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| Prof Delfim, Director, CLP Goa hosts the event. |
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| 5 May 2022 poster |
-Brian Mendonca
It was an
exhilarating evening on the 5th of May at the tasteful environs of the Centro de Lingua Portuguesa (CLP), Panjim, Goa. We had gathered for a reading of Portuguese literature to mark the international day of the Portuguese language.
The enthusiasm was palpable. Everyone was so immersed in their own manuscript, striving to give the best rendition of the text they had chosen.
After a few words of introduction by Professor Delfim Correia da Silva, Director, CLP the reading started. For the opening act we were amazed to see two girls (twins) interpreting a poem being read in Portuguese through Indian dance. Talk about a confluence of East and West!
There were readers from all ages - one as young as 7. She promptly came and sat with her story book and read a story
without much ado. The winsome compere made everyone comfortable and even engaged some readers in conversation in Portuguese for a few minutes.
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| Programme 5-8 May 2022 |
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| A young enthusiast takes it away with great poise. |
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| Mrs. Demello reads Saramago . |
It was a priceless moment to experience being livestreamed on YouTube. To connect with people from Brazil and Portugal simply through the Portuguese language was a rare occasion. Some were into film, some were teachers, some still in school, others looking tired after work - but who still made the time to be there. This occasion has been made possible by CLP, Goa annually. It was suspended during the lockdown. So the 2022 reading made it more special.
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| The twins enact a poem by Manohar Sardessai Brian reads Andresen  |
On 5 May 2019 I had read from the Portuguese novelist José Saramago (1922-2010) - who I had recorded for AIR Delhi earlier. This time I chose to read some of the poems of Portuguese poet Sophia de Melo Breyner Andresen from her collection O Buzio de Cos e Outras Poemas. I started with her poem 'Homero' which spoke about the act of writing poetry:
Write a poem like a bull savages a field
Without the encumbrance of metre or thought
With nothing reducing or exiling its essence
With nothing separating humanity from existence.
(Free translation by Brian Mendonca)
Then I read two poems on Goa by Andresen, 'Goa'' and 'Goesa.' I ended with my favourite couplet by Andresen, 'Inscricao':
When I die I shall return
to search for those moments
I could not live
by the sea.
(Free translation by Brian Mendonca)
Andresen (1919-2004) was born in Porto and passed on in Lisbon. Her poems continue to inspire because of their limpid quality and universal significance.
The festival bids adieu on Sunday with a musical Lusofone evening with fado singer Nadia Rebelo.
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All pix - except the last - taken by Brian Mendonca at the Centro de Lingua Portuguese (CLP), Panjim on 5th May 2022. Last pic taken by Mark. Updated 8 May 2022.
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