tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698006743552625350.post1902395818314922291..comments2024-03-29T05:56:09.111-04:00Comments on THE VALLEY OF WORDS: DESCENDING IN THE CLOUDS: Being the account of my travel to ShillongDale Luis Menezeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06707366650904496827noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698006743552625350.post-53052088371299299602011-10-21T14:36:22.753-04:002011-10-21T14:36:22.753-04:00Dale ....
Dude really well written. What I love ab...Dale ....<br />Dude really well written. What I love about the North East are it's people.Amazingly friendly and in my experience some of the best musicians I have had the pleasure working with.<br /><br />Kudos mate ... Keep up the good work!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698006743552625350.post-51503506145877976822011-10-13T13:04:45.824-04:002011-10-13T13:04:45.824-04:00COMMENT RECEIVED ON THE THIRD THURSDAY GOA BOOK CL...COMMENT RECEIVED ON THE THIRD THURSDAY GOA BOOK CLUB FORUM:<br />Dear Dale,<br /><br />A nice piece, built from excellent planning and research. Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed it a lot.<br /><br />Interestingly, it is the third prominent reckoning with Meghalaya and Khasi culture by a Goan writer in just this past year. There were also Nigel Britto's lengthy pieces in the ToI, and I too have written a couple pieces - attached is one long essay from the launch edition of Conde Nast Traveller India, and there was also one on Lou Majaw and his annual Bob Dylan birthday celebrations here:<br />http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2011/02/bringing-it-all-back...<br /><br />FYI, the Goa Arts + Literary Festival (from Dec 17-21 this year) has close cultural contact with the North East writers, artists and<br />musicians as part of its DNA.<br /><br />For this year's historic 50th anniversary edition, there will be a significant and impressive contingent coming to Goa from the NE,<br />including Desmond Kharmawphlang (mentioned by Dale), the magnificent Khasi/English poet Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih, the troubadour of the<br />Khasis (the aforementioned Lou Majaw), and the first-ever Khasi woman novelist, Bijoyiya Sawiyan.<br /><br />In addition, another brilliant Shillong-based poet, Robin Ngangom, as well as Temsula Ao, Mitra Phukan and Mamang Dai, each one a major<br />award-winning author in their own right. And that's not even including Anjum Hasan, whose novels and poetry evoke Shillong quite remarkably, and will also be in attendance for the full five days. Hope you will all be there as well.<br /><br />All best,<br /><br />VMDale Luis Menezeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06707366650904496827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698006743552625350.post-43688668648572515532011-10-12T12:39:13.794-04:002011-10-12T12:39:13.794-04:00COMMENT RECEIVED ON THE THIRD THURSDAY GOA BOOK CL...COMMENT RECEIVED ON THE THIRD THURSDAY GOA BOOK CLUB FORUM:<br />Jason, as I see it, we do need more infrastructure, training, encouraging and mentoring at the grassroots level. It is only after an individual attains some level of confidence and skill that he or she can tap bigger and better opportunities.<br /><br />As things stand, there are very few options available here (which is perhaps why you are in Portugal!) The courses and training programmes<br />that exist are mostly theoretical and not linked in any practical way with real life. Goa University's "solution" is to allow affiliated<br />colleges to launch self-financed courses (specially in fields like journalism, mass communication and related spheres, which I interact with) even while laying down stringent and bureaucratic restrictions on their expansion or chances of getting more efficient. These courses end up charging high fees but not giving the training actually needed<br />to do creative work. This is, broadly speaking; there could be a few exceptions.<br /><br />Dale has been working hard for a number of years, afaik. His parents are both writers, and I've known them for ages. He is a rare exception<br />who takes to writing out of *choice*, and not because he can't enter a show-me-where-the-money-is-career. He himself opted to study ancient Indian history in distant Baroda, given his interest in this field. Not everyone may get the right guidance and dreams at the right time.<br /><br />Question: do we have the infrastructure *here* to create many more such young people? If not, what would it take to create it. (The answer, in my view, is definitely not money!)<br /><br />Since this is a Goa Book Club discussion, my primary interest here is in creative writing. The media can do much more in encouraging writing talent. In a few cases it has ("Aunty Mel" ran a children's section in the Rajan Narayan-edited Herald, and some of her "kids" have grown into being journalists, authors and even, in one case, a publisher -- not me!) But, newspapers mostly don't acknowledge the importance of getting fresh blood into the field. For them, it's just a day-to-day<br />struggle to come out with the next day's issue.<br /><br />So, we have a situation where most villages don't have rural reporters, and yet there are issues crying out to be covered. We have<br />so many books being published in today's Goa (in diverse languages), and very few book reviewers.<br /><br />To come back to your point, I see the bigger challenge as the need to build up individuals here. Once that is done, they will be equipped<br />enough to access wider opportunities elsewhere. And I hope you too come home soon to take this work forward. (The other option is online<br />mentoring, which could work too!) Rgds, FREDERICK NORONHADale Luis Menezeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06707366650904496827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698006743552625350.post-48813712852290566082011-10-12T12:34:58.514-04:002011-10-12T12:34:58.514-04:00COMMENT RECEIVED ON THE THIRD THURSDAY GOA BOOK CL...COMMENT RECEIVED ON THE THIRD THURSDAY GOA BOOK CLUB FORUM:<br />Thanks for this illuminating travelogue; I've been wanting to visit<br />Shillong.<br /><br />MargaretDale Luis Menezeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06707366650904496827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698006743552625350.post-87739746926485489942011-10-12T12:32:13.615-04:002011-10-12T12:32:13.615-04:00COMMENT RECEIVED ON THE THIRD THURSDAY GOA BOOK CL...COMMENT RECEIVED ON THE THIRD THURSDAY GOA BOOK CLUB FORUM:<br />Congratulations aside, perhaps what we need is to actively establish contacts with such young Goans, and then just as actively look out for<br />grants, awards, scholarships, travelling and other opportunities that we can find for them....<br /><br />great societies were not built on the backs of persons working individually, they were produced by societies investing in these persons...<br /><br />It doesnt take much...just for us to think a little creatively and create<br />options for others....<br /><br />JASON KEITH FERNANDESDale Luis Menezeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06707366650904496827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698006743552625350.post-77672838159829717582011-10-12T12:29:42.977-04:002011-10-12T12:29:42.977-04:00COMMENT RECEIVED ON THE THIRD THURSDAY GOA BOOK CL...COMMENT RECEIVED ON THE THIRD THURSDAY GOA BOOK CLUB FORUM:<br />Dear Dale,<br />First of all congratulations on the Sahitya Akademi Travel Grant. A most deserving grantee you are.<br /> <br />Secondly the photographs in that article are absolutely beautiful and I wonder if you have considered a career as a journalist-photographer.<br /> <br />And last but not least, you are a true credit and role-model to young Goan men, and may your tribe grow and prosper. As long as Goa keeps producing young men like you all the gloom and doom we generally hear in the news about Goa just dissipates and hope beckons insteads.<br /> <br />Best wishes,<br />Selma CarvalhoDale Luis Menezeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06707366650904496827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698006743552625350.post-23698112103519260952011-10-12T12:26:41.989-04:002011-10-12T12:26:41.989-04:00COMMENT RECEIVED ON THE THIRD THURSDAY GOA BOOK CL...COMMENT RECEIVED ON THE THIRD THURSDAY GOA BOOK CLUB FORUM:<br />Dear Dale, Very nicely written, exhaustive and extremely informative. Keep up the good work! Congrats on achieving this. <br />FREDERICK NORONHADale Luis Menezeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06707366650904496827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2698006743552625350.post-13440205694236877672011-10-12T12:23:06.477-04:002011-10-12T12:23:06.477-04:00COMMENT RECEIVED ON THE THIRD THURSDAY GOA BOOK CL...COMMENT RECEIVED ON THE THIRD THURSDAY GOA BOOK CLUB:<br />Hi Dale,<br /><br />Loved your piece. I visited Shillong in 2008. Have some very close Assamese friends who live in Guwahati. On that trip we drove all the way<br />from Guwahati to Twang in Arunachal passing through Bhomdila and Dirang. On our return we then drove to Shillong and stayed at a heritage hotel Tripura castle. I really loved Shillong. This year in april, from Guwahati we flew<br />to Bogodara, Silliguri and drove to Bhutan, passing through Phutsoling, etc. Bhutan is one of God's own country. Beautiful, clean.<br /><br />All the best<br />Ana Maria de Souza-GoswamiDale Luis Menezeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06707366650904496827noreply@blogger.com