George Menezes

She stood there in her yellow dress, a wild flower growing astonishingly in a field of cacti, bramble bush and wilted shrubs. Or so it seemed to me, that unforgettable evening, more than 50 years ago. (more…)

First it was a rumour. Then my nephew Vivek called me. He said that there was a was a possibility that at the celebration of 136th Anniversary of the Instituto de Menezes Braganca on the 24th November 2008, they would ask the Chief Minister of Goa to release a book on the life and writings of my father, Armando Menezes written by Professor Edwin D’Lima.

Now this was on 22nd November and I had not received an official intimation, or an invitation.

I called back my nephew. “Goa is like that only” he said, both his frustration, and his intense love for Goa showing in his voice like a familiar Goan cocktail.

“As the eldest son of the family you have to be there” he said

I am familiar with appearing at functions, where I have not been invited. I could not let my father down. (more…)

“His all to life, whose little yet was much freely gave. Courage and warmth of heart and the magic touch of friendship which itself is eternity”

As my Professor:

Nobody I know could teach Shelly and Keats like he did
In the middle of teaching the sonnets of Keats you could hear the Nightingale singing from the branches of the gul mohur outside the window of our classroom (more…)

I cry a lot. And I must say I’m not ashamed of it. In fact I believe it is one of my very few strengths. Good poetry, a sad movie, injustice done to helpless people about whom I can do nothing except write, brings tears to my eyes.

I weep sometimes at Christmas and New Year time remembering my really wonderful parents and my siblings and the heartwarming and very simple sharing of home-made sweets and home-concocted stories and a peep into faded albums and disintegrating letters written within the family in previous years. (more…)