Adeus, Adeus Josebab Doyal Korniani, Hassop vantun, Tuvem Mogal Potin ani Bhurghim zodlim 8 natram gopant tujea boslim Zaite Ashirwaad tuka favo zalle Pun tum amkam adhim sodun gelo Adeus, Adeus Adeus Josebab Tuzo 50 vorsancho Aamig
Adieu, Adieu Josebab With kind deeds, spread laughter, Loving wife and children were blessed Embraced 8 grand children Deservedly gained lots of love and memories Yet you left us early Adieu, Adieu, Adieu Josebab Lasting 50 years of friendship Michael (Mingel) Pinto pan...@hotmail.com Medicos and engineering students had, for long, held out healthy competition to one another. This was also true in Panjim, and was something that was also felt during our student days in 1967, where we both studied in these fields. Jose Colaco believed that we should address each other Jose and Mingel, the Goan way. When I spoke of my two trips to Goa in the last four years, he lamented the present day status of the land we all call home. Both of us grew up outside Goa (he in Poona, and me in Belgaum). But we very fervently declared our love for Goa, her culture, customs, simplicity, cleanliness, unpolluted and serene beauty. Jose Colaco, who passed away while on a family holiday in the Dominican Republic last week and whose funeral takes place around now, held fast to this love affair till the very end. I met Jose first via the CSU (the Catholic Students Union, an organisation of the times which aimed to build a youth leadership and organised frequent study circles or study camps and sought to inculcate a religious spirit as well as patriotism among the younger generation). It was a meeting held at Don Bosco's. Jose, I still recall, did create a ruckus on a point of order and got the proceedings into a disarray. That is Jose for you, and it was a role he indeed relished. Observing the sane people and sorting them out from the rest of the chaos, he decide who would form his close-knit group. Luis Barreto, Yvette Silveira and me were part of this close group whom I can recollect. During many inter-collegiate elocution and extempore competitions, we were participants. I would win. But Jose would always come off from the leftfield, pose intricate thoughts and shake-up the judges and the audience. Hence he gained a following which filled the seats. Most importantly, debates were the held at the Clube Nacional between the students and the elders. (The latter included Carmo Noronha, Dr. Barbosa, John Chagas Pereira, journalist-editor Dr. Carmo Azavedo and Adv. Jorge Athaide Lobo). This time, Joe and myself were on the same side. We got the audience in fits of laughter; when the final voting results showed we had 95% approval. There were many others occasions and speech competitions which we participated at the Lions Club, Rotary Club and Clube Vasco da Gama. Jose always enjoyed playing pranks and spared none, more so with his wife-to-be Emma. This continued later too. Various accents of the Caribbean was his forte. He would call me and pretend to be somebody or the other, and keep my wife engaged in conversation for at least for five minutes. At the end she would call on me to take over and we would both have a hearty laugh. At one point of time, the CSU was helping the Panjim church by way conducting bingo (housie) during its feastday fairs. I was in charge of the bingo and the funds collected. Suddenly, the cash box went missing, throwing me into a state of panic. It was only later on that I discovered prankster Jose had hidden the missing stash at the famed landmark in the locality, the Singbal's book store. Jose loved to argue and always eager to start an argument, even if it meant loading up some folks with feni. Capuccina was our normal hang-out. It was thrilling to watch Jose arguing with Alfred Tavares, both not wanting to give up. Alfred, as those active in cyberspace would know, went on to become an active journalist in Sweden, who also passed away in 2014 [http://bit.ly/alfred-obit]. As far as the youth then went, there were two major groups at the time, the Campal and the Altinho boys, who had their own cars and Vespas. We had none. Hence we walked everywhere. When we had the time, we visited the Navhind Times editorial section, to get advance information on the next day's news. Balan, Vernon D'Souza and [the still active in journalism] Cyril D'Cunha would always welcome us. Jose would take us on his medical rounds at times. Most of the time I would eat at George Bar [https://www.zomato.com/goa/george-restaurant-bar-panaji], situated alongside the foot of the steps of Panjim church, as it was closer to me as I lived in Altinho. Jose himself was very fond of Marietta [http://bit.ly/marietta-panjim], near to the old Goa Medical College (now the Inox) complex. He maintained that they made the best fish-curry in town. Both of also enjoyed a masala dosa at the Shanbag café, near the Municipal Garden (now Garcia Da Orta) and would then would join the elders seating the garden, at times to start a rumour, which would sometimes show up in the next day's Diario de Noite or O Heraldo. As chance would have it, we were both involved in the starting up of the Lion's Youth Organization (LYO). Dr. Rajaram Rajadhyaksha backed us on this. He believed that students of the day would become better Lions of tomorrow. The working history collected by the Lions Club of Panjim, forwarded to the International HQ, as a result, saw the starting of the Leo Club. I recall that Mabel Chagas Pereira was very helpful in giving us access to Dr. Rajadhyaksha. Rarely did I see Jose Colaco reading his books as he had excellent memory. But he enjoyed disturbing his roommate Aleppo with music on his record player. His favourites were songs were Bob Dylan's *Blowing in the Wind*, Harry Belafonte's *Day O* and *Jamaica Farewell*. And last but not the least, Peter, Paul and Mary's *If had a Hammer*. Before he left to be overseas, we were invited for lunch atn St. Inez. Allan was a baby, and came to running to see us buck naked. Jose jokingly told Emma that he would do the same; she sweetly smiled but there was a powerful stare. Very often we would reminisce of the old days and update each other as to who was where, and the other tid-bits of news that got through. He did keep a good tab on the people from the past. Since the Hurricane Mathew (on October 6, 2016) devastated Nassau, Bahamas, where he stayed, we did not get chance to speak on the phone, but we did communicate on Facebook. The last comment he made before his sudden and shocking death was that I somehow seemed to carry a sour face while being part of a family picture. Each week there was posting where he would proudly share a pic of what he was eating, how Emma had cooked his favourite dish. He was very proud of his grandchildren and would narrate their jokes, especially of his first grandchild Aria, who had spoken loudly to Jesus by going closer to the alter. Emma, Allan/Vanessa, Noel/Lavina and Lynette/Noel, I was privileged to know the families on both sides. His older brother Maurice was my roommate after Joe had left for overseas. I got to know his loving parents, his sister Blanche and her children too. Since I am grandson of Uccassaim and Nacinola, Emma's Dad was our family doctor, hence I knew her side of the family too. My mum would always warn us that if we misbehave Dotor Benedit would give us an *ajut* (the much-feared enema, a common treatment of the times). That would scare us. As a teacher at St. Britto, in Mapusa, in the 1960s, I met her brother Daniel, and taught a few classes to brother Gerard. Daniel would narrate his life in Wisconsin in USA to other teacher colleagues of the time, Edmund and Peter Morris and me, and confirm how he still loved Goa. Later, I myself spent some three years in Wisconsin and remembered him while there. Flavia got married to another friend of mine Prof. Tony Barbosa. My mother's siblings were in the same group as some of Emma's siblings. Like with most Goans, we too relished the traditions of reminiscing all the families' ties. Mogal Jose, true dedicated and caring Goan, with his online efforts, kept the (now much-debated term of) Goenkarpon alive. When I spoke to him in 2010, about my Online Rosary Project (www.konkanirosary.org) he was willing to host it on his website www.colaco.net. But he requested me to wait awhile, as he was in the middle of changing servers. He however volunteered to fund the project if backing from the Goans in Toronto did not come through. That, though, was not needed. The Toronto Goans did a very good job. Francis D'Costa, GoanVoice, Goacom, CLR and others did an excellent job of providing support. Jose, in the last week of your life, surrounded by your extended family, you were blessed to express your love, joy, happiness and laughter. Above all, you left us peacefully. May your soul rest in peace Jose. With heavy heart, I bid you adeus with the following song, and end with a small request: please don't argue with Sao Pedro or start a debating team up there too: Adeus Korcho Velu Paula [via Ruth Lobo] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN4uGqRSpwY Os Lusíadas: Adeus Korcho Vellu Paulo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7kDeepy-js [Edited by Frederick Noronha] More about Michael Pinto here: https://archive.org/details/MichaelPintoBackInGoaAfter27Years