TWO SWORDS AND A SHIELD By Valmiki Faleiro Goans never fancied swords and shields. They hardly were a martial people. Their best display of belligerence was between themselves, seldom against a common enemy. Down history. Save two or three brief exceptions, Goa never produced a homegrown ruler in her 2,500 years of recorded history. The ‘Goa Kadambas,’ were not Goan in the truest sense. When defeated in their seat near today’s Sirsi in north coastal Karnataka, a family branch moved to Goa, settled in Chandor and ruled some four centuries, mostly as feudatories of neighbouring kings. Two crossed swords and a shield was the banner emblem of the Marathi daily, ‘Gomantak.’ It was launched in the post-Liberation years to espouse the cause of merging Goa into Maharashtra. To counter this, a far more influential Portuguese- time Goan family launched an English daily, ‘The Navhind Times,’ to support the cause of Goa’s independent identity. The rest is history. Goa became an independent state of the Indian Union in May- 1987. Months later, February-1988, ‘Gomantak’ launched the ‘Gomantak Times’ (GT) – a daily newspaper in the English language. An addition to the existing two, with a combined circulation of fewer than 50,000 readers! Many wondered, at the time, if Goa’s newspaper market (the English segment) could sustain a third daily newspaper amid such a tiny readership. And one with two crossed swords and a shield as the emblem on its masthead … reminiscent of the Opinion Poll’s merger battle cry, ‘Zalaach Pahijhe!’ The then Editor of one of the two English dailies actually went overboard, with an editorial on the supposed re-entry of two swords and a shield. I won’t talk about manners. It was the man’s wont … he could go overboard with or without reason. Personally, I was glad Goa was having a third voice in English – an axis of balance, if you will. In its 21 years, GT has witnessed patches of the good and the indifferent. At least two of its past Editors, both young in age, came off among the then best newspaper writers in the English language in Goa – to my mind. They particularly enriched my Sundays … with their columns. More than that, a third voice is always desirable. Call it a third opinion. Thanks to GT, a host of gifted Goan writers found a voice. Between the four options, I usually spend most time on GT’s editorial page. Young people were taken through the steps of the mill. And this, I think, ranks among the major contributions of GT to journalism in Goa. Twenty-one is the age of adulthood. Between humans, we wish a young person attaining adulthood a long and fruitful life. Regards a newspaper, I’d wish an eternity. Unfortunately, newspapers are owned by business interests. When one is in business, one is in to make profits – not for charity. In the face of the current economic worldwide reality, several newspapers/editions face the prospect of an abrupt closure. I wish the GT many more years – if not an eternity! (ENDS.) The Valmiki Faleiro weekly column at: http://www.goanet.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=330 ============================================================================== The above article appeared in the February 15, 2009 edition of the Gomantak Times, Goa
