Anjuna is probably one of the most famous
spots of Goa, famous for its beach and the Wednesday Flea Market. But like most
coastal villages, there is so much more that meets the eye. Did you know that Anjuna
has 24 wards? And one of its wards, Gaumvaddi, is known by nine names! It’s
interesting facts such as these, anecdotes, photographs and much more that fill
up the 24 chapters of Dominic P F Fernandes’ new book, ‘Village Anjuna’.
Dominic covers every aspect of the traditional village life that existed in
Anjuna when he was growing up in the 1940s. The old world charm of living
without electricity and the times when one had to return home before the
Angelus bell rang, among other things, are articulately captured in this book.
“There isn’t enough literature about Anjuna
that I could refer to. I had to meet and talk to people to do my research. Some
information were in bits and pieces which I had to gather and confirm. One
single chapter, ‘Teaching a Village… And more’ talks about how Sacred Heart
of Jesus School was conceived at Jacob Conceição de Souza’s house which is now
become Bougainvillea Hotel – Grandpa’s Inn. It took me six months for my
research as I had to speak to family members of the second generation and the
third generation. These education stalwarts of Anjuna – Jacob and his sons,
late Walter and Ligouri – deserve much more recognition,” says Dominic.
The chapter also brings to light how Sacred
Heart of Jesus School, Duler, Mapusa was rechristened St Britto High School in
1948 when the school was transferred to the Society of Jesus. Another
interesting chapter is the tribute to the brave ‘Voijinn Maim’ who showed her
skills with traditional medicines.
Getting his facts right meant speaking to a
lot of people in order to cross-check the details. What encouraged Dominic to
go ahead with the book was the openness the villagers showed in sharing
information. “No one hesitated to talk to me and everyone’s door was open to
me. The facts had to reconfirmed with at least 3-4 people since I was writing a
book and could be questioned about it. I have included everything about Anjuna.
One part which i skipped was about the Bhumika Temple at Gaumwadi as I wasnt
about to collate verifiable information about it despite speaking to almost 40
people. I wanted strong details to be mentioned.”
Though Anjuna shares its borders with more
developed villages, Dominic feels that not much has affected the village life
of Anjuna. “Around 6-7 years back, some villagers had put property for sale.
Though we do have outsiders coming in, they are hesitant to buy land. As I
mentioned in my book, ‘Anjunant malliechem ghor togonam’ (a storeyed house does
not last in Anjuna). Maybe that is one of the reasons,” says Dominic with a
smile. He does add that the village life of the past had its own charm as
compared to the present generation, because there was much more bonding among
the villagers then.
Dominic’s family is very supportive of his
writing and they’ve been eagerly waiting for this book to come out in print.
“My wife Jyothi is very encouraging. My son is studying his Masters in
Engineering in the US and my daughter is married in Dharmapur, South Goa. Once
the book is out, they will sit peacefully and go through the book no matter
where they are,” says Dominic.
Published by Goa,1556, ‘Village Anjuna’ is
Domnic’s third book after ‘Dominic’s Goa’ and ‘Mapusa: Yesterday and Today – A
Reminiscent Tour’. “The book will be available at all leading bookstores
including Broadway Bookstore and Golden Heart Emporium, Margao post the launch.
I have worked with Frederick Noronha of Goa,1556 before and he was very
enthusiastic when I told him about ‘Village Anjuna’.”
‘Village Anjuna: Vignettes from Goa’ will
be released on October 4, 2015 at 4:45pm at St John’s Chapel, Gaumvaddi, Anjuna
