I would also love to have a copy of this book. Didn't get around to getting a copy of Yvonne's first book. Will hopefully be able to get both at some stage - soon.
Patsy Zelma Gonsalves De Souza <[email protected]> wrote: >Would like to buy a copy of the book please. Can you please advise where I can >pick a copy in Panjm? > >I have the book published earlier by Yvonne > > > >My Mum's family was one of the families that were in Rangoon, Burma > > > >Thanks, Have a great day. > >Zelma > > >On Tue, Apr 5, 2016 at 6:09 PM, Frederick FN Noronha फ्रेड्रिक नोरोन्या >*فريدريك نورونيا <[email protected]> wrote: > >http://www.deccanherald.com/content/528706/escape.html > > >The great escape > >Latha Venkatraman, February 14, 2016 > >Lead review > > > >On the morning of December 23, 1941, Japanese Air Force carried out air raids >on Rangoon in Burma killing many Indians among others settled there. > >Rangoon, then, had a sizeable Indian population and many of the Indian >settlers were Goans. Residents of the city were anticipating the arrival of >war in Burma following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor just 15 days ago. >Nevertheless, the air attacks came as a major shock as many were in the thick >of preparations for Christmas, just two days away. >Many were killed in the air raids that continued over the next few months. > >The city was thrown into a complete state of chaos as Indian settlers who >managed to escape the attack started fleeing to India through various routes. >Those who could afford flew home. Many fled by ship, braving aerial and >submarine bombardment, but hundreds and thousands walked to Manipur through >mountains and then Assam while many others walked across the Hukaung Valley, >also known as the Valley of Death. > >Writer Yvonne Vaz Ezdani has come up with her second book on the subject, New >Songs of the Survivors, in which she has recorded stories of survivals and >trauma experienced by Goans during the 1941-1945 air raids by Japanese forces. > >This book is her account of the horrors of the attacks and the trauma people >experienced while fleeing the country and of the difficulties of those who >chose to stay back in Burma, now Myanmar. > >The earlier version of the book titled Songs of the Survivors that was >published in November 2007, is a collection of stories of trauma written by >Goan survivors who suffered following the Japanese invasion of Burma, and >during their exodus from the country back to India. Ezdani, as the editor of >the book, also speaks about her experiences in the postscript of the book. > >In New Songs of the Survivors, Ezdani comes up with her own account of the >events that unfolded during those years, reframing accounts of the earlier >book into one narrative but making a distinction between events and >thematically arranging the narrative. > >She first heard of the horror stories from her father Lucio Alexander Vaz. >When she first began to write this book, she sought survivors who would >corroborate her father’s story. >Even as hundreds of people fled the country, there were many who stayed back >in Burma. To them, just as British had colonised Burma, the Japanese were >another coloniser of another colour. “But they would carry the physical and >psychological scars of this experience for decades. They often told of those >dark days, the horror and the hardships they faced, and how they lived in fear >of the Japanese soldiers,” says Ezdani. >New Songs of the Survivors has distinctly two sections — one, detailing the >story of Goan voices, and the second, half-focusing on other individual voices. > >She starts her narrative with idyllic, peaceful times in Burma, throwing light >on the relatively carefree lives enjoyed by the settlers there. But with the >bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the threat of war in Burma >becomes real. Schools in Rangoon had closed down because of this threat. >“Everyone knew that war was coming, but no one could really believe that the >city would be bombed,” says Ezdani. > >Air raids commenced on December 23, 1941. And so did the exodus. But not >everyone could leave. The British government had arranged to evacuate people >but only a lucky few could avail of this arrangement. > >The government of British Burma failed to provide a systematic plan for >civilian evacuation, says Ezdani. Weaving accounts of survivors who trekked >across mountains, open country roads, forests, Ezdani brings to the reader >stories of courage, compassion and suffering. > >Amidst the stories of the various facets of the Japanese invasion and the >impact on Indian settlers and refugees, Ezdani also spends time highlighting >the prevalent political situation in Burma then. The Burma Campaign that ran >from 1942 to 1945 was one of the longest and the most difficult campaigns in >the Second World War. The campaign that ended in the victory for allies and >Burmese people has been fought over difficult and dangerous terrain by troops >a long way from home. Burmese people welcomed the British as liberators and >not conquerors. Many Goan survivors did go back to try and see if they could >re-establish their lives. > >The latter half of the book that focuses on other voices or non-Goan voices, >provides glimpses into survivor tales of actor Helen, Benegal Dinkar Rao, >Shakuntala Peter, Gerry O’Connor and M P Vedachalam, who was a school student >when he trekked to safety. > >Ezdani has woven several survivor stories in her narrative, almost lending a >story-like feel to the reader. The book makes for simple and engaging read but >survivor stories tend to merge into one another because of the striking >similarity in the experiences faced by people who fled. Nevertheless, an >important read as you get to read a slice of history laid out from real >experiences of people. > >New Songs of the survivors >Yvonne Vaz Ezdani >Speaking Tiger >2015, pp 264, Rs 350 > > >-- > >_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ >_/ >_/ Frederick Noronha | http://about.me/noronhafrederick | http://goa1556.in >_/ P +91-832-2409490 M 9822122436 Twitter @fn Facebook: fredericknoronha >_/ Goa,1556 CC shared audio content https://archive.org/details/goa1556 >_/ >_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ > > >-- >-- >Saligao-Net is at http://groups.google.com/group/saligao-net >To post to this group, send email to [email protected] >To unsubscribe email [email protected] > >--- >You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >"Saligao-Net" group. >To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >email to [email protected]. >For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > >-- >-- >Saligao-Net is at http://groups.google.com/group/saligao-net >To post to this group, send email to [email protected] >To unsubscribe email [email protected] > >--- >You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >"Saligao-Net" group. >To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >email to [email protected]. >For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- -- Saligao-Net is at http://groups.google.com/group/saligao-net To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe email [email protected] --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Saligao-Net" group. 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