Hi Eugene, You are missed here in Toronto and I look forward to seeing you at the International Convention and at Viva Goa where you can be usually found.
It would be great to read any articles from the pen of eminent Goans like Prof Frank D'Souza, Prof Armando Menezes, Prof Lucio Rodrigues, and Prof Eddie Fernandes. These were all teaching professors who not only enjoyed their professions with a passion and had sharp and brilliant minds, but the important thing here is that they wore their Goan identity like a badge on their suits. At St. Xaviers in Bombay I was a student of Eddie Fernandes and Menezes-Fernandes and attending their lectures was a thing of joy. Their books were laid out on the desk but they never had any occasion to refer to them or read out from them. One could say they did this year after year and therefore were used to it, but one would be wrong. They were constantly introducing new elements of thought that never originated from the books of the day. My only regret is that it was the age when I was sowing my wild oats and the girls in class held a more powerful attraction than it should. Prof Armand Menezes is the late father of George Menezes who sometimes writes on Goanet. Prof Armand's articles have been compiled I believe by his children on one commemorative anniversary though I have not had the opportunity of access to it. There is much gold in the writings of eminent Goans both Hindu and Catholic but the problem for diasporic Goans is that they have no access to it unless they are of a mind to singlemindedly chase a certain book at a certain time and then one loses patience. The usual comment is that overseas Goans are not interested in buying books by Goan authors. That truth does not hold good for me and many others in Canada. I would glady lay down my dollars to read good Goan books but I cannot get them easily. Ideally I would like to go to a site where I can see a well priced book and get it on my doorstep within a week without paying air mail charges that are often twice and thrice the price of the book. How I wish that in Toronto there was a small business that on the side stocked both old and modern Goan author titles, where I could simply step in or have couriered to me the next day a book I buy. This is not a impossible wish, but it would take a dedicated businessman to make this happen profitably to him. There will be many buyers in the city to make it possible, but who is going to bell the cat. Here is my wish list: All of Teresa Albuquerque's books Memoires of Imelda Tavora (of Emisorra de Goa fame) All writings by Goan professors I have named Anything that FN publishes Writings of Portuguese authors on Goa in English and many many others I cannot think of at this moment. Roland. On Sun, Mar 30, 2008 at 4:05 AM, Eugene Correia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I knew Prof. Frank D'Souza had something written on > being a Goa in the posthumous collection, Frankly > Speaking. So I checked and found two essays on what it > is to be a Goan. > Good reading for those who would like to get an > overview from the pen of one of the finest Goan > essayists of his time and probably even today. > I, however, feel that the essays are "exuberant", as > the good old and now dead professor uses the word, one > among three, I think, to describe the Goan. > One must understand that Prof. Frank was no > sociologist but a teacher of English. What he writes > is from the heart. The book, published by a committee > after Frank's death, is collected pieces from > magazines and weeklies, notably The Examiner. > Maybe I should scan them and the pieces and post it > here. > I am not sure if the book is still available in > Toronto with Roque Barretto. I had arranged with > Frank's daughter in California to send two dozen > copies. As usual, Goans were not interested in buying. > Talk of Goan identity... ha, ha. > > Eugene -- Roland Francis 416-453-3371
