Misc. Books & Links List compiled together by Frederick Noronha Email:fred@goa1.dot.net.in and Gaspar C. Almeida Email:gcalmeida@goa-world.net Also taken from the GoaNet. NEW MAGAZINE: The Goa-World Team wishes Goa Messenger a bright future ahead. GOA BOOKS GALORE, BUT WHO KNOWS? Goa, for its size and population, must certainly be one of the most written-about regions of this country. This state makes up only a 750th part of India by population, and India's size about nine hundred times greater. Yet, Goa does indeed attract many authors and offers much to write about. Goa's past is unusual, its expatriates are spread the world over, and the interest among tourists has brought in some more readers. Recent years have seen a flurry of books being published on Goa. It is another matter altogether that anyone searching for books on this region would find it rather difficult to find suitable titles. Why does this happen? Is there anything that can be done to tackle this problem? Probably most of trouble stems from the fact that Goa offers a small -- and scattered -- market. This is true of any good, product or service that is out on sale. It is true for books too. Once a book is published, there are few buyers for it. In fact, very few get to know of it. By the time readers get to know about the book, it is probably out-of-print or difficult to locate anyway. Thus, the author, the publisher and the reader too are all inconvenienced by their inability to sell and buy the book. Goa being a small market, books often come out with a small print run. This means it is not possible to work on the same economies of scale that all-India publications manage. In addition, periodicals and newspapers in Goa -- Goa Today being one exception -- are not too active in reviewing new books. Almost all publications here do not have regular book-review columns. Those which have do not focus exclusively on Goa-related books. Yet, despite this, books related to Goa keep getting published, with amazing regularity. Some figures: for the period between January 1991 and December 1995, as many as 28 books were published in Goa in English, 29 in Devanagiri Konkani, two in Roman Konkani, 31 in Marathi, one in Hindi, two in Portuguese and even one in Kannada. These numbers come from an official listing of books received by the Central Library at Panjim. English-language titles dealt with a wide range of subjects. Like agricultural officer Minguel Braganza's work on local plants, and writings on the Cidade de Goa (old city of Goa), missionary- priest Joseph Vaz, agriculture, a local industrial directory, historical writing, a biography of politicians like Dayanand B. Bandodkar, and various aspects of religion. Eustaquio d'Aquino wrote on the "fascination of arithmetic", and Dr Bailon de Sa has penned work on poetry, education and science. The Goa Gazetteer Department has also been bringing out its works on the trials of freedom fighters. Cecelia D'Souza has a book of her collected writings called the 'Gift of Laughter'. Eduardo de Souza's essays are called 'Musings of One Young at Heart', while journalist Rinea Dourado has also published her short stories. Carmo D'Souza, whose prolific pen has produced writing on Goan laws and a novel over the past few years itself, has also come out with a book entitled 'In Search of Sands'. Long-time journalist and former editor Dr Carmo Azavedo some time back came out with another little-noticed but interesting book in Portuguese on the Influence of India on Manueline art. Aureo de Quadros has rendered Tagore's Gitanjali into Portuguese. Ismenia da Vega Coutinho's biography is titled 'For God and For the People', while Agnel Crasto offers tips in conversational English in his book. Fr Cosme Jose Costa recently came out with a book on "missiological conflict" within the Catholic Church, in colonial times. Dr Nandkumar Kamat has published a handbook for environmental teachers, while the recently set-up ayurvedic college at Shiroda has also begun publishing its texts on that branch of medicine. Recent releases of books and brochures focussed on the "archives of the GMC", centuries-old churches from Sao Pedro and Orlim, tackling malaria, the biography of a Goan in diplomatic service Vassant Nevrekar, and even a publication on Indian coins by J.P.P.Pacheco (1997). Last month, cartoonist Mario Miranda and journalist Mario Cabral e Sa published the "Legends of Goa". Other fresh publications that offer useful insights to the reader include economist Errol D'Souza's book on decoding the Goan economy and Dr Fatima Gracias' "Kaleidoscope of Women in Goa". In 1997, Konkani writer Gurunath Kelekar came out with his paperback edition of an English-Konkani dictionary. Unfortunately, this potentially-useful book too is facing the same plight as many other Goa-related books. It is not widely noticed, except at a few book-sales organised by outstation parties, and hence cannot make its presence felt by way of sales. Dr Roweena Robinson, now teaching at the prestigious IIT in Powai-Mumbai, has also recently released her book on Christianity as practised in Salcete taluka. XCHR, the Porvorim-based Xavier Centre of Historical Research, has come out with an English translation of Cunha Rivara's book on the "Revolt of 1787". Former journalist Dr Aurelian Fernandes' "Cabinet Government in Goa" gives a whole lot of detail that helps one understand post- colonial politics in Goa. Madhu Limaye's posthumous memoirs "Goa Liberation Movement and Madhu Limaye" was published by his wife Champa a couple of years back, and offers a peep into a Goa under Portuguese rule, particularly the harsh Salazar phase. Former library curator Aleixo Manuel da Costa has put together a useful three-volume "Dicionario de Literatura Goesa", published slickly by the Instituto Cultural de Macau and the Fundacao Oriente. Former freedom-fighter Dr Jose Francisco Martins biography is titled "In Search of Self-Fulfillment" and the author doesn't mince words while being frank, almost blunt, in his opinions. Some of his narration gives an interesting insight into the Goa that was in the decades gone by. Like a number of other books, this one has been published by the Panjim-based Rajhauns Vitaran publisher, which has been steadfastly promoting the writing of Goa authors. Even at the risk of low returns. Another recent biography is Dr Teresa Albuquerque's "A Life Well Spent". It records the life-sketch of Pascoal de Mello, MBE, of Anjuna. Her story spans eight decades, two world wars and two continents, as the author puts it. In it, Dr Albuquerque gives us an interesting insight into colonial times, about which a younger generation understands so little. Unfortunately, even useful Goan books are often badly depreciated in value due to reader disinterest. Take the case of "Trilogy of Goa", the published text of a research project undertaken by students of the Institute of Hotel Management. It is an interesting title, and offers a fascinating insight into Goan recipes and food, touristic places, and a little of the local culture. But when published in 1994, it was hardly noticed. Only this year, one came across a hardbound version on sale for just Rs 40, a steal for this 164 page book. Goans may not take their own writing -- and local themes -- seriously enough. But others apparently do. The IPLB (Portuguese Institute for Books and Libraries) has been producing a Dictionary of Portuguese Authors, from the 13th century until today. This institute sent a representative recently down to Goa, to compile a list of Goan authors who wrote during colonial rule in that language. "We need names, dates of birth, titles and dates of publications, if possible," commented the institute's Ana Madureira. In various pockets of the world too, Goa features in the writing that is sometimes put out. One Swedish book about Goa is called "Nomaderna" ("The Nomads"). It hasn't been translated into English) and it was written by a very young debutant, Carl-Johan Vallgren. It's about youngsters from the Western world, Swedes mostly, living a dream-life down in Goa and it has 400 pages, says Swedish journalist Anna Carlzon. Unfortunately it's not possible to get it anymore. It was published around 1987. There's another recently-published novel about this small region. "Goa -- Blood of the Goddess" is by Kara Dalkey. It was described in the US recently as "an exotic repast here, one that, like the exquisite spices of the Indies, tempts the palate with tantalizing hints of wonders yet to come." Former Chief Secretary of Karnataka, the Punjab-born T.P.Issar has only months back put out a coffee-table book. Issar's "Goa Dourada: The Indo-Portuguese Bouquet" includes some 265 colour photographs. Post-retirement, the ex-official has taken to photography with a vengeance, and has put together some very colourful work. It is priced at a stiff Rs 1200, though the visual feast of photographs do make up. Dr Sanjay Subrahmanyam's 1997 "The Career and Legend of Vasco da Gama" is another title which would be obviously relevant to anyone in Goa wanting to understanding Portuguese colonial policy. It also has some of its pages referring to Goa. "Mukhambaram/Movllam" is yet another interesting book that has hardly got noticed in Goa. By J.B.Sequeira, it is a pioneering collection of over 7000 idioms and phrases, colloquial sentences and popular vocabulary in Konkani. Interestingly, it is published in the Kannada, Devanagri and Romi scripts, making it accessible to a wide audience of Konkani readers. It was published in 1995 and was priced at Rs 200 for a hard-bound, 191 page book. Film-maker Jag Mundhra's "Monsoon" has also been novelised recently. Set in the backdrop of "erotic Goa", it promises an "unusual story of love, adultery and rebirth". It was published by Magna Books of Mumbai, in 1997. "Monsoon" is about the legendary lovers whose love causes them to jump off the lighthouse and commit suicide. In his film these lovers are reincarnated in the present and meet with the same fate when the girl's husband (Gulshan Grover) discover this. It is his second film in India after he moved to the US some 20 odd years ago. Some efforts have also been made to break the isolation currently suffered by books from Goa. One idea, promoted by University College-London engineering librarian Eddie Fernandes, was to have an online bibliography of Goa-related books. Fernandes, a Goan, is keenly interested in using the Internet for this purpose. This idea was discussed during an informal meeting of librarians from some local institutions. It was suggested that efforts could focus first on working out a uniform format in which to list books. All participating institutions in this voluntary project will then be able to pool their resources and help collectively build up the Internet-based bibliography. Frequent requests from its readers has pushed the Mapusa-based Other India Book Store to build up a special "Goa books shelf". It is marketing these through the Internet, and recently started accepting international credit card orders, to make access to Goa-related books a little easier. Goa's Central Library itself comes out with an interesting listing of books published during the year in this state. Unfortunately, this list is not widely circulated or noticed. It is published as a part of staid Official Gazette, which is hardly read by the academic-oriented or bibliophiles. Incidentally, the Panjim-based Central Library is the point at which all books published in Goa are collected. Publishers are, by law, required to send in copies of all their books to this local nodal point. Whether all do so is another question. Anyway, the Central Library's Rare Books Section is a must-visit place fo anyone interested in books published on Goa. THE SALESIAN PROVINCE OF MUMBAI PUBLISHES ITS HISTORY
BOOK MUMBAI : SAR News MANDO BOOK
- A Garland of Mando, Dulpods and
Dekhni. ONE SIP AT A TIME. George Menezes. 1988. Better Yourself Books, Bandra, Bombay. ISBN 81-7108-063-4. Pp 295. Rs 45. "George Menezes is a living, walking, writing menace," says M.V.Kamath, in his introduction to this collection of short sketches in humour. THE SURROGATE WITNESS. Dinesh Bharne. Rs 7. Pp 8. 1987. A lawyer presents a 15-minute skit based on a courtroom scene. A LITERATURA INDO-PORTUGUESE. By Vimala Devi and Manuel de Seabra. Lisboa, 1971. Junta de Investigacoes do Ultramar. Pp 367. Text in Portuguese. THE RED-HEADED SHREW. Melanie Ruth. Daughters of St. Paul, Bombay. 1986. Pp 96. Book for children written by a Goan journalist, Melanie Ruth Sequeira of Raia. TALKING ABOUT MAPS of Goa, has anyone noticed INDIA: TRAVEL SURVIVAL KIT, the guide brought out by the Lonely Planet Publications, P.O.Box 617, Hawthorn, Vic 3122, Australia. ISBN 0 86442 179 6? Though its maps are of a small size they're useful. The graphic descriptions also give a visitor to Goa a vivid idea of what's where. From : The Goan Herald Review LEGENDS OF THE KONKAN. Arthur Crawford. Reprint: 1987. Asian Educational Services, C-2/15 SDA PB 4534, Delhi 16.Pp 300. Rs 95. THE RED-HEADED SHREW. Melanie Ruth. Daughters of St. Paul. 1986. Pp 96. Rs 7.50 (written by a Goan journalist, Melanie Ruth Sequeira) GATES OF FIRE. Elwyn Chamberlain. Fontana Collins. 5th impression 1987. 410 pp. UKP 3.95. Much of this steamy potboiler is based in Goa -- with a generous overdose of sex, drugs and corruption. ANGELA'S GOAN IDENTITY. Carmo D'Souza. 147 pp. Rs 35. THE DAY BEFORE THE DAY AFTER. Dom Martin.Trans-Galactic Publications, USA. Library of congress: 85-52224. Pp 85. Dom Martin is a noted surrealist, and recipeint of numerous international awards and honorary doctorates. His paintings adorn the Bom Jesus art gallery. LIGHTER THAN AIR. Armando Menezes. Dharwad, 1959. Library of Congress catalogue number 59-13989. Pp 127. Rs 3.50. Texts of talks broadcast from different stations of All India Radio, by the author who "hails from Goa, a perennial abode of natural loveliness". VOICES OF PEACE. R.V.Pandit. Bhagwati Prakashan, Goa. 1967. Rs 10.50. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. Bob D'Costa. Writers' Workshop, Calcutta. Rs 40. 1985. Pp 31. MANGO MOODS. Sharmila Kamat. 1995. Pp 114. Rs 75. Ms. Kamat, who teaches Physics at Dhempe College in Panjim, was a colleague and her contributions have appeared in a range of publications. She writes for FEMINA from Goa, and specialises in satrical pieces. THE THIRD WORLD WRITER: HIS SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. Peter Nazareth. Kenya Literature Bureau. 1978. Pp 171. Rs 60. Included in this list since the author is from Goa. He is also author of LITERATURE AND SOCIETY IN AFRICA, IN A BROWN MANTLE and TWO RADIO PLAYS, published by the East African Literature Bureau. TOMORROW ARRIVES TODAY! C.S.Radhakrishnan. Grace Trust, Alto Porvorim. Rs 25. 1988. Pp 58. JOURNAL OF SOUTH ASIAN LITERATURE, Asian Studies Centre, Michigan State University, Winter-Spring 1983 Vol XVIII No.1 is a very useful compilation of a wider range of Goan-related writing, edited by Peter Nazareth. It contains extracts from Novels (including THE MANGO AND THE TAMARIND TREE, O SIGNO DA IRA, SORROWING LIES MY LAND and IN A BROWN MANTLE). Also included are essays, poems, short stories (by emigrants too), background essays (on caste, the Portuguese language and Goans, dances of Goa, even a "portrait of a hog"), short stories, `exile-based' essays, one-act plays and a bibliography. A wide selection indeed, and it was one of the first books which impressed me about the need to collect writings on Goa! From: Edward Fernandes Email:e.fernandes@ucl.ac.uk English-Konkani dictionary is available paperback( $10 + $5 shipping and handling), while hardcopy ($40 + $10 shipping and handling). You can write to Focus Publications, Bangalore. Email:focus@samuha.ernet.in The Swedish book about Goa is called "Nomaderna" ("The Nomads", but it hasn't been translated into English) and it was written by a very young debutant, Carl-Johan Vallgren. It's about youngsters from the Western world, Swedes mostly, living a dream-life down in Goa. The ISBN-number is 91-0-047198-4 and it has 400 pages. Unfortunately it's not possible to get it anymore. It was published around 1987. |