A glittering Goan heritage
Mario Miranda: A ‘mando’ underway at a Goan reception
On December 11, 2011, India lost one of her pioneering and renowned cartoonists, and Goa an illustrious son. A great modern-day Goan personality, Mario Miranda, passed away at his home in Loutolim.
Then on January 18 this year, the legendary music composer and arranger – Anthony Gonsalves, the real Anthony Gonsalves, died in Goa at the age of 84, and Goa lost yet another great son. Gonsalves composed memorable musical arrangements for a number of Hindi film songs including the popular “Aayega, aayega, aayega aanewala” from Mahal, and “Hum aapki aankhon mein” from Pyaasa picturised on the multi-talented Guru Dutt and Mala Sinha.
Some suave waltz moves and a lyrical reminder of a legendary music arranger
And just recently I read about the demise of another Goan stalwart. This time a giant in the field of journalism. The celebrated journalist and historian, Alfred D’Cruz, a former chief sub-editor of The Times of India, and the first Indian journalist to be handpicked for the editorial desk of the same paper by the then British editor back in 1947, passed away a month ago, on June 1.
Reading about eminent Goans and their outstanding contributions in their chosen fields always reminds me of what a great legacy we Goans have inherited, what distinguished personalities our miniscule state has given to India and the world. This post is a salute to our amazing Goan heritage.
Stereotypes in Bollywood films
Unfortunately when many of our compatriots think of Goans, specially Goan Christians, they at once think ‘drunkard’, ‘mini-skirted promiscuous women’, ‘ayahs’, or ‘smugglers’, going by the ludicrous stereotypes propagated by Bollywood films. Thankfully, going against the arrogantly insensitive “no need for character detailing” approach towards the representation of minority characters, there are a few, very few, exceptions to the rule. Like the Goan Christian family in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Khamoshi, or the elderly Christian spinster in Aparna Sen’s 36 Chowringee Lane where the attention to character study by the directors is clearly evident.
Most Bollywood directors seem to be incapable of conceiving more creative, more real depictions of Goan Christians, choosing to mindlessly perpetuate stereotypes instead. Christians are either inserted as token characters or as Naresh Fernandes, well-known writer and consulting editor of Time Out had pointed out in an article, a Christian character is usually the sidekick of some other character. Also, more often than not Christians are saddled with stock names like Robert (at times hilariously mispronounced as Raabert) or Mary. And when these poor suckers have to say anything, they are made to mouth inane lines like “Kaiku aisa bolta hai man“, that too with a weird western accent.
How ignorant, rather how pathetically ignorant, is that? How unfair to a community that has contributed so much to India in spheres ranging from sports to science and from music to medicine? And considering that in a population of around 1.2 billion ours is a tiny community of about 14 lakhs (that’s just around half the population of Thane and barely 0.12% of the total population!), it’s glaringly obvious that we have given the country a disproportionately larger number of super-achievers as compared to any other Indian community.
Eminent Goans: Incredible achievements
But forget other Indians, today many Goans too have lost sight of the many luminaries produced by their home state. A list of eminent Goans would run into several pages, and would definitely be an eye-opener for those who don’t know any better than what they see on the Hindi film screen. Shining a light on the lives of all of them would be an impossible task. But I intend to present short biographies of a select few through this blog. So stop by often to check out the incredible achievements of some of Goa’s most distinguished sons and daughters.
Cheers!
You know you are a Goan if….. yes I recently experienced a couple of those moments when I felt, “Yes, I am a Goan even subconsciously, even when I don’t realize it”. I was quite struck upon reading in your article that the arrangement for the song “Aayegaa” from Mahal was composed by a Goan. It is my most favourite Hindi movie song of all time – memorable in its melody and music arrangement, haunting in its lyrics, and perfect in its relevance to the plot. Perhaps I was drawn to it because there is something Goan about it. The other day, my husband served me a glass of red wine, asking me to taste and see if I liked it. Assuming it was a Cabernet, I declared that I loved it, and upon inquiring what it was, I learned that it was a very good Port wine ! The favourite of Goenkar maca-paons ! My Goan tastebuds were saying, “Nice and sweet!” Cheers and keep writing.
Yes Cynthia. We may not always be conscious of it, but our Goan roots have shaped the way we think, the things we are drawn to, the things in which we find joy… And we should be proud that Goan musical compositions continue to be appreciated by generations of lovers of Bollywood music, never mind that most of them might not be aware of the Goan link.