PASSAGE TO GOA

January 2002

josé colaço

continued from : page 1.  Introduction:

Some of the CyberGoans we met

Ema and I had felt that it was best to spend a couple of days at a central place in order to  make contact with as many of our  CyberGoan brothers and sisters as possible as well as coordinate visits with the various family members.

Accordingly, we booked into our favourite little place, the Hotel Mandovi in the heart of Panjim. Despite the slight fall in standards, we were quite pleased with the overall service at the Mandovi.

Well known Goan journalist, Fred Noronha was the first to make contact.  It was a pleasure to meet Fred. There were many things I wanted to ask Fred, and I did.  At the end of it, I was happy to reinforce my original impression of Fred.  Fred Noronha is one from a rare breed of individuals.  He is extremely hard working, frightfully honest, loyal to his friends, shrewd, very helpful and a very pleasant person indeed.  Let alone journalists, there are few of Fred's kind around. How Fred manages to produce such an amount of material given the rigors of Goan life and the speed or lack of it, of Goan Internet connections, beats me. It is often said that if you want something done, ask a busy person to get it done.  Fred Noronha proves that saying right.

For whatever reason, and I don't necessarily accept the reason Fred gave me, Fred did not accept our invitation for a cup of tea at the Mandovi. Instead, he convinced Ema and me join him at the "hole in the wall press club" Cafe Prakash....and we did.

After a few polite feelers, the topic of the various D-lists came up.  Goa Net, TGF 's own d-list (Goa-Goans) & Goancauses.  It is now generally accepted that ALL the Goans d-lists help keep the dialogue about Goa going, and the information flowing.  Looks like there is some healthy competition going on; and that is good. Monopolies are never good for anyone or anything !!  That the coordinators/volunteers of two different d-lists(Fred & JC) could meet with each other so cordially and discuss matters with such openness is a good sign; indicating that we are all able (if we try) to work together despite our different lives, careers and enterprises.

The Goa Today topic inevitable cropped up. It is my firm belief that GoaCom, never mind the business pressures  after moving into the new premises et al, should have had better sense than NOT talking things over with Uly Menezes and Gaspar Almeida of Goa World.net BEFORE taking over the e-publication of Goa Today which Goa World was hosting gratis.  Uly & Gaspar are two of the most altruistic and helpful Goans one will ever find.  Everyone is fully able to understand that businesses have the right to choose and to compete to the point of "grab", but this action of GoaCom can only be seen as a "stab in the back" of Uly Menezes and Gaspar Almeida......especially that of Uly Menezes.

There was a pleasant surprise in stock for us. Finally, after all these years, Ema and I had the absolute pleasure to meet Fred's wife Pamela aka Pamela D'Mello of Asian Age.  God alone knows what notes Ema and Pam were exchanging, while Fred and I were in "serious discussion",  but Pam came across as the confident, self assured and upfront person behind the Asian Age reports she pens.  Keep up the good work Pamela and do remember to always keep that smile!

Tuesday Tune's Rosario put a brief appearance at the "Cafe Prakash Press Club". Full of vigor, one can see how Rosario is able to see the humourous side to the goings-on in Goa.  Good for him. Good for the rest of us too!. We would have stayed on chatting but Ema & I had dinner plans and Fred & Pam had to get back to their life.

Later that evening, we enjoyed a lovely meal at Hotel Mandovi with Aurea and Fernando do Rego,  Fatima, Sahail &  Dr. Leslie Saldanha. 

Despite the fairly atrocious stuff that was being passed on as live music, we managed to get by without much need for aspirin.

 Fatima & Leslie have been our friends from Goa Medical College days.  Time and events change relationships but not the one we have with the Saldanhas.  They are some of the most positive and sociable people we have known.  All of us are happy for Leslie and Fatima, therefore with the arrival of little Sahail who says the most amusing things (in Portuguese) about his Mama aka Fatima.  Fernando do Rego,  as you probably know, "invented"  the mango; or so says the false rumour I am spreading. Seriously though, Fernando is an agronomist who has given Goa the benefit of his immense knowledge of the Mango. I asked Fernando to write an article for The Goan Forum website, about the process of mango grafting.  Later that week, Fernando handed over a book (he had written in Portuguese) about the very same subject.  Did you know that the special taste of the Goan mango has come about as a result of the process of grafting that the Portuguese introduced to Goa? Yep!, so let it NOT be said by the revisionists that the colonial Portuguese did nothing beneficial for Goan agriculture. There are many others; Mango grafting is just one of them! 

Ema of course has known Fernando's wife, Aurea for many years. Their two families have a long history of friendship and association. While Fernando has expertise with the Internet, Aurea makes the most delicious rechiado masala.  It has recently been reported that this rechiado masala has attained international repute, having reached even the shores of The Bahamas.  A few days before we returned from Goa, we were pleased to visit the Regos at their home in Fontainhas.  We were honoured to be with such a delightful family.  It was indeed nostalgic. Fontainhas, The Regos, the Rego homestead and the general cheer within the home took us back to our college days or the Late "Sixties" as Fred Noronha would say!  The sixties were very pleasant times in Goa; hope that it, sort of explains some of the nostalgia.

Continued on Page 3 : with Floriano (GoaSuRaj), The Correia-Afonsos & Fidelis