Pictures of a Hindustani vocalist from Goa

Here's Rajan Parrikar's link to a picture gallery for Kesarbai Kerkar, the Hindustani vocalist from Goa. And if you're keen to know more about Kerkar, check out Google. Parrikar explains on his website which he introduced via the Soc.Culture.Indian.Goa Usenet newsgroup of where the pictures come from. He wrote: "Kesarbai Kerkar was born in the tiny village of Keri (also spelled "Querim") in the Ponda taluka, about 15 miles due east of Panaji, the capital of Goa. The hamlet, nestled in an area of exquisite, serene beauty, is home to two temples devoted to Vetal and Goddess Sateri. There are two houses in Keri associated with Kesarbai. One is the ancestral house where she was born, whose occupants today are the descendents of her brother, the sarangiya Anant Kerkar. Following a feud with Anant, Kesarbai built another home less than a kilometre away. This second home is now the site of the Surashree Kesarbai Kerkar High School. Both the homes essentially stand in their original state; extension work on the school continues without disturbing the parent structure. I went to Keri on January 5, 2005 and took some pictures. The entire school staff was warm, welcoming and helpful. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge the pictures and to view the slideshow."

Blood, donations, and Goa

Here's a site where you can get someone to help you with blood when you desperately need it. Goa listed too. And don't forget to become a blood donor yourself; otherwise initiatives like this can't just work!

Goan Christian names, from Dr Neil

Check Dr Neil Rangel's listing of Christian Goan names which he put together and is on a wiki. Some 3000+ already listed. Your help in updating, correcting, adding (and deleting) welcome.

A young man, a film and a blog

A youngster's blog which, as of today, carries as his latest entry the story of how he made his film at IFFI-Goa 2004.This is from the unreals by criz blog on Blogger.com itself.

Malaysia, Malacca, the Portuguese and Goa?

Malaysia newspaper The Star Online reported on Feb 3, 2005 from Petaling Jaya that a "1,000-year-old lost city, possibly older than Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Borobudur in Indonesia, is believed to have been located in the dense jungles of Johor." On Usenet newsgroups, someone had commented that "apparently the first Portugese expeditionary force which landed in Malacca several years before the invasion of 1511 were arrested and put into gaol by the Sultan upon the advice of Muslim court advisors from the Indian subcontinent who saw their business interests in Goa taken over by the Portugese. The did not want to see the same happening in Malacca. The Portugese attacked to the rescue of their compatriots and the rest was history." Gabriel de Figueiredo from Melbourne (an "ex-Ponjekar ani Lotlekar") added to this, via Goanet saying: "See also the site of the Malacca Portuguese Eurasian Association, if interested in that part of the world." Thanks to all for offering the useful links. Don't know how effective this is, but here's the results for links between Malaysia and Portugal.

Peter Griffin...visiting Goa

A readable and descriptive travel piece by Peter Griffin on Goa, recently published (in slightly edited version) in Outlook Traveller

35, ten languages, and the 'son of the consul'

AT 35, PEDRO CABRAL ADAO has an almost boyish-look about him. But, in fact, he's Portugal's new Consul General in Goa, the tiny region along the west coast of India which once was the headquarters of the Portuguese empire in the east. "When I saw the Consul, I thought he must be the son of the Consul," said the lady-director of a Goa government department, speaking only half in jest at a function this week. Barely a fortnight into his new post, the Consul knows ten languages and comes in with a rather colourful background. He is an expert in international law, was a journalist with Renacensa and the Semanario weekly, and has been a lecturer in international politics and Portuguese history. He has served in Iran, the UN, East Timor, Moldovia, and was last the deputy head of Lisbon's mission in Sweden. Speaking in fluent English, not always the mark of Portuguese officials Goa has known, the young diplomat said with undisguised modesty, after he was introduced as a chief-guest at one function here: "It's not a very impressive biodata at all." And he added: "I'm just doing my best for my country ... to bridge the gap. It's a honour to be in Goa." As people he encountered almost rubbed-in his youthfulness, the Consul advised, in return: "I am young, so take advantage of that. Take advantage of me being young and my energies to get things done." So, let's go about digging up some links that might be useful. Was having some problems in locating the website of the Portuguese Consulate in Goa, though there's this link to Lisbon's envoys in many other parts of the globe.Incidentally the email address of the Consulate General in Goa is cgport1 at sancharnet.in And this is a link where somebody's complaining about attestation of documentation in Goa This might not be directly related, but this URL has some useful information about scholarships for Indian students in Portugal -- offered by the Camoes Institute (Portuguese language and culture, research scholarships, summer courses, Lusofonia Program, Pessoa Program, Vieira Program, Fernao Mendes Pinto Program, and the program to teach the Portuguese language). There are also openings via the Institute Camoes, the Embassy of Portugal in Delhi's Cultural Centre, and the Consulate in Goa. Here's another portal with many Portuguese links And my favourite Wikipedia ends with this quirky story: "On December 19 1961 India, under pressure from public opinion, and foreign pressure from the rest of the third world to oppose colonialism, moved into Goa. Twenty Indians and 17 Portuguese were killed in the fighting, which lasted twenty-six hours. A famous telegram was sent to a newspaper correspondent at the time - the single word "Goa?". He replied, "Gone". "

Of museums, and more

Rudolf Ludwig aka Kammermeier of the Art Chamber (aka Galeria de Belas Artes) at Gauravaddo in Calangute has helped the Goa Tourism (of "365 days on holiday" fame) to put together a tourist guide for museums, galleries and places with cultural activities. Don't ask me how to get a copy of this 23-page booklet, I just ran into one through one of the museums! Even if a little slanted towards the central coast of Goa -- the tourist zone -- it throws up an amazing set of places to visit, maps, URLs and basic info. Any guess how many museums Goa has? There's the Goa State Museum and then there's Architect Gerard da Cunha's relatively-new architectural museum called Houses of Goa (no website listed, but email archauto at sancharnet.in). The Xavier Centre of Historical Research, at Porvorim, has its Gallery on Christian Art, named the Xavier Xandev Museum. (Again, no website. Email delio at sancharnet.in). To this add the archaeological museum and portrait gallery at Old Goa, the Christian Art Museum at the same location, and the Pilar Seminary Museum. ("Its history was brought to light by the discovery of ancient artefacts while digging the foundations for the educational institutions and while desilting an old tank within the compound of the present Society of Pillar. All these items collected and mounted in the Pilar Seminary Museum are displayed in relation to the dynasties and the periods passed through the centuries.") Email aisem at sancharnet.in Big Foot at Loutolim (aka Ancestral Goa) is an attempt to illustrate and recreate Goa's traditional past. See Big Foot's site. You might find it hard to believe, but there's even a vintage-cars collection of sorts -- Ashvek Vintage World "dedicated to restore and preserve motoring and motorcycling gems of historical interest in Goa". You can find cars ranging from ye old Mercedes Benz, to the Peugeot, Morris, Chevrolet and the Volkswagen. Check it out at Nuvem, on permanent display. Entry Rs 50. Email ashvek at sancharnet.in There's also the Museum of Blessed Joseph Vaz or email sanjovaz at sancharnet.in) and the Naval Aviation Museum. You can see and touch vintage aircrafts like the Sealands, Doves, Alizes, Seahawks, Vampires and Huges Helicopters. After all, our defence outlay is unexpectedly high! Other venues listed -- Art Chamber at Calangute, the Kerkar Art Complex and more. Dr Subodh Kerkar has two galleries, one for his permanent collection, and the other housing the works of Indian and foreign artists. The open air auditorium puts up performances in Indian classical music and dance. On this booklet's few pages one also comes across the Kala Academy -- and the Fundacao Oriente in India, the Central Library (even tourists can become temporary members). Art galleries in Goa include Gallery Gitanjali (run by Ajit Sukhija in a building that once was the People's High School at Fontainhas), Galeria Cidade at the Cidade de Goa luxury resort, Peace Cottage Fine Art Gallery perched between two luxury hotels at Betalbatim , Gallery Boa Arte opposite the Municipal Garden in Panjim, Picturesque opposite the Goa Urban Cooperative Bank also in Panjim, Gallery Yemania in Verem (kips at vsnl.net.in) and the Attic with its clay sculpture and antique furniture near Mount Carmel Chapel in Mapusa . Don't forget the Sound and Light Gallery Museum at Old Goa, where one can get a religious tour, artistically done, for just ten rupees, even at most of the museum and centres in Goa continue to charge abysmally low entry fees even for those who could pay more! The last named is the Goa Science Centre, a great fun-place for kids specially, but not only.

Museum ahoy? Goa's maritime history...

Cliff Pereira and Melvyn Misquita had a fairly nice meeting at the Xavier Centre of Historical Research, Alto Porvorim on Feb 22, 2005 (Tuesday). Immediately, we set up the mailing list at GoaMaritimeMuseum. And don't miss Melvyn's story of the Britannia the British ship with a crew of 203 -- over 50 of them from Goa -- which sunk during World War II.

Corruption... there and here

In Mumbai, Anti-Corruption Bureau director general Dr P S Pasricha has listed the "most corrupt" departments as follows -- Revgenue, Police, Sales Tax, the municipal corporation (BMC) and the Maharashtra State Electricity Board. Says the Indian Express: "It leaves names like the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority, the Road Transport Office and the Excise Department -- they make up the rest of the list." Would anyone have listings relevant to Goa? Maybe the Planning and Development Authorities (recently scrapped, but that doesn't necessarily mean the Congress was fighting corruption!), the Police, and above all the political leadership could figure in the list. (If you wanted to take a look at some official links to cyberspace in Goa, see this hurriedly put together link. Any suggestions?

Goa, radio and advertising

Goa Miscellania Came across this reference to Goa, in a history of Indian advertising at Prayas Abhinav's blog

History of Indian Advertising, 1800s - 2002 Compiled from books, articles, journals and inputs from professionals in the industry by MagIndia.com A sophisticated & professional industry called Indian Advertising 1950s Radio Ceylon and Radio Goa become the media option ..

A very slender connection, but interesting nonetheless.

Planning a cyber-maritime museum

Goa Miscellania CAN IT HAPPEN? A GOAN MARITIME MUSEUM? Journalist Melvyn Misquita and Cliford Pereira are working on plans to build a proposed 'Goan Maritime Museum', possibly in cyberspace. The meet to discuss this happens on February 22, 2005 at 10 am at the Xavier Centre of Historical Research. There will be a brief presentation by Melvyn on his work on the 'SS Britannia' and another by Cliff on his work with the National Maritime Museum in London and his findings on 'Goan fatalities in World War II'. Mario Alvares will make a presentation on the GMM website. Melvyn can be contacted on phone 0 9422064707

Goanet

GoanetNewsBytes is the archives of the new format of news updates from Goa, which we're putting out via Goanet.