A tale of two regrets and two treasures...
Remembering Valmiki Faleiro (January 6, 1956-October 5, 2023)
>From MELVYN MISQUITA
misqu...@outlook.com
As the years progress, the list of memories gets longer. The
list of memorable moments and the list of regrets. With the
shocking and untimely demise of eminent writer and historian
Valmiki Faleiro of Margao on October 5, two regrets and two
treasures were added to this list.
But first, a background.
I have long admired Socrates Valmiki Faleiro --
until October 5, I didn't even know that Socrates
was his first name -- for his writing skills. He
was articulate, had profound knowledge about
Salcete, and especially Margao, and was a master of
history, mystery, and the occasional controversy.
Among the many fascinating articles by Valmiki, two had stood
out for me, largely because they were connected with
musicians of yesteryears. The first was 'Goan music: a long,
twisted, and often colourful road across time' and the second
was 'San Franciscu Xavier-a: A queer story'. More about the
first article a little later.
I would occasionally interact with Valmiki, letting him know
that I appreciated his articles in newspapers. At some point
in time, he became aware that I was the son-in-law of the
late Jose Gracias of Borda-Margao, who was associated with
the Margao Comunidade for some time. Valmiki, one of the
largest shareholders of the Margao Comunidade and a person of
keen interest in Comunidade affairs, had good memories of my
late father-in-law.
My close interaction with Valmiki began barely
three years ago and it involved work on my late
father-in-law and a group of musicians mainly from
Salcete who performed in a band 'Joe Blues', later
renamed to 'Music Lovers', between 1953 and 1963.
My work was based on a seven-decade-old diary,
hundreds of handwritten music sheets, memorabilia
and other artefacts which were meticulously
preserved at the residence of my late
father-in-law.
My father-in-law, two other founder members, Alvito da Costa
and Ronaldo Coutinho, were from Borda-Margao, while the
fourth founding member, Anacleto Figueiredo (nephew of the
Maestro Antonio Figueiredo), resided near the Holy Spirit
Church. The 37 musicians who performed with the 'Music
Lovers' at some point in time over those 10 years included
the legendary musician, Chris Perry, and his brother, Paul
Perry.
Chris Perry's house was barely about 50 metres from the
residence of Valmiki. Hoping to pick up some details (other
than those already known to his fans across the world) from
Valmiki, I decided to visit him at his residence. I cannot
ascertain the exact date as all my WhatsApp messages prior to
October 2022 accidentally got deleted while I was in the
process of switching phones.
Valmiki's house is by the side of the majestic Holy Spirit
Church at Margao. And Valmiki's house is no less impressive.
The exteriors of Valmiki's house are beautiful in aesthetics
and architecture, while the interiors, furnishings and
finishings are just as exquisite.
Valmiki and his wife, Daisy, were great hosts, welcoming me
into their house. Within minutes, Valmiki took me to the
first floor, where we began our conversation. I explained my
project and the musicians involved. When the topic of Chris
Perry came up for discussion, he provided some interesting
insights into the life of the legendary musician and his
personal experiences with Chris Perry.
But true to his nature, Valmiki could not remain on
one topic for long. He would divert to related
topics with amazing ease, rattling names, places
and events with remarkable memory. My purpose was
to get more information about Chris Perry, but much
of our time was spent discussing other topics.
They may not have been relevant to my music
project, but they were, nonetheless, of great
interest to me.
The topics and their narratives were unadulterated. Nothing
was censored or edited by Valmiki, even though we were
formally meeting for the first time. Perhaps, he saw in me
an avid listener, who sat mesmerised and absorbing his
fascinating stories. And of course, his ability to narrate
them with clarity and precision.
Shortly after our conversation came to an end, Valmiki took
me around his house, giving me a brief guided tour of his
palatial abode. Valmiki stopped to show me one of his many
prized possessions: A beautiful 150-year-old large teakwood
cupboard, handcrafted by a highly skilled carpenter who was
the grandfather of Joe, Chris and Paul Perry.
"This large teakwood cupboard still going strong 150 years
later to this day. Much before Joe and Chris Perry's genius
at creating everlasting melodies, their grandfather's
handcrafted legacy silently lives on," Valmiki was to tell
