Six decades and two
generations ago, a little-known chapter of the history of Goans occurred in
Burma, which was at
that time a part of the
British Empire.Goan migrants from the then Portuguese colony got caught in the
real life drama of Japanese bombings of the city of Rangoon
(Yangon) and other parts of the country. The
stories in this book, told by survivors of that war, recall in vivid detail how
peaceful lives were shattered and the subsequent scramble to evacuate to
India.
Some even walked home. These narratives of grit and determination in the face
of fast-changing fortunes, have been collected by the editor,
Yvonne Vaz
Ezdani, who wishes to put down in print the incredible accounts she had often
heard as a young girl growing up in post-independent Burma.
The 289-page just-published book looks at migration
by Goans to an unusual part of the planet -- in Burma.
It focuses on a dramatic point in history, the World
War II Japanese invasion of the land now known as Myanmar, and the tumultuous impact
this had on lives of the Goans settled there.
''Songs of the Survivors'' is edited by ex-teacher Yvonne Vaz Ezdani, who herself lived in Burma till the
early 1980s, along with a large extended family from Saligao that has largely
since resettled here. Ezdani keeps busy with counselling students, and her two
daughters Shannon and Rachel are settled in Australia.
Writes editor Ezdani, "In an instant (during the
War in 1942), the Goans'' comfortable and serene lives were shattered and they
were plunged into chaos and fear."
Many trekked back to India, through jungles and
mountains and streams, and the stories of this generation, slowly fading
away with age and memory, is recorded in this book.
But some Goans even decided to stay on during
Japanese occupation. When one reads their stories, the perils of
migration and its impact become all that more stark, a reality we often forget
here.
It is priced Rs 295 and its sole distributor is the
18th June Road (Panjim)-based Broadway.
This book, edited by Vaz-Ezdani, is collaboratively
written by two dozen contributors (besides herself).
Some 20 contributors were born and grew up in
British-ruled Burma.
She writes: "This book may be about Goans in Burma, but it also seeks to
record tales of determination and survival that are relevant to the human
spirit everywhere."
The Japanese occupation years contrast drastically
with the enviable lifestyle lived by Goan expats in the "enchanting
country of wide rivers, green, rain-washed paddy fields, pagodas... and a
thousand hills".
What makes this text an unusual one is that it has
brought together the small-but-connected community of ''Burma Goans'', and could
also help link up more who were connected to that distant part of East Asia because of migration.
In pre-release comments, author Dr Maria Aurora Couto
said these "memoirs illuminate the pioneering spirit, humanity, courage
and faith that have sustained Goa through the
ages."
Sanskrit scholar and specialist in Indian drama Dr
Pramod Kale called this, "A piece of oral history that documents
poignantly the travails and suffering imposed on the ordinary people by wars.
It reminds one of Brecht''s Saga of Mother Courage and Her Children."
To be released on December 29, 2007 by NRI
Commissioner Eduardo Faleiro at 4.30 pm at the Xavier Centre of
Historical Research, Alto Porvorim, the book is published by Goa 1556, a venture of journalist Frederick Noronha. ENDS
CONTACT THE EDITOR ...
Yvonne Vaz Ezdani,
892 D''Mello Vaddo, Saligao Bardez Gao 403511 India yvonne.goa@gmail.com Phone +91-832-2409519
BUY THE BOOK...
Sole distributor: Broadway Book Centre,
Ashirwad Building, First Floor, Near Caculo Traffic Island, 18th June Road,
Panjim 403001 Goa Phone / fax +91-832-6647038 http://broadwaybooksgoa.com For
bulk purchases get in touchCREDITS...
Cover design by
Shannon Ezdani D''Souza and Cecil Pinto.
Printed and bound in
India,
by Rama Harmalkar (Panjim).
Typeset using LyX, http://www.lyx.org, the
Free Software document processor.
Copyright Yvonne Vaz Ezdani, 2007. All rights reserved. Where ever possible,
permissions for reproduction of part of the text for not-for-profit purposes
will be given due consideration. For an online network on Burma Goans visit
http://groups.google.com/group/burma-goans
ISBN 978-81-905682-4-1
Published in Goa in November 2007 by Frederick Noronha on behalf of Goa 1556,
House No 784, Sonarbhat, Saligao 403511 Bardez Goa, India
index>. http://goa1556.goa-india.org Email goa1556@gmail.com Phone
0091-832-2409490. Goa 1556 is an alternative publishing venture, named after
the accidental arrival of Asia
''s first Gutenberg-inspired
printing press in Goa. Today, more than ever, Goa needs a voice to help understand itself and
articulate its own priorities.
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS...
* Isabelle Vaz * Donald
Menezes * Sylvia D''Gama * Thelma Menezes * Doris D''Mello * Lena
Rego * Relicity Rodrigues e Fernandes * A J D''Cruz * John & Philomena
Fernandes * Gerald D''Souza * Peter Vaz * Kevin Pinto * Albert D''Souza *
Patricia Carmen Duarte * Gerard Lobo * Veronica Carvalho * Leo Rego * Renee
Rodrigues e Pinto * Especiosa Filinto e D''Souza * Geraldine Pinto e D''Souza *
Wilma Silgardo * Tony Machado * Eric Menezes * Lloyd Vaz.