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* GOANET **** C * O * M * M * U * N * I * T * Y **** E * V * E * N * T *
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Xavier Center of Historical Research presents HISTORY HOUR
TOPIC: Waste Wise - An Interactive Awareness Presentation
on Waste Management in Goa
SPEAKER: Clinton Vaz - November 16, 2007 - 5:30pm
VISIT: http://tinyurl.com/222757
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A rose with any prefix still smells the same
Ramblings on titles, arrogance, humility and religion
By Cecil Pinto
"Hello, I'm Doctor Sanjay", is how a young man introduced himself to
me at a party many moons back. If that wasn't weird enough I later
learnt that he was an Ayurvedic doctor to boot. At the same party was
a multiple Ph. D holder who introduced himself just as Sam. I have at
least a dozen friends who hold Ph. Ds, but none of the use the 'Dr.'
prefix while referring to themselves. I know at least two Padmashri
awardees personally, neither of who mention their awardee status
unless specifically asked. What is it I wonder that makes lesser
mortals flaunt their qualifications, awards and titles?
An elderly lawyer acquaintance of mine is hailed as Advocate Chodankar
and a family friend of ours is referred to as Captain Nazareth, by
himself and others, although he has not sailed in a good twenty five
years. In both these cases there is a certain pride in a past or
present occupation, which is perfectly acceptable as it does define
their identities. But I don't think the same applies to the self
declared DJ Nirmal. Who gave you your Disk Jockey certification? How
many years was your course, and at which college? What stops me from
calling myself DJ Cecil? It does have a nice Goan rap ring to it.
Hey maaan, don't have no hassle, Here we bees with DJ Cecil!
Titles can be professional (eg. Engineer), religious (eg. Cardinal),
elected/ appointed/ hereditary/ historical/ political (eg. Chairman,
Satrap, Prince, Great She Elephant, Emir, Consort, MLA) and what have
you. Hereditary titles of nobility abounded in Europe especially in
England, hence the surfeit of Earls, Dukes, Peers, Lords, Dames,
Barons, Viscounts etc. In more recent times honorary titles have given
way to the often temporary, but definitely recognized, title of VIP
(Very Important Person).
A person in the know tells me that honorary doctorates and awards
cannot be used as titles. Therefore strictly speaking Dr. Vijay Mallya
and Padmashri Sunita Narain are using their prefixes unethically. Why
they do that is beyond me when they have so many achievements to their
credit. But I guess there is some primal need to have a grandiose
sounding prefix to one's name.
I heard this interesting anecdote about an ordinary Maharashtrian guy
named Vinayak Joshi who realised early in life that he would not get
any major award, but hankered for one. In an inspired moment he named
his first daughter 'Padmashri', so naturally she would put down her
name as Padmashri Vinayak Joshi. Nobody can challenge that – and he
got a Padmashri in front of his name!
Last week I attended the launch, at Kala Academy, of the book, "These
Are My Children" from the writer - translator team of Damodar Mauzo
and Xavier Cotta. Damodar's superb fiction writing has won many awards
including the Sahitya Akademi Award but yet he referred to himself as
a posorkar (shopkeeper) without any trace of false humility. Damodar
also insisted that more credit should be given to Xavier the
translator, rather than himself the author. This is the sort of
attitude that is the hallmark of true greatness.
On the dais (sometimes pronounced 'dias' in Goa!) were luminaries from
the field of writing and the ensuing discussion on books and
translation was very educative. Vishram Gupte, award winning writer
and translator, objected to being referred to as Professor and
explained that he only used to be a college lecturer for a while and
hence did not qualify for that prefix. The Chief Guest, acclaimed
author Maria Aurora Couto, objected to being referred to as Doctor,
despite hers being a well-earned Ph. D. The truly great don't need
identifying prefixes; the insecure and arrogant do.
Last week was also the Sound and Light show to commemorate 25 years of
Assis D'Souza supplying lighting equipment and technology for events
in Goa. Anyone who is even remotely connected to the entertainment
industry in Goa knows Assis. It was heartwarming when Assis took the
mike and mentioned that since he is always in the background he was
hence not quite confident in public speaking and asked the audience to
bear with him. He then thanked all those who had helped him in his
journey and even brought his family members on stage. The most
heartening part was when he spoke about how 25 years ago he had to run
around a lot to get a bank loan of a mere Rs.1,800/-. He then called
on stage the two gentlemen who so long ago had willingly stood surety
for the bank loan. What a wonderful gesture of appreciation and
gratitude. It's always a pleasure to hear stories of humble men who
make it big - and continue to be humble.
Incidentally one of those two men who stood surety for Assis was a
Hindu, which didn't surprise anyone. Here in Goa religion is used as
an identifier, but not necessarily as a divider. Close to where I
reside in Miramar is a small basti (hutment cluster), predominantly
inhabited by Muslims. Last week three young Muslim boys came to our
apartment asking for subscription donations towards material to
fabricate a Narkasur effigy. We contributed generously and
unblinkingly as we do annually. Only later it hit me that here we are
Catholics giving money to Muslims to celebrate a Hindu festival - and
finding nothing strange in doing that. Unfortunately this year the
rain gods played dirty and I was not able to take my sons for the
Narkasur viewing trip around Panjim as I do every year.
Ok, ok, this hasn't been a humour column but a long ramble. Maybe next
time we could examine other odd name identifiers such as long surnames
that serve to show vestiges of a better bloodline, and nicknames that
are truer to character. For example why was the recently deceased
Assumption Costa e Braganza ne Simoes-Colaco popularly referred to as
Beblem in brackets in the death advert?
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The column above appeared in Gomantak Tikes dated 15th November 2007
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