When
you leave Fr Saturnino Mascarenhas alone with
a piece of paper and a pen, be sure to see a cartoon with a message
that will make you introspect. A priest with multiple talents, he has
so far collected 100 cartoons on diverse themes including religion,
politics, education, sports and other social subjects.
Originally
from Mungal Grande, Margao, Fr Saturnino currently lives at the
Provincialate in Borda, Margao. Speaking about his love for
cartooning, he shares, “I loved painting; I’ve been wielding the
paintbrush right from my childhood, even before I joined the
seminary. I was encouraged to be artistic by my mother, Anna Joanita,
as she would paint animals on the bed covers and ask me to paint with
her. After joining the seminary at Pilar, I was always called in for
any painting work. Later, fascinated by the cartoons of our great
Goan cartoonist, Mario Miranda, I started drawing cartoons during my
theology days. Fr Kyriel D’Souza, my good friend who was the manager
of ‘Vauraddeancho Ixtt’, requested me to draw cartoons for the
weekly magazine. From there on, I was ‘christooned’ Fr Satart by
my Society members,” says Fr Saturnino.
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Fr
Saturnino is currently teaching Sofegio and the violin to seminarians
of Class 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 (whom he calls minor seminarians) while
teaching the theory of music to the pre-novices at Pilar. “My
father, Filipe Custodio, was a musician and I was inspired by him to
take up music. Soon after being ordained a priest, I was sent as a
missionary to Punjab where I worked for 17 years. I also released two
Punjabi Bhajan CDs. On returning to Goa after my mission, I released
a Konkani CD, titled, ‘Ekvottan Ravumia’,” says Fr Saturnino, who
has passed his 8th grade in violin and theory from Trinity College,
London.
His
cartoons are usually seen on issues of ‘Vauraddeancho Ixtt’, a
weekly Romi Konkani magazine, and ‘Fr Agnelo’s Call’, an
English weekly. “I choose to draw cartoons because it is a great
medium to enlighten the audience about values and thus can be used as
a tool for evangelisation. Cartoons can at times express what words
or a pulpit cannot. At one of our latest talks for the St Vincent de
Paul members, I displayed a PowerPoint presentation of my cartoons,
making it more interesting and enlightening.”
This
self-taught painter and cartoonist hopes to take his works to a wider
audience. “I have collected 100 of my English cartoons and I’m
hoping to publish them by October this year. I also want to have a
cartoon exhibition of the same,” expresses the priest who had
earlier released a book on cartoons in Konkani, ‘Dukoinastana
Chimtto Kadd’.
When
asked about the message he wishes to give out through his cartoons,
Fr Saturnino says, “I want to give value education to the masses
through a strip of cartoon. I want people to respect each other. It’s
important to love one another and have more tolerance in the society
as I feel the world is moving towards selfishness.”
