In The Goan (June 20, 2023) ******** End of an Era: Remembering Mario Cabral Frederick Noronha
With some trepidation, I asked the question to the senior journalist, the first whom I encountered in the Press Room at the old Adil Shahi Palace in Panjim. "I've joined the Deccan Herald, and have just applied for my accreditation. Is it okay if I enter here till the time I get it?" In those days, the small Press Room was empty for much of the day. Except at the 4 pm tea break, and the morning peak hour. The media in Goa was yet to expand as it later did. Outside it was the foreboding sign: "For accredited journalists only." We had all heard of the reputation of Mario Cabral e Sa, who, news trickling in on Monday evening, told us, had just passed away earlier that morning in Bombay/Mumbai. He had been with his family there for many years, after leaving the village and land he loved, the island of Divar. Mario thought for a second or two, and was quick with his repartee. "This place is now like a second-class unreserved train compartment. One or two passengers, more or less, won't make much of a difference," he told me. It took me a while to marvel at the intricacy of his reply. He had managed to make his point without saying a rude 'no'. Nor had he said an unequivocal 'yes', which one could have taken as a license! Over time, we became friends, even though we were almost a generation apart, and, at times, writing for competing markets. Or even being on different sides of the fence, quite often. * * * Mario kept pushing us to do better. He must have been in his 50s when we were in our 20s. Yet, he was unflagging in his persistence and determination. "What the bloody hell are you doing here?" he demanded of us, on the day we heard of the killing at distant Varca in an encounter of an Alemao brother. At his suggestion, we pooled our resources, and took a taxi to Varca and the Margao Hospicio, to follow up on that story. In those times, journalism was still under-resourced, and we were happy to wait for a story to fall in our lap. We made that trip, and learnt a lot. Later, we would hear of Mario's days (in the late 1960s and early 1970s) when he lead a small publication called "The Goan Monitor". It was run by the Sequeiras, Jack and his son Erasmo, then prominent Opposition politicians. There, he managed to mentor some great journalists including the late Ivan Fera (who died too early, at 36). Some of his mentees might have not continued to see eye-to-eye with Mario, but that's part of the growth process. It happens. One day, almost 14 years ago, the journalist Devika Sequeira felt that that generation was fast moving on, probably even being forgotten. She invited a few of us to lunch with the seniors. Among them, there were journalists no longer with us -- Gurudas Singbal, too. Not sure if Jagdish Wagh and Balaji Gaunekar from that first post-1961 generation were there as well. As was one's wont, without thinking too much over it, I whipped out my modest TheFlip camera and asked Mario to share with me a few reminiscences. Those remain on YouTube, here http://t.ly/BZCU and here http://t.ly/cSH- In these brief encounters, Mario Cabral e Sa explains about journalism in his times, stretching back to the Portuguese days and how it changed subsequently. These are episodic (and some may say, selective) remembrances no doubt. But it also gives an insight into how an individual encountered the dramatic changes. And his memories of the same. * * * Every one of the journalists of our time has his or her own "Mario moment". As almost shy, young journalists we had a lot to learn from him. It must have been after 1989, when the Congress tasted defeat at the hands of the JP Singh-led Janata Dal government, which replaced it. As was the trend, the party continued to send in some 'observers' from New Delhi. In Panjim, they were ensconced at the Mandovi Hotel, meeting local ruling state politicians behind closed doors. Mediapersons were waiting long hours for some word to emerge, or a press conference to be announced. One could only imagine what was happening. Mario took it upon himself to demand that the press get a chance to meet the high command emissaries, and not be kept waiting indefinitely. As the door opened, he took his opportunity to raise a ruckus. Hearing the noise, the then Congress leader Buta Singh came out. "Ah, Mr Butsing (sic)," said Mario, telescoping two names together. If he was taken aback, Mario was prompt to hide it. He proceeded to give a lecture to the visiting politician from New Delhi as to how the Congress "had not yet learnt its lesson in humility despite losing the elections" and so on. As the photographers were aiming their cameras, some security-man placed his palm flat in front of a photographer's lens. "Daryl, you shoot," said Mario. Buta Singh, who was probably more familiar with rustic Punjabi rather than newsman's English, went on to give us all a lecture on how he was "not afraid of dying". Those were the days just after the Khalistani movement; but all that Mario was referring to was shooting a photograph! We all had a good laugh. * * * Mario was outspoken and also a hard taskmaster. One day I had promised him something. When I didn't deliver, he hand-wrote a note displayed it on the press room notice board. It read: "Rico, you are not as good as your word." By some coincidence, just a couple of days earlier, I was sharing this story with someone who was my age then. His books -- on eminent Goans, and edited compilations on film and Goan music, among many others -- find a prominent place in my collection. Mario had his critics, and probably deserved them. He was an articulate, smart, a one-man army, and influenced how the rest of the world saw Goa by his writings. While I was studying the Shyam Benegal film 'Trikaal' quite closely, having known Mario, I found his influences there. (Mario also worked on The Sea Wolves, another Hollywood top-starer of the early 1980s.) At times activists and environmentalists didn't like the stands that the journalist-activist took. Once Mario shocked us all by saying, "Remember: Mario has only one friend. That is Mario himself." But this does not detract from the role Mario Cabral e Sa played during a crucial era of the growth of the press in Goa. Perhaps collating his less-easily-available works would be a good tribute to him. -- FN * +91-9822122436 * 784 Saligao 403511 Bardez Goa -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Goa-Research-Net" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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