This is my story with the O Heraldo, my connection with it since my childhood. This article is nostalgic based on my memories of how I came in contact with it.
My father was a disciplinarian and used to take my lessons. According to him, one way of getting me to learn to read and improve my vocabulary was to go beyond the lessons in the book.
So, my daily exercise was to read aloud the
O Heraldo headlines and some news for him to listen to and make corrections if I made any mistakes. This was done, while he was shaving, a routine religiously practiced by him every morning before leaving the house.
According to him, this was also a way to inculcate the reading habit. I used to hate this reading, not very exciting for a small 6-year-old girl, but it made me proficient in reading and learning new words.
The O Heraldo had besides its own staff contributors who sent articles and some of them were regular columnists. Many were sometimes engrossed in polemics which went from a couple of write-ups discussing a particular issue and from time to time for months.
The only solution to put an end to it was to use his discretion, especially when the polemic went beyond the subject of discussion and hurting the feelings of each other with personal comments. Now and then, some others would join with their input.
I remember reading one polemic on the preparation of caju feni between Carmo de Noronha, then Excise Commissioner, and Dr Carmo Azevedo, journalist and writer.
It started because the government had mooted the export and upgradation of feni to an elitist level, which at that time was considered a taverna drink. The issue was the strong smell and suggestions to remove it or why it should be maintained started the controversy.
I don’t remember for how many months it went on, each of them citing their reasons with arguments quoting encyclopedias and other academic sources. As I wrote earlier, the only option left for the editor was to put an end to it.
Another polemic that arose quite an interest was that between Dr Joseph Barros, then Principal of Government Higher Secondary School, Panjim (today’s T B Cunha) and Dr Carmo Azevedo.
The discussion was because the government was shifting the stone structure on the Ponte de Linhares (Patto) causeway, which was and is used by Hindus for prayers. It is commonly known in Konkani as samcordio and is believed by them to be the abode of the Rakanndar, the protector.
Let me add that Azevedo was well-known as a polemical person. Barros’ contention was that it should not be shifted as it was the site of the protector.
It was not only the editors commenting about public issues but readers too. People also wrote letters to the editor and there were some that aroused discussions and if these went beyond the limit, again the editor put a stop.
Another facet of the Goan psyche was visible in the local papers. In those days we had intellectual ‘watchdogs’, who had an eye to any flaw or mistake in the contributor’s article and they would immediately write a letter to the editor pointing out the error.
Unfortunately, today anything that is written is read and seldom commented on. I recollect that the O Heraldo carried an article from the Archaeological Survey of India’s Old Goa office that some discovery was made by them and a photo was put on the front page.
The claim was that the finding was dated to the seventeenth century. However, using the typography of the written material, a knowledgeable person would know that it was not from that period and the earliest could be the late eighteenth century.
The next day a write-up by Antonio de Meneses pointed out the discrepancies and wrong conclusion. This attitude of the readers made the writers and contributors take care when they wrote.
During the Opinion Poll, O Heraldo went all out to support the non-merger of Goa. The paper was used by the proponents against the merger and contributed articles, poetry, two-liners, etc. for the cause.
During the language issue, the paper was also very much in the forefront of the movement for recognition of Konkani and was responsible for having geared to success with articles and editorials. The paper also backed the Ramponkars movement. The issues related to public welfare were taken up by the paper in earnest.
After the takeover of Goa, the Goan papers had difficulty sustaining with the introduction of Marathi and English newspapers. O Heraldo’s owner, the Messias Gomes family, decided to sell the newspaper and it was Mr Antonio Caetano Fernandes who bought it.
It is commendable that Fernandes,who himself was not connected to the newspaper business and was at the helm of a prosperous stationery business, decided to support financially the paper giving freedom to the editors to write.
Fernandes tried to maintain the Portuguese language when owners of other papers in this language had to close down because they could not sustain these.
The O Heraldo, to garner interest amongst readers included a Konkani page as well as an English one. And in 1983, on October 10 a full English edition was launched.