======== OFFTOPIC: Meet the author of this book at 6 pm today (Nov 9, 2022) at the Saligao Book Festival, being held at the Saligao Institute.
======== **Bandra and the story of a house at Hill Road** FN The Goans, East Indians and Mangaloreans (GEMs) are sometimes seen as one networked mega-community in the commercial capital and megapolis of Mumbai, which many of us knew for longer as Bombay. Sometimes the South Indian Christian, the S in GEMS, is tagged along to this alphabet potpourri. But all is not hunky dory among these communities. Going by what one hears second-hand (I have not lived in Bombay for any length of time myself), there is competition and rivalry among the communities. While Mangaloreans and Goans are closely connected, though not many acknowledge this, the East Indians are an independent group that, could, at best be called Goa's colonial cousins. Yet, there are strong similarities in culture, if not language or ethnicity. Brenda Rodrigues' book would be relevant to many a Goan, specially those in the diaspora, not just because Bandra is a shared space between East Indians and the relatively recent migrants, the Goans. She touches on topics which many would find familiar, the story of change in Bandra is one many of us here fear, and being forewarned can often mean being forearmed. A lady social worker named Anandini Thakoor puts it aptly in the foreword to the book, explaining its content thus: "There are too many tales of old Bandra families being forced to part with their ancestral properties for a song. The House at 43 Hill Road tells the tale of one of the oldest Bandra families -- the Rodrigues family, and Brenda has traced the ancestry back to the 1700s -- who went through an incredible struggle for over six years, and who had the guts to stand up against powerful elements, both private and in authority. The first part is a beautiful family saga, loving told, and the second part is a strong social statement, which could have strong reverberations. I have rarely come across any such thoroughly documented case, listing the struggles, with documentary proof of the shocking incidents and over 70 cases Joe and Brenda had to fight, and also the vicious attacks on Joe's frail mother, Lydia." Bandra, one of Bombay's western suburbs and now home to many famous Bollywood stars and starlets, cricketeers, and politicians, had a Portuguese connect since the 1530s. Its St Andrew's Church was built by Portuguese Jesuits in the 1570s. Conversions took place there, as in Goa. The Sultanate of Cambay ceded the region to the Portuguese in the 1530s. It changed hands between the Portuguese to the British (in 1775) and then retroceded to the Marathas. Goans migranting to Bombay have had close ties with this region. Rodrigues and her husband Joe are East Indians, who are now also based in Chorao, Goa. (Some prominent residents of Bandra saw themselves as Portuguese, but by the late 19th century, they proudly came to be known as 'East Indians'. The converts to Christianity centuries earlier, took on Portuguese names, like their counterparts in Goa. Rodrigues says that the community was called Eurasians, Anglo-Indians, and paradoxically, though located in the west of India, called themselves the East Indians. She dismisses the view that the name was chosen to honour the East India Company "as many authors has alleged". The East India Company was bankrupt by the end of the 18th century, and lost power subsequently. Rodrigues says: "The East India Company did not exist in 1887, when the Bombay East Indian Association was founded." Rodrigues' story is set in a large and prominent Bandra family. The family had to fight not "merely with the land grabbers and law breakers but were actually harassed and browbeaten by the authorities like the BMC, BSES, Police, coop society officials, etc," says the book, and makes an elabroate case to prove its point. This is not something restricted to Bandra alone; it is a story that keeps repeating in many areas which have seen a real estate boom, including in Goa. This strikes the reader as a good non-fictional story and very insightful about the changes going on due to urbanisation, in Bandra yesterday and Goa today. Rodrigues tells the pain (and also catharsis) with which she wrote the book. This is a story of the transformation of a region, a story which affects many. "Many people will be happy to read and know more of what happens in co-operative housing societies, and how one can learn from our experience," said Brenda Rodrigues, when we spoke. Brenda Rodriguest tells a charming story of how the book came about, how long the book took (beguin in February 1992, "I slipped a sheet of paper into my typewriter, prayed for guidance, and started"), and how fascinating family tidbits go into this story. The book is published by Bombaykala Books, a venture of the young Ishaan Jajodia. The House at 43 Hill Road tells the family saga in Part I. Brenda Rodrigues says some of her friends "refused to believe" that narrated events were factual, "thinking we just made up stuff for dramatic effect". She adds that she had considered retaining the real names and identities of people featured here "but decided to change some of them for obvious and not-so-obvious reasons." The author gives us hints -- to greater or lesser extent -- about the Rodrigues family tree, some prominent (East Indian) families from Bandra, the Portuguese and British influence on Bombay and Bandra, and the churches and villages of Bandra. Rodrigues' book begins in "Mumbai's most famous Catholic shrine", the Basilica of Mount Mary. Its entrance to the sanctuary has a marble plaque engraved with the words: "This Buttress is Erected in Memory of the late Mr. & Mrs. Braz Rodrigues, Hill Road, Bandra." Rodrigues' story starts with Braz, who built the family house on Hill Road, around which the events recounted in this book revolve. Brenda Rodrigues takes us to times when Parwar was known as Pacura, Bandra was called Bandra, and the like. Some names have even been forgotten. For instance, in 1850, "the entire village of Parwar was burnt to the ground by the British administration because it was infested with the plague, this being the standard procedure they adopted to contain the disease." The house that the book is centered on gets described as a "single-storey structure with high ceilings and a very large attic. The flooring consisted of coloured design tiles from Italy. It had an outdoor toilet from which night soil was collected daily (even as late as the 1950s). [T]here was a well, probably in the south west corner, as this was an important property asset in those days, and also a stable, a coach-house and servants' quarters." It got called the burra ghar (big house). Rodrigues writes: "Visiting priests, bishops and religious were known to have stayed there and several wedding celebrations were hosted there." This is Rodrigues' third book. Her narration of how she self-educated herself through reading and more, in another book, makes for interesting reading. Her first book was called 'Lydia Brides', and is a tribute to her then 92-year-old mother in law who was legendary for her skills with needle and cloth. A story on her, sent online through some Goan networks, went online some years back. Lydia is quoted saying: "Some of our well-known customers included Rati Agnihotri, Neena Gupta and Anna Bredmeyer, and I’ve also made outfits for some top fashion designers like Xerxes (who designed Parveen Babi’s clothes) and Hemant Trivedi, who were newcomers at the time. The actress Mala Sinha's wedding attire was also done by us as also an extravagant gown for one of the winners of the Miss India crown in the Femina contest of the early 1970s." This is a story of ancestral property, intrigue and property grabbing, fortunes lost over horse-racing, some family feuds, alcoholism, dreams that carried a message, and even interesting ecentric stories from within the family. The ending of the story is sad and dramatic. No wonder a reader could feel that it was written with dramatic license. But no plot spoilers here... ### -- FN * +91-9822122436 * 784 Saligao 403511 Bardez Goa ------------------- YouTube Channels ------------------- FN https://www.youtube.com/c/FrederickFNNoronha/videos or https://bit.ly/FNOnYouTube FN1 https://bit.ly/FNVideos1 FN2 https://bit.ly/FNVideos2 ------------------- ------------------- ---------------- [image: Mailtrack] <https://streaklinks.com/BRY0WXbc3LW0AsgO2w8tbK9k/https%3A%2F%2Fmailtrack.io%3Futm_source%3Dgmail%26utm_medium%3Dsignature%26utm_campaign%3Dsignaturevirality11%26> Sender notified by Mailtrack <https://streaklinks.com/BRY0WXboaBgwaFr4GQbeHQY6/https%3A%2F%2Fmailtrack.io%3Futm_source%3Dgmail%26utm_medium%3Dsignature%26utm_campaign%3Dsignaturevirality11%26> 09/11/22, 04:19:31 pm ᐧ
