It was in 2011 on 12th of this month at dawn our most beloved friend the late Rosary Ferns died and in the early in the morning at 6.00, I got the news telephonically from Kuwait while I was preparing myself to go to work. The woman who called me that early morning was Elvira D’Souza asking me first, “Veronica do you have the news of Rosary?” Listening to this question, I guessed something tragic must have happened and replied to her saying “No” expecting the worst news. She then told me an unimaginable, an unexpected and an unbelievable worst news saying “Rosary is expired”. I exclaimed within myself saying “Oh my God!” Then went into total silence unable to talk further and seeing my silence, Elvira too went into total silence and within a few seconds our telephone automatically stopped.
Then I went to my company, applied for an emergency leave to attend to his funeral on the next day, came to Airlines Office in Kuwait city, blooked the ticket and in the same evening went to Goa by direct flight. Our flight landed at Dabolim Airport in the morning and without going home to Candolim, I directly went to Rosary’s place to see his dead body and pay my respect to this great Tiatrist of whose type there was none among the Konkani Stage Artstes.
He was the great because he was the great script writer, the great director, the great Canto writer of the type only the legendary Minguel Rod penned and tuned, in fact the most sorrowful Cantos in the history of Konkani Tiatros were scripted by Minguel Rod by beautifying them with most sorrowful tune like that of most sorrowful Motets, when those Cantos were delivered by those great Tiatrists I saw once by sitting on the lap of my mother as a baby boy, nothing but stream of tears flooding thru the eyes of great number of attendees. In one Tiatro “Ghorib Sezari” one renowned Candoicar Dr. Gustavo Monteiro sitting in the front row and watching the Tiatro, I saw him crying like a small baby and when he found his handkerchief wet he removed the second one from his pocket to wipe his tears. Seeing my mother sobbing relentlessly, without knowing well what was going on, I too started crying. That was the power of those Cantos of which type we don’t see now among current tiatrists.
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Coming back to Rosary, he was the top Mandoist, best Dulpodist, best Operetta composer and the best songster with very good topics. Such persons come to this world only once in centuries. In his death Konkani Stage became poor. May his soul rest in peace.
He had unique distinction of producing the first Konkani Songs CD in Kuwait.
May his soul rest in peace.
A.Veronica Fernandes.