To Goanet - Ruminating some more on a bit of the area's recent history -
At the fork's junction in St Inez was what then seemed like an unchanging tableau. The poder and taverna shared a wall. Today the house is in ruins. At dusk, we would cycle up to the poder, reel in piping hot bread straight out of the oven and into our 'poti,' drop the change and be off. Faster than an American drive-thru. No ghatis in fancy dress security guard uniform. World-class pão. Just across lived the late 'Bashico' Branco, one-time mayor of Panjim. On the other side of the street was the well-known bar owned and run by guess-who? Isidore Fernandes! He later entered politics and is a candidate from Canacona in the current election. It has been over 25 years since I last saw Isidore. He was a generation elder to me, and he often joined us for football at our Tadmad ground (today the Fire Station opp Caculo Mall). Adjacent to Isidore on one end was Café Borkar, still surviving, now run by Santosh Borkar, the old owner's son, and on the other side the 'maann' (store) owned by Puna. The surrounding area were all fields (opp St Ines church & cemetery). To round off the picture, there was Abrar's gaddo, where many a bicycle were rented, peppermints consumed, 5-stars chocolates lusted after, and 'godde' bought on credit. Bhaskar the cycle repairer set up shop next to the gaddo, fixing tyre 'punchur' with 'valkines.' This is more or less the set-up that must have greeted Prof. Robert S. Newman on his daily walk from St Inez to Miramar in the 1970s. When I say that India has come in and defecated on Goa, I mean that in a deep sense. Regards, r ________________________________ From: Rajan P. Parrikar <[email protected]> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, March 3, 2012 7:02 AM Subject: Re: Happy Kids Nursery To Goanet - JoeGoaUK wrote: >St. Inez, Happy Kids Nursery >http://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk51/6948801539/in/photostream/ Brought back so many memories! It is the only old chawl to have survived in the area. The surroundings today have the look of a concrete slum (thank you, Kamat Destroyers, for nothing). I remember the days... after dark you had to first cross the cemetery (our pace and heart rate always quickened at that location). Then you came to the fork in the road. The right limb took us home to Tadmad. The left limb took you to 'tambdi mati.' It was then a feared route (after dark), heavily wooded and deathly still. All gone now, with the slumification of St Inez/Taleigao. At any rate, a little beyond the fork was the Happy Kids Nursery School, started in the early 1970s in her (then) home by the late Mrs Kunda Chitre with active participation of her late husband Dr. Vijay Chitre, two exceptional human beings. Dr. Chitre later went on to become Head of the Biochemistry Dept at Goa Medical College. Their son Dr Vivek Chitre (my dear old childhood friend) is today in the UK and daughter Dr. Vidya Chitre teaches at Goa Dental College. There is so much of local history to be recorded (before the upstarts begin inventing their 'contributions'). r --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
