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Worthy Occasion Turned Unworthy
Last weekend, the13th October was like any other weekend in the UAE, except for
the fact that the one time cause of sleepless nights of a lot of Goan males and
who had once held sway on the Konkanni stage along with her late husband for
many a decades, the one and only Rita Rose was suppose to be live on stage at
the Sharjah Church hall along with the undisputed queen of Goan melody, the
exceptionally unique Lorna was enough to send a lot of us on a leather hunt for
tickets.
Lorna I had met here in Dubai before but I had not seen Rita Rose live for a
good many years, and I was very eager but due to some unavoidable circumstances
my pals and I reached just when the second song was being sung and It was a
good performance, then came Lorna to the boisterous and rousing ovation and she
did not disappoint us, the power of her vocals has not diminished at all and
her energy levels must have given a lot of youngsters a complexity,
comparatively and surprisingly Rita's performance was subdued but none the less
enjoyed seeing her on stage and even today she looks marvelous, she has lost
some pounds but still appealing none the less. Seeing the two greatest Konkanni
singers on stage together was surely "paisa vasool".
It was then the cat was let out of the bag, this program was a birthday
celebration of our Goan priest Rev. Fr. Rodson of the Sharjah Church, a priest
who has captured the hearts, minds and imaginations of many a people in this
part of the world. Some years ago he was invited for the Novenas and the feast
of St. Francis Xavier and the impact of his preaching was so great that the
Sharjah Parish priest asked the Church Authorities in Goa for the services of
Rev. Fr. Rodson on a permanent basis, since then people have just been flocking
to the Sharjah Church in the hope of getting to listen to his sermons.
It was nice of the all those involved in organizing and bringing his parents
for this celebration, it was indeed a pleasant surprise for Rev. Fr. Rodson
himself to find his parents at the celebration and he was lost for words. Rev.
Fr.Rodson has been a priest who have had a tremendous effect on the entire
Catholic community of Sharjah and more so the youth. Sharjah will be eternally
grateful for his services and we all wish him all the health, joy, peace, love
and happiness as he works in the Vineyard of the Lord.
Along with the surprise presence of the Parents of Rev. Fr. Rodson there was
also another bigger surprise awaiting us, the imposing figure of the PWD
Minister of Goa in spotless whites, which was in complete violation to the
virtue that he carries, yet again trying to fool people, of what he stands for.
His very presence indeed defiled the otherwise worthy occasion. As he was
invited to say a few words, loud boos greeted him and the very sight of him
walking to the stage made me sick to the pit of my stomach and I left the hall
to relieve myself and into the compound, on my way back I was fortunate enough
to meet Rita Rose and had the opportunity of a one on one talk with her, I will
indeed treasure the few minutes with the Konkanni stage deity for a long long
time.
As the program continued there were constant boos thrown in the direction of
the PWD minister and it got only worse when the so called Dubai trio, projected
the PWD minister as a worthy CM and unfurled his picture on stage, which was
utter blasphemy if there was ever one. Looked like the Dubai trio, are
certainly feeding on the crumbs of the PWD Minister and possibly expecting
sponsorships for their endeavors in the near future, they criticized Digambar
Kamat but were unfortunately singing paeans of the bigger anomaly than Kamat,
it was bootlicking at its worst.
I did make my feelings very clear to the person who held his portrait while
singing, after the show in no uncertain terms. It would have certainly been
better for them to keep his portrait at their respective homes and worship him
with incense rather then unfurl it at this worthy occasion, even Rev. Fr.
Rodson was feeling out of sorts in the presence of the anomaly, but what else
could he do, the boot lickers had invited him for his birthday celebrations.
The essence and the beauty of the birthday celebrations of Rev. Fr. Rodson were
certainly undone by the presence of this anomaly called Churchill Alemao and
that too in spotless whites, a man with white on the outside, while filled with
muck inside.
Even though all the people love and respect Rev Fr. Rodson, it was indeed
unfortunate that some just could not help but boo the PWD Minister and if it
wasn't for the birthday, I am sure the boos would have grown in intensity and
frequency. I humbly request to the organizers and the Sharjah Goan Community,
not to dilute the essence of such beautiful and meaningful celebrations by
inviting corrupt and anti Goan politicians. There is an age old adage in
Konkanni "Ami atrun polloun paim sodche". If we cannot afford entertainment
without the sponsorships of our corrupt politicians please do not go for it, we
Goan would prefer to stay home than to be a part of the celebrations sponsored
by the blood money derived from selling and raping Goa.
Freddy Agnelo Fernandes
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