Dear Albertina,
I totally agree with you. I didn't want to say it in my initial message.
Technology would certainly help and is the need of the hour as those books
under no circumstances should be passed around like pie to men jabbing felt
pens at them, but the more important thing is attitude. There are lots of
things one can do ease the process. For instance there is one (just one)
moth-eaten catalogue which looks like it survived Noah's flood, used by one
clerk to find out the reference number of the required document. All that needs
to be done is print out 10 catalogue books and keep them for use by the general
public. Or better still upload the catalogue online and make it accessible.
Then the public can provide the clerk with the reference number. All it takes
is the will power to improve systems. There needs to be a very radical change
in attitude in every organisation. The Gandhian non-cooperation movement in Goa
is alive and kicking.
And Sandra, absolutely, being a woman doesn't help.
Also what is up with those pens being allowed into an archive hall for goodness
sake? I had carried a book and pencil inside to make notes. This was shouted
down (fair enough, rules are rules) but for goodness sakes, the pens must go.
Take care,Selma
On Monday, 1 May 2023 at 17:44:00 BST, Albertina Almeida
<[email protected]> wrote:
Is there anyone here who accessed the Goa Archives about 35 years or more ago?
Where it was accessible even without technology? I somehow think that it is not
just about technology, though technology certainly can help. It is also about a
regimen of corruption, which can persist even with technology.
For instance, at the Registrar's office, the process towards registration of
sale deeds has been digitised. One would have thought that would make it
easier. But approvals of what is uploaded can take sooooo long for some. And
the connectivity and other issues including the website being dysfunctional, so
to say, can make life hell. The whole exercise can be a nightmare.
So while technology can help, it may not be the panacea. There is something
more.
Albertina
On Mon, May 1, 2023 at 9:55 PM sandra lobo <[email protected]> wrote:
He/She is precious, or just a piece of a shameful state of affairs,
particularly at Goa archives? Of course Selma being a women does not help the
situation. For instance, if one does not hold Indian citizenship then has to
pay seven times the price of copying documents, as if researchers swim in
money. The present head of the Archives, Dipak M. Bandekar, should be
confronted with being runing a historical archive in a modern world. My
experience is that sometimes conversation works miracles (not always). I hope
there are still good examples in Goa, as that of Central Library when under
Carlos Fernandes direction. Without his positive attitude I would have never
been able to perform the ample investigation of my PhD. Good luck, Selma
Sandra Ataíde Lobo
https://giepcip.wordpress.com/
tmn. ++351 930690459
De: [email protected] <[email protected]> em
nome de John de Figueiredo <[email protected]>
Enviado: 1 de maio de 2023 16:43
Para: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Assunto: Re: [GRN] Update about Goa Archives Dear Selma,Please get the name and
contact information of the person who helped you. He/she is precious.Best
wishes,John
Sent from my iPhone
On May 1, 2023, at 2:25 AM, 'Carvalho' via Goa-Research-Net
<[email protected]> wrote:
Dear all,
Thank you for the numerous helpful response regarding Goa Archives. I did
indeed visit the Goa Archives. I arrived at 10am and sat patiently for an hour.
Eventually someone recognised me as the writer and hastened my entry into the
archive hall. This office defied any semblance of modernity and had an
estranged relationship with technology. By some antediluvian method, I ordered
a documented assisted by person who recognised me. I then took a seat and
awaited said document. I sat in a hall full of men who pored over centuries-old
documents with their arms spread on these books, brandishing felt pens, the
documents spine straddled without support. After I saw this, I felt nausea
creeping up and tried to avoid eye contact with anyone, most of all the clerks
in the room.
I sat for another one hour and could see all the peons chatting but no document
had arrived. I went to the head clerk and asked about the possible arrival of
my book. He nodded to a peon, they laughed, and one frail creature departed on
his search with all the enthusiasm of a man being led to the guillotine.
Finally he returned clutching the holy grail of a book but when I took custody,
it was the wrong book. I went to tell the manager who sat in a class cabin with
the surly look of a government officer, pressing a buzzer to summon people. He
dismissed by not looking up. I did not wait for the right document because had
it arrived, I could neither photograph it nor photocopy it. I would have to
make an application for the record and collect it 15 days later. So I left.
Every department, institution and organisation of governance in Goa (and
unfortunately I have had to visit many) is a failure of efficiency, procedure,
custody and care. We are light years away from any semblance of modernity and
our sense of Goan exceptionalism is utterly misplaced.
The story does have a happy ending. The man who recognised me researches
records for a living and I shall simply hire his services.
Take care,Selma
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