The journalist who drove into villages met with the people, photographed them and then brought the villages to life on the pages of Goa Today had written his swansong, which will appear in the 49th anniversary issue of the monthly magazine later this week.
And, it is a piece on the Konkani Wikipedia, the language he devoted himself to in his lifetime, supporting it in whatever way possible in his long journalistic career.
“Joel was a very professional photo-journalist and a lover of Konkani. He sincerely worked to project Goan issues throughout the world through the Internet. He always was a supporter and lover of our mother tongue Konkani. His death has created a great vacuum as far as his innovative works were concerned. Readers in Goa as well as abroad will miss him greatly,” said Konkani writer Tomazinho Cardozo.
Joel was among the first journalists to take to Information Technology, whether it was in buying a personal computer or beginning to write on the Internet. He sent clippings of Goa news daily to websites on Goa and posted news and photographs regularly, and was perhaps better known in cyberspace than in Goa itself. But those who did know him in this State will vouch for his simplicity and his unassuming ways.
“I feel as if a part of my body has died with him. Of the 28 years I have spent in Goa Today, 20 of them have been with Joel. He had a heart of 24 carat gold with no room in it for anything termed wicked. He was endearing to a fault and ever so obliging,” said Goa Today Editor in Chief Vinayak Naik.
Joel’s contribution to covering functions in Goa and posting the pictures and write-ups on the net cannot be forgotten. He would be especially present at every function that was related to the Konkani language.
“As a person, Joel was very soft spoken. Humble, he was very dedicated to his work as a photo-journalist. He was always there to attend and give publicity to functions, be it through the Internet or Facebook. He never missed out any function organized by Tiatr Academy of Goa. His untimely demise is a big loss for us. We will miss him,” said TAG president Prince Jacob.
Unassuming that he was, Joel kept behind the shadows. “Unfortunately the scale of recognition he got for his versatile talent in his lifetime was far short of what he merited. Goa has become a poorer place to live in,” said Naik.
By late Wednesday night, Joel’s Facebook page was filed with posts from people across the world paying their final homage to him.
