Cine Times: Small, Useful Link in a Big City (Capt Norbert F Rebello)

[Frederick Noronha]

Cine Times: Small, Useful Link in a Big City

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Capt. Norbert F Rebello

The city of Bombay (now Mumbai) has for over a century been the dream destination and ultimate aspiration for many Goans. It has long been a modernised city with double-deckers on wide roads and high rise buildings. It offered a network of rail and roads to ease commuting travails, with unlimited access to shopping and a world of entertainment, unheard of in Goa.

The second-half of the nineteenth century, saw an era of momentous change and development for the port city of Bombay, which was the Gateway of India in the East. Bombay became a still busier harbour and a major trading port on the west coast of India with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. Land reclamation on the western side of the emerging city, facilitated frantic building activity. Bombay was developing into a veritable trade centre.

Bombay not only promised Goans employment of various kinds with good wages, but also emancipation from living in an archetypal village-like atmosphere. It was a city where their ethnicity thrived and found maturity. In the early days, Bombay was an expanding city where money could be earned. Or, one waited there till a lucrative job abroad was found — probably in the expanding oil industries of the Arabian Gulf.

For others, it was a place to live in, while searching for a position on the ships that plied to foreign shores and recruited from this great city that was booming with the shipping industry. With the high standard of education easily provided and available in Jesuit-run and other schools, many Goans desired their children be educated in these missionary English medium schools that were spread out across this city. It give their children access to a superior education and enhanced opportunities when they sought a job in the future; it would also offer an edge in knowing the language most widely spoken all over the world.

Some managed to find decent houses which they purchased or rented in areas such as Dhobitalao, Chandanwadi, Chira Bazaar, Fort, Mazgaon and Byculla -- strongholds of the Goans in Mumbai. Here they raised their children, making Goa, their native terrain, a place to be relished during the summer vacation. Others, who could not afford it, had no option but to stay away from their families, and reside in the various village clubs that mushroomed in these areas.

While many realised their dreams of making decent money either by going abroad or sailing on the high seas, some dreams are just born out of innovation and necessity. This is the story of one such dream that lit up the lives of thousands of Goans. It did so by spreading news in the Roman script of the Konkani language to their fellow Goans living in Bombay, and also reaching out to distant shores overseas, as well to Goans living in their tiny villages back home.

* * *

The roots of the humble beginning of the printers and publishers of the once-famous Cine Times have been traced to the mother of the brothers who founded it, Maria Piedade Rodriguez. Maria was the dominant factor who ensured that her children did not forget their mother tongue, even though they lived in Bombay. She was born and brought up in Goa. After marrying Dominic she settled down in Bombay, where she took on the role of a dutiful housewife. She bore eight children in quick succession, five sons and three daughters. Only five survived to adulthood.

Dominic was a seafarer. Like all sailors then, he would spend most of the year out at sea, returning home for a few months on leave. It was the mother who realised the need to keep her children bonded to Konkani, the language she considered their mother tongue, though all her children conversed fluently in English.

Every time a letter posted by their father from overseas arrived home, she would assemble all her children together and read the contents of the letter. It would always be written in Konkani; if necessary, she would translate the difficult words into English. By the time they were around the age of ten, all the children were fluent in reading and writing Konkani in the Roman script.

Life did not turn out hunky dory as Maria expected. Though her husband earned enough money to cover their needs, his untimely death pushed them into poverty virtually overnight. Their father expired when the children were very young. Life suddenly became miserable and difficult. It was a day none of them would ever forget, one that would always be prominently etched in the alcove of their memories.

Dominic, a devout Christian, was a great believer of the Holy Cross. Every Friday, he religiously walked to the Cross Maidan

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Cross Maidan (`playing ground' in Marathi), was formerly Parade Ground. It covers a vast expanse (23,000 m<sup>2</sup>) of land in South Bombay. Named after the old stone Cross (crucifix) built when the city was under Portuguese rule in the sixteenth century. Earlier, the Oval Maidan, Azad Maidan, Cooperage Ground and Cross Maidan formed the `Esplanade'.

where he prayed and venerated the structure of the Holy Cross. It was on a Friday, February 5, 1955, as he was in conversation with God, that he suffered a massive heart attack and died instantly. Unfortunately, no one at home was aware of the same. When he did not return that evening, Maria was worried and she sent their son Elliot in search of her husband. Elliot ran helter skelter, making enquiries about his missing father. He eventually got to know that he had passed away and that his body had been taken to the Gokuldas Tejpal Hospital at Dhobitalao.

No matter how rich, no matter how powerful, when one was dead, the rest of the family always suffered in direct proportion to the depth of their love. For Maria, the moment she got the news of the demise of her husband, the world seemed to have stood still. Her head exploded, lighting up a million stars as she sank into the far away darkness, and slowly crumbled to the ground.

The next couple of months were as though they were living through a terrible nightmare. There was not much savings, as most of the earnings of Dominic had been used lavishly over the large family, none expecting fate to take this tragic turn. Maria, not even in her wildest dreams, ever anticipated her husband would pass away at the prime of his life. He was only 42 years when he left behind a grieving family of eight children, the infant baby girl being just three months old.

A few months later, Maria received the provident fund that was due to Dominic. She knew the money she received would not be enough to see the children through their education. She received a second jolt when her youngest child passed three months later, on the same date as the child's father. With two deaths in quick succession in the family, Maria was distraught, but did not have much time to grieve.

In those days, women did not work outside the home, and now she was burdened with providing for a large family. She had no trade and was in a quandary. She had no family to turn to and her brains worked frantically for a workable solution.

She had to find a job where she could work from home so as to also look after the needs of her children. She was a woman who not only had pride, but was determined as well. Even though her husband had passed away, she did not allow her children to see her in despair, though in the still of the night she silently wept for the tragic hand fate had dealt her.

She knew she had to find ways to fend for her children somehow and educate them. She pondered for a while, before she decided to put her skills to use. As she was good at crochet, knitting and sewing, she took orders on those jobs.

In this way, she felt she could earn, feed as well as be there at home with her growing children who needed her. She was aware that it would be an uphill struggle. Having no other alternative she prepared herself to toil hard, probably feeling that Dominic's memory would give her the strength. There was no time for tears. She vowed to somehow fulfill her husband's dreams of seeing the children well educated.

The jobs that she took up made her work late nights, yet the money did not suffice. Besides herself she had eight hungry mouths to feed, often she would skip her meals. The eldest child, Elliot, opted to work to ease the burden of his mother. He located a job in a printing press where he worked at nights while he continued his studying during the day.

* * *

On completing his education, Elliott got a job at All India Radio at Delhi, as a Konkani news reader. He felt it was his responsibility to give the rest of his siblings a proper education, so he took the rest of the family to Delhi where they were educated. On completion of their education, Enclidas, his younger brother, did a one year course in printing technology.

Enclidas began his career as a printer-cum-compositor first with the Goa Times, a Goan newspaper serving the expat community in Bombay, and then with the Ave Maria. The printing presses in those days were of a different caliber. One had to manually typeset all the alphabets individually and compose them into columns and pages before they were printed on cylinder machines, where each page had to be printed individually one at a time.

During the struggle for Goa's freedom, the de Elly brothers took an active part along with Manoharai Sardesai, Chandrakant Keni, Evágrio Jorge and Alfred Braganza, who were on air with Elliott de Elly with Goa related programmes.

In December 1961, after the Liberation of Goa from Portuguese rule, Elliot was transferred back to Bombay. Although Goa was no longer under foreign rule, the Elly brothers — who consisted of Elliott, Enclidas and James — were determined to make the presence of Goans in Bombay felt. The reason being that the Goans who had come to Bombay were slowly moving away from Konkani and forgetting their mother tongue.

They felt it was important to renew this fast-diminishing bond and planned to start a newspaper. This paper would get the Goans in Bombay back to reading Konkani. To do this, they had to ensure that they published material of quality and articles that would appeal to, and appease, the Goans in Bombay.

It was a long struggle, but Maria was a brave woman and a pillar of towering strength. It was her sheer determination that made it possible for the brothers (her sons) to create and build up their newspaper, called the Cine Times, in spite of the various setbacks. The day the first edition of the paper was published, she knew she had accomplished a dream. She wished her husband had been alive as he would have definitely been proud of their achievements.

* * *

Cine Times began its eventful career in Bombay on December 3, 1963, a fitting day as it also coincided with the feast of St. Francis Xavier. The De Elly brothers had for a long time decided to get into the printing and publishing industry. Their goal: a Konkani newspaper in the Roman script, to reach out to the Goans in Mumbai, as well as those who had travelled to the shores of the Gulf and at the same time give sufficient information about the happenings in Bombay to Goans back home.

Due to a lack of sufficient funds, their ideas lay stagnant till they chanced upon a dying unit. It was a press that went by the name of Rex Printing Press and was located in Ropa Lane in Chandanwadi.

Exhausting all their savings, they managed to accumulate enough money to take on the press on a rental basis and get the first edition of the newspaper published. The print run was 10,000 copies and the paper was born -- a twelve page demi-sized

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Demy paper size (44.5 x 57.2 cm) refers to a paper folded in half, from the French word demi.

Konkani weekly in the Roman script and priced at 10 paise only.

There were two other similar papers published in those times, one being the Goa Times and the other, Ave Maria. To attract readers they planned to offer variety and a distinct fare, from what was appearing in the two other Bombay-based (Romi) Konkani papers. Hence, besides current news, they also published brief reviews of movies that were screened in Bombay, as well as those of the many tiatrs staged in the city.

News from Goa also occupied a prominent place, with Mario de Chinchinim acting as their correspondent. He would dispatch the latest news from Goa so that the Goans in Bombay were made aware of the happenings in their home State. They also roped in John Gomes, the late Zito Almeida and Tomazinho Cardozo, who contributed to this weekly on a regular basis.

To improve the quality of the newspaper and add an assorted fare, they included many more articles, such as horoscopes, short stories and longer versions of stories that were published in parts, which made the readers to eagerly await the next edition.

Their main sensation was a column called `Azo zabab dita' (Grandfather Replies). Here the questions of various readers were answered with wit and humour. The paper was so engrossing, that readers looked forward anxiously to their weekly paper. Every fortnight, readers also received a bonus 16 page booklet containing short stories that were based on real facts. Titled `De Elly Romance', these were made available at an additional price of one rupee.

Soon afterwards, the press hired by them, ran into problems. The building it was located in was in bad shape and needed to undergo renovation. This did not discourage the courageous brothers, who then found a press located at the Opera House and got their paper printed there. In 1971, having accumulated some funds and with bank loans, they managed to purchase their own premises. This press was located in the heart of the city just a stone's throw away from the Metro Theatre. With a couple of second-hand cylinder machines, they printed the paper from their very own press successfully.

While the men printed the paper in the press below, the rest of the family including their mother assembled the paper in their residence above. It had to be done manually. On completion, the subscribers' names had to be pasted and they were dispatched by post to various destinations, including to the Arabian Gulf where a lot of Goans worked, and by rail to different distributors in Goa, who ensured that the newspaper was circulated all over the small State.

It was laborious and hard work; all had to put in additional hours, especially on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Though the paper was dated Sunday, it hit the newsstands two days earlier, on a Friday. Cine Times had agents all over, who saw that the paper travelled far and wide, not only in India but to the distant shores of various foreign countries.

During summer, the heat in the press was unbearable and the high humidity gave no reprieve. The weather drenched one's clothes with perspiration and made it stick to the body like a second skin. The ceiling fan provided only mental satisfaction, as it only swirled the warm air around the noisy congested room.

One also looked forward to the monsoons — to quench the heat of the sizzling summer — as Bombay always faced water shortage and water was rationed with fixed timings allotted to various zones. Most of the buildings in Dhobitalao did not have a storage facility and each had to manage their water accordingly. In the evenings, after a hard day's work, the family gathered and sat outside on the terrace, hoping that some breeze would help cool down the warmth of summer.

With the passing of years, the pages of the Cine Times increased and so did the number of copies of the paper. But all was not as rosy for them, as there were at times complications over some articles published. One prominent incident was when they were summoned by the Bombay CID (Criminal Investigation Department) for questioning over a poem that was published by them though written by Jeff Des De Cuncolim on various animals of the forest. The then Chief Minister of Goa, Dayanand Bandodkar, took the poem as a form of disrespect on the functioning of his government, since the lion was his party symbol. However after much harassment, nothing could be proven against them.

There were other true incidents emerging out of what had been boldly published by them; this made the paper popular as well as brought on unseen enemies. However, they feared no one, as they wielded their pen effectively and knew they possessed the power of writing the truth. Cine Times also began printing and publishing novels in Konkani written by Elliott de Elly, who, along with Reginald Fernandes, was among the leading writers of Konkani novels. Cine Times faced a major setback when Elliot, the elder brother, suffered a massive stroke and was paralysed. He was one of the main contributors and the brain behind the newspaper settings and deciding on the articles published on the newspaper. He eventually passed away in 1988.

Their mother Maria too suffered a paralytic stroke and was bed-ridden for a few years before passing away exactly 39 years to the date after the death of Dominic. She went peacefully to the call of the Lord on February 5, 1994.

* * *

August 15, 1995 will be a day etched in every Cine Times reader's mind. While the celebrations of Independence Day were in full swing, the building in which the press was housed collapsed suddenly and without warning. Luckily no one was hurt as the press was closed for the holiday. However a lot of manuscripts were totally destroyed in the building collapse.

With no place to go to and no financial support from the government, the press had to close down. Probable plans of starting again were ground to dust when, six years later, in September 2000, the youngest brother, James, who also took an active part in the printing and publishing of Cine Times, passed away after a brief illness. He was just 52 years old.

Enclidas de Elly, the only surviving brother, was the editor of Cine Times. During his stint with the newspaper, he penned around 250 short stories in the Roman script. He is also the recipient of various awards and recognitions from the Goan Review Art Foundation and the Dalgado Konkani Akademi.

He acknowledges that Konkani in the Roman script has survived without any government support and patronage. The language was there long before any government, and will always be. His only grief being that the Roman script has not yet been given the importance it is due. However, of late, the government has recognised the importance of the Roman script and has started to undo the injustice by giving grants to Dalgado Konkani Akademi and establishing the Tiatr Akademi.

One look at the dark misty eyes of Enclidas says it all. The disappointment, the cumulative fatigue and the concern about having to eventually shut down the Cine Times at its prime, has taken its toll. He remembers the days when his gnarled fingers moved automatically to the different slots that housed the small lead ingots. Placed on the top, the alphabets engraved and a niche at one side told them the direction the alphabets were to be placed to make words that created the sentences of the paper.

Now all he has are fond memoirs. Memories of his mother and his two brothers who made it possible to take the newspaper to thousands of readers all over the world each week. Yet, left behind in the ruins of the crumbled press, that collapsed like a pack of cards, were priceless manuscripts, a lifetime of work and a whirlpool of memories.

It was the end of a golden era for the readers of the Konkani paper. A weekly, in the Roman script, by the De Elly brothers. A paper that will be etched in memories and will for a long time, remain in each reader's heart. A weekly newspaper called the Cine Times. (First published at norbertrebello.com and reprinted by the Goanet Reader.)

Silvano Barbosa, a Konkani writer based in Canada, added this comment: The year was 1970 and I had just arrived in Bombay from Goa, after having graduated (B.Sc.). The first thing I did was to visit Cross Maidan, Dhobitalao and the Metro Cinema. While walking along the by-lanes of Dhobitalao, looking for some sorpatel in a Goan restaurant, I chanced upon this printing press of the Cine Times, ventured inside and met the Editor, Enclidas De Elly. Since then we became good friends. I would visit him often, taking my poems and articles which he would publish and would feel so proud at seeing my manuscript published in print.

This was the beginning of my tryst with Konkani writing in the prime of my life. Next, I met the Editor of the Goa Times, Dr. Simon Fernandes, whom I used to visit weekly at his dispensary in Chandanwadi. At this time, there was much criticism and rebuttals on the Goa Times, against the newly-launched Chowgule-owned Konkani daily, Uzvadd, and its editor, the freedom fighter Evágrio Jorge. Dr. Simon accused Evágrio Jorge of selling his Goan soul to a pro-Maharashtrawadi Gomantak mine owner capitalist Chowgule, whose main goal was to merge (vilin) Goa into Maharashtra, and he was afraid Evágrio Jorge would help Goa to eventually become a part of Maharashtra. Such were the politics of those days and you had to read Uzvadd and Goa Times to read in-between the lines.

Later, I came in contact with the Editor of the newly-launched Goan Sports Weekly from Bombay, a Mr. D'Cruz. To this, I contributed some articles too, including ones on Lorna (after her great hit `Um, dois, tres,... Nachoiea kumpasar' with Chris Perry) and on Remo, long before they became household names in subsequent years. Yes, that's all coming back to me now and I love those lingering memories, even though all these newspapers from Bombay are sadly no more!

Norbert Rebello is a Bombay-bred, Goa (Cavelossim)-based captain, who loves to write, sketch and cook. He has authored two novels, one book on autism, and another on poetry. He runs an NGO for children with special needs. This article, from his blog, was republished years back on the Goanet Reader. Feedback: norbert...@yahoo.co.in

From ...And Read All Over: More Insider Stories About the Press in Goa and Beyond. Edited by Frederick Noronha. Published by goa155...@gmail.com