SIOLIM: Passing by Joe D’Souza’s home at Zhor in Anjuna, one is easily drawn by the wide variety of hand-crafted wooden forms – such as miniature replicas of vintage cars, passenger cruises, lampshades, vases, and other beautiful pieces – displayed on his boundary wall.
The 75-year-old’s passion for carving began at a tender age, when he taught himself to sculpt little boats from wood. When the monsoons came, he would watch his little creations keenly to see if they would sink or sail as he sent them afloat on the flooded streets in front of his house.
As he grew, his fascination for boats transformed to a love for the big steamers that docked on the shores of the Mandovi river. His favourite was a steamer called M V Sarita, which made many trips ferrying people between Goa and Bombay. Joe was so fascinated by the steamer that he would cycle around 20km, from Anjuna all the way to Panjim, just to see the Sarita sail in. He would then spend the rest of the day just watching it and studying its design from afar.
The steamer became something of a muse that stimulated his carpentry skills when Joe decided to replicate the vessel in wood as a keepsake. Off he went to a saw mill to purchase teakwood, softwood and whitewood, and set out on the process to craft a miniature version of the Sarita from memory.
It took him three months to cut, carve, polish and paint, but finally, his dream boat was ready and right there in his hands as he stood by the riverside.
Having rekindled the art of carving, Joe went on to replicate several other boats that fascinated him, etching out their likeness in wood. One of them was the infamous MV Rohini, a 1,900-tonne passenger liner of Chowgule Steamships Ltd, that capsized on December 23, 1972. Fortunately, no lives were lost.
Hailing from a poor family, Joe couldn’t get access to a normal education like his peers, and often took up odd jobs to make ends meet. He eventually followed his father to Delhi where he working as a cook at the residence of the then South Goa Member of Parliament, Erasmo Sequeira. Greatly impressed by the boat that Joe had crafted for him, Sequeira sat him down and asked him what he wanted to achieve in life. “I am desperately looking for a full-time job, sir,” the young man said in all honesty. And thus, he found himself working at a plant manufacturing a popular aerated drink in 1965.
From there, he migrated to the UAE in search of a better future and, as luck would have it, landed a job at a Dubai-based carpentry shop called Almel Furniture. From there, Joe migrated to Dubai in search of a better future. It was there that he honed his skills. His 14-year-long tenure with the establishment may have given him calloused hands, but the experience he got was invaluable. He learnt how to intricately carve and decorate doors and windows, and use different techniques to work with wood.
Alas, although his woodworking skills were widely admired, Joe’s job wasn’t able to support his family’s needs back home. He consequently moved to an aerated drink manufacturing factory in Dubai, but continued with his passion on the side, carving out doors and other artefacts in his free time to keep both his chisel and his skill sharp.
When he returned to Goa in 2014, he picked up his chisel again, this time to carve out artefacts from coconut shells, such as decorative teapots, cradles, flower
vases, lampshades, and plane models. He needed large shells and when he couldn’t find what he required, he went searching from place to place, sometimes even paying Rs 50 for a single shell. He then spent day and months cutting, filing, painting and varnishing his handiwork.
Cut to the present day, and Joe is still at it as he receives regular orders for his woodwork. The products he makes range from Rs 600 to Rs 1,500 but are always in demand although Joe has neither set up any stall nor has sold his ware at any store. The only display they get is on his balcony, which is enough to attract tourists and patrons who make a beeline to inquire or even buy some artefacts on the spot.
His other passion is social work, so when he isn’t busy crafting, he spends time at church helping his brethren. He even goes the extra mile to help villagers with field work. “I am blessed to be able to finally work freely on a passion that has been in my heart since I was a child,” Joe gushes.
While his love for woodworking is not something his children are interested in, Joe says his 12-year-old granddaughter Mariah Angel Fernandes is a prodigy at carving and often assists him with commissions. He hopes that he will one day be able to hand over the reins entirely to her and call it a day while he watches her take his legacy and passion forward.
