A cardiologist's search for roots MANGALORE: Children born into Konkani community in general and GSB community in particular learn one truth early in their life -- their ancestors hailed from Goa and were driven out by the Portuguese. And this "historical truth" has been handed down for many generations by word of mouth. But if one wants to read up on this truth, there is not much to go by way of written word and the few records available are in Braga in Portugal.
Trying to fill these lacunae in the lives of the Konkani people is K Mohan Pai, an eminent cardiologist, who undertook a historian's penance to pen 'For the Love of Mandovi', which is a fiction based on facts about the struggle put by Konkani people in Goa in the first part of 16th century against the conquering Portuguese. His explanation for penning this novel that took him eight years -- "There is no book on people like us." Dr Pai, whose novel will be released on Tuesday at the Town Hall here, told TOI that idea for this novel sprouted after his earlier Kannada work -- Dhruvathareyaru, which dwells on Konkani people who migrated to Mangalore from Bhaktal post Tipu Sultan. "All that we know on migration of Konkani people from Goa is what our 'malgad lok' (family elders) have told us, and which we have passed on to our children," he says. It is the archives in Goa and several institutions in the neighbouring state that fuelled Dr Pai's research. Dr Pai also undertook trips to Braga to access the official Portuguese records that spoke on the exodus of Konkani speaking people from Goa. "There are more than 35,000 official records in Braga, which the authorities there readily shared with me," Dr Pai says adding that English translation of some of these records too came in handy. Anath Kakba Priolkar's 'Goa Inquisitions' and the doctoral thesis of Pratima P Kamath of the department of history, Goa University too serves as the reference material for this novel. The story in 'For the Love of Mandovi' that starts on the day Alfonso Albuquerque attacked Goa and unfolds a number of hitherto unknown facts about the background of the conquest and the complicated historical facts, Dr Pai observes. Will his novel -- part fiction and part history withstand the historian's scrutiny? Yes, says Dr Pai without a hint of hesitation. The fact that the novel is based on a host of official documents, and deals with a historical event, albeit seen in my own way, lends credence to the work, he avers. Regular romantic interludes and deeds of heroism, which are interspersed in the book, should make the readers feel enthralled, he adds. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mangalore/A-cardiologists-search-for-roots/articleshow/7206665.cms ~Avelino
