Goan journalism: Views from near and far
Eugene CorreiaCanada-based Eugene Correia has worked for a wide range
of national-level newspapers published in India.
Besides those listed below, he has also written for
India Today, and a number of expat Indian publications
published from overseas. What stands out is this
journalist's sharp understanding of Goan issues and
politics, and his memory for detail, all the more
remarkable since he has been based outside Goa for
virtually his entire working life.
I must admit I have no direct connection with
journalism in Goa, in the sense of having worked in the
state. However, I was involved in Goan journalism in
Mumbai (then Bombay), but that too in a limited way. I
wrote few pieces for the Konkani-language papers such
as The Goa Times and Ave Maria and the English-Konkani
weekly, The Goan Sports Weekly. After Goa's Liberation,
and till I left India for Canada in late 1981, I took
more than a cursory look at how journalism is practiced
in Goa. I read The Navhind Times often, as the paper
was available in Mumbai during the 1970s.
I was involved in mainstream journalism in Mumbai since
my college days, first with The Indian Express and
later with the Free Press Journal. I provided freelance
services for both papers in the sports department. It
was my dad's cousin, Felix Valois Rodrigues, who
inspired me to take up journalism. A versatile writer
in English, Konkani and Portuguese, he worked for the
Indian Express in New Delhi till his retirement.
Getting into the field
Felix Uncle, as I called him, introduced me to the news
editor of Indian Express in Mumbai and I was given a
chance to work in the sports department under CSA Swami
. The news editor, S Krishnamoorty, popularly known as
SKM, who regarded by many as more powerful then the
editor because of his close relationship with Ramnath Goenka,
The Indian Express proprietor.
As a freedom fighter who served in jail for his
anti-Portuguese activities, Rodrigues was
well-connected in Goa. After my graduation, he gave me
an introductory letter to Lamberto Mascarenhas, who was
by then no longer the joint editor of The Navhind Times,
Goa's first English-language daily.
Mascarenhas, in turn, gave me an introductory note to
K.S.K. Menon, who had been co-editor with Mascarenhas,
and later promoted to editor. I took the letter to
Menon and, after reading it, said he would contact me
if any position arose.
He gave me back the note. I read the Mascarenhas'
scribbled note and was shocked. Mascarenhas had
introduced me as a "chap" from "my village". It was
true, we both came from Colva, but to a young man like
me seeking a job it was horrifying to read a learned
man like Mascarenhas call me a chap.
It's also true that Mascarenhas and I belong to
different strata in Goa's caste system. I couldn't
believe a man of his stature could introduce me in such
a demeaning way. I think I have the note somewhere in
my collection of memorabilia.
I never got a job at The Navhind Times. In later years,
I met Mascarenhas in the office of Goa Today. From his
days at The Navhind Times to owning Goa Today,
Mascarenhas had become an icon in Goan journalism. He
had also gained reputation as a novelist for his
acclaimed book, Sorrowing Lies My Land. In subsequent
years, I learnt a lot about Mascarenhas as a man and
his role as a freedom fighter in the liberation
struggle in Mumbai. One of his best friends, Professor
Edward Mendonca taught me at St. Xavier's College.
Mendonca and I came to know each other well after me
finishing my graduation. Twice I saw him very drunk and
I had to hail a taxi for him and drop him near his
house in Colaba.
Mendonca reputation for booze is legendary as his
mastery over the English language and his ability to
teach. He and me spoke at times of Mascarenhas's
reputed novel. Mendonca's hand can be been throughout
the book, and many English scholars have also been
curious about it. Because of his alcoholism, it became
easy for many to dismiss Mendonca's influence in
Mascarenhas's book as a boast from a drunkard. Those
like me who knew Mendonca reasonably well have reason
to believe that Mendonca could be anything but a liar.
I held no grudge against Mascarenhas for calling me a
"chap", but deep inside me I carried the wound. Even in
Goa I would go to see him. On one such visit, I asked
him if he would provide me with an opportunity to write
for his magazine. He dismissed me summarily saying he
prefers reputed writers. I thought he would encourage a
young journalist like me. I resolved never to write for
the magazine and I have never written for it.
When I learnt the magazine was taken over by the Salgaocars,
I felt happy. Happy not because the magazine no
longer belonged to Mascarenhas, but happy because I
felt the new owners and the new editor would give
opportunities to new writers. As we now know, it has
happened. Goa Today was no longer the domain of one man
and his ego.
On another visit during summer, I was dressed in a
suit. I was to meet the then Chief Minister Dayanand Bandodkar
and later attend a wedding in the city. Since I had no
personal means of transport, for me to travel from
Bogmallo to Panaji and back twice would be difficult,
so I had worn the suit and left home early morning. As
soon as I told Mascarenhas that I was going to meet
Bandodkar, Mascarenhas's face changed colour. He
admonished me for wearing a suit to see the chief
minister, saying that journalists must be dressed
informally. I explained to Mascarenhas, but I could see
that Mascarenhas bore some hatred for the late
Bhausaheb, as the chief minister was affectionately known.
That very same day, I met some journalists, including
Michael Fernandes who, I believe, was The Indian Express
correspondent in Goa. I told them that Mascarenhas
seemed piqued at me for wearing a suit. If I remember
correctly, Fernandes said that Mascarenhas has a
personal bias against Bandodkar regarding the
withdrawal of government advertisement. He told me that
Mascarenhas and Bandodkar were once on a friendly
basis, but both had fallen apart.
I think my second adventure in getting a job in Goa
came when Erasmo de Sequeira launched his paper, Goa Monitor
. I applied for a position but never got appointed. The
paper lived for a brief time.
Some years later, my uncle told me that he has an offer
from the Chowgules to start a Konkani daily. I came to
Goa for a visit and went to see Rodrigues at his
residence in Darbandora. He and I designed the logo for Uzvadd,
though it may have been refined when the paper was
launched. Rodrigues never took up the position as he
was to be under the editorial supervision of Madhav Gadkari,
the then editor of Gomantak. Gadkari was fiercely pro-Marathi
and my uncle felt his efforts to promote Konkani journalism
would be subverted by Gadkari. To my surprise, Evagrio Jorge,
the noted freedom fighter and news reader at
All-India Radio in Panaji, was its first editor. The
paper was well received. As expected, Jorge and the
owners or probably Gadkari had a difference of opinion.
In a short time, Jorge was out and he launched his own
paper, Novem Uzvadd.
Throwing light on Uzvadd
Without the financial muscles of the Chowgules that
sustained Uzvadd, Jorge's paper suffered. I think it
was also during this time that a group started another Konkani
daily, Novem Goem. I am not sure why Uzvadd eventually
folded up.
My friend, Cyril D'Cunha, started a sports weekly
called Goal, and I was its Mumbai correspondent. I
contributed many stories till the paper went under for
reasons unknown to me. This was my direction connection
to Goa's journalism. Later on, I was offered a job at
the West Coast Times, a daily launched by the House of
Timblos. At least two senior colleagues of mine at the
Free Press Journal went to Goa to start the paper. One
of them was Y.M. Hegde and the other, P.R. Menon.
Before going to Goa and even after the paper began
publishing from Margao in South Goa, Hegde said it
would be good for me to come to Goa. I forget the year
it was launched and if I was still a freelancer at the
Free Press Journal or on its staff. By then, I was not
keen on settling down in Goa. To me, Goa was still in
the backwaters of journalism. To leave a city like
Mumbai where journalism made blood rush in one's veins,
and go to Goa, where things moved at a snail's pace,
was something I dreaded. When I wanted to come to Goa,
I was found unwanted.
After leaving Free Press Journal and joining The Hindu,
I met Raul Fernandes one day in Mumbai. He was scouting
for talent for O Heraldo, then about to be turned into
an English-language daily. I knew Fernandes, though not
as well as his brother John and his dad, Antonio
Caetano Fernandes.
The Fernandes family was close friends with my friends
in Mumbai, the Ribeiros, owners of the Goan restaurant
in Dhobitalao called Snowflake. When in Goa, my friend
and I went to see AC, as he was popularly known, at the
Casa JD Fernandes store in Panaji. And whenever John
came to Mumbai to get supplies for their store, he
would visit Snowflake where I hung out most of my time.
Raul Fernandes and I met at the Kyani Restaurant in Dhobitalao
and he offered me to come to Goa as chief reporter.
The offer was unattractive financially for me to leave
The Hindu. I was given the impression that Ervelle Menezes,
than with Indian Express in Mumbai, was joining as
editor. Fernandes was in consultation with Menezes, I
was told. At a second meeting, Fernandes informed me
that Rajan Narayan was chosen to be the editor. I was
surprised. I never had any admiration for Narayan's
journalism. I had heard some stories about his
resignation from The Mirror, a monthly publication from
the Eve's Weekly group. Even though the offer of chief
reporter was not tempting, I was not keen on working
under Narayan.
I knew Narayan on a hi-and-bye basis when I was at Free
Press Journal and he was at Onlooker, a
sister-publication from the Free Press Journal group. I
forget what position he held at the Onlooker magazine,
and whether Narayan was there when M.J. Akbar edited it
or later when M. Rahman took over.
I once covered a function at the United States
Information Services (USIS) office in Mumbai where
Narayan was present. A well-known scholar of Black
studies was visiting Mumbai from the United States.
Narayan carried with him a book by this scholar. I
found it very preposterous on Narayan's part to bring
the heavy volume to the meeting.
In fairness to Narayan, he made O Heraldo what it's
today. I also heard some allegations about his
wheeling-dealing with powers-that-be in the government.
Many journalists and some politicians told me that
Narayan deserved the violent attack on him as his
journalism was biased. No matter what his journalism
is, the attack on him was a shameful incident in the
history of Goan journalism.
I am told he's Goa's bravest journalist. Maybe true, as
I am in no position to judge that from here in Canada.
But I find his writing very weak. His editorials and
columns have lot of spelling errors and the grammar is
often flawed. His column, Stray Thoughts, is not well
composed. Just a month or so ago, someone gave me old
copies of O Heraldo. Going through his column, I found
his thoughts not very cohesive. He writes in a
disjointed way. One thing I will agree, he writes
strongly, not sparing those whom he targets. If carving
a well-written piece is his fault, then using strong
language is his forte. I form my opinion not on just
the few papers I read recently, but also from reading O
Heraldo during my visits to Goa and from those at times
posted on the Goanet email list (http://www.goanet.org).
On holiday
Just after a year's stay in Canada, I came to Goa on a
holiday. One fine day, Fulgencio Rodrigues, once the
leader of the toddy-tappers association and a candidate
for the assembly, and a fellow-villager in Bogmallo,
came to my house and told me that Umaji Chowgule wanted
to meet with me.
I was taken aback as I didn't know Umaji personally.
Rodrigues, who worked for the Chowgules, took me on his
scooter to meet him Umaji at the Chowgule offices. To
my surprise, he offered me a job as joint editor of a
sports daily the Chowgules were then planning on
launching. The other editor was to be Antonio Botelho,
a former sports writer at The Navhind Times, who I knew
well, both as writer and later as one of the
office-bearers of the Goa Football Association.
I was a landed immigrant in Canada and my first
experience in Canada was not very good. There was
recession then on and I was finding it difficult to get
a job in my field. I worked in a warehouse for
sometime, making enough money to buy a ticket to India.
The offer came with a flat in the Sant Inez locality of
Panaji and a car. I told Umaji that if I accept the
position, I would forfeit my landed immigrant status in
Canada. I asked if what would happen if the paper
failed to fly. He said he would absorb me in the public
relations department of the Chowgules. I went to Sant
Inez with one of the Chowgule officers to select a
flat. I picked one. After that I went to the Gomantak
building to meet with Narayan Athawale, editor of Gomantak
. Umaji had explained that Athawale would be the
overall in charge of the new paper.
After speaking to Athawale, I met some workers. I
noticed some tension among them regarding the launch of
a new paper. The workers felt that profits from the Gomantak
paper would be diverted to sustain the new sports
daily. In other words, the workers would get lesser
bonuses. The atmosphere in the press seemed vitiated. I
was also aware of what happened to Evagrio Jorge. I was
contemplating whether I should risk my Canadian
immigration to remain in Goa. My heart and mind was
divided, and so was my family. My dad said I should
stay back as the job prospects in Canada very dim, but
my mom said I should go back and see what the future holds.
At the same time I was engaged and in a week or two
would get married. My future wife insisted that I
forego the offer and return to Canada. I gave the whole
thing a good thought and decided to tell Umaji that I
was not interested. He had told me that if I decide to
accept the offer, I should finally meet Ramesh Chowgule
who, I think, was the managing director of the Chowgule
group. I believe the paper was never launched. To this
day, I am not sure how the Chowgules came to know about
me. My hunch is that Prashant Joshi, former official of
the Goa Cricket Association, whose family owns the
Joshi and Sons Auto Center in Vasco, told Umaji about
me. I had gone to visit Joshi in Vasco when I came to Goa.
During my next visit to Goa, I was happy to know that
one of my colleagues at Free Press Journal, Padiyar,
was editor of The Navhind Times with another former
colleague, M.M. Mudaliar, as his associate. In fact,
Mudaliar was passed over by the management after Bikram Vohra
left to go to Khaleej Times in Dubai. Mudaliar and me
had lunch one day in a Panaji restaurant and he seemed
quite distraught. Padiyar, who joined The Navhind Times
from The Times of India where he had moved from Free
Press Journal, had a brief stint as editor as he passed
away following a heart attack.
I knew the publisher of The Navhind Times, Vilas Sardesai,
well because of his involvement with soccer. Once
when I was in Goa, he, D'Cunha and I travelled in a car
he borrowed from Vohra, as his own car was unavailable,
all the way from Panaji to Margao to watch a soccer
match. I never asked Sardesai for a favour to get me a
job at The Navhind Times. I was content working in
Mumbai where journalism flourished those days and
continues to do so till today.
Grown since
When I check websites of Goan papers or when some
friends and family bring Goan papers to Canada from
their visits, I notice that Goan journalism has grown
since I saw it first-hand. It behooves well for this
field that Goa now enjoys many dailies and has
correspondents of many leading Indian papers.
The quality of reporting and editing is still not very
impressive. What is, however, impressive is that the
new breed of journalists shows lot of guts and
vitality. I once discussed the teaching of journalism
with Fr. Planton Faria, who used to run the Diocesan
Communication Centre at the Archbishop's House at
Altinho in Panaji.
He showed me the student paper and I saw some good
writing. I am not aware if the centre is still
operating. Fr. Faria was editing a Konkani paper while
also running the centre.
It has been my ambition to have a journalism college in
Goa named after Frank Moraes, one of the finest editors
in Indian journalism. There may be many who would
dispute my suggestion on the basis that Moraes didn't
do anything for Goan journalism per se, and I totally
agree. No matter he did play a direct role in Goan
journalism, but he was a Goan journalist of repute.
One may argue that during the Portuguese days there
were many Goan journalists who played crucial roles in
promoting Goan journalism. Some of these journalists,
who were also leaders, were in the forefront of Goa's
liberation struggle. Maybe so, Moraes too played a
vital background role in Goa's liberation, largely
because of his close friendship with Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru.
Whatever the case, a college of journalism, affiliated
to the Goa University, is a dream that I cherish and
hope it would be realized in my lifetime. Goa has a
privileged status in the history of the written word in
India with the publication of the first-ever book in
the country. Journalism is part of the written word
and, hence, a college that fosters the growth of
journalism would be ideal in the serene surrounding of
Goa's educational landscape. That's my thought to
ponder for those in the decision-making positions.