KOKOY: KONKNNICHO KHAMBO
By
DALE LUIS MENEZES
The death of John Gomes, who was affectionately known as Kokoy, on May 24, 2011
has left the tiatr community in particular and the Konknni community in general
in deep sorrow. He had written tirelessly on tiatrs and its personalities for
many decades, travelling the most distant places of Goa to get his stories.
John Kokoy composed over 3000 songs and has two audio cassettes – Sopon and Gõy
Apoita – to his credit. Besides lending his voice in numerous tiatrs and
cassettes, John Kokoy also wrote a few tiatrs as well. Atancho Sounsar, Devacho
Hukum Padricho Gutt, Guneanv Konnacho, Dubhav, Poriksha, Fukott Charlie are his
well known works. John Kokoy was the recipient of the Goa State Cultural Award.
John Kokoy wrote most of his articles for the Romi Konknni monthlies like Gulab
and Jivit while also contributing to the English press.
His qualities of head and heart and his immense love for Konknni came in for
much praise during the condolence meet held in Margao and organized by Tiatr
Academy of Goa (TAG) on the 9th of June, 2011.
Many tiatr lovers, tiatrists and prominent personalities were in attendance to
condole the death of John Kokoy and to provide solace and comfort to the
bereaved family. Speaking on the occasion, noted tiatrist Anil Kumar said,
“John Kokoy was a keen observer and thinker. He had the art of asking questions
in such a way that the desired response was elicited and at the same time the
interviewee had no clue as to what exactly was going in the mind of John
Kokoy.” This resulted into numerous articles on the personalities of tiatr and
last year they became the backbone of a book titled Tiatr Palkache Khambe
released during the anniversary celebrations of Jivit, a Romi Konknni magazine.
Agnelo Alcasoas of Queeny Productions who attended the condolence meet,
distributed a few copies of the same at the gathering.
Teotonio D’Costa on the other hand dwelt on the humbleness of John Kokoy which
he found in abundance during the brief period that he had known him. During the
meet, Sharon Mazarello pointed out that John Kokoy had composed more than 3000
songs but sadly had only two cassettes to his credit and that his work need to
be extensively documented.
Roseferns, another noted tiatrist and the Vice President of TAG praised John
Kokoy for the extensive knowledge he possessed about tiatrs. His mind was a
treasure trove, he added. Speaking on his reviews of tiatrs that were staged,
Roseferns felt that they were “balanced” and his criticism was always
“constructive”. Roseferns also appealed to the family of John Kokoy to handover
any material/manuscripts that they possessed so that TAG and the Dalgado
Konknni Akademi (DKA) could publish and/or document the same.
Sabina, the Iron Lady of Konknni Stage (a title given by John Kokoy himself)
expressed her deepest regret in not being able to attend his funeral. Chimtti
bhor mati legun ghalunk mellonk na [I was not able even to put a handful of
earth in his grave], she added.
Premanand Lotlikar, President of DKA, recalled memories when they travelled
together for Tiatr competitions at Kala Academy, Panjim. During the last few
years of his life, John Kokoy moved to Bombay. It was during this time that he
went “out of reach” and most of his friends lost contact with him. But one fine
day, the DKA President recounted that he received a call from John Kokoy
informing him that his leg was amputated. Jessie Dias mooted the idea of
visiting sick artistes; which was readily accepted by Tomazinho Cardozo. He
assured to make available the services of the TAG office vehicle in such
situations.
Tomazinho Cardozo, the President of TAG said that more than a tiatrist, John
Kokoy was a writer who wrote about other artistes , gave them much desired
publicity expecting nothing in return. “John Kokoy was responsible for keeping
the memory of tiatrists alive. It is our duty to forever remember John Kokoy as
well as other persons like him who have contributed immensely to the Konknni
cultural milieu,” Tomazinho said. He used the opportunity to again appeal for
unpublished scripts for publication and documentation.
It is said that the importance of a well is seldom known until it runs dry. The
death of John Kokoy will be a case in point, who wrote so selflessly and
tirelessly on tiatrs and tiatrists. John Kokoy surely has left a vast void in
his death.
A visibly moved and touched Webly Gomes, the nephew of John Kokoy thanked
everyone on behalf of the bereaved family. The brothers of John Kokoy, Frank
and Baldwin, shared the dais along with Tomazinho Cardozo and Roseferns.
Writing about other khambe (pillars) of the tiatr stage, John Kokoy himself was
a khambo (pillar) amongst tiatrists and Romi Konknni writers!
Comments/feedback @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com
(A version of this article appeared on Gomantak Times, dt: June 17, 2011)
Find my writings @ www.daleluismenezes.blogspot.com
