09 Aug 2022  |   05:55am IST

THE ROSES BRING BACK MEMORIES OF THE MELODY KING

Fragrance of ‘The Rose’ filled the air as the Rose family celebrated the Melody King of the Konkani and tiatr stage, Alfred Rose’s 90th birth anniversary at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao. The literary-cum-cultural programme was wrapped in renditions of the legend’s songs by noted artistes, the book release and felicitation programme

Pio Esteves

A

s the fans and well-wishers of late Alfred Rose stepped into the auditorium at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, popular songs of the Melody King were rendered in melodious voices by the students of the Carmel College, Nuvem, to the accompaniment of scintillating music by Johnny B Gud.

The literary programme rolled out with the release of the book ‘The Rose Blooms’ authored by Glenis Mendonca, lecturer of the Carmel College, Nuvem. It was released at the hands of Joshua Peter De Souza, Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and MLA of Mapusa constituency, in the presence of Rita Rose, wife of late Alfred Rose, Vincy Quadros, president of the Dalgado Konkani Academy (DKA), vice-president Daniel D’Souza and the executive members.

Speaking on the book, ex-president of DKA, Tomazinho Cardozo said that ‘The Rose Blooms’ is a book of its kind as earlier no one made any such attempt to study the lyrics of the songs rendered by Alfred Rose. “Each and every detail documented in the book will remain forever, thus keeping the legend always alive amidst us,” he said.

Recalling that Alfred Rose was a lyricist par excellence, composer and singer with a melodious voice, Cardozo disclosed that the book contains ten chapters on varied subjects and each chapter carries the experience of the Melody King. He said that the author has termed Alfred Rose as the ambassador of Konkani and it was rightly so as he was the only tiatrist who took Konkani through his songs across the globe.

Cardozo revealed that Alfred Rose’s songs had varied socio-cultural and religious subjects which included values, portrayal of women, language and nationalism. Picking up one chapter of the book, he said “it focuses on social, moral values such as fidelity, which is the most important value and it is portrayed in the song ‘Janet ani Linet’”. “But unfortunately, it is found destroyed today in some families,” Cardozo added.

“The third chapter dwells upon religion and devotional songs,” Cardozo noted, and pointed out that the song ‘Dotorancho Dotor’ attributed to St Anthony seeks mercy and expresses gratitude to God. “One the aspects of lyrics in Alfred Rose’s songs is the vivid portrayal of women. But he never differentiated women from men. And for society to progress, we have to respect men and women equally,” he said.

Focusing on the same subject, Cardozo said that many songs of the legend carried names of girls like ‘Juliana’, ‘Bela’, ‘Diana’, ‘Sandra’, ‘Lovely Esther’, ‘Monica’, ‘Leticia’ and ‘Senhorita’, appreciating the beauty and kindness of women. He said that he hasn’t come across any singer till date, who has composed songs on women to such an extent.

Cardozo also mentioned about multiculturalism and nationalism featuring in Alfred Rose’s songs, and said that was possible because the singer visited many countries in Africa, Europe and the Middle East and gained a lot of knowledge. “Apart from songs on superstitions and beliefs, traditional occupations, love for the Konkani language, Goan culture and nation was deep down in his heart,” he said.

Cardozo recalled that Alfred Rose carried many titles such as ‘Goa’s Melody King’, ‘Man with a Golden Voice’, ‘Music Mestro’ and ‘Ambassador of Konkani’. “In recent years,” he regretted, “many claim themselves as ‘Melody King’. Let the title of Alfred Rose be his sole property. You cannot compare the legend to tiatrists of recent times.”

Cardozo also disclosed that many will know Alfred Rose as musician, singer, but very few will know about his literary works, which contain around 14 books, including novels in Roman Konkani, and this fact has been brought out by the author in her book.

The chief guest, Joshua De Souza, said that history has to be preserved for generations to come through such researched books. “Goans are unique and talented and Alfred Rose proved it through his countless songs,” he added. President of DKA, Vincy Quadros said that we may boast to be Goans, but minus Konkani, we are not true Goans. “English language is important to sustain financially, but by speaking Konkani we can safeguard our identity,” he said. The author of the book also spoke, sharing her experience when working on its contents by referring to the files of Alfred Rose, blog by Edward Verdes and other books penned by other authors.

On behalf of Alfred Rose, the DKA felicitated Rita Rose with a memento for their immense contribution towards music and literature. The formal function concluded with a musical show put up by Alfred Rose’s wife, children Engelbert and Alria Rose and tiatrists Anthony San, Succor de Santa Cruz, Francis Esteves, Amresh Kamat, KerryAnn Albuquerque, Glenis Mendonca and Johnny B Gud. The programme was compered by Daniel D’Souza and DKA's treasurer Celso Fernandes proposed the vote of thanks.