[Goanet-News] Travel guides, history and other books

[Frederick "FN" Noronha]

Travel guides, history and other books

Some not-easily-accessible
books come up via a
visit to Margao, writes
FREDERICK 'FN' NORONHA.

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THE PRINTED WORD
-----------------------

THIRD TIME lucky. Twice before I tried to visit Golden Heart Emporium,
the Margao bookshop. Once I didn't make it. The second time, the queue
at the petrol pump en route meant one reached a little after closing
hours (a little after 8 pm).

Last week, while in Margao for some other work, one got a chance to
visit the bookshop that calls itself Goa's largest. Books are stashed
in different corners, and one was naturally lured towards the Goa
books section.

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Golden Heart Emporium, with books all over, at Margao.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/2672459256/sizes/o/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/2671639707/sizes/o/
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Here, one found a few books which are hard to locate elsewhere, or in
places like Panjim. Maybe they were published nearby, and Goa's
bottlenecks in book distribution only gets underlined by such a
reality.

Destination finder
------------------

Firstly, there were these two maps which one hadn't noticed earlier.

'Destination Finder Goa: Explore By Road' comes from Ideal Publishing
House of Chennai 83 (idealpublishinghouse.com) and is priced at Rs 60.
ISBN 81-89252-15-1. It is part of a series that covers a number of
other cities -- Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and
some states.

It includes 28 pages of text. Take an example: "From 1312-1370 AD the
Muslims had power over the Konkan region, who were followed by the
Sultans. Later Madhav Mantri of Vijayanagar ruled Goa as the Viceroy.
He fortified the ports, which were then besieged by the Gawans of
Gulbarga."

Of contemporary Goa, it says: "White Maruti van taxis serve as the
main means of transport...." "The dawn-to-dusk service given by
blue-painted, flat-bottomed ferries are the Goan equivalent of an
auto-rickshaw."

There are some links to useful phone numbers, and a brief listing of
accommodation available in Goa. The large-sized map, which one
struggled to open, also has details of Panjim, Vasco, Margao, Ponda,
Mapusa and Calangute-Baga.

Looking at Calangute-Baga, for instance, one runs into unnamed chapels
and temples. Good enough if one is a badly lost tourist, but otherwise
one needs details.

There was another similar publication. Shrink-wrapped and part of the
Inside India Series is 'Goa', edited by "Pooja and Meenu".

The formula seems similar as above. Some basic info plus a map. The
info is put across on better quality paper and with slicker
typesetting, compared to 'Destination Finder Goa'. But if I go by the
map, I learn, for instance, that Saligao isn't connected to Porvorim!
And there are beaches with names like Kalangut, Kandoli and Bag.

This product comes from Indiana Books (ISBN 81-8408-017-4). As already
mentioned, both are available at Golden Heart, Margao.

Upgrading
---------

It was time to upgrade my collection of Goa books, and add ones I had
earlier missed.

Late Zito Almeida's 'Gõy, Mhojea Sopnantlem Painnem'is Romi Konkani,
some 176 pages thick, and priced at a reasonable Rs 80. It was
published in December 2006, and came out via the New Age Printers at
Verna. The book was published by Almeida's Zi-al Prokaxan, Banda,
Assolna, Salcete 403701.

It is a series of short essays, many of them focussing on Christian
religious themes. There are some 56 short chapters in all.

While in Margao, I also picked up a copy of 'Tiatrancho Jhelo II',
edited by the late Felicio Cardozo for the Goa Konkani Akademi.

This 157-page publication is priced at Rs 70, and was published in
1998 by the Goa Konkani Akademi, then based at Porvorim. It contains
plays by Joao Agostinho Fernandes, Aleixinho de Candolim, J.P.
Souzalin, A.R. Souza Ferrao and Kid Boxer.

Back to history
---------------

"What's this price at?" I asked, indicating a bulky, 351-page blue
covered book that seemed to be almost falling apart. One had guessed
right... the shop was glad to clear off what was a long-unsold book.

Antonio Furtado's 'Speeches and Writings' is a work translated from
the Portuguese by Alexander J Fernandes. It has been edited and
published by Bertha Menezes Braganza, and printed at the once very
active Tipografia Rangel, at Bastora. (Wonder what happened to all
their stock of old publications, and whether the family that ran it
would consider reprinting some of their old, useful titles.)

Dr Furtado is known for taking the unusual step of founding a
'National Hindu Centre' in the Portugal of 1925. He had been to the
'mother country' as a student to gain a degree in law from the
University of Coimbra.

Writes Pandurang Mulgaonkar in the preface: "After Dr Furtado came to
Goa for his practice, he took from time to time part in a number of
polemics in the local newspapers." He was appointed Administrator of
Comunidades by Governor General Cabral. We are also told that "he says
also that in the discharge of his official duties, he never acted
against the policy of the government though he held different views."

Some interesting issues coming up here in an old book.

Controversies over comunidades are not new, one would learn. Then,
there's some debate about the treatment of the tribals in Dadra and
Nagar Haveli, and their new colonisation by landlords there after
their 'liberation'. The stand taken by the more conservative among the
'patriots' is also telling.

Another title that I came across was the Rs 40-priced 'Armed Coups
Against Portuguese Regime'. It is edited by Vikas V Desai, and is one
of the works one saw a flurry of in the post-1961 years, as diverse
groups of Goans lobbied and jostled for their own positions and to
align themselves with the incoming or outgoing ideologies.

This book was published by the Centro Promotor de Instrucao de
Canacona. This text divides history into nationalists and colonialists
-- though we know the dividing lines might have not been so clear all
throughout the past.

It has essays on the 1583 revolt of Cuncolim, Shivaji and Goa, the
Pintos Revolt of 1787, the Ranes Revolt, the Azad Gomantak Dal, the
Goa Liberation Army and Operation Vijay.

Interestingly, one footnote says: "(The) chapter on the Cola revolt of
1573, about which we have mentioned in the editorial is not included
in our book as no literature is available on it."

History is narrated in terms of 'them' and 'us'. Hindus, Muslims and
Christians, apart from the Portuguese. More critical insights would
suggest that self-interest of varied groups meant the dividing lines
were not as clear as now made out. Shivaji's occasional peace pacts
with the Portuguese are sometimes explained as due to his "running
short of war material... (being) ceaselessly at war with his enemies".

That's all for books picked up via Margao.

Another review
--------------

Meanwhile, lecturer, freelance writer, translator and reviewer Augusto
Pinto has done a lengthy and well-backgrounded review of 'In Black and
White: Insiders' Stories about the Press in Goa.' See the online text
here http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2008-July/077467.html

Pinto titles his review, catchily and provocatively, 'The Paid Pipers
of Panjim'. Needless to say, one doesn't agree with all his views. It
couldn't be further away from the truth to suggest that there aren't
any honest and committed journalists around.

Yes, there are some atrocious examples of how the profession has been
abused, including through some candid accounts in the book Pinto
reviews. But one is still impressed by journalists who cling on to
idealism, who don't give up hope, and still see their work as a
mission one way or another.

May their tribe increase.

--
Earlier in Gomantak Times.
Feedback welcome: fred at bytesforall.org or 2409490 or 9970157402 (after 1 pm)