########################################################################## # Goanetters-2004 meet in Goa. Dec 21, Tuesday. 12 noon to 2 pm. # # Clube Vasco, Near Municipal Garden, Panjim. Pass the word around! # ##########################################################################
VASCO POET REGALES GOANS IN DELHI 'Amchea bhavan kovita ji boroilea te amche bhashen borovon ekdom borem kelam, kiteak chodd zann English bhashen boroitat. Amchem bhashen mann devouk ami te amchea bhashen aikonk kai borem! Dev borem korum, amche bhashen nanv voir kadd.' -Fatima Barretto, who was present at the poetry reading in New Delhi Spontaneous claps and cheers greeted Dr Brian Mendonca when he took the stage and informed the 400-strong crowd of Goans in Delhi that they had every reason to be proud. From amongst their own was a Goan poet whose poems were recently recognized by the national academy of literature in India, viz. the Sahitya Akademi in their June 2004 volume of Indian Literature showcasing new poetry in India. It was not only a matter of pride for Goans worldwide, but also for the fact that what Brian writes so movingly about, i.e. Goan experience, is now part of India's archive of national literary history. Indeed, 'Afternoon' written on Good Friday in Mangor Hill, Vasco (1998) opens the Sahitya Akademi collection. 'Slippers in the Sand' (1998) written at Baina is also part of the collection. Brian said that to be heard by Goans in Delhi was a homecoming for him. What was extra special was the reading of a translation of two of Brian's poems into Konkani rendered beautifully by Daniel F de Souza in Vasco, -- the organizer of Brian's first ever poetry reading, in Vasco in September this year. This is Brian's poem 'Afternoon': In the afternoon / the mynahs / chirp in / Mangor./ The languid summer air / is nailed to the wood, / As my father's / toes / twitch in sleep. The translation: Donparchea vellar / salori / roddtat / Mangrant./ Jiv naslolo / Gormencho varo / Marta sukhea lankhdar, / Nident astana / mhojea paichea paiamchim / bottam xir-xirtat. Brian began with his much-loved poem 'Last Bus to Vasco' which had the crowd in splits with the Konkani bits. Next Brian read his poem 'I Am Not Alone' and the powerful Konkani translation 'Hanv Eklo Na'. Brian would have liked to have read 'Slippers in the Sand' with its Konkani translation 'Zotim Renvent' -- and no doubt the people would have loved it -- if Fr Aires Furtado, who was acting as MC, had not butted in immediately after the inspiring last line 'Hanv eklo nanv' saying in slapstick way 'Hanv eklo nanv, ami dog zan ha', and announcing the lemon and spoon race for children. Furtado's pathetic attempt at humour did not take away from the fact that the Goans in Delhi enjoyed every moment of the poetry reading and perhaps would have have been well-pleased to use their minds for a change instead of the usual boring stretches of d-a-a-n-c-i-n-g and e-e-a-t-i-n-g and p-l-a-a-y-i-n-g H-o-u-s-i-e-e-e-e. As Fatima Barretto wrote in Brian's visitor's book later, "Amchea bhavan kovita ji boroilea te amche bhashen borovon ekdom borem kelam, kiteak chodd zann English bhashen boroitat. Amchem bhashen mann devouk ami te amchea bashen aikonk kai borem! Dev borem korum, amche bhashen nanv voir kadd." Brian read his poems in the community centre of the Sacred Heart Cathedral, Goldakhana, New Delhi at the Annual day-long celebrations of the Feast of St Francis Xavier hosted by the St Francis Xavier Goan Society, New Delhi on Sunday 5 December 2004.