by Tony Felix Fernandes
tonferns@hotmail.com

It was a way of life, good and simple. Even though childhood revolved around going to school, running errands and doing daily chores, there was always time for other activities. Football was my passion as well as that of every lad in the villages and towns. Our inter-village football tournament and our annual village picnic to the springs were popular features.

We had formed a recreation club in our village, in a house with a very large ‘sala’ (Portuguese for “hall”). This place gave us the opportunity to pass our time during the long monsoon evenings. We played carom, draughts and other board games. We also played badminton in the courtyard. It was also a place where we would exchange books that we took turns in reading. Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey was quite a popular novel then.

Sunday was a typical day with attendance at the first very early morning Mass. Going early meant that we could be on time to hear the Binaca Hit Parade at 8:00 a.m. at our neighbours’ place. They had a powerful Grundig valve radio that used huge external line antennae above their house. The program that we used to listen to was broadcast on short-wave, 31-metre band, by the Commercial Service of Radio Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. This radio station relayed BBC News at 7.30 a.m. everyday. I remember meeting my mother going to church for the second mass while we were returning on our way from the first. Jim Reeves, Ricky Nelson, the Cascades, Cliff Richard and Elvis Presley reigned supreme with their hits. Seven or eight of us would be listening with paper and pencil in hand, and voila! - in one sitting, we would have the lyrics of the song that we liked. Film epics like Guns of Navarone and Lawrence of Arabia and actors like Alec Guiness, Charlton Heston and Sean Connery were much talked about in the Goa of those days.

The feast of St. John was celebrated with all the young boys jumping into the wells. On the eve of the feast, bonfires were lit and the fire was later put out by beating at it, using the flat bases of the stems of palm leaves, while singing a certain chorus. The village feasts as well as Ganesh, Diwali and Shigmo festivals were also celebrated with equal fervour.

During the three days of Carnaval all the boys from the village got together. We dressed up in different costumes and went from house to house singing songs. As was expected, whatever we collected for our efforts, went towards purchasing a new football for the use of all.

My mother attended to smaller chores in the afternoons, like darning or hemming a dress. She would also continue her on-going knitting of a quilt or a sweater. Any garment purchased readymade or stitched by the local tailor had to be at least one size larger! They have an apt phrase in Konkani for that: “vaddtea angar” (literally, in English, for the growing body). Dad was nice. He let me learn to ride on his bicycle, though never letting me or the bicycle out of his sight! I don’t ever remember seeing him idle. He always seemed to have something or the other to do – fixing the kitchen stool, fixing the rungs of the old ladder or replacing broken roof tiles.

The early sixties saw the liberation of Goa on December 19, 1961. Lt. Gen. Candeth was appointed as the first Governor of Goa. On the educational front, the mid-sixties also saw two new colleges namely, Dhempe’s in Panjim and St. Xavier’s in the village of Bastora, just outside Mapuça.

The dawn of the early sixties also saw new Indian vehicles on the roads - the Fiat and the Ambassador, and the Tata Truck. The Austin, Ford, Volkswagen, Chevloret, Morris, the caminhão and the Bedford truck diminished in their popularity by the end of the decade.

Almost before I knew it, I had completed my higher secondary studies. And I could not fit into my ‘vaddtea angar’ trousers any more. In order to pursue studies for my chosen career it was necessary to leave home for a city far away from home. Every year, I visited my folks who seemed a little older each time, and I re-lived the days of my teens for a month or two in their midst. And then a few years later, after I was employed, I returned as a working man to have a great holiday in Goa. We were by then in the early seventies. The sixties were over and out. So were the Beatles and Herman’s Hermits. Bell-bottoms, slim-fit shirts, platform shoes and high heels, Abba and Boney M. would be the next in.

Simple things and the rustic lifestyle gave us pleasure. We enjoyed the little things we had and silently wished for greater things for our future. Just like any other kids. The players in my team were not only my parents, classmates, friends and neighbours, but everybody that I knew and those I considered special, including the teachers at my alma mater. They helped shape what I have today - an inner spirit that will forever reside in Goa.

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