Peter Nazareth... in flesh and blood, and on the little screen

[Frederick Noronha]

WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqI9TmOsFgs

From my college days, I've been stalking Peter Nazareth. That was ever since I managed to (dishonestly, may I add) lay my hands on a copy of his anthology on Goan writing [1]. When the Internet came about, in the mid-1990s to Goa, I managed to get in touch via email (then a godsend). We must have since shared hundreds of emails, but I've never actually met the man, nor have I spoken to him even on phone.

Imagine my surprise last night when I quite serendipitously came across this 40-minute-long, year-old interview titled 'One of a Kind: Peter Nazareth' on the Library Channel [2]. It was like meeting a person you've known for years!

Peter, to my (restricted-largely-to-English) mind, was the person who, in the 1980s, first created for us a feeling that Goan writing -- as a category -- did indeed exist. (There are some who, even now, deny and question whether this is actually an existing category, but that's another debate....)

Over the years, this has led to me collecting books on Goa, reviewing the same, and, more recently, publishing some.

I've often said that there are only two Goans whom I know of, whose short stories have actually been read-out on the BBC World Service, in the height of its popularity (1970s). One of whom is Peter Nazareth. 

We managed to republish some of his work here, but perhaps the wider community of global Goans (as is typical of us) has failed to understand his actual contribution to the world of literature -- Goan, African, Third World, American and also in building links among all these categories.

In this interview, Peter talks about his early days in Uganda (Entebbe), studying in the UK, Idi Amin's impact on his life, his encounter with many world writers at Iowa, his maternal links with Malaya/Singapore, his grandparents' role (like some other Goans had) with music and even music stores in far-flung parts of the planet, his wife Mary and daughters/grandchildren, and the strange connections that go into making our lives, plus more. 

This is just a small note to say how much I've enjoyed the creative work (and anthology) of Peter over the years. If you'd like to get in touch with him too try peter-n...@uiowa.edu or pnaza...@msn.com

[1] Goan Literature: A Modern Reader, issue of the Journal of South Asian Literature, East Lansing: Michigan State University, 1983.

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqI9TmOsFgs

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