RADHARAO GRACIAS
Spring, (erroneously called summer) in Goa, ushers in heat and hu midity which march together down the aisle to a marriage that turns the land from a cool paradise into a steaming hell. To escape this annual occurrence, I had made plans to travel to Ireland, to find my personal ‘Shortcut to Tipper ary’. Besides, with advancing years my tongue was losing its sharpness and I also need ed to gain the ability to flatter which I have lacked, yet is nec essary for success in modern day India. Hence, I had also mapped travel to County Cork, to climb to the top of Blarney Castle, to lie flat on my back, and bend over backwards to hug and kiss the legendary stone! However, the Iran war dictated otherwise. So, we had to travel down to the uplands of Kerala, an area represented in the Lok Sabha by Priyanka Gandhi. The hills are cool, lovely and green, the woods, neither dark nor deep. The tea plantations spread out over and beyond the hills; fluffy clouds drift sluggishly above. Misty rain drips slowly, inducing what the former co lonial rulers would describe as ‘home weather’. In this idyll, tragic news flashed from Goa. Dr Mar cia Rosa Pacheco de Sousa had gone to meet a friend in Seraulim. She pressed the lift button, the door opened; she stepped in. Unknown to her, the electro-mechanical interlock system had failed; the door leading into the lift opened before the cab had ar rived. She was crushed as the cab descended on her.
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The in juries were grave; she did not survive. Dr Marcia, a former Medical Superintendent of TB Hospital, was a well-known figure in Goa’s medical frater nity. She was someone I would sometimes see in the corri dors of the courts, as I would see other doctors attached to public hospitals come over, to depose in medico-legal cases. I can still recall her visage, always pleasant with a bright smile, the type Adv. Joao Fe lipe Borges, under whom I had started my legal career, would call ‘engraçada’. As the news of the abrupt death of the good doctor sank in, hazy memories of an eerily similar fate suffered by anoth er lady, in my teenage years, half a century and more years ago, began to rise up from the cache of my mind. I could clearly recollect that the lady was daughter in law of Profes sor Armando Menezes, Princi pal Karnataka College Dhar war, later Chairman of the Department of English in Kar natak University, writer and poet.
When the professor was a candidate for the Lok Sab ha elections from Mormugao (now South Goa) my father, a fan of his writings, had active ly campaigned for him. He had come over a couple of times; my father and he had contin ued to correspond, long after Nehru had found ‘Ajeeb hain yeh Goa ke log’! The haze cleared from my mind, following a call to the venerable Usha Albuqerque, whose contact I obtained through Chico Dias, a relative of hers and a friend of mine, from the old days. Not too long ago, Usha would compel everyone to look at her and listen to whatever she said, whether one liked it or not, every hour, every day. She was the celebrated news anchor of Doordarshan in its glory days! And equally, the pride of Goa! From Usha I gathered it was the eve of Valentine’s Day 1972. Shakuntala, her elder sister had been married to Louis Menezes IAS, at the time on deputation to the Govern ment of Bhutan, as Industrial Adviser. The duo was in New Delhi on official work living in accommodation provided by the External Affairs Min istry.
Dawn was in its infancy and darkness still prevailed, when Shakuntala and her husband, Louis, prepared to catch a train to visit Usha and her husband Michael in Ba reilly. Walking ahead of Louis, Shakuntala approached the apartment lift; she stepped inside as a matter of routine, only to plunge four stories down; the unlighted lift door had been open without the lift cab being in place. A helpless Louis rushed to help her. The critically injured Shakunta la was rushed to AIIMS and later transferred to the Mili tary Hospital. Upon hearing the news it was Usha’s turn to take the train and hurry to Delhi to be with her sister, but Shakuntala’s injuries were too severe; sadly she passed away. Strikingly, both victims of the lift mishaps are ladies in timately connected with the defence of our country. Dr Marcia was married to Colo nel John D’Souza who was the Commanding Officer at the world’s highest battlefield at Siachen Glacier at a height of 21,000 feet in 1996. Col. John spent six months at Siachen and under his lead ership the number of deaths that are normally reported at Siachen came down to just two, both due to the weather and terrain conditions. Shakuntala was the daugh ter of late Bigadier Donald Viegas from Curtorim who as Colonel assisted then Maj Gen KP Candeth GOC 17 Infantry Division, Military Governor of Goa Daman and Diu, in the period after Operation Vijay. Earlier as a young Officer Vie gas had served in the Malaya Campaign against the Japa nese advance during World War II. Shakuntala was also a cousin to Lt. Col. George Vie gas who was a part of the war theatre in 1971 that resulted in the creation of Bangladesh. Many such accidents in volve falls into open shafts or individuals getting crushed by faulty doors.
The lack of laws governing the operation of lifts significantly increases the fatality rate, with almost a third of major lift accidents occurring in States lacking these standardised safety protocols. No such law exists in Goa. “In almost eight and a half years till now, 34 people died and an equal number were injured in a series of elevator accidents in buildings across Mumbai, Thane, Pune and Pal ghar. In the years since 2018 19, the average annual fatality in lift mishaps in the region has more than doubled, aver aging about five deaths a year as against two per year in the years before 2018-19” says a report in a national daily. Such failure has caused ir reversible tragedies in the lives of two defenders of our country’s borders; one lost his wife, the other his daughter. From these two deaths, half a century apart and the mount ing deaths since, one thing looks certain; we as a people never learn, never improve, never correct. (Radharao F Gracias is a senior Trial Court Advocate, a former Independent MLA, a political activist, with a reputation for oratory and interests in history and ornithology.)
