Dear Father Nasciment
I pray that your health improves and that you will be able to attend the
book launch. Congratulations on the completion of your wonderful book and
also on the Anniversary of your ordination.
Saligao is indeed blessed to have a son like you.
Warm wishes from across the sea.
Yvonne
On , "Fr. Nascimento" <[email protected]> wrote:
Dear Albert,
Thank you for your warm wishes on the
launching of a new book enttitled " Land of the Sal tree", on 26th April,
2012
at Mae de Deus Church, Saligao, around 6.30 mp. Rev. Fr. Luciano
Fernandes,
the parish priest will do the honour of releasing the book. However due to
my recent ailment , I may not be present in Saligao Church. But Jesus
through Mae de Deus may work a miracle. On 26th April this year is also my
43 Ordination Anniversary Praise God.
I wish you and all our Saliganvkars in Perths
and other parts of Australia a Happy feast of Mae de Deus on 6th May. I
will remeber you all on that day. Boas Festas !
Much love, fr. nascimento
mascarenhas.
-- Original Message -----
From:
Albert Da
Cruz
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, April 23, 2012 7:40
PM
Subject: Re: [SALIGAONET] Stories,
history, legends and traditions... from a village in Goa, India
Thanks Fr. Nascimento for yet another great contribution to the history
of Saligao..
I hope you are keeping well. I know the problems of ageing.
We will be celebrating the Mae de Deus Feast on Sunday 6th May in
Perth.
We will remember you in our Prayers.
Take care & God Bless
Albert Da Cruz
From: Fr. Nascimento
Sent: Monday, April 23, 2012 1:53 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [SALIGAONET] Stories, history, legends and
traditions... from a village in Goa, India
Dear Frederick,
Thank you very much for your overall review of the Book" Land of The Sal
Tree
" and its promotion on saligao-net. I am proud of you
As I am not keeping well, will you kindly do the
needful for me to place short news about its launch at Saligao Church on
Thursday 26th April, 2012 around 6.30 pm in the Newhind Times, O
Heraldo, Gomantak Express and even other marathi dailies and
TOI for Wednesday's edition ? Thanks in anticipation You may place some
matter of what you wrote to make the release interesting. Many thanks to
you
I hope you are in contact with people from
Toronto, UK, USA, Australia, Dubai. Please be in contact. Kindly
pray for me as I do for you and yours . Everyone is dear to me.
Much love, fr. nascimento
mascarenhas
----- Original Message -----
From:
Frederick FN Noronha फ्रेड्रिक
नोरोन्या *فريدريك نورونيا
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, April 23, 2012 3:56
AM
Subject: [SALIGAONET] Stories, history,
legends and traditions... from a village in Goa, India
Stories,
history, legends and traditions... from a village in Goa, India
This
book offers a peek into the wonderful days of a bygone-era in a typical
village of Goa, India, a land with a rich history and a diverse
society.
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRLog (Press Release) - Apr 23,
2012 -
Goa's heart beats in its charming villages, with their
winding pathways and ancestral houses -- nested amidst coconut groves and
surrounded by greenery. So says a new book on Saligao, one of Goa's
many colourful and scenic villages, that has just been published
here.
'Land of the Sal Tree' is a book promising "stories of the
history, legends and traditions" of this "typical Goan village".
Saligao is located a short distance -- three to four kilometres -- from
the
North Goa coast. But unlike some of the beach villages which have
speedily turned into concrete jungles, this one has still retained some
charm.
This book is authored by Fr. Nascimento J. Mascarenhas, a
priest from the village who has served in diverse parishes across Goa.
Fr. Mascarenhas has an abiding passion for Goa's history -- specially
Church history. So much so that he has authored half-a-dozen books so
far.
The book's goal, says the author, is to provide "readers with an
enlightening snapshot of the history, culture and traiditions of
Saligao". Saligao lies somewhere in between the prominent former
fishing-village turned tourism-hotspot of Calangute, the North Goa
commercial capital of Mapusa and state-capital of Panjim.
"Saligao
abounds in dustry lanes and naorrow pathways which will take you to quaint
shrines and half-hidden gardens, old crumbling houses next to brightly
painted modern structures or well maintained so-called 'Portuguese'
houses,"
says a foreword to the book by Yvonne Vaz Ezdani. Also a villager, Vaz
Ezdani has authored her own book (on the history of Goans in Burma) some
four years earlier.
Offering a good amount of local history, the book
keeps its style informal and catchy, and intersperses its text with
attractive illustrations. It talks about unusual institutions and
individuals that make up the village.
For instance, the village-crier
of the yesteryears was called the 'parpoti'. Way back in the 1920s,
expat villages took the initiative to set up a local club that took care
of
the locals' entertainment and intellectual nourishment. Today, in
distant regions -- Bombay, London and Toronto -- expat villagers keep
their
flag flying by organising events and cultural get-togethers, as do expats
from some other villages of Goa.
Saligao has had its traditional
schools, before the Portuguese, early colonisers in South Asia, reached
Goa
in 1510. Later on, besides parochial and Latin/Portuguese schools,
this region and its neighbourhood was also one of the first to play home
to
English-medium schools in Goa. This perhaps explains why so many of
the people from around here migrated to the English-speaking world,
earlier
in East Africa and more recently to North America, Australia, or the
UK.
For instance, the Mater Dei Institution, a school still actively
running, was founded in 1909. Another local school, Lourdes Convent,
was started in the 1940s as were a crop of some other English-language
schools in Goa.
One interesting section looks at the 'house names'
used in the village to describe local families. These are in the
Konkani language, but translate into quaint meanings such as 'the house
displaying flags', the home of the 'goat', the 'kind villager', the family
that blabbers, or those with large bottoms and even a broken toe!
The
book looks at the indigenous people of the village, modes of transport of
the past, the beggars of the yesteryears and how these were dealt with
locally, or traditional forms of coping with a dark road in times when Goa
lacked electricity.
One section looks at the games played by local
youth. These were simple times when tiny marbles, cashew seeds, cracked
tiles, stones or bamboo slats could entertain local kids for hours on
end. One game called the 'atto sori' comprised simply of a use tyre
metal rim, which was pushed across the roads by boys between the age of
seven to ten years!
Saligao, though just one of the small villages in
the State, has a number of prominent names linked to it. These include
the prominent ophthalmologist in Portugal Dr Claudio da Gama Pinto,
educationist Anacleto Lobo, the doyen of Indian cricket Anthony de Mello,
the Goan pioneer in Karachi Cincinatus F. D'Abreo, noted musicians
like the Goan nightingale Lorna and folklorist Oslando, religious leaders
like bishops and the Karachi-based Mother Bridget Sequeira, a number of
military men, and prominent writers and professors.
Its author has
had space for a number of sections to the book myth and earlier history of
the area, the etymology and religious evolution of Saligao, the village in
its earlier years, individuals the author himself admired, local temples,
chapels and the church; wards of Saligao; trivia about the village; its
folklore, superstititions, traditions and customs.
Prior to
Saligao's inhabitants converting to Catholicism, its denizens were
Hindus. Fr Mascarenhas tracks the "trail of the Hindus of Sal
village", the post-conversion name changes, and current temples in the
village. A separate section looks at the Mae de Deus church, perhaps
Goa's only Gothic-style shrine, and details of who built it and at what
cost.
Like other Goan villages, this one too is divided into various
wards (or 'vaddos'). These are described -- starting with Salmona,
where the Sal trees grew, Arrarim, Sonarbhat which gets its name from the
goldsmiths, Morodd or the home of the aboriginal population, the
administrative and commercial centre of Cotula, and Mollembhat named after
its flower gardens. There's also Tabravaddo, whose denizens changed
their names away from Tavora for an unusual reason, Donvaddo, and the
hamlet
on the knoll called Mudd'davaddi.
Aiming to inform and enterain too,
this book does contain some quaint stories from the village of the
past. Buffaloes, village boundaries, old-style coconut shell lamps,
are among the subjects featured.
No story on Saligao would be
complete without referring to the foxy-legend which rubs off onto the
villagers too. Likewise, a supposedly haunted tree on the village
hilltop linked to a pretty female spirit has been the source for many
stories here.
The author calls Saligao a "benevolent village" and
focuses on its homes for the aged. He devotes a chapter to pay tribute
to some of the humble folk who made up the village in their times. The
book also looks at the changing structure of the village, as more old
timers
migrate the globe, and new residents enter.
Today, Saligao is the
home for other prominent names too, such as 'The Idea of India' author
Sunil
Khilnani and Pulitzer prizewinning journalist Katherine Boo (author of
'Behind the Beautiful Forevers'), artist Subodh Kerkar, top photographer
Dayanita Singh, painter Francis Souza and sculptor Verodiana Ferrao, among
others.
Fr Nascimento's earlier books deal with Goan priests who
served in Portugal, a pioneering ophthalmologist who traced his roots to
the
village, the port area of Mormugao, and three books on the parishes and
priests of Bardez, Ilhas and Salcete, all regions within
Goa.
Illustrations for this book are from the Canada-based villager
from Saligao, Mel D'Souza, who went to the same school (Mater Dei) as the
author. His charming illustrations, over 85 in number, add depth and
insight. "His drawings [specially of past times] are as culturally
accurate as one could get," says the author.
--
Land of the Sal
Tree
Stories of the history, legends and traditions of Saligao,
a
typical Goan village
Fr Nascimento J. Mascarenhas [email protected]
Illustrated
by Mel D'Souza [email protected]
Goa:
Goa,1556
Pp 312, Pb. Rs 350 in Goa.
Order via mail from [email protected]
http://www.prlog.org/11855841-stories-history-legends-and-traditions-from-village-in-goa-india.html--
FN +91-832-2409490 or +91-9822122436 [email protected]
Books
from Goa,1556 http://scr.bi/Goa1556Books
Audio recordings (mostly
from Goa): http://bit.ly/GoaRecordings
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