Goodbye to Writing!
FROM the day I was born
I have had a fortunate life, interspersed with a lot of pain and grief but for
a kid who was forced to leave school at 12, it has indeed been a fortunate
life. I who was born with nothing, who had nothing, was sustained by the
goodness of the people I met on life’s many and differing paths. Seychellois,
Mauritians, Somalis, Bohranas, Swahilis, Arabs, Indians of every ilk, Pakistanis
(Muslims, we used to call them), Europeans and indigenous Africans. It was not
until I met a bunch of guys called the Jokers that I got to know the Goan club
crowd. It was a blessing in many ways because I made life-long friends.
Before I met and got to
know the Goans again, I was lost in a paradise of my own: journalism. I was
completely consumed and success came quickly which fuelled my appetite and
dedication even more.
I would finish work at
Midnight and head for the nightclubs to check out the music scene or the club
scenes at the Sombrero Club which was a strip joint, or the Starlight club
which had the barbecue (nyama choma) setting in Nairobi at the time. The owner,
Robbie Armstrong was a sports fanatic and a great buddy of journalists. He was
generous to a fault.
Some nights I would hop
into Guy Spencer’s old car and drive to Nakuru, Eldoret or anywhere with a good
breakfast place. The old Wagon Wheel Hotel in Eldoret was a favourite because
we thought their breakfasts (including delicious cold-pressed tongue) and bread
straight from the oven were our favourite.
I could never have imagined
the life I was leading: meeting budding politicians who were to become
independent Kenya’s first leaders, sportsmen, especially athletes who promised
the earth which was delivered many years later with gold, silver, and bronze
medals on the world’s greatest stages. I had never played hockey. Our school
did not have that facility, in fact, there was no facility for any sport. Once
I got to understand the intricacies of the game (thanks to Oscar D’Souza, we
would debate various aspects till the early hours of the morning.) As a sports
reporter, life was heaven, meeting players and athletes who in any developed
country would be superstars. These were gifts that I could never have imagined.
And then into politics, police rounds, Parliament, travelling Africa and the
world, special features, one exclusive after another. As long as I was a
journalist (journalists never really retire, sometimes they downsize their
participation) life was a kind of paradise.
I also got to know musicians
of all skins and colours around the country. I was MC-ing dances from the age
of around 14, especially the Seychellois dances which were something special.
My God has been
particularly generous to me, especially in Australia. After working with the
Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, The St George and Sutherland Shire
Leader in senior positions, I changed tack and took on the position of
communications and community relations manager with emergency response in any
incident being the priority. I had to learn a whole new industry, oil refining
with all the public issues, environmental controls, accidents and negative
emissions in the refinery. I had a ball because I had a great team of senior
people to work with.
Australia also gave me
the chance to produce once the longest publishing Indian newspaper in English
with the paper’s founders Nina and Vijay Badhwar: The Indian Down Under. Sadly,
it survives online, a fate suffered by many mastheads throughout the country.
Newspapers in the traditional
form are dead or nearly dead.
Australia also gave me
the chance to publish four books. Yesterday in Paradise, Stars Next Door,
Yesterday at the Nation (limited print edition) and Twilight of The Exiles.
The great gift in my
life, besides my own family and my extended family, have been the friends I
have made along the journey. I will always be grateful for that.
I was planning my final
book but I think I have failed in that endeavour and it is time to cancel my
subscription to the MS Word, the Adobe suites and all the other associated
online programs and downsize my online life.
SO I am not going to be writing any new stories unless,
of course, you would like to do an online interview Q&A style to tell me
your story or you would like to send me a Word version of whatever you would
like me to publish on my blog.
I would like to continue publishing Death and
Funeral notices as well as eulogies and tributes with photos. However, research
will be a thing of the past. The Facebook page will still be there as well as
the blog, but not updated too often.
I was hoping to achieve the magical figure of One Million times stories in my blog have been read by you good people but I may have to settle for around 800,000 by the end of the year. No mean feat and it will be only and all thanks to you all. God Bless.
THANK YOU, AHSANTE SANA: Here are some of the people who helped along
my recent journeys. Andi, Leon and Carl, Johnny and Matilda Fernandes, Johnny
and Maura Lobo, Melisaa Bailey, John Costabir, Cliff Pereira, Vivek
Menezes, Frederick Noronha, Benegal Pereira, Heather-Gale D’Souza, Paloma Fernandes, Gilbert Fernandes, the late Steve Fernandes, Felix Nazareth
Joe Antao, Joe D’Souza, the late Mike Parry, Norman da Costa, Silu Fernandes,
Hilary Fernandes, Ashi Chand, Jerry Lobo, Patrick Martins, Tony Reg D’Souza, Leo and Gerry
Rodrigues, Lyndon Abreu, Claire Leather, Olaf Ribeiro, late Eddie Rodrigues,
John Noronha, Astrid Fernandes, Mitelia Paul, Joe Desa, Juliette de Menezes, Alex
Fernandes, Braz Menezes, Mervyn Maciel, Francis Noronha, Alhussein Namajee, Juliet
Rebello, Adrian Grimwood, Shirley Gonsalves, Alvira Almeida, Cyrilla Rodrigues,
Michael Owuor, John Kamau, Oscar D’Souza,
Emilian Joanes, Malcolm Monteiro, Des Fortes, Drake Shikhule, Merwin D’Souza,
Mona Dias, Rowland Rebello, Edwin and Ivy De Souza, Sultan Somjee, Michael
Fernandes (Mombasa), Alcino Rodrigues, Hartman de Souza, Armand Rodrigues,
Zulema Collacco, Nisha Albuquerque, Michelle Lobo, John Nazareth, Bertha
Fernandes, Edgar Fernandes, the late Ray Batchelor, Edmund Silveira, Jessel Mandricks,
Terence Pinto, Celia Mascarenhas, the late Dr Fitz D’Souza, the late Sister
Trifa de Souza, Meldrita Laurente Viegas, Maureen D’Mello D’Souza, the late
Blaise D’Cunha, Walter Fernandes, the late Crescenti Fernandes, the late John
J. De Souza, the late Bill Pagano, Mel D’Souza … and if I have missed out
anyone please blame it on short-term memory loss. These are some of the people who have been of help and advice in recent years, there are many thousands more from 1956 to 2007 whose names I can't remember, too many to mention here, too many who have gone to their Maker.
I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN BLESSED WITH THE SOME OF THE MOST CARING AND GENEROUS READERS, YOU HAVE CARRIED ME WHEN THINGS WERE TOUGH OR I WAS DOWN IN THE DUMPS. YOU WILL ALWAYS INSPIRE ME. I WILL ALWAYS HAVE YOU IN MY HEART.
Comments
Thanks for all you've done for us, the Goans of East Africa.
Love and thanks for being a true nfriend.