The first argument I have with my wife is to pass me the Herald in the morning. On our breakfast table there are National dailies and other Goan papers but we need to share and read the Herald first. For me the Herald begins from the Editorial page and reading the editorials and the columns. Getting a feel of what the Goans have to say about Goa. What’s interesting is the journey of the Herald’s editors and contributors itself. It’s changed over a time and each editor had a lot to offer in the editorials that keeps us pondering to the day about our Goa. We’ve read a lot of the thoughts of Herald’s editors on Goa and we’re very exciting currently reading about Goa from the current editor’s mind. From the editorial page, I shift to the death or rather the obituary columns to catch up on who’s returned to the Lord and to reflect on the legacy of many great Goans and from there its obviously the Herald page one, our hotspot to break to us breaking news from Goa.
Coming back to the morning and many things that have changed, today we look out for courier boys, online shopping delivery boys and others to come visit our homes unlike earlier it was the baker or the fisherwoman and others but for us what stays constant is the newspaper boy and the journey of the Herald from his hands to ours and the journey the local daily embarks with us through our profession and work and stays in my car and possession till the end of the day. But Herald should also be proud to being consistent online and having an e-paper. Today the Herald is also with me on my IPad and I can read from there too when I am in Goa and travelling abroad on my study or conferences.
For instance whenever I call my brother-in-law in Canada to update him about a death in Goa, he informs me that I am already aware of the same because he read it in the Herald e-paper. Thousands of Goans in London, Gulf, parts of Europe and America, Canada and across the world are connected to Goa and stay updated with their motherland only because of the Herald. This is what the Herald should be proud about.
I am 72 years old and as a younger man, I recall reading the Herald in Portuguese and the O Herald O has been a part of our family since then. Also we’ve been personal friends of A C Fernandes and continue to have close ties with the Fernandes family till date and hence like many Goans we consider the Herald to be our own and of Goa.
I have travelled many countries across the world and Europe especially England has so many local dailies and the Herald is Goa’s local daily, the heart that pumps news into the minds of Goans just the way, the best local dailies in the world do the same in their cities. We like most Goans are very interested in our home state and don’t need to read a national daily to update us with news not relevant to Goa.
Till date the Herald has met my needs but I hope the newspaper and the editorial departments continue to work and change and evolve daily to meet the needs of readers like us and the younger generation and that is vital.
(As told to Neshwin Almeida on Sunday, October 9, 2016 on the eve of Herald’s 33rd Anniversary. Carmo Gracias, a well-known gynaecologist residing in Margao and the Managing Director of Gracias Maternity Hospital, a 75-year old enterprise providing quality healthcare to Goans).
