Dears I am fascinated by this book that I have been reading - Goa and its Future, Sarto Esteves, Manaktalas, Bombay, 1966.
And I am so excited by it, I want to share some of the beauties of it with you. I have a feeling that this book will be so rare that very few of you will have copies. Old Sarto wrote a series of essays and then knit them together into this book aimed at explaining to the world, and especially the ruling political classes of the time - whom apparently Goans called the 'deputationists' -who to Goans of that time were creatures of another world - and those 'deputationists' regarded the Goans as Bakras to be slaughtered. I doubt that this book will be reprinted, so I am going to now and then send you chaps excerpts from this book. Please say a prayer to your favourite deities urging them to improve my typing skills because it will take time. If you are atheists or agnostics, just let me know that you will volunteer to copy out Sarto's writing! This is from page 68 to 71 of the book - stuff which is not politically incorrect but yet prescient. "Coconut and Cashew Feni" "There is a famous national drink in France called Champagne which is consumed and relished by all Frenchmen and also by many millions in other parts of the world, In Russia, the national drink is 'Vodka' , where it would be considered unpatriotic and almost a national dishonour if by chance any party or social function went off without serving the drink. Even a social call on a Soviet Ambassador in any country would hardly be complete if the visitor did not partake of their national drink. Such drinks have become a part and parcel of the life and culture of those countries and everyone thinks of them with pride and patriotic fervour. In Goa there is 'Feni' which is a drink in a class apart. It is distilled from toddy extracted from the coconut palm and can be as good and strong a drink as any Vodka that has ever been brewed. If it does not enjoy the popularity it should, it is because 'Feni' was not allowed to be served in bars until very recently, and the more sophisticated drinks like whisky, brandy, and gin were freely imported and consumed both by the foreigners , who were ruling Goa and by Goans for most of the social occasions. The result was that 'Feni' was relegated to the background and became a drink mostly of the labouring class to be consumed on the quite in village bars called 'tavernas' rather for the State or social functions. This has kept 'Feni' in the wilderness with no attempt made to refine it,, to give it a flavour or to mature it in order to find a wider market for export it to other parts of the world. The world has depended far too long on liquors produced by a handful of Western countries. It is possible for the East to o to produce whisky and gin and and other liquors and wines which can be in a class by themselves. The lead will perhaps have to come from Goans - the race that makes and appreciates many good things of life. 'Feni' is a product which ;is not easy to come by. It is a product whose standard can be raisedm, given encouragement, and made into a great industry yielding rich dividends for national exchequer. The other national drink which is the pride of the people of Goa and is equal to any whisky or gin produced elsewhere in the world and even superior is cashew 'Feni'. It is distilled from the juice iof cashew fruits. The drink can be stronger than the strongest whisky ever produced. This 'Goan whisky' has been produced in Goa for generations and if properly flavoured and nurtured can be preserved for generations and can capture many an export market. The only shortcoming of this cashew 'Feni' is that it leaves a rather strong smell in the mouth for a little longer time than some of the other liquors, especially if it is not of the stronger variety. But this is a matter for research with a view to eliminating these little defects and making the drink more acceptable to all classes of people and for all occasions. Moreover there is a very strong consensus of opinion among Goans gained from practical experience, that cashew 'Feni' is medicinally ideal for many health hazards, especially for chest diseases. What has been observed by experience can be established more scientifically given the facilities and encouragement. An encouraging sign in recent years in Goa is the considerably increased demand for 'Feni' and also for 'urrac', the lighter stuff made from cashew juice, th Goan counterpart of beer. Whether the rise in demand is due to curiosity of thousands of Non-Goans who rush there for holiday, pleasure, business or political indoctrination or out of sheer appreciation of a good drink is not known. Whatever it be, one can only hope that in course of time all Indians will look forward to this drink and relish it before foriegners begin to do so. Charity begins at home." Enjoy! Cheers Augusto On Sun, Sep 26, 2010 at 3:30 PM, augusto pinto <[email protected]> wrote: > I was sitting at Sada's browsing through a curiosity I had come > across: Goa and its Future, Sarto Esteves, Manaktalas, Bombay, 1966. > > Obviously, it was written in the run-up to the Opinion Poll and while > being apparently well researched it is certainly a polemic. > > Then all of a sudden I burst out laughing making the denizens of > Sada's to halt their gossip for a while and stare at me. > > I'll reproduce the passage that amused me and perhaps you can say > whether I was sane or not at that moment: > > "Till the day of liberation, every action of the humblest Goan > breathed an air of a cultured citizen and it left no doubt whatsoever > in the mind of any visitor to Goa or anyone who came in contact with > Goans that he was in the midst of highly refined people. Honesty was > writ large on the face of every Goan whatever be his caste or > religion; everyone considered it his sacred duty to work for his daily > bread or else starve rather than live on ill-gotten goods; every Goan, > whether literate or illiterate, whether educated or uneducated, > whether well placed or engaged in the humblest of tasks, knew how to > respect his superiors, his equals and his subordinates; he was > gracious, graceful, and courteous to a fault; no Goan was ever known > to have thought it right or proper to live by robbing, swindling or > making a fortune at the cost of somebody else just because he could > take advantage of the others' helplessness or need; the streets of Goa > were clean and free from beggars, loafers and urchins; there was a > plan and design behind every Goan house; no matter how humble, simple > or poor. > > These certainly are traits which are not easy to come by in the > character of a single and small race. Yet they are all there, for > those who know how to appreciate them, to recognize. They are the > result of history, of association of Goans with non-Goans, of the > institutions in the midst of which they have lived, and had their > being, of the training and education they have received for > generations and for the disciplined life they have learnt to lead. It > is worth knowing more about these people and their institutions." > > Does anyone know more about Sarto Esteves besides what is there on the > Net? Apparently he was quite a prolific writer - see > http://www.alibris.com/search/books/author/Esteves,%20Sarto > > Cheers > Augusto > > > > -- > > > Augusto Pinto > 40, Novo Portugal, > Moira, Bardez, > Goa, India > E [email protected] or [email protected] > P 0832-2470336 > M 9881126350 > -- Augusto Pinto 40, Novo Portugal, Moira, Bardez, Goa, India E [email protected] or [email protected] P 0832-2470336 M 9881126350
