History is a tricky
subject; you have to be very careful while reading and passing on the right information
to the next person. The students of Travel and Tourism at Don Bosco College,
Panjim had an entire heritage tour of Divar called Devadechi Pasoi, planned
based on their research on each place of importance. Guided by the Coordinator
of BBA (T&T), Tania Shirodkar, the students got to see a different facet of
the island. The Don Bosco College ‘Heritage Treasures Club of BBA (T&T)
Department organized Devadechi Pasoi on the occasion of World Day for
Audiovisual Heritage. A group of 30 students along with Marius Fernandes, the
key person behind the tour, Sanjeev Sardessai, a noted historian and George
Goodchild, a blue batch tour guide from the United Kingdom. “The aim of
organizing the heritage tour is to help students recognize a career option in
the field of guided tours. Goa has such wonderful heritage sites and every
village of Goa can conduct a guided heritage tour with the help of local
youngsters. However, the important factor of these tours is to get the accurate
information. Tania approached me and informed me about her students and how
they plan heritage tours. I did a recce heritage tour a week before the actual
tour with a group of ten students. We marked 20 places of the island that hold
historical significance, which were then shortlisted to ten spots. The students
were then told to find out more about those places by reading through books at
Central library,” says Marius. The first stop at the start of the island was
Dovarnem followed by places Manos (sluice gates) at St Mathias, St Mathias
Church, Our Lady of Divar High School, 8th century roof and its carvings done
by the Kadamba, a heritage cave, and the house of Rev Fr Jacome Gonsalves. “We
introduced the students to Goa’s great writers and poets like Prof Armando
Menezes, who has contributed to translating books from Portuguese to Konkani
and Rev Fr Jacome Gonsalves, who is known as the ‘Father of Catholic
literature’ in Sri Lanka. His ancestral home, currently houses the Our Lady of
Divar High School. He was ordained to priesthood by the Archbishop of Goa on
April 1700 and began the theological studies at St Thomas Aquarian Goa, where
he developed a taste for poetry, prose and music. Some of his manuscripts are
still in Goa,” explains Marius.The long term goal of this heritage tour was to
introduce a career option by designing a tour module for all students. The tour
was documented on video on how it was conducted by the students. “We have
developed the business plan with no investment. The villagers can be involved
as the tour can ask them to prepare an authentic meal, they can organize
homestays in ancestral homes and the students are confident and approachable.
We visited three families of Divar who gave them an idea on what it is to be
living on the island. They will be guiding another group of students from a
different college this week as more students were interested in the tour,” he
says. Marius also invited the students to his ancestral home with a lunch that
was cooked locally and served in betel nut plates. George Goodwill was keenly
observing the students and was amazed by the way they conducted the tour. “I
have been coming to Goa for years and I have never come across any such tours.
The students were glued in and confident in front of a relaxed group of
classmates. It is a very different experience to have a personalized tour and
it is fascinating to see these students develop these tours further. Tour
guiding is a very lucrative job and tourists want a well informed person who is
approachable and has an insider’s view,” says George.The students of Don Bosco
College, Panjim who guided the Devadechi Pasoi will be organizing the next tour
for the students of Dempo College, Panjim.
