Aye VJP, rao re maaso...the 'darkened home' was mio little note. There was no electricity in Majorda then....was profitable if one could climb a coconut tree in the dark!
The darkened home of referee Simplicio or Simplic tea-cher still stands in Majorda and its not darkened these days....there are children of children. There is even a bed-and-breakfast place featured in the Wall Street Journal, 50 meters away. There is electricity and piped water in the village you know! Simplic sir had a 'ja-gom' tree in his property, compounded by a high wall (difficult to climb) and if one did manage to make it up the wall, one landed in full view of him relaxing in his balcony with his french windows wide open. To jump in, meant not able to get make it back.....big dilemma in those days. Like they say in Salcette, stolen fruit is always sweet! One hardly realized one of the greats in Goan music lived behind Simlice'es casa....the famous music mestro (film music), Monsorate. He sometimes came to Goa in the summer with his now famous sons and a daughter (?). Here is some links to my friend one summer, Blasco Monsorate...... http://jazzgoa.tripod.com/blasco.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTrDBo2XPXs Talking of memories, one knows the taste of almost every 'hot' mango tree in the village where it was a sport to collect anything that dropped with the gentle afternoon breeze....one inquired recently...some of the trees have fallen, some of them don't flower any more, some still going strong. And sought-after jackfruit trees as well, including Teodolin-maan's lovely borkoi by the 'cumao'!!! The Utorda Dorado and Joe Goa Siolim will remember the games at the Musson football ground in the old days and the tension and controversy that followed. It brings tears to ones eyes to watch tennis ball cricket there and the sweet sound of Concani almost gone, with kannad-indi and a blue wada-pau cart as part of the scenery. The Colaco'os of Velim had their share darkened homes with balconies looking into the other Colaco'os living room, boxing, posturing and innuendo provided amusing conversation pieces on visits to the village. There are old tales of Colaco'os who left never to return...part of some old tales of curses and counter-curses. Nothing football related though. And one remembers them like one remembers the timing of the last bus from Velim to Margao those days: 6-00pm sharp (what ever that is in Goa) at the Velim Church corner!! Yes, its these memories of the old days that are etched up there and sentiment apart, they are what made one a Goan. It was our quaint way of life and I guess never appreciated then. Its what draws us back to the village life of years gone by all slipping quickly, its just old stories replaced by new ones of gotten-rich-anyhow, the one-car road long gone........the language slowly slipping away........hard to believe eh? In front of our very eyes! Here is a heartening story, of a story-teller Fred Pellerin from a village in french Kanada called Saint Élie de Caxton. Luckily for him, no body wanted to visit his village, where he had ambitions of being a tourist guide. So he told stories of his village, of life in the village and people came from near, then far.......(its in French). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZXXO_RvFyU&feature=related http://www.fredpellerin.com/map_jour/map_st-elie-de-caxton.html http://www.fredpellerin.com/map_fred_pellerin.html enantius J Pinto <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear Bernado, > I always like reading these gems of Goanity/Goan Being, that you put on > Goanet. More particularly, I appreciate the details you remember about the > subject/objects that you care to share. The part about the "darkened room" > is a good "spatial allegory" with Goa of then "then", then, and now. > > Every strand we remember about Goa remains with us, while surfacing on and > off--to aid in analogies, associations and the making of memories--hopefully > with the very many among us. Thank you. > ++++++++++++ > venantius j pinto > > >> Message: 4 >> Date: Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:34:57 +0000 (GMT) >> From: Bernado Colaco <[email protected]> >> To: [email protected] >> Subject: [Goanet] Goa's golden sports >> >> I think the most famous Goan football referee was Souza alias Half Crack >> from >> Merces. He was well known for his eccentric and dubious refereeing >> decisions. He >> was also a starter for Athletic events. There was an instance when the >> 'AK47' of >> the Goa Police did not fire for a 100m event at Campal. The athletes took >> off >> after the set position. Half Crack ran after the athletes calling them >> back, and >> with the AK fortunately pointed towards hell. >> >> >> BC >> >> >> the other memorable referee was the late Simplicio of Majorda. He was >> a teacher by profession, baatkar in his spare time and a referee at >> other times. He had a bit of a temper and lived close to the Musoon >> football ground and there were instances when the going got rough >> during a game......(there is no Goa Poolice in the villages yo).....he >> quietly slipped away from the action and back to his darkened home!!! >> > > * * * > > Encounter hints (and more) of the Goan life in Zanzibar, Poona, Mombasa, > Basra, Dubai, and even Nuvem and Colva, Sanvordem and colonial Goa. Learn of > experiences that shaped Goans worldwide. Selma Carvalho's *Into the Diaspora > Wilderness* now available at Broadways Book Centre, Panjim [Ph > +91-9822488564] Ask a friend to buy it, before it gets sold out. 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