Reminiscences of my Goan Youth by DR. BAILON DESA There is strong evidence that I was born, rather prematurely, in the island village, Santo Estevam, on the 17th May 1913. My family was middle class. But my parents were very respected for their honesty, integrity and charity. I grew up a normal child with colds and coughs, fevers and minor injuries. We were fortunate that I had a cousin who was a very skilful physician and resorted to for any malady. At about six, my fathers brother who had relinquished his job in the railways , took up my education. The village had a Portuguese primary school with five classes the 1° grau , and the 2° grau, that corresponded to standard 5 of the English school. My education was entirely at home. I appeared for both the public exams and passed with distinction beating all the official candidates. I was then 9 years old and too small to leave the house. So I remained for another two years at home when my uncle taught me Latin and Maths. The foundations then laid were of immense use later in my academic career when I was sent as a boarder to the then well known English school in Goa Mater Dei in Saligão. At the entrance examination I was found fit to enter the 5th standard. But I preferred to go to standard 4 as I found the boys in Std. 5 rather biggish!. The five years that culminated in the Matriculation were rather smooth. My rank went gradually up. At the final Matriculation class I stood first in the school with a couple of distinctions. Then came St.Xaviers in Bombay. I sailed through easily until I got my Masters at the University of Bombay and further on until I got my Doctorate in Germany and so forth. But that is a different chapter of my adult life. Coming back to my village where my youth was largely spent. I was born and bred in this village. About 50 years ago it was a poor village. There were about half a dozen families who considered themselves good. Most of the villagers were agriculturists and farmers. They lived on their hard labour in the fields and hardly ventured out. But for all its povertythey were poor but not destitute: The village had its own parish priest; it had a beautiful church built by their ancestors; the village doctor; the village pharmacist; the village mid-wife; the village idiot; madman; the village barber, goldsmith, ironsmith, washerman, the provision stores, the tailor, the shopkeeper; carpenter; fishermen; and the village atheist.
It was completely self contained a mini world in itself. It had a Primary Portuguese school which was well attended. The brighter students went to Panjim to study in the Lyceum, the Medical School or the seminary in Rachol. That made about 2 per cent of a population of about 5000. Mine was the only family that went for English education either in Saligão or Parra till the matriculation. During the holidays in summer or winter we had a group of about 6 from Portuguese and English schools, that dominated the social life of the village. It was a very cohesive group. In summer the group had sports (football or badminton), picnics, swimming, fishing etc. In winter, the Christmas and the Patronal feast dominated our activities. Dances, plays, football matches etc filled the days. The bullock-cart dominated the transport system. The village had no proper roads. The road system was a complicated network of lanes, by-lanes and footpaths traced according to the convenience of the people. There was one main arterial road from which branched off subsidiary roads. They were dirt roads that in summer turned into veritable dust cushions; in winter they turned into slush. But this never dampened our spirits. In fact, we loved it all because after all it was our village ! Referring to the intricacies of the network of the lanes and bylanes of the village, Dr. José Estevam Afonso, our neighbour, once lost his way in them, remarked , Oh, Basilio (my father), isto é a confusão de grandes cidades to the vast amusement of my father. The dominant feature of my village were the inhabitants. There were no neighbours in the modern sense. The whole village was one home. The bond that existed between the rich and the poor made the village a single home. Kindness, concern for all, were qualities that made the village a single unit. Never have I met such affection and mutual respect anywhere and I have seen the world! That was the village I lived in and loved. Today, with the spread of education and the youth well employed in various occupations, the village is rich. There are houses that crowd each other and it is one of the most thickly populated villages in Goa. Some of the old houses have gone. On occasional visits that I make to spend a few days in my ancestral house, I am like a stranger unknown and unnoticed by most. The old spirit of camaraderie and neighborliness has evaporated and I do not feel at home in my own home anymore. But still I love that village once a village of poor farmers, of dirt roads and of universal affection. The village of my ancestors. The memory lingers..... _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list [email protected] http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org
