s essay. Earlier, he
began his journalistic career in Bombay. He is highly
rated for his knowledge on Goan sports, as also
acknowledged by a recent book on Goan football.

It has been such a long while and so much that has
happened since, that it has become difficult to
recollect everything in the sports that one has been
connected with in Goa chronologically. In fact, in what
follows, I have mentioned a few dates, which I can
connect as correctly as per my records and memory. But
in many cases, I've avoided being date-specific, only
because I'm not sure of them.

The events were of different hues; but they all stamped
their mark on the Goa scene in many ways and only the
mean-spirited will fail to appreciate this
cross-section of happenings. Agreed, we are not living
in a state of hedonists, strictly speaking; yet
criticisms, in any form, generally do hurt. It's an
universal phenomena and Goa is no exception to that.
But then, that's no reason to cringe, as after all,
nobody is picture perfect.

Mind you, I'm tracing a period when TV in Goa was an
unknown quotient, in the early 1960s. When the cliched
few Goan icons were confined only to football players
and its organisers. Athlete mates did an occasional
whizz in mention, mainly those of past glory. Hockey,
cricket and such other sports, as we see today, were
yet to establish their mark in the state, though hockey
on roller skates was played before Goa's liberation in
1961. The court at Circuit House in Panaji is still
there, even if fallen into disuse.

My account is more personal and allied to sports
activities I associated with, though I've touched on a
few others with less authenticity.

Hockey: If there is a definite whiff of the yesteryear,
particularly to my initial attention to field hockey, I
have to be excused. More memorable for me, as I
captained the first Goa hockey team at the Nationals at
Madurai and I'm proud of it.

In 1964-65, a suitable surface to play hockey was at a
premium, especially in Panaji. But there were a
dedicated lot of persons, who were not deterred by this
fact. I recollect carrying goal-posts and nets to the
mini football stadium at Caranzalem, which
unfortunately today is non-existent. This was carried
on a hand-cart, with me walking alongside, all the way
from the city to the ground there, a distance of almost
eight kilometres.

There was a lot of enthusiasm among those wanting to
play the game, with a few teams s