While KGA is more geared to the older Goans who live in Bangalore, there are two or more groups which are more geared to the youth and the transitory Goan in Bangalore. It is driven socially and that means it forms a safety net for the old Goans who are in homes, the very young for educational support whether in school or college, the young out looking for jobs and in general, the ones not so privileged.
September 27, 2019
Pushpa Iyengar
Thirty years ago, Lionel Messias, lived in Bangalore for some time, while working for the Indian Express and later for The Pioneer, which had just been launched in New Delhi, and discovered that culturally the call of home(Goa) was somewhat assuaged when he met Wanda and Vincent Rebello. Then in their 60s and 70s respectively, this warm, vivacious couple had never lived in Goa except during frequent visits for social events but theirs was an intrinsic Goan home in Indiranagar(now a hub for music and swanky eating places that the remaining residents are hostile to) because of the smells of delicacies simmering on her stove and sounds of music always playing.
Wanda was a cook par excellence who could cook up a storm at the drop of a hat and Lionel found himself there one day escorted by a common friend who gleaned his homesickness for a land that he had left for greener pastures because of his job. And Wanda and Vincent were the tonic he needed to reconnect with roots because there was always “Do you know so and so from Saligao/Carmona/you name it” and always, they would be able to establish that crucial, common link. Like the six degrees of separation!
A home away from home
That’s the thing with Bangalore, now officially called Bengaluru. A stranger(me) connected with the Karnataka Goan Association (KGA) in a jiffy and while the members of the association have not been able to look in on Goa as a group they do visit individually for family functions or even because some still have ancestral property.
But the call of Goa is so strong that this 45-year-old association gets together for events like Festo da Carnaval (February 9) and World Goa Day (August 11), annual events that are both fund raisers to support the KGA’s social activities. Then there are the Evergreens, held 12 days ago on September 15, that brought together senior citizens, the Youth Outreach 2019(June 21) where youth members visited Martin’s Farm in Sarjapur where the Sunbird Trust reaches out to unprivileged communities, SFX(December 1), where members celebrate the St Francis Xavier’s Feast with a Konkani Mass and Ladainha that brings the community together for a “Howdy”.
Every event is an occasion to renew ties with one another, talk about Goa that many lament has become urbanized with the skyline showing concrete structures rather than the swaying coconut palms. KGA is about 1200-member strong even if the Goan community is several times that in this bustling city that is home to many different communities.
A past president, Stephen Gonsalves, who has his own company which is into materials handling, and has been a member of the association for close to 35 years, remembers that the KGA happened because many of the Africanders who had come back from East Africa to settle in Bangalore decided to come together and forge bonds. While KGA is more geared to the older Goans who live in Bangalore, there are about two or more groups for Goans which are more geared to the youth and the transitory Goan in Bangalore who does not strike roots in this metropolis but temporarily calls it home.
Social work is their forte
Stephen says KGA is driven socially and that means it forms a safety net for the old Goans who are in homes because they are alone or have children abroad, the very young for educational support whether in school or college, the young out looking for jobs and in general, the ones not so privileged.
By Constitution, although KGA is secular, it tends to attract members of the Catholic community which has to do more “with our westernized approach” says a member but who hastens to add that Hindu Goans tend to participate in events, even if they are not life members. In fact, KGA’s 400-500 members are the ones who are more active although events like World Goa Day, lures every Goan in the city whether resident or transitory, to kick up their heels among their “compatriots”.
Linette Franco, a current member of the KGA’s Education & Welfare Panel, the association’s most charitable arm, says they meet once a month and help members of the community who approach them through KGA members. “Not everyone gets help by asking for it. We take a call on the basis of how deserving a case is,” she says. But when it comes to old Goans who are hospitalized, there is no more humane group of individuals, who, armed with their best bedside manner, troop in to keep the convalescent’s spirits up.
Konkani bhasha may not be widely spoken by the members here, but Konkani classes are held regularly by the KGA. They want to widen their social base to include tiatrs, that unique musical theatre so popular in Goa that is fluid and irrereverant particularly about current political events.
“We tend to gravitate towards each other,” says Stephen recalling why he chose to become a member all those years ago. They might be mostly elite members presiding over companies, working in banks, IT, with little time left over from their jobs in a bustling metropolis that has its own challenges, but it as a common bond that unites this dynamic grouping. Like past president George Costa, says, “A Goan combines in himself a “trinity” of being Indian, in the State where he is domiciled whereas he spreads his Goanness among those around him.
