By Joaquim Fernandes   (www.navhindtimes.com)

Bond! The name’s Bond! But in sharp contrast to the western nickname, Alfonso Braganza from Mapusa is true-blue Goan; his heart beats a Konkani rhythm. Bond has written three Konkani plays, authored and published a collection of Konkani short stories and played lead roles in some famed Konkani tiatr productions. With his two young songstress - daughters, Veeam and Raisa, he has also released two albums of his Konkani music.Alfonso Braganza or Bond, as he is popularly known, laments the marginalisation of Roman script Konkani. “It was kept alive by the poor Goans, by the tiatrist but now it has been completely sidelined. Someone must revive it and give it back its rightful place,” he says.

He wrote his first tiatr, Jivea Rukhak Uzo at 15 while schooling at St Anthony’s, Monte de Guirim. Later, he moved to St Joseph’s, Arpora and staged it there also. Bond wrote and staged two more tiatr ­ Mayaveena and Bobby Moche ­ before being cast as hero by Fr Freddy J da Costa in his acclaimed tiatr, Niz Mog. The next year, Bond continued as hero in Fr Freddy’s second tiatr, Doxea. “In these tiatr, I got to act with some of the stalwarts of the Konkani stage; Jacint Vaz was my father, there were M Boyer, Remmie Colaco, Joe Rose and others. It was a great experience,” he says.

Then the Shakespeare of the Konkani stage, Rosario Rodrigues came calling and Bond got to play a stellar role in Rodrigues’ Maka Jieonk Diat.

He released his first musical album (cassette and CDs), Maka Jieonk Di, with his daughters around 1997. The second album, Christmas with Veeam and Raisa, was a collection of carols re-arranged by Bond.

Bond had earlier published a collection of Konkani short stories by him and other authors called Apsara and while in college he was instrumental in publishing Konknicho Darvantto,a monthly magazine featuring the work of young Konkani writers. To encourage more young authors to write in Roman script Konkani, Bond plans to publish another collection of short stories this Christmas.

He is an active member of various organisations in Mapusa; the founder-president of the Lions Club -Mapusa city, Mapusa Merchants, Mapusa carnival committee and others. Bond is also the owner of Mapusa’s Luizinha Stores and Apsara Pastries and Snacks.