Ben Antao's : Blood & Nemesis   - a book review by Cyril D'Cunha

 [The following review appeared in Goa Today, August 2005, written by Cyril D’Cunha, a veteran Goan journalist who writes for the regional and international press]

Superb narrative: 

Goa’s freedom struggle has been voluminously chronicled over the years by different writers, leaving a wealth of information for others to fall back on. But apart from this historical perspective, there have been other authors that have used these facts to good purpose, the latest in the line being Canada-based Ben Antao with his novel “Blood & Nemesis.”  

During the closing stages of the freedom struggle, the Portuguese colonialists did see the writing on the wall, though unsure just when the inevitable would happen. A serious warning signal came when Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia extended his support to the cause of this freedom movement in 1946, in Margao, at the place, which is now called the Lohia Maidan. Antao does give a historical perspective to his fictional work to support his story line, though one cannot deter from the fact that his thought process chases several of the events in an engaging manner. By the very nature of it being a novel, any event in the story, however historically connected, was merely a whiff of the happenings of that era, and, therefore, never meant to be a historical work as such. Ben, however, does sneak in certain details in his 318 pages of crisply written prose to make it interesting.  

Take for instance the character Jovino, the lecherous cop, who wallowed in the pleasures of wine, women and gambling, terrifying those that opposed Portuguese rule in Goa and in the bargain, giving rise to new levels of unforgivable fury even among his colleagues. Jovino’s sexcapades are also vividly described with no holds barred, with prostitute Kamala from Mardol. As the story unfolds, Jovino even uses Kamala in his nefarious operations to gain the confidence of some people for his spying work. He needed to do this despite the vicious hatred towards him, a vignette of the villain and notorious Agent Monteiro. The novel is inspired by the resistance put up by freedom fighters, particularly of the likes of Roque Santana and Dr. Pundalik Gaitonde.  

There is special focus on the persecution of the freedom fighters, who had reached new levels of unforgivable fury with feelings, which ran high, against the colonial regime through the different characters portrayed in the novel. A touch of the authentic can be felt, with Rogaciano D’Silva, a prisoner at Aguada jail, being told by his co-prisoner Santan Barreto, when he showed him the scars on his arms due to the beating he received, that he was not destined to die. “Remember, we have Destiny on our side. If anyone is going to die, it’s going to be Jovino. Mark my words,” he tells D’Silva.  

The denouement comes towards the end of the novel, with an emaciated Jovino, paying for his sins at last, abandoned at the Margao hospital, afflicted with syphilis. 

From this novel and his earlier published works, Ben brings into play his narrative skills, developed over the years as a senior journalist, having worked in Bombay as well as Goa. In 1990, he published ‘Images of Goa’ and in 2004 a travelogue ‘Goa a rediscovery’. He has the distinction of being the president of the Canadian Authors Association, Toronto Branch.

Cyril D'Cunha
September 21, 2005
Goa

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