VINIKA VISWAMBHARAN | NT BUZZ
A celebrated work of Konkani popular fiction is set to return to readers as ‘Foler Rakhnno’ (The Guardian of the Lighthouse). The new edition of the novel by late writer Reginald Fernandes, preserves the original style while adapting the language to modern orthographic standards.
The book will be released on March 16 at 4 p..m at the Reginald Fernandes Conference Hall of the Dalgado Konknni Akademi in Panaji. The initiative brings together Konkani writer and editor Fausto V. Da Costa, Fr Myron Jeson Barreto of New Age Printers, and the author’s son, Salvador (Sally)Fernandes.
Reginald, widely remembered as ‘Patxai Romanxincho’ or the King of Novels, was among the most prolific writers in Konkani literature. A native of Siolim in Bardez, he wrote more than 200 novels and novelettes at a time when such works were popularly known as ‘romanxi’.
“He was not only a novelist,” says Da Costa, who has long studied and written about the author’s work. “He was a writer, musician, music director, lyricist, tiatrist, composer and radio artiste.” According to Da Costa, Reginald also composed several songs and mandos and once led his own musical band called ‘Reggie and his Melodians’. He also wrote tiatrs and played the trumpet for tiatr productions, making him a familiar creative figure across multiple art forms in Goa.
‘Foler Rakhnno’ was first published in 1970 and is remembered for its romance and suspenseful storytelling. The novel centres on two lovers whose story unfolds around the lighthouse at Sinquerim.
“The novel is essentially a romance,” says Da Costa. “The focus is the ‘foler’ or the lighthouse of Sinquerim, and the mystery of the jewellery hidden at its base. The story ends there with the lovers becoming the owners of that treasure.”
For Da Costa, the choice to republish this particular novel was deliberate. He says the work captures elements of Goan history and everyday life during the Portuguese period. “The Aguada lighthouse has historical importance,” he says. “The Aguada Fort also carries a strong historical memory. In the 1930s the southern part of Lower Aguada Fort was converted into a prison and many freedom fighters during the Goa liberation movement were imprisoned there. The jail functioned until 2015 and today it is the Fort Aguada Jail Museum.”
The republication itself involved careful editorial work. Da Costa had earlier serialised the novel in 22 installments in the Konkani monthly ‘Gulab’, which he edits. The current edition builds on that effort.
“Since Reginald’s son Salvador wished that his father’s style should be maintained as it is, we had to be careful while adapting the orthography,” says Da Costa. “For this we sought the help of Prof S. M. Borges, a Roman Konkani expert, so that the corrections could be made according to modern standards without disturbing the author’s original voice.”
For the author’s family, the new edition is particularly meaningful. Salvador, lovingly known by many as Sally, says most of his father’s manuscripts and books were lost to nature’s brutality over time. “My dad wrote almost about 200 novels,” he says. “But we did not have all of them. At one time he had kept them in a trunk and many of them were destroyed by white ants.”
Some of the surviving copies were later preserved and donated. “The ones that remained were bound together and later I gave them to the Goa Central Library in Panaji,” he says. He adds that the initiative by Da Costa and Fr. Barreto has helped revive interest in his father’s work.
Sally has also expressed appreciation for the effort to retain the original linguistic character of the text. “My dad was one of the pioneers writing in Roman Konkani,” he says. “Many people actually learnt to read Konkani by reading his books because they were so gripping.”
Reflecting on the upcoming release, he says the moment carries a sense of pride and gratitude.
