Please find attached the text of a
Marathi article from Govadoot newspaper, which Prof Ramdas Kelkar wrote on me
as a writer. I thank Mr. Kelkar wholeheartedly for taking the initiative and
writing the article. For the convenience of readers, I translated the article
in English, which is appended below:
Dev borem korunv.
Moi-mogan,
Domnic Fernandes
Anjuna, GoaMob: 8805237604/9420979201
SUCH BOOK LOVERS, SUCH LIBRARIES
By Prof Ramdas Kelekar
Domnic has penned a beautiful memoir
of his youth. There is no doubt that this English book will prove useful.
Domnic’s writing reaches worldwide through the Internet.
This was the origin of his first
book “Domnic’s Goa”.
DOMNIC, Anjuna’s bibliophile who delves into the past
It’s natural to be proud of one’s
village. But the face of the village is slowly changing into a town. At this
stage, it is difficult to say whether the village stories and all that we
talked about and remembered would remain for future generations or not. With
this purpose in mind, one writer, Domnic P.F. Fernandes, wrote two books, not
only on Bardez but also on Goa. Through these books one comes to know Domnic’s
sense of observation and public relations.
Domnic hails from Anjuna. He had to
face a lot of obstacles during his childhood days. Nowadays, all types of
facilities are available, especially transport. Yet, he proudly says that he
faced those challenges. His family encouraged him. By the grace of God, due to
his keen observation and strong memory, he can still recall his childhood
memories. Due to this, he was able to give justice to his writing in the two
books he wrote.
Mapusa and Goa can be discussed with
two different angles. Both have unique peculiarities. Now Goa has become
popular for good as well as bad things but even then every village has its own
speciality. This is one type of a historical phase. Due to love for reading and
resourceful mind, Domnic has kept these two books to be cherished as invaluable
reading treasure for the future generations.
All those who are interested to know
more about Goa and its history, Domnic’s two books will provide more knowledge.
From 2003, the writing of Domnic has
reached all over the world through the Internet media; it’s worth reading. And
thus, he published his first book titled: Domnic’s
Goa. The writer spent his childhood in Anjuna, which has now become a hub
of drugs!
After completing his Portuguese
education in the coastal village, he came to Mapusa for further studies and
then lastly joined Monte de Guirim School, an English institution. He passed
his S.S.C and then completed his graduation in B.Com. Since his school days
till today, he never goes to bed without reading books - it’s his custom.
His father was employed abroad. At
the start, he read books (Romansi)
written in Roman Konkani but he never neglected his studies.
Thereafter, when he got a job at the
“Secretariat”, the late Vaman Sardesai encouraged him to take up writing. But
this writing was of official papers. However, this experience paid him off when
he went to Bahrain. In Bahrain, he was entrusted with office responsibility.
During free time, he learned how to draft official letters. Due to this
practice, he was recommended by a Pakistani to the Habib Bank Ltd of Pakistan in Bahrain. Even with this busy
schedule, he read love stories, detective novels and stories. His favorites
were James Hardly Chase, Agatha Christie, Perry Mason, etc. He developed a
habit of collecting books when he was abroad. He brought most of his books at
his home in Anjuna.
Presently, he is in business, yet he
has not given up writing about his own village i.e. ANJUNA. Although he is
growing old, he remains active for 15 hours every day, including a few hours
reserved for reading only.
During his childhood, there were
other factors which also influenced his life. Radio is one of them. His father
brought for him a Phillips brand
radio from Kuwait. What is surprising is that till today he remembers the
timings of broadcasting programmes of those days. This he mentioned in his book
Domnic’s Goa. Apart from following
modern recreation media, he still listens to the radio, without fail.
Domnic gives more importance to
those elements which helped him mould his life e.g. tiatr, festivals, beaches,
toddy tappers, o padeiro (baker),
public wells, etc.
Domnic does not want to forget the
memories of his village and Goa. “Modernization is taking place very fast in my
village and that is why the village beauty is vanishing; I am worried about
this,” he says. Future generations will definitely like his childhood memories.
People will love to read interesting memories about their naturally beautiful
village.
There was no custom of having a
double-storied building or house in Anjuna. If anybody dares to do this, then
one has to face many obstacles in his life. For this, Domnic has stories and
experiences to prove.
Domnic says: Reading, observation
and memory, these three things helped me to complete the two books.
GOVADOOT, Word Ambassador, Page 5:
Sunday, 14 March 2013.
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