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Happy New Year Twenty-Ten
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2010 to 1960: Back to the Past
Written by RAMNATH N PAI RAIKAR
Saturday, 09 January 2010 00:04
If the lengthy separation of forty individuals who had spent seven
eventful years of their life in each others company can be termed as
destiny, then their reunion after half-a-century should certainly be
described as a miracle. And such miracle did take place in the city on
January 6, when forty out of the 90-odd students belonging to the 1960
batch of the Liceu Nacional Afonso de Albuquerque, the premier
educational institution for higher studies during the Portuguese era,
gathered to celebrate the golden jubilee of their school memories.
The nostalgic congregation had former ‘Lyciumites’ arriving from as
far as America and Europe, and proving that though they lived in 2010,
their hearts still resided in 1960, when they bid adieu to each other
and went in search of better future in the then not-so-bad world.
Mr Antonio Soares, one such student, now in his late sixties and
settled in London for the past 40 years said that he is attending the
gathering because he loves Goa. “After completing my education at
Lycium, I went to Lisbon for further study; however, Goa was soon
liberated and I had to move from Portugal to Germany,” Mr Soares
stated, informing that he eventually decided to settle in England.
“But after visiting various places all over the world, being in Goa is
absolutely wonderful,” he said.
Mr Frederico Brito, another student of the batch however, not only
stayed in Goa but also remained stuck to his residence at Altinho,
interestingly, in the vicinity of the Lycium, which has now been
converted into the High Court complex. “After passing out of Lycium, I
was directly admitted to BA and subsequently completed my MA at the
post graduation centre, in early 1970s,” Mr Brito said, mentioning
that he recently retired as chief trunk supervisor, after 40 years of
service in BSNL.
Mr Brito further informed that the former rector of Lycium, Mr Cardozo
Margarido, who went back to Portugal after Goa’s Liberation, used to
come to Goa every year. “He would put up a chair and sit near the
Lycium building, and get lost in the memories of the bygone days,” Mr
Brito revealed, pointing out that Mr Nuno Vassallo e Silva, the
grandson of the last Governor General of Portuguese India, General
Manuel António Vassalo e Silva, who is presently in charge of the
antique section of the Portugal-based Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation,
is his good friend and occasionally visits Goa.
The grand gathering of the ‘Class of 1960’ was however made possible
by the three students of the batch - Mr Homem Cristo P da Costa, Mr
Alberto Rebeiro Silveira and Mr Vasco de Souza - all presently settled
in Germany.
Mr Silveira told this daily that he established contact with most of
his classmates through e-mails. “However, getting their e-mail
addresses was a Herculean task,” he remarked, further informing that
one of the students of the particular batch, residing in Vasco, was
keen to attend the get-together, but died few days ago. Mr Silveira
also mentioned that a mini get-together of the students of the
particular batch, now staying in Portugal, was held at Casa de Goa, in
Lisbon on September 26, 2009.
Dr Maria Jose Piedade Rego, a Portuguese language teacher and Father
Arnolfo Mazarello, who taught religion to the ‘Class of 1960’ also
attended the January 6 meet.
Dr Sydney Pinto Rosario, yet another student of the batch said that he
had to stay back in Goa and study medicine, as his father ran a
hospital. “In fact, the medical course had me studying pathology from
Portuguese books, physiology from Spanish books, anatomy from French
books and surgery from English books,” he recalled.
Another Margao-based doctor, Dr Kisan Sanzgiri informed that he was
compelled to stay in Goa as he had a family as well as property here.
“Since I completed my medical course in Portuguese, I had to face
really tough UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) interview at
Delhi, before being inducted as a health officer in the department of
health,” the now retired medical superintendent noted.
Ms Emma Proença, wife of noted Goan paediatrician, Dr Aleixo Proença
recollected that a substantial number of girls studied at the Lycium
during 1950s. “However, very few of them went for the medical course
at the Escola Medico Cirurgica da Goa,” she added.
The emotion-filled evening witnessed various activities ranging from
photographic presentations of the Lycium days to sharing of jokes and
sentimental speeches to entertainment programme, which included
Portuguese songs by Dr Francisco Colaço, a ‘mando’ by Ms Ananta Hedo
and dance by Dr Eduardo and Ms Sushila Fonseca.
It was quite interesting to observe the ‘Old Lycium students’ conquer
time and defy age as the collage of black and white memories turned
multi-coloured, providing them a rare opportunity to get a whiff of
their precious, formative years. It appeared as if time had almost
been frozen, with the ‘Class of 1960’ moving back to the past; a dream
the batch wanted to achieve for the last 50 years.
http://www.navhindtimes.in/buzz/7196-2010-to-1960-back-to-the-past
