mater Dei, and we were also acquainted with her brother Jerry, and Gloria. Read the rest of this entry »

[Editor's Note: This essay has been compiled by Fr Nascimento Mascarenhas from old documents, magazine cuttings, jubilee souvenirs, and myriad other sources. If you recognize an unacknowledged source, do let us know and we will rectify the lapse.] 

 Engagements and marriages are also tied down by the traditions in Goa and surrounded by a cluster of quaint rites and observances. A week before any wedding there is bustle all around in preparation for the Buim Jevon or Bikareanchem Jevon (Beggars’ Lunch) and so called, because all the poor as well as the rich who are invited for it are made to sit on the floor on a mat (souém) and eat.  The menu consists of rice, jaggery, sweet (onn) a mixture of gram and plantain vegetable, puris made of rice or wheat flour and an aromatic curry of all types of spices washed down by a glass of feni (the local brew).  Dessert is bananas, mangoes or jack-fruits. Read the rest of this entry »

[Editor's Note: This essay has been compiled by Fr Nascimento Mascarenhas from old documents, magazine cuttings, jubilee souvenirs, and myriad other sources. If you recognize an unacknowledged source, do let us know and we will rectify the lapse.] 

A tradition, superstition or a custom is at home in a place, like a plant. It draws vitality and life from a certain fertile environment and will not grow or flourish anywhere else. And in Goa, including Saligao, with her brooding beauty and peaceful atmosphere, has been the responsive soil and setting for some very picturesque folklore. Probably the hard and lonely but contented life some of the peasants lead, worked on their imaginations and endowed the little-known and the remote with grand importance. The village folk were in every respect sons of the soil, with pliant and impressionable minds. With their hopes sown in the fields; their fears fanned by every passing wind, superstitions and legends formed an essential part of  their everyday life. At least, this was the prevalent scene while I was a young lad growing up in Saligao in the early 1950s, before I decided to become a priest and joined the Seminary of Saligao towards the end of that decade, at the age of 17. Read the rest of this entry »

by Mel D’Souza

The first Sunday in May is when the village of Saligao and its sons and daughters living in other parts of the world celebrate the feast of the Church of Mae de Deus (Mother of God).

Celebrations abroad usually start with Holy Mass followed by a social gathering where Saligaokars partake of good food, dancing and fellowship. Read the rest of this entry »

by Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas

In the repertoire of many brass bands from Goa, the Saligao Anthem, O Brilhante e a Estrela, figures prominently. No feast procession is complete without the tune being played, and the composer and his village being remembered by musicians past and present. Of course not everyone would know who the composer was-especially those from other villages; perhaps even the current generation of Saligaokars would be ignorant on this count.

But Joaquim Antonio Mascarenhas of Arrarim must not be forgotten. He composed the musical score of the Saligao Anthem, on the occasion of the celebration of the fifty-first anniversary of the consecration of the Church of Mae de Deus in Saligao, on 26 November 1924. Read the rest of this entry »