by Dr. Gerald Rodricks
lindagerry@hotmail.com
I have fond reminiscences of my childhood in Goa, which dates back to over 75
years. I am a thoroughbred Goenkar with both my parents hailing from
the same village, Carmona.
I was the fourth of nine children. As my mother became very ill, I was bundled off to Goa, to my grande-mae Sapiensbai (in Latin, “the wise one”), where I was brought up by her for three years. I was taught prayers in Konkani and picked up abuses in Portuguese as well as healthy eating and proper toilet habits - including not jumping up imagining every piggy would bite my little bottom!
Most mornings, granny took me to church, carried astride her hip. My job was to carry her bankin and when we arrived, I would thump out the beat of the hymns, to the amazement of the mestri, who predicted I would be a good musician. This proved prophetic as, for over 60 years, I sang with choirs in Bombay, Goa and Kuwait, including the St. Xavier’s Choir, the Bombay Madrigals, Goencho Nad etc.
By the age of two, I turned out to be a tiny terrorist chasing newly hatched chicks, once even grabbing one, leading to its sad demise. As a result I was locked up in the loz where I was told that Sao Pedro would come to take me to Hell.... now I wonder if he’d changed places with Satan.
My wise grande-mae must have been a paramedic, because when I twisted my frail ankle, she applied the deek of the Banyan tree onto a piece of paper and stuck it on my ankle. I certainly got cured, but probably more out of fear than any curative powers! Bathing for the next week or so was a pleasure as one leg had to be kept up, to prevent it from getting wet.
Joy and pain were interspersed for me, when my pet goat who gave me my daily nourishment of milk, delivered two cuddlesome kids. However, sad was the day when a month later a tall bearded, turbaned thug took the two kids.
A slight touch of consolation came my way when a tiny poskem named Pidu, appeared as an addition to my family. My granny told me that Pidu would be my playmate, and carry my bag when I went to Bombay.
Rusting away in the loz was a very old tricycle (probably my granduncle’s) which had no leather on the seat and no rubber tyres. Hence my cycling around the house left deep furrows on the cowdung floor, which led to more beating and agony when a workman came with fresh dung to re-do the floor.
At the litanies I attended at the bairro cross, I learnt hymns I can never forget, like “Deus Adjutorum nostrum...”, “Hos signum crucis”: and the grand finale “Exultemus con alegria”. Years later I had the thrill of singing all these, in Florida, at a friend’s place, where many Goans assembled and could not contain their joy on hearing them after ages.
The October vacations meant devouring bangdde by the basketful, prepared in the most delicious way. In fact, the entire menu in Goa was different - we had sweet black tea, with kakonn bangle-bread; poieo, canji with water pickle, red-streaked Goa rice, san'nas, koillo-io, filoz and the best being atoiloli koddi which tasted best when licked directly from the kundlem. Each vacation in Goa meant chasing dragon flies (birmotis); swimming in the tollem and posenk for small fish; whipping chameleons and then crucifying them with thorns, and going to the beach, not so much to wet our feet as to rob cashews, which grew in abundance on the way.
One amazing incident I recall was dad giving a hundred rupee note to granny for her expenses. She refused, saying that no vendor or hawker had change simply because each purchase never exceeded 2 to 3 annas. She explained that all she did was flash the note and get everything free, with the words “sutte nam”. Of course, dad had to settle all bills of the poder, nistekar and posorkar later.
I must narrate a side-splitting incident of which I was a witness. It was at a meeting of the erstwhile “Carmona Union” when neighboring Cavelossim was part of the Carmona parish. Also included, were Zaler and Tamborim, smaller villages in between. The members present wanted a new name that encompassed these important villages. The first suggestion was “Ca-Ca Union” an abbreviation of Carmona and Cavelossim. Thank God all four villages did not demand their names included, as that would have led to the “CaCaZaTa Union”.
The most satisfying part of my retired life here in Goa is that my childhood experiences have cultivated in me a strong love for music. This has led to me performing the lead roles in most Gilbert & Sullivan operas, culminating in my becoming the conductor of an 18-strong 4-voice choir in Miramar, Goa.
Long live Goa, the cradle of my entire happiness…. Ad
Multos Annos.
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Dr. Gerald (Gerry) Rodricks, son of Baltazar and Concilia of Carmona, was
born and educated in Bombay. He studied law, did his M.Ed.and Ph.D. and was
Headmaster of a school in Goa and Principal of a school in Kuwait for almost
30 years. He excelled in drama, doing lead roles in Gilbert-Sullivan operas
and in various plays. He received the State Award for Drama in 1982. Presently
leader of a 4-voice choir, he is also Entertainment Secretary of the Senior
Citizens’ Guild at Panjim, Goa.