OCTOBER 1997
PULSE MAGAZINE
JOURNEY INTO 'LITTLE GOA'
By Silviano Barbosa
A close look at Goan paradise in Toronto, Canada
Who was the first Goan to
land in Canada? Was it A. Fernandes from East Africa or B. D'Souza from Karachi
or C. Pereira from Bombay? Well, it was none of them. From what I found out
recently, it was Ped Ruzar Fernandes from Maddel, Goa. He was the first Niz
Goenkar, the real genuine Goan from Goa to step upon Canadian soil. Pedro
Rosario Fernandes landed in Vancouver on a cold winter's day on January 17th
1897.
At a recently held lavish
party thrown in his honour to commemorate his centenary, Ped Ruzar's great
grandson, Kennedy Valerian Fernandes of Goa, (who recently migrated to Canada
from Saudi Arabia) welcomed the mostly Konkani speaking Goan creme de la creme
in his palatial 4000 sq.ft. home in Markham and described in detail the
pioneering effort of Ped Ruzaris first landing in Canada.
It seems Ped Ruzar was a
cook on a British steamship S.S. Adelaide. The ship had docked in Vancouver on
January 17, 1897. Ped Ruzar had seen snow for the first time in his life.
Excited he quickly opened a can of condensed milk, poured it into a bowl, added
some sugar and cocoa to it and got off the ship. He ran towards the dock which
was covered with fresh snow. He grabbed some snow, placed it into the bowl and
mixed it with sugar, cocoa and condensed milk. He quickly gulped the concocted
mixture, loudly exclaiming "Ice-cream! Ice-cream!" The captain of the
ship heard him and shouted back "Don't scream! Don't scream!" Since
that day, Ped Ruzar was known as the 'Ice-cream Man' all over Goa.
Ped Ruzar went back to
Goa. Word got around that the 'Ice-cream Man' was ready for marriage. Hundreds
of proposals came for the Canada returned prospective bachelor. A beautiful
maiden Kotrin finally became the mango (apple) of his eye. They got married and
within a year they had a son, Hipolito. When he grew up, young Hipolito also
joined the ship. Hipolito got married and had a son named Manuel. Hipolito died
during the war when the Japanese emperor Hirohito died. Manuel got married and
had a son who was born in 1961 soon after Kennedy became the President of the
United States. As a result Manuel's son was christened Kennedy. His second name
was taken from Goa's first Prince of the Church, Cardinal Valerian Gracias.
Kennedy V. Fernandes went
to Loyola High School and later graduated as a computer engineer from Indian
Institute of Technology (I.I.T.) at Powai, Bombay. Then he accepted an offer to
go to Saudi Arabia, where he made a lot of tax-free money. Through a
professional broker and money manager in New York, he made even more money
playing the risky commodities and futures market.
Kennedy went back to Goa
and opened an ice-cream factory in Margao and named it 'PERFECT' ICE CREAM, the
acronym 'Perfect' being for 'Ped Ruzar Fernandes Canadian Taste'. Soon Kennedy
got married to his bhattkar's (landlord) beautiful daughter, Clara and went
back to Saudi Arabia. He eventually migrated to Canada for the sake of their
children's future. They presently live in a gorgeous mortgage-free home in
Markham, (not Margao) North of Toronto.
But in the heart of his
hearts, like his great grandfather, Kennedy is a true and genuine Goan, a Niz
Goenkar. He is happy to be here among thousands of other Goans. He was thrilled
to see Goa represented in all facets of life in Toronto, Canada.
When he first attended
St. Francis Xavier's feast, he was surprised to see Goan food like pulau,
sorpotel, vindalho, xacuti, bebic, Goa sausages, buch, pickle and paro. What
surprised him most was the Annual Konkani Tiatro performed by Goans in Toronto.
He found the acting, singing and comedy to be of the same calibre as in Goa if
not better. He was even more surprised to find that there were even Konkani
cassettes and CDs produced by Goans in Canada. When he first went to the GOA's
New Year's Dance he was amused to see personalized car license plates such as
GOARAJ, MRGOA, GOA001, FENNY, BABUSH,etc.
Kennedy visited the
Panjim pavilion of the GOA CARAVAN festival and he was speechless. The
displays, the dances, the bands, the food and the general participation filled
his heart with Goan pride. It really made him proud to be a Goan in Canada.
Kennedy attends Goan parties and dances, where he can listen to Goan music and
Konkani songs and eat Goan delicacies. He visits the Gerard St. Indian stores
to shop for basmati rice and other spices. He was recently excited to hear
about the newly opened Goan Restaurant and he visited it the very next day.
Kennedy regularly surfs
the Internet especially for the Goan news and views. His day starts and ends
with Goan Konkani songs. His daily food is genuinely Goan. He begins his day
with warm chapatis, eggs and bacon. He likes his daily rice and coconut juice
curry (with lots of free cholesterol) made with pompfret fish. Occasionally he
will eat pizza, tacos and junk food such as hamburgers and fried chicken, but
he can't stay away from Goa sausages, paro and pickle. Even his children relish
it. His wife makes great Goan and Indian foods such as pulau, xacuti, sorpotel,
buch, vindalho, beef-rolad, Goa sausages, boje, bottat-vhodde, puri-bhaji,
shev, chakli, dal ghosht, goat curry, etc.
In the summer he goes for
picnics and camping with his family and friends. It truly makes him feel he is
in the midst of a Goan ambience. There they play Goan games, fish, barbeque,
sing Goan manddo, drink fenni and tell jokes while ladies go through their
routine of gossip. His wife makes boje, bottat-vhodde, chutney sandwiches and
sausage paon for picnics.
He attends many Goan
village feasts, christenings and First Holy Communion parties. He loves
attending Goan parties where there is genuine Goan food. If he does not feel
satisfied, he will go home and eat his rice and curry anyway. He throws parties
regularly. He invites Goan priests to celebrate mass in his house every year
for God's blessings on the family. He brings over the statue of Our Lady every
year and celebrates Ladainha.
In his den, he has a
library of books by Goan authors from all over the world. He has Konkani
cassettes, videos and CDs. His house is filled with Goan artifacts. Kennedy
always keeps two big carboys full of coconut and caju fenny in his cellar for
his friends. Among his close circle of friends are Goans who speak Konkani and
are proud of their heritage.
Kennedy V. Fernandes is a
proud joint owner of a private company. Together with a Hong Kong investor,
they run a state of the art software technology firm called Software for
Remotely Ported Telecommunications. Proud of his Goan heritage, he named it
himself. The acronym reads 'SORPOTEL'. The email address is [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Kennedy does not miss
much from Goa, except the weather. He despises the cold temperatures of Canada.
He constantly feels homesick. Every year in the month of February, poor little
rich Kennedy takes off to Goa. He is only 37 and semi-retired. Wouldn't you
envy him? I bet you would.
But I am sorry to say
Kennedy V. Fernandes is not real, for he is a figment of my imagination, just
like Ped Ruzar. But the existence of a truly Goan culture and sucegado way of
life in 'Little Goa' in Toronto, Canada is a concrete reality. And you still
don't know who was the first Goan to land in Canada, right? (Disclaimer: The
characters in this article are all fictitious.)
[Silviano Barbosa has
finished his first Goan novel, 'The Sixth Night', which is awaiting
publication.]
October 1997 Pulse Index Page
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That was then , this is now June 8/2005 *****************
Hi Cecil,
Very nice article about the Beer! The best I liked so far!
Belo! Ciao!