camilpark

पोर्तुगीज महाकवी लुई वाझ डी केमॉईसचा गोव्यातील पूर्णाकृती पुतळा आधी फोडला गेला, मग हटवला गेला, त्याची गोष्ट पडघम  - साहित्यिक कामिल पारखे पोर्तुगीज महाकवी लुई वाझ डी केमॉईसचा गोव्यातील पुतळा Fri , 31 July 2020 पडघम साहित्यिक लुई वाझ डी केमॉईस Luís Vaz de Camões जॉर्ज फ्लॉयड George Floyd ब्लॅक लाइव्हज मॅटर्स Black Lives Matters काही दिवसांपूर्वी अमेरिकेत जॉर्ज फ्लॉइड या आफ्रिकन-अमेरिकन व्यक्तीची मान एका श्वेतवर्णीय पोलीस अधिकाऱ्याने आपल्या गुढघ्याखाली दाबून धरल्याने त्याचा घुसमुटून मृत्यू झाला. त्यानंतर तीव्र झालेल्या ‘ब्लॅक लाईव्हज मॅटर’ या आंदोलनांतर्गत अमेरिका, युरोपमध्ये विन्स्टन चर्चिल, कोलंबस, एडवर्ड कोल्स्टन यांचे पुतळे पाडले गेले. कारण हे लोक साम्राज्यवादी वा त्याचे समर्थक होते. ३७ वर्षांपूर्वी गोव्यातही पोर्तुगीज महाकवी लुई वाझ डी केमॉईसचा पुतळाही याच कारणांवरून पाडला गेला होता. त्याची ही हकिकत... ... १. गोव्याला पर्यटक म्हणून येणारे बहुतेक सर्व जण जुन्या गोव्याला हमखास भेट देतात. कारण म्हणजे त्याचे मध्ययुगीन काळातले स्थान आणि त्या ऐतिहासिक काळ...

When statue of poet Louis Camoes in Goa was removed... The Black Lives Matter protests in the USA and Europe have called for removal of statues of some persons including Winston Churchill for their alleged dubious roles in treatment to the black community. This reminds me how a statue of celebrated literary giant Luis Vaz de Camoes in Old Goa was removed in 1980s, two decades after Goa was liberated from the Portuguese regime. There is an important circle in Old Goa no visitor to this former capital of Goa under the Portuguese regime will ever miss. This circle is at the entrance of the impressive Se Cathedral, the white 17th century edifice and the largest church in Old Goa. This circle comes into prominence especially on December 3, the feast of St. Francis Xavier, and once a decade exposition of the relics of this patron saint of Goa. At the centre of the circle was once a pedestal. A huge statue of Portuguese poet Luis Vaz de Camoes placed on the pedestal was the centr...

  “Come in..!” was the reply when I knocked at the semi-open entrance of his residence. As I entered, I saw  Bishop  Valerian D'Souza sitting on a chair impeccably dressed as was his wont – with a a felt cap, legs with socks on placed on a small stool and with a rosary in his hand.  “Oh Camil..!” was his response in his deep voice when I stood before him. I had kissed his prel ate's ring when I had first met him as a reporter of The Indian Express 30 years ago and again when I interviewed him for Sakal Times when turned 80 in 2013. Over the years, I had developed a close bond with  Bishop  Valerian. But when I called on him February 6 evening, little did I realise that this would be our final meeting or that I would be one of his last 'courtesy call' visitors. Originally hailed from Parra village near Porvorim in Goa,  bishop  Valerian was born in Pune and studied in St. Vincent School where he was a footballer. When Fr. Valerian was appoint...

सिंगिंग बिशप व्हॅलेरियन डिसोझा ” कम इन...! ” मी त्या अर्धवट खुला असलेल्या ग्रिलच्या दरवाज्यावर खटखटकले तसे हे उत्तर आले. दरवाजा खोलून मी आत गेलो तेव्हा आपल्या खुर्वीवर निवृत्त बिशप व्हॅलेरियन डिसोझा बसले होते. हा दिवस होता अगदी अलिकडचा म्हणजे 6 फेब्रुवारी 2020 चा. बिशप आपल्या नेहेमीच्या सवयीनुसार अगदी टापटिप पोशाखात होते. शर्ट, त्यावर जाकिट, डोक्यावर कॅप, मोजे घातलेले दोन्ही पाय एका छोट्याशा स्टुलावर ठेवून बसलेल्या बिशपांच्या एका हातात रोझरीची माळ होती. बिशप व्हॅलेरियन हे भारतीय कॅथोलिक बिशपांच्या जुन्या पिढीतील मात्र आधुनिक जगाच्या तंत्रज्ञानाशी पूर्ण जूळवून घेतेलेले ख्रिस्तमंडळाचे शेवटचे धर्माधिकारी होते. ”ओ, कामिल..!” मला पाहताच ते म्हणाले. प्रत्येक भेटीत मी भेटल्यावर त्यांनी मला अशी नावाने हाक मारली कि मी सुखावत असे. कारण गेली तीस वर्षे ते मला ओळखत असले तरी आमची भेट काही वर्षांच्या अंतराने होत असे आणि त्यामुळे प्रत्येक वेळी ते मला ओळखतील कि नाही याची मला शंका वाटायची. बिशपांचा आता नव्वदीच्या दिशेने वाटचाल चालू असली तरी अजूनही त्यांची स्मरणशक्ती अगदी तल्लख होती. पुण्यात...

A fortnight after I joined a Marathi newspaper in Ahmednagar district, the editor summoned me and to my astonishment, asked me to include an unusual task in my daily working schedule. He asked me to ring up a local telephone number at the stroke of midnight and get results of the day's matka lottery. The telephone number was of the local matka bookie and my job was to get the two matka prize numbers selected by Mumbai-based Matka king Ratan Khatri. I was dumbfounded when I heard my assignment. After my experience of journalism in Goa, I had never imagined that ringing up a matka bookie would be a part of a sub-editor's job profile. In a few seconds I found myself telling the editor that I would not like to do that job, which was against journalistic ethics, I felt. The editor took out tobacco from a sachet, ground it on his palm with his thumb and carefully put it in his mouth. He then asked, "What is unethical in getting matka numbers and publishing th...

Shiv Sena Sainik Marshal John Parkhe with Balasaheb Thackeray It was around 1975 that slogans like Jai Bhavani, Jai Shivaji were heard in our house in Shrirampur. Influenced by one of his school teachers, Marshal, my elder brother, had started playing Lazim with and Dhol Tasha and this had introduced him to Bal Thackeray’s Shiv Sena. I was then still studying in a secondary school. I watched Marshal leaving house early morning to sweat it out at the local municipal council’s gymnasium. There, wearing a Langot, he wrestled with others on the red soil, climbed and did many startling stunts on the Mallakhamb. After coming home, he ate the Chana dal which was soaked in water the previous night. This was all the luxury diet and nutrients he could afford after working it out hard at the gym in the morning and the lazim playing with his friends on the grounds in the evening. In June 1976, I had left my family almost for good to join the Jesuits, to be a religious priest. A couple of...