Toronto, Canada   May 23rd, 2004 (an old post on goanet)

 

Mogall Goanetters,

 

I am glad to be back after a long hiatus on this forum, even though I used to read every posting every day, but I could not post myself. I know a lot of you are new here, but please bear with me.

First of all let me thank all my previous Goanetter friends here for the support and friendship they have offered me all these years that I have known them, especially Joel D’Souza, Fred Noronha, John D’Souza, Mario Rebello, Marlon Menezes, Vivian Coelho, Ulysses Menezes, Gaspar Almeida, Dr. Jose Colaco, Ben Antao, George Pinto, Ivy d’Costa, Aires, Agnelo Gomes, Jorge Abreu e Noronha, Venantius Pinto, George Fernandez, etc. (Sorry if I have missed real important names here, memory is slipping)

When was the last time I posted here? May be in 2000, when I released my Konkani CD “Classic Goa” with Lorna, Young Chico, Anthony San, Platilda and Sumeeta, which was well-received and a sell-out, thanks to all my friends in Goa and abroad.

Now it gives me a great pleasure to announce that my first novel “The Sixth Night” is in its final stages of getting published sometime in December 2004. So I will need a lot of support and help from my Niz Goenkar from all over. The book will be about 300 pages long and in hard cover.

Before the release of my last CD, likewise I appeared on this forum and asked for suggestions too. I didn’t get too many. One came from Damodar Mauzo. He wanted me to produce a CD which will satisfy both our community needs and I think I have done that. More than 3000 cassettes have been sold in Goa, and more than 800 CDs too, a good sale for a first time unknown producer and lyricist. If you haven’t listened to this CD, 200 are still with me, so CDs not sold out, ok?(gosh). I believe 3 of my songs still come on Goa FM Radio request program.(I have been told at least “Asha ani Gopi” and “Mandovichem Udok” are audience favourites). Sometimes it helps to blow your own pemprem, 3000 people can’t be wrong, plus the CD copy pirates. Who knows, it may be true. Like Muhammad Ali can always say “He was the greatest!” and that’s not pride.

I hope I have an equal success in the publication of my novel, “The Sixth Night”.

Ok . Now you want to hear the story? Pay, pay, pay!

Just kidding. It’s a story of a Goan Catholic girl growing up in Goa in the fifties and the story is set before and after the 1961 Indo-Portuguese conflict. So it is sort of a period novel, which should have a lot of interesting substance and information for today’s generation of a nostalgic life in Goa of yester years.

Like every Niz Goenkar, this is my unconditional support for Goa and our culture. But it would help if Goans all over wholeheartedly support this cause. I do what I can. First the Konkani CD, now this Goa novel. What next? Who knows what will happen tomorrow?

For any help and suggestions or advance orders please email with full mailing address to goache@hotmail.com.

That’s all for now my friends. Now I will go for another hibernation until I wake up sometime in December for the real announcement. I have lot of unfinished work on that book. But I might show up now and then.

By the way I was impressed with Anthony Barreto’s “Naked Goa”. Very nicely done. Congrats Tony Martin!  Oslech zai amkam.

Aichem aiz faleanchem faleam.Who knows what will happen tomorrow?

I am deeply saddened by the untimely deaths of our two esteemed Konkani lovers, Fr. Freddy D’Costa and Felicio Cardoso, whose works I always admired. My condolences to their families, especially Fausto D’Costa! May God grant them both eternal peace!

Till then Adeus!

Mog assum di! Viva GOA!

Not finished yet. Want to leave with another boring post of the past….

 

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Ok here’s a little re-cycled post of 1999 which I wrote on my 50th! Sorry my mom is no longer there to say “Fepi Boddei” to me, but thank you all for emailing me your sympathies, although my old “goaraj”@ idirect.com email address  is no longer active, so I may have missed some of your messages. I apologize I couldn’t acknowledge as I never received them. Dev borem korum!

 

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Oh My God! So far so good, I am in heaven, Sorg sounsarant! How fast have the years gone by! 50 years , but I remember so vividly every one of those 44 years since the age of 6, when  I used to write down on a slate with pedra-kaddi in hand in  Aula (Escola Primaria) "Mil nove centos cinquenta e cinco" (1955). Things used to be so green and fresh and people used to be so hospitable, loving and would always say "Baba" affectionately. Yes, those were the days, when I used to go bare-foot through muddy fields and roads with a little autto ( a discarded bicycle metal wheel without rays)  using a bamboo stick in the hollow of the wheel  to drive it all over the village and to the bazaar to bring fish. Oh yea though I never took part in the actual rituals of killing and crucifying those shirle (lizzards) and shooting those birds with a goffin, I still enjoyed my childhood. I enjoyed those days, when a paclo occasionally gave us some coins to buy godde (sweets). And how about those games we played with marbles (godde) on rain-soaked red earth and cashew-nuts biyo  (bier- marlolo bottear poddlo), which we later roasted  in the fiery randonn. And those stolen outings in search of cashews, boram, charam and jagman.

 

Oh I can't stop, but I have to. But that's all I could do, there were no video/computer games then or chats or Goanet. The only news faster than the internet news came from the gossipy mouth of Consu Mauxi. But now as the world turns and as I completed watching 1826 episodes of sunsets, 25 monsoons, 25 snowy winters, boy suddenly do I feel like an old zhoddo   mhataro!

 

Yea, I have seen a short Portuguese existence in Goa in my pre-teenage childhood. But was I exposed to it? No not much, I grew up in village Goa going through a great transition from a heavily Portuguese ambience to a nascent neo-Indian cultural world. But years later I see a new Goa. Mostly good, except for the pollution, crime, and dishonesty in some quarters, but it could be better. I am glad for the previously downtrodden, forgotten and ignored peoples of Goa over the millenia, who have now finally made it and seen the light of day.

 

So today I thank my mother who again said "Fepi Boddei Baba" on the phone. I thank my family especially my 3 kids and wife Serah who gave me a surprise party on October 23  at Five Star Banquet Hall in Toronto in the presence of 160  friends including John DeSouza of Goacom, Ben Antao and Eugene Correia. The highlites included  a Konkani orassaum and "Zolmancho Diss" song. A Goan one-man band, Fredericks, played many beautiful Konkani songs from Amchem Noxib to Nirmonn. Jr. Menezes, the Tiatrist  and his group sang Konkani manddos and dulpods.

 

Actually I was invited for a surprise party for Eugene Correia, supposedly. Imagine, my surprise, when I walked in, the "Surprise" was for me! I still have Eugene's speech with me.

 

So firends and well-wishers, I thank each one of you in spirit. THANKS!

Dev borem korum.

I am using the last dose of caju fenni I brought from Goa in 1995, in Toronto before the next Millenium. I will leave for  Goa on Friday , Nov 12th to taste the real toddy, fenni, xacuti, and what not!

As I look back I have many stories in my life, but no time here for all. As I traveled around the globe in 1973 from Goa to Bombay to Cairo (where I could not join a 10$ tour to visit the Pyramids of Egypt, as Indian Govt. allowed only $8 in foreign currency then) to London, then to Germany, then to Basel in Switzerland (where I would go to Germany for breakfast, to France for lunch and have supper in Switzerland (not because I had money (only $8) but Basle borders all these 3 countries.) and finally to a country which is nice, but full of ice, Canada.

Oh yea, I can't forget it's a year since I opened my big mouth and wrote my first post under the influence of fenni on my birthday. At that time I made a suggestion for Goanet Awards. Thanks to Eustaquio and voters who took the time, it's a reality today!

So everyone have fun and see you all in the Next Year, Next Century, Next Millenium. 

VIVA !

Thanks to  all of you especially Eustaquio, Joel, Fred, Eugene, John d'Souza, Mario Rebello, Vivian and Ariosto, Herman Carneiro, Sanjay Alberto, Gordon Sheppard,, Christabel Da Costa, the Goanet Admin team and all other well-wishers for special greetings on my 50th birthday. Sorry for writing 50 lines!!!

Viva!

 

Silviano

Konkani uloi ( English paloi!, just kidding)  

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