Saligao Serenade

by Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas

It was October-November of 1999 when a group of librarians from Rachol Seminary, Central Library and Historical Archive of Goa from Panjim, under Senhora Ines Isabel Simoes de Abreu dos Santos Correia of Torre de Tombo Portugal took part in a course of preservation and conservation of the historical documents existing at Rachol Seminary as well as the Menezes Bragança House at Chandor. For 15 days the group was given the task of cleaning, cataloguing and preparing descriptions of the documents assigned to each member. I was one of the group members, representing Rachol. Read the rest of this entry »

by Fr Nascimento Mascarenhas

During the days of Portuguese rule in Goa, it sometimes became necessary for Goans to migrate to other parts of the world in search of employment, either as a means to bettering their lot or because of lack of suitable options in their homeland. Some of the enterprising folk among these adventurers founded “clubs” in the large cities they visited, including Bombay, Calcutta, Karachi, East Africa, etc.

The club – or kudd in Konkani – served as an inexpensive haven for young men in transit from their native village, as they set out to seek their fortune in the big bad world. Several of these quaint clubs still exist in Bombay, and a handful still survive in other urban centres of Goan settlement. Interestingly, the kudd is exclusively a Goan Christian creation, and membership has always been restricted to males. Read the rest of this entry »

by Fr Nascimento Mascarenhas

Many years ago, a young man named Felix D’Souza, from Mudd’davaddi in the village of Saligao, was prone to question just about everything he encountered, using a single  Portuguese word — porquê (why). After a while, his entire family was nicknamed Porque – pronounced ‘poorkhe’, although Saligao folk prefer to say ‘porkey’.

The Porque house is very easy to find, for it is today the residence of the former Chief Minister of Goa, Dr Wilfred D’Souza. His Aunt Estefânia from Anjuna married a D’Souza from Saligao – the Porque of this story. Eventually Estefânia gifted their house to her nephew Dr Willy. Of course there was no question of porque in this matter. Read the rest of this entry »

by Mel D’Souza

The villagers of Saligao have always revered any of their sons and daughters who either excel academically or achieve success in their chosen careers – generally in the white collar field. And this remains a sure-shot way of obtaining “famous” status, at least in the eyes of the village.

In the early and middle twentieth century, an era when matriculating from high school was looked upon as a passport to a relatively secure career as a clerk, anyone with a college degree was deemed to be a noteworthy cut above the rest… and even more so if the individual held a prominent position in the then British Colonial Civil service. Read the rest of this entry »

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

As the FIFA World Cup 2010 gets underway later today (June 11), excitement must be rising to fever pitch among the myriad fans of football in Saligao and all over Goa.

In fact, football has always been a highly popular sport in Goa and among Goans worldwide. In Saligao, the Mater Dei Institution had a full-length football ground with goalposts, nets and boundary markings all according to the established international standards for the game. At the time I was schooling there, the institution had a provision for boarders, and they were required to report at the ground every day at 5:00 pm for a game of football. Anacleto Lobo, the Principal of the school, was a strict disciplinarian, but adhered to the dictum All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Read the rest of this entry »

by Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas

While youngsters today have many appealing new professions to choose from, in days gone by people in the villages of Goa also earned their daily bread in myriad interesting ways and some of the professions were rather quaint and fascinating.

I will never forget the colourful basket-weavers who came to Saligao all the way from Bairo Alto to make beautiful household articles from matted bamboo strips. The range of products was quite extensive and included elegant baskets (pantli); multipurpose containers (vorli) used, among other things, to ripen fruit and extract coconut juice for the preparation of traditional sweets; brooms (sarun); bamboo matting sieves (kurponnem) to drain water from cooked rice; bamboo mats (dalli); the small barn to store rice (koddo); bamboo fencing (virlem) around the coconut tree sapling to protect it from cattle); boxes of bamboo cane-work (pettaro) ; handheld fans (aino); and, small trinkets and toys. Read the rest of this entry »

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 »