-Brian Mendonça
If you take the road to Parra from Porvorim you
find a different Goa unwind. It’s a Goa which for the most part is laid back
and mercifully off the relentless highway. You will swing left, for instance,
at a little wayside cross and drive or ride right up braving the narrow
streets, until you reach Parra tinto.
There you make a right and go up till you find a junction (with a high mast
light). Over here you will confidently take a turn to your left this time and
that will get you there.
There
is the name of a new restaurant which has opened this side of town and is
famous for its pork ribs. It’s a homely place where you can order anything and
they will try to make it. When I spoke to Alten, the proprietor of the place,
on the choice of the name he said, ‘You know in Goa, when you ask someone where
you are, they usually reply, “I’m there, men.”’
Just across the place is the house of Judy and Lenny
Lopes. They live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada but come down here to Lopes Vaddo, Canca, Parra to
spend quality time. The property is sprawling, with a driveway. It has an
orchard around it. We were introduced to the couple by my cousin Odette who
lives in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Since it was difficult to meet in Canada, Judy and Lenny suggested that Odette and Ludo stay at their place in Parra -- so they would have time to catch up, at least in Goa! In February they were all down and Odette hosted a family dinner for the cousins at There. When Odette and her husband Ludo took off for Colombo, we decided to pop over and visit the Lopes’. The trip had greater significance for me as dad hails from Parra.
It was a trip down memory lane but on a different
plane. Judy and Lenny shared some of their life with us. After plying us with snacks, we were taken round the old house with a lot of antique furniture. Judy has hung her paintings on the doors which lead to to the rooms in the house. One has an African sunset, another has the Chapora river, still another of the chapel on the hill. This, I thought, was a beautiful way to meld their immigrant experience in various continents.
As Laura, their daughter, played with Dwayne, I spoke to Lenny. He told me about his days in
Nairobi, Kenya in the 60’s. At that time he used to play rhythm guitar with the
boys. They later went professional and called themselves the ‘Beathovens.’ They included Alvin and Simon Pires on lead
guitar; Seraph De Souza (bass guitar); Terence Pinto (piano / keyboard);
Octavio Pereira and Sylvester Gomes (drums and percussion).
All the musicians came together in London and recorded the songs they used to play in Nairobi in the 60’s. They called it
‘Beathovens: Time Remembered.’
As we left, Lenny pressed the CD recorded in 2017 into my hands. The
tracks include instrumental versions of yesteryear favourites like ‘Malaika,’ ‘The Young Ones,’ ‘Begin the
Beguine,’ ‘Spanish Harlem,’ ‘Atlantis,’ ‘La Paloma’ and more.
I hear the twang of the lead guitar as the
Beathovens play their achingly beautiful music taking me from here to there.
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Published in Gomantak Times Weekender, Panjim, Goa on Sunday, 5th April 2020. Updated on 11th April 2020. Pix (top) family photograph taken at There, Parra on 16th February 2020, courtesy Odette; remaining pix taken at the residence of Lenny and Judy Lopes at Lopes Vaddo, Canca, Parra on 8th March 2020.
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