By Therese Almeida therese.alme...@gmail.com Sarto was born in Margao at his mother's home in Comba, four years short of one century back. The home was known as 'No Bairro Orta' as his grandmother had a garden with many varieties of lime and fruit trees.
His mother was Artemesia Borges e Sa and his father, Francisco Piedade de Almeida of Chinchinim, Salcette. Francisco had moved to Tanganyika before 1900, when the territory was governed by Germany. He developed a prosperous business in Dar es Salaam and in Tanga and was a leading figure in the Goan community. Sarto's elder brother, the late Antony Bosco Almeida, or Toni as he was known, was born in Tanganyika in January 1921. When Sarto was two years old, his mother died, and the two brothers were cared for by their father and household help. They were brought to Goa in 1930 and admitted to St. Joseph's 'European' High School, in Bangalore. The school was their virtual home until they passed out, although they would spend holidays in Goa, in Margao or in Deussa, when their father was there. Their father had designed and built a house, prior to 1905, for his business, with family quarters on the upper floor. This building, in the German Colonial style, was much appreciated and existed as a landmark in Dar es Salaam until it was demolished, over a century later, in 2013 as a victim of 'progress'. The brothers moved to Bombay after they passed out from St. Joseph's School, Bangalore, and joined St Xavier's College. Toni, Sarto's brother, joined J J College of Architecture for professional courses and was one of the few who earned the title RIBA -- Royal Institute of British Architects -- after his name. In 1948, he moved to Tanganyika and was the first certified Architect in the country. When Tanzania was created, he was one of the first to claim citizenship. Sarto joined Toni at the J.J. College of Architecture some years later and opted to stay on in Bombay and practice. He joined the prestigious firm of Bajpai and later worked with Mody and Colgan. Sarto loved sports and in school, he was an enthusiastic athlete and soccer player. At St Xavier's College, he was part of the sports team and participated in University events in boxing and long-distance walking. While at school he was a group leader, and, though he often broke rules, he also persuaded his mates to make their own rules of good behaviour by creating an 'Anti-Bad Word League' or never giving up on a challenge. With his penchant for mischief and fun, he never lacked for friends and as the life of the party his absence made a difference! His school companions were Joe D'Sousa from Velsao, Mario and Peter Miranda and Olav Carvalho's father from Nuvem. While at the J.J. College, Sarto organised social events, music shows and a football team along with Guilherme Gomes and Edgar Ribeiro. He had a close friend, Rashid Irani, and along with Jose Costa and Lucio Costa, they formed a vocal group called 'Saralujos' which became a popular fixture with the social crowd of the fifties. Some time ago a friend located the old tapes of their music and, in 1999 Rashid, transferred the music to cassettes. We soon had these remastered to a CD and they sound very good. Sarto enjoyed his multifaceted life in Bombay but was looking to develop his skills in architecture. This led him to move to Ahmedabad to join the architect B V Doshi, who was establishing his own practice in an office named Vastu Shilpa after working with the renowned architect Le Corbusier in Chandigarh and Ahmedabad. The practice was awarded many prestigious projects such as The Physical Research Laboratories and The Institute Of Indology. In 1960, Doshi was commissioned to build a campus for the Shreyas School by Leenaben Sarabhai. Shreyas was founded by Maria Montessori while she lived as a guest of the Sarabhai's during World War 11. Sarto was the project architect and his weekly interactions with Leenaben sparked a deep interest in education and the care and concern required when designing for the young. In addition, Doshi was also keen on establishing a college of architecture, while the Indian Institute of Management was also taking off along with the National Institute of Design. On a visit to the USA, to attend the International Design Conference, Sarto along with Doshi and Vikram Sarabhai went to meet the renowned architect Louis Kahn, to invite him to design the Indian Institute Of Management and Sarto was asked to work with Kahn in Ahmedabad. However, that was short lived as Sarto got married in 1963 and opted to involve me in the pursuit of better educational practices. I was teaching at the time, so it was natural for me to interact and learn from persons such as Leenaben, Ruth Kohn from Harvard, and The B.M. Institute of Child Development who were keen to bring about new thinking in the schools in the city. In December 1963, Sarto decided we should visit Goa. He had cousins who he had not met since long and his friend Lucio Da Costa was practising in Margao. Sarto was enchanted with Goa. He saw it as fresh and beautiful, well organised with tremendous possibilities. He needed a new beginning and so we moved to Goa in May 1964. As the children needed schooling, he got me to think about introducing what I had learned from my mentors in Ahmedabad. So we sat down and put down the basic approach to setting up Manovikas and, with the support of friends, set up a Trust in 1968. His mentoring skills, interest in sports, deep respect for freedom and complete support and involvement put the school on its feet! When Sarto set up his practice in Goa many young students from the Schools in Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Baroda applied to apprentice with him. Later there were students from Pune, Nashik, Bangalore and Goa who were part of his office team. Sarto was never a taskmaster. He wanted the students to grow, to appreciate living well and widen their horizons. He was much loved by those who worked with him and they continued to keep in touch and would arrive to celebrate his birthday until last year! His close friends remember Sarto as a person who not only enjoyed life but prompted them to reach out to the needs of others. Christmas meant treats for the charitable homes for children in Margao, collecting contributions at a party for the Bihar Famine relief fund and, in 1971, raising funds toward a Vijayanta Tank for the Indo-Pak war! Although Sarto's practice was never monetarily successful, it was always looking for the best solutions for his buildings. He brought complete dedication, sensitivity and skill to even the smallest project and his sense of the sacred led him to design temple precincts, chapels, monasteries and schools with extreme care. He did not adhere to any religion but was deeply dedicated to a sense of Humanity that endeared him to monasteries, mathas, chapels, temples and institutions of learning. -- Theresa Almeida is a prominent Margao-based educationist, and wrote this tribute to Sarto -- who completed his long and meaningful innings on May 26, 2020 -- on an invitation from Goanet Reader. Goanet Reader is edited by Frederick Noronha.