Managing Goa’s heritage isn’t a society job
It takes very little to dream. But it needs heroes to carry them through. And it takes far lesser mortals with neither the will nor the inspiration of our heroes, to destroy them. The vandalisation of the Museum of Christian Art and the senseless murder of the security guard, the theft of jewels and a permanent threat to the security of Goa’s most valuable heritage, is an abuse to the memory of Mario de Miranda and Bal Mundkur. And an affront to the sensibilities of behind the scenes foot soldiers like Victor Hugo Gomes who was the first curator of the Christian Art Museum at Rachol and made it his life’s mission to preserve Goa’s heritage.
It’s a pity that this is seen as just a big robbery in a museum. The value of the goods stolen, the panchnama, the questioning of suspects and the entire humdrum that is associated with any robbery, painfully hides the real theft and assault. It’s an assault on our basic sensibilities first. Specifically it is an assault on our efforts to treasure and preserve our heritage and history which the new Goa has engulfed and swallowed.
Sadly, the people entrusted to guard the museum-none of them experts at managing museums -though do not realise what the museum contains, in the real sense. Artefacts, curios and other little treasures of a time and era gone by which were lying in little chapels and churches and people’s homes. They are vignettes of a past that would have been forgotten if angels like Bal Mundkur and Mario de Miranda had not devoted their time, effort and even money to building of the museum of Christian art and Victor Hugo for taking charge as curator till a web of conspiracy forced him to quit in 1994. Bal Mundkur was not a Goan but a giant of an advertising professional came and settled on the bank of the Mandovi and spent his twilight years, giving back to Goa its glorious past in his own way. He found an able ally in Mario who worked to make Goas heritage canvas look beautiful. They planned, built and raised money through their group Amigos de Rachol for the museum at Rachol.
When the museum was opened and after the opening ceremony, held at least 300 metres away to ensure the safety of the artefacts, Victor used to get onto his Yezdi motorcycle every night and take rounds of the museum to see if the guards were doing their job. This wasn’t for money or fame. In fact this story was never told because Victor took a vow not to speak about the Christian Art Museum- be it good or bad- till Mario was alive. Today both he and his comrade Bal are no more, having left us within a month and a little more, of each other.
A museum like this, built on the large heartedness of Goans who have donated their treasures, which could have fetched them crores, cannot be fortified only through guards and guns. This needs will and a zeal, which this committee neither has, nor does it pretend to have. Managing a museum is not a “social” job. It does not need to look good in drawing room conversations over cheese and fine wine. This is not a high society time pass job because the treasures of extraordinary Goans are at their disposal. Catching a few Bihari security guards and their accomplices may solve a murder and a robbery. But it will do nothing to address a far bigger assault- the rape and loot of our priceless heritage.
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PEOPLE’SEDIT
The priest cometh, alleluia!
Eugene Correia
The decision of Fr Bismarque Dias to don the political robe and pray at the elections hustings to enter into what can be sarcastically called the holy of holiest places – the assembly – may appear to some as a devil’s calling. If elected, the priest can at least hope to minister the denizens, or rather those who have sold their souls to the devil, of this chamber and bring them the much-need change of faith into being non-corrupt legislators.
The faithful of the church are taken by surprise by the priest’s decision and rightly so. He may not have the blessings of his superiors but he probably heard a voice within himself to go forth and convert the evil-minded members of this hell that the assembly has been turned into to being people of good conscience and clean hearts. The church in Goa has made mournful sounds over many issues that affect the common man. There pronouncements have not had the profundity of a pastoral letter that directly calls upon the faithful to do what the church wants it to do. It is more or less a circular stating certain facts on which the church expresses strong views over government’s policies.
Fr Bismarque’s foray into the polluted world of Indian politics, with Goa reflecting the dirtiness that is seen elsewhere, particularly so in Uttar Pradesh, which is going to the polls along with Goa and other three states, is a step in the wrong direction. He is walking into a morass that even angels would fear to tread. No doubt the decaying health of the state, both in the physical and moral sense, made the socially-conscious priest take a leap of hope. Did he do his homework well or did the Archangel Gabriel appear to him and goaded him into taking this precarious step? I fear that his jump into the electoral ring could lead him to eternal damnation in the eyes of the people.
Maybe the success of liberation theology in South America where the priests took it upon themselves to fight on behalf of the impoverished people and lift them up from the pits of poverty and degradation into the sunlight of hope and peace. To a large extent, the liberationists brought succour and healing to the people Goa’s recent history shows priests indulging in political activity, maybe it was in the form of leading a grassroot movement to save Goa’s traditional industry of fishing. It was the time of the fishing trawlers making waves on Goa’s shoreline and taking the food from the fishermen’s mouth, so to say. The poor fishermen formed a movement, Goenchea Raponkaracho Ekvott, with Mathany Saldanha as general secretary, then a formidable force and still considered to be an activist of note. I remember Mathany and some priests coming to see me in my then newspaper office in Mumbai in their efforts to galvanise media support.
Priests took part in the Konkani movement. Can we forget the Pinto revolt of 1787? I admit that these priests did not contest the elections but took take part in a socio-cultural movement in the case of Konkani and were participating members of group of people who opposed Portuguese hegemony in the latter case. The present Pope, when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, was against the Liberationists. Would he forgive Fr Bismarque for his ‘unholy’ act?
Alleluia, alleluia.
