With all respect to Dr. Da Silva and others who have labored in various
archives,

Archives, no matter where they are located, metropolis or periphery, are
not only "elite-centric" but protect, solidify, and justify the power of
those who continue (read: us) to exploit (by our writings) those at the
bottom of the social, economic and political pyramid, particularly women
and children.

We give them undue importance as they are on paper and we use it to
aggrandize ourselves, academic positions, and whatever else.  Religious
orders are no exception to this truth and so let us please stop attributing
too much value to the years we have labored there.  We will not get any
discount when future historians read our works, academic or non-fiction
"against the grain."

What is "against the grain"? It is not only crucially interrogating the
written record to search for hidden and suppressed truth, but actively
searching for oral sources.

The balance can never be restored.  It is a myth.

Best regards,

Vivek Pinto

On Sat, Jun 13, 2026 at 5:34 PM William Robert Da Silva <[email protected]>
wrote:

> I agree fully with Dr Celsa Pinto. However, there is another side to the
> archives she speaks about. Archives are of the ruling elites and the
> powerful writing elites. Everyday archive of people's lives in caste
> living, occupation, conflictual relations with the higher and purer castes,
> religious leaders, family, employment and their 'archive' of art and
> culture -  these are equally, if not more, important, and these give a
> balance to the 'archive' generally so-called.
> I have paid greater attention to that part of life and, in language
> research, its yield has been colossal.
> Thank you.
> William Robert
>
> On Fri, Jun 12, 2026 at 3:10 PM Cristiana Bastos <
> [email protected]> wrote:
>
>> ____agree 100% - but getting a research visa is extremely difficult - for
>> inidia and many other places.  I co supervised a Brazilian doctoral
>> student, funded for a year of research in lisbon and goa, and after many
>> many attempts to get a visa to India in order to do research in goa’s
>> archives she had to give up. She would not risk using a tourist visa for
>> research and went back from lisbon to brazil… may be there will be another
>> chance for her,  but the energy  one has in the doctoral years is unique, i
>> think. Perhaps there is a way of making things easier for doctoral
>> students?
>> Thanks
>>
>>
>>
>> ___________agre_________________
>> De: [email protected] <[email protected]>
>> em nome de Frederick Noronha <[email protected]>
>> Enviado: 12 de junho de 2026 07:42
>> Para: [email protected]
>> Assunto: [GRN] Experts urge researchers to utilise Goa's rich archival
>> heritage (O Heraldo)
>>
>> [archives.jpg]
>> _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
>> _/  Frederick Noronha  फ्रेडरिक नोरोन्या  * فريدريك نورونيا‎
>> _/  AUDIO https://archive.org/details/@fredericknoronha
>> _/  http://goa1556.in +91-9822122436 784 Saligao Goa
>> _/ Goanet :: 30 years of discussions. [email protected]<mailto:
>> [email protected]>
>> _/ http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/
>> _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
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