Hi all Goa Arts & Literary Festival (GALF) 4-7 December 2014, Dona Paula, Goa
Burning question for Kenya Debate Having kept "A Railway Runs Through" for inflight reading on my annual pilgrimage to Goa, looking forward to a whisky in one hand and a reading spot light, my anticipation of a clear mind was interrupted by a recent telephone call from a Eastleighcar who was quite annoyed and asked me had I read The Book. He was specifically referring to a paragraph on page 41 which I was forced to look up as he waited on the phone line. I could not agree or disagree hence the burning question was it true or wasn't it true as many will know, "Goans do not tell the write story". So could participants in their Kenya Debate, if possible, verify this point as quoted below as I am unable to attend in person. Paragraph on Page 41 of A Railway Runs Through referred to: Quote: Prostitution around Nairobi was particularly rampant. Railway men were known to keep African women for company.227 Admitting to having sexual relationships with African women would have meant immediate ostracism for a Goan. But human sexual needs being what they are, it did happen. Stories filtered their way to Goa, of men who kept women, more so in the interior. The only time a Goan man would assume moral and legal responsiblity for these relationships would be if he fathered a child. A worthy lineage would be painstakingly created for the woman; usually that she was the daughter of a fearless tribal chieftain. Such engineering did little to mitigate the ostracism. Goan society, with its in-built aversion to dark skin, was implacably against African-Goan miscengenation. 227 Meinertzhagen, Kenya Diary, p. 12 Unquote I know there was a Railway Institute as I was page boy at a wedding once during the time of Jim Reeves and not far away was the Goan Institute on Juja Road and the Tailors had their own place in town. In the school playground, I always thought of Goa as Bardez and Salcette but with the above paragraph there may be a new light as to why the Railway Institute was different. Did the railway men really go with royalty of African descent? Do we have royal cousins? Or were Goans just pen pushers doing the Yes Sir, No Sir, Three Bags Full Sir. As a pupil of Catholic Parochial School, I observed the refurbishment of the Holy Family Church next door into a Cathedral. It is now known as The Holy Family Basilica in Nairobi. The point I have is as you enter this magnificant building, the brick walls had engraved in them the names of mainly Goan people who contributed to the funding. It would be interesting to know if these names embedded in bricks is still in public view as I find it hard to believe that our people, mainly religious, could possible be among those having rampant sex as implied above. Could participants, if possible, at GALF please verify this and also when Meinertzhagen in Kenya Diary page 12 referred to "Railway men" was he referring specifically to Goans? Melvyn Fernandes Thornton Heath, Surrey, United Kingdom 29 November 2014
