Meet Leenika Jacob, said my fellow Pilerenekar Julia Jones virtually on Whatsapp. “ I have just bought a house in Moikovaddo,” volunteered Jacob. It’s a beautiful house from the picture she has sent though all that’s of it, is the outer frame.
We chat cursorily on whatsapp and I get to know Leenika is going to turn the house into a sustainable living showcase of sorts, besides living there with her family. They are going to wind up living in Delhi and come to Goa, to breathe the fresh air and live, like many Delhites are doing.
Leenika and her lawyer husband met the young Parish Priest of our church even though they are not Christian and she appraised him of the fact that I was one of the original Furtado’s of Furtavaddo in Volvaddo. Ofcourse she gave him a sizeable gift of funds to repair the church. Promptly Fr Derrick contacted me on Whatsapp and convinced me to write a piece on my Dad -- Wing Commander Anthony Michael Furtado. I did not need much convincing as writing about my inspirational father just flows.
After writing the piece I had young father Derrick ring me to come and bless the house!! Have not had it blessed for decades. RING AND COME?? Unheard of, but my writing has opened new flood gates in the village. Reading about Dad the villagers realise that he was an engineer from one of Karnataka's best Engineering colleges, during an era, when no one really did their engineering degree, in our families. And their respect for him has grown a thousand fold.
The chapel built by grandpa
Then the neighbours -- one from Mumbai who has built and living in the village, has taken to visiting and asking if we need help. We knew your Dad, he loved Pilerne, they say. The greedy lady next door who cut down five of our teak trees saying they were hers, is very careful. She smiles and wishes even though she is in her 70’s. We got hold of the government surveyor -- Mr Gonsalves -- and enclosed our strips of property and squeezed her in. So her big head has reduced and she realises that we know and are not fools. She is pumping water out of our well and destroyed the walls with the shuddering of the pump.
Poles demarcating our property
Once repaired, I will fence the well and lock her out.No more largesse for greedy fingers who have no respect. Poor Dad how they harassed him and he just did not know how to deal with them.Now with the poles in place she is very careful and does not come in our way.
The cousin on top used our frontage to unload his rice and stones. All sorts of people used the valuable plot as a through fare. Enough, I went to the Panchayat and complained with my ownership form 1x14 and fixed a gate to close our boundaries. Stay out if you cannot respect, is my motto. No more lorries and tippers now in our frontage. The plots above the house he told the village all belonged to him. Well with Gonsalves surveyors and all his equipment we spent a day plotting our property and enclosing it. Again with poles. Cost us a lot but I wanted the village to know they could not overstep their boundaries.
Unloading the poles
Now to get our chapel back. I told Fr Derrick that the chapel was built by grandpa on our land and I wanted it back. Yes! I can see the chapel matches your house, said Fr Derrick. Keep the chapel, but the land behind is all ours is what I am agreeable to.Everything takes time and I need to get it done. Meanwhile the village is aware now of our ownership and a new found respect has been erected also, by giving a gift of cash to the church.
The neighbours mango tree near the kitchen of the old house, gave Dad grief. Mangoes fell in the season, breaking numerous tiles and there was no compensation. I got a man to shin up the tree one early morning, and shave the tree of the branches over our house. Dad really suffered and I won’t, sorry! The shaved tree now offers no complications. It still stands, it still fruits and it does not give us any trouble any more.
This time I did what that one person I heard does -- it's called Vada diplomacy! Hot hot vadas he will say and give them to a tenant and get around them. I gave many of the village, beautiful plants and fresh tamarind from my farm. Last time I carried chickoos from our farm and that excited them all. Small gifts like the hot, hot vadas and there is a new found respect, that people have, knowing we cannot be cheated any more.
AND knowing our history, that we are an erudite and cultured family, has sidelined the cheat of a cousin and he will step back and be careful. Got to wall him out next.
