University of Aveiro………..flings yet another surprise at you

Just when you thought that the University of Aveiro had no more surprises left, it opens out its amazingly elegant library for you. As expected, the architect is the genius Álvaro Siza. Whilst designing this marvel, the architect looked into every aspect of the construction. Would this building dialogue with its natural surroundings? Yes it does, Architect Siza, used red brick and limestone to cover its external walls.
And then the façades? What should they speak of? Well, the Library presents different façades; each one has its own story to tell. The western façade, dialogues with the lagoon, with its weeping willows and roosting ducks. (The lagoon always has those ducks, snoozing, swimming vigorously, how I loved them.) A horizontal opening, on the second and third level, allows natural light to sweep in.
The southern façade on the other hand is completely constructed of limestone, with a platform in the shape of an elegant S. Carved on this platform as a puzzle are the words Universidade de Aveiro. The entrance is on this side. A ramp on the eastern side, leads directly to the first level.
But it is the lighting that takes your breath away, much attention and long hours must have been spent on how to light this beautiful library. No more dark corners, the lighting speaks of the youth and vibrancy of the University.
The central areas in the reading rooms are bathed from 24 clerestories in the ceiling. These magical circles reflect diffused daylight onto the lower floors, through large central voids. Vibrancy and dispersion of archaic ideas seems to be the idea of light being showered from above. No direct sunlight, light diffuses inside the building giving it a sense of unity.
The western façade is protected, from direct sunlight, by a free standing sleek, curved wall something like a lampshade. The intention is to allow the people sitting there to savour the magnificent view of the Salinas and the Lagoon stretching on to the horizon. Psssst, nobody sitting here studies, they just drink in the magnificent view. The professors are yet to discover the secret.
The picture like windows of the northern façade, illuminate the central area of the reading rooms on all the levels.
The entire library is pervaded by Light yet it is never harsh, never direct, the entire Library bathed in soothing light.
We were given a guided tour of the Library by a statuesque lady who in addition to being really beautiful had this mellifluous voice.
Of course, Herculano had to say to her, ‘Your husband is a very lucky man; he has a wife with the most beautiful voice’
Of course the lady blushed; of course she walked straighter and taller after a conversation with our very own Ambassador of good relations.
Just in case you are amazed at my knowledge of architecture, come on people would I know a word like ‘clerestories’? My inputs are from Laura Oliva Correia Lemos, Assessor Principal, biblioteca e documentação Universidade de Aveiro.

Are the heterónimos coming ?

Do we want to lose track of the heterónimos. Are we going to forget all those hours spent grappling with Ricardo Reis, Alvaro Campos, Alberto Caeiro?
Of course not….Never
Then do meet Dr. José Carlos Seabra Pereira from the Centro Interuniversitário de Estudos Camonianos, University of Coimbra, who will give a talk about everything to do with Fernando Pessoa, Sá-Carneiro and the Generation of Orfeu”.
The talk “Amizade e estratégia modernista no campo literário - Fernando Pessoa, Sá-Carneiro e a geração de Orfeu”is to be held on the 29th August 2011, at 6.30 pm, at the premises of the Instituto Camões, Agva House, 9/32 Dr.Dada Vaidya Road, Panaji.
The talk is preceded by a film, ‘Conversa Acabada’ directed by João Botelho (1982), to be screened at 5.00 pm.
What’s this movie all about? Well you have to see it, but a brief introduction to whet your appetite

Complete Cast of ‘Conversa Acabada
Juliet Berto
Isabel Ruth
Manoel de Oliveira
Isabel de Castro

It was meant to be a documentary, but took twists and turns and evolved into a fictional film. The film, deals with the poems and letters exchanged by the two most outstanding names of the Modernist Movement in Portugal, Fernando Pessoa, who lived in Lisbon and Mário de Sá-Carneiro who lived in Paris. And suddenly, their long intercâmbio stopped, we who have spent endless nights studying Pessoa, know why…..

A chance to listen to a talk given by Dr. José Carlos Seabra Pereira from the Centro Interuniversitário de Estudos Camonianos, University of Coimbra, is a once in a lifetime experience. So do not miss it.

The University of Aveiro…..a breath of fresh air

Portugal is the home of one of the oldest universities in Europe, the University of Coimbra. University of Aveiro, our home away from home for three weeks, is a baby in comparison. However, much like anything new it carries with it a breath of fresh air, newness and the promise of new beginnings. Sometimes mustiness and fussiness of age old traditions has to swept away to bring in change and modernity. The University of Aveiro does just that, nothing of the old and archaic, it is the University of the young and the vibrant with maybe an old woman (Sonia) who partakes of this vibrancy just for a while.
As our very own, Professora Rosa Feneca explained to us, the University of Aveiro has many firsts to its credit; they were the ones to develop Sapo, the top national Internet search engine, and the PmatE a programme for teaching Maths and Sciences.
However, my visit to the PmatE Lab is not one of those memories I cherish. But what the hell let me get this shameful episode off my chest. After a heavy lunch, I wobbled over to the PmatE Laboratory. The Laboratory was buzzing with activity, crawling with mathematicians and programmers, nothing tidy, wires dangling all over the place. The programmers not even glancing at us and we do have some pretty ladies in our midst. Nada! They were not even aware of our presence. How could they be so blind and insensitive; here was Scarlet, a humming bird, cute and tiny, dressed to kill, haute couture. Maureen, tall and stately not a hair out of place. Sara, those dazzling eyes and the bright smile and Maria Helena, those skinny jeans and the flapper haircut. And Sonia, did anyone see her…
Anyway, a bearded genial giant of a man, Professor António José Batel Anjo, explained to us gently, slowly, with great kindness reserved for those who will take a long time to understand the work in the PmatE Laboratory. Do I blame him, no, but sorry Prof Anjo, we are Linguists, sabemos muito mesmo a cerca de Garrett, Eça, Pessoa, o nosso Matias pode recitar Os Lusíadas. Herculano tem a sua própria epopeia.
Afternoon, after a heavy meal of bacalhau, arroz, salada e fruta, it was time for a nap, at least for me, and there was the genial Professor Anjo droning on about teaching Maths. Slowly as if commanded by one of Prof. Anjo’s many robots, my head drooped lower and lower and I was pleasantly falling asleep, when suddenly the voice of reason and panic gripped me. WAKE UP, le Hottie , Bosco, is watching you. Was he grinning? Did he see me? I did wake up with a start, wiped the drool surreptitiously and tried to pay attention, but sadly I cannot recall a thing. I do have a pencil and a nice pad from my afternoon at PmatE Laboratory.
We leave those ‘pesad’ robotics and Maths for the programmers who did not pay any attention to our beautiful ladies.
The architecture at the University of Aveiro is very modern, designed by a number of famous Portuguese architects. Although every aspect of the University is sleek and modern some of the structures stand out for their sheer beauty and elegance.
Take the case of the Depósito de Água, for me a water tank is a Black, Syntex, better known as Plastic Tank, sitting atop a functional column, or a huge concrete tank on concrete pillars.
But the Depósito de Água, at the University of Aveiro takes an entirely different look at elegance, you stretch your neck and wonder,’ How did the architect think of this.’
Quoting directly from the Blog http://arqiua.blogs.ua.sapo.pt
“Com a altura de cerca de 30 metros, a torre do depósito de água perfila-se bem acima do conjunto, em torno da Galeria, de que é signo recortado no céu, mas também marcação do seu final frente aos húmidos que envolvem o braço da ria que separa a zona de Santiago da zona da Agra do Castro. A caixa apresenta-se na evidência de um paralelepípedo, mas o suporte foi concebido diferentemente, pois é constituído por uma lâmina complanar com o lado menor do paralelepípedo e por um cilindro. A primeira relaciona directamente a torre com o conjunto da Galeria, pois alinha-se com o plano das fachadas dos edifícios do seu lado nordeste e o segundo é simultaneamente uma coluna e a expressão de uma conduta.”
The brilliant architect is Álvaro Siza.

Another breathtaking place on the Campus is the Pedestrian Bridge, the Ponte Pendonal Sul Torrente São Pedro. This bridge is built over swampy lands whose vegetation is totally different from anything you see otherwise. A walk cross this lengthy bridge envelops you in silence, at your feet strange plants, multicoloured birds chatter softly. A strange and a mysterious world difficult to encounter anywhere else, a far cry from the urban world, the neatly manicured parks with their splashy fountains to be seen in every city. Here the wild beauty of the swamps is shown in its full splendour. This ambitious project is the design of the architect João Luís Carrilho da Graça, JLCG. This simple yet elegant bridge leads to the Cantina de Castro and Casa do Estudante (sede da AAUAv) .
Quoting from his own site, http://europaconcorsi.com/projects/16361-Ponte-Pedonale-Sul-Torrente-S-o-Pedro. I reproduce without any changes or alterations.
‘Trata-se de uma comprida estrutura (330 m), que atravessa o canal de água como uma viga em treliça, construída a partir de tubos metálicos e apoiada de 35 em 35 metros. A sua localização foi pensada para, visualmente, ficar orientada, a norte, com o depósito de água de Álvaro Siza (que marca a eixo da Alameda, o final do primeiro troço do campus), encontrando, perpendicularmente, a margem sul.Os tubos são muito esbeltos (14×12,5 cm de secção) e a escolha de JLCG, ao pintá-los de preto, adelgaça-os ainda mais, dissolvendo a potente estrutura no mundo das sombras das árvores e canaviais que bordejam o esteiro a transpor. O jogo de triangulações é subtilmente variado, constituindo um ritmo que se sente no sereno desenvolvimento da peça mas que, à primeira vista, quase nos remete para um estrelado acidental e não sistematizado. Um tabuleiro, em betuminoso, é o piso, pontuado a meio por focos embutidos, de desenho industrial. Uma guarda metálica, também pintada de negro, marca-nos o interior do passadiço. Há ainda as ancoragens, já que, devido à diferença de cotas, a ponte se desfaz, no encontro com as margens, através de escadas forradas a pedra calcária. A atenção às bicicletas é pretexto, então, para duas rampas que, de um e do outro lado, colam a ponte ao terreno, segundo o ângulo de ataque mais apropriado. A norte, criando um braço lateral à ponte; a sul, de um modo mais complexo, já que o tabuleiro chega muito abaixo da cota de saída, com uma escada a virá-lo para nascente e a rampa, como uma sobra aposta, crescendo a poente, e ajudando as bicicletas a vencer o desnível.’
There are of course many more beautiful places on the Campus of the Universidade de Aveiro, but these two stand out in my mind, for their sheer ingenuity.

Club for Portuguese Films at Chowgule College Margao

The Chowgule College at Margao, in addition to its various activities has a Film Club for Portuguese Films. The coordinator of this Club is Mr. Ashok Dange who organises events with panache.

Films are screened on the last Saturday of every month at around 17.00 hrs (5.00pm)

It is a great way to spend an evening with friends especially on a rainy day. There is always a hot cup of coffee accompanied by a nice snack

A day in the Life of ….

Of course we had to go for classes, how else would we acquire the finesse, the veneer expected of us? A lot of blood, sweat and tears had been expended to get us to Aveiro.
So it was toe the line or else……
All of us, sigh, well not all of us were down for breakfast. The invariable question was ’Quem é que não está!!!’
And Dhruv spreading his hands with an air of resignation
‘Quem pode ser!’
And we all agreed with smiles of resignation, it was our Le Hottie who the previous night, must surely have had a great time……Imaginations go wild. Various methods were tried to wake Le Hottie up, to no avail. They ranged from a suave “Hermanito, jagho re jagho” (Sonia). GET UP, YOU ARE LATE AGAIN, this accompanied by violent pushing and pulling (Scarlet). Trouble is one cannot pull off the duvet, Le Hottie, may not have had sufficient or any clothes on; I blush at the thought of it….
We just gave up; of course we had our customary discussion on the pros and cons of whether we should still try to wake Le Hottie or not.
Our caminho to the Universidade de Aveiro, took us through a park, the stillness of the park, the dew drenched flowers, gardeners raking leaves shouting a greeting as I passed by, the wind tossing my skirt. For those of you ladies who always wore jeans, the pleasures of a skirt are innumerable; ask Dona Flor. But most of all, the pond with ducks, ducks waiting for bread, aggressive drakes pushing all the other ducks and then gobbling everything in sight, submissive ducks and best of all the mother duck, ducklings streaming behind her, you could not start your day any better
A pedestrian crossing, a short walk and we were in the Campus, the roads are lined with huge chestnut trees, and I always wondered how it would be when the chestnuts ripened. On our next trip maybe….Oh how I loved those pedestrian crossings. What power they gave me. All I had to do was place the tip of my toe on one of them….and zap all the cars just stopped. Oh the power, once I and Alexandre got a huge cement mixer to stop for us. Never had I such power over a cement mixer. Never.
And at the Universidade we had our Professora Rosa Maria Faneca; what do I say about Professora Rosa? That she was beautiful! That she was kind? Professora was all this but most of all Prof. Rosa was the most amazing teacher. Prof Rosa entered the class with a lesson plan in her hand. A lesson plan for us! Weren’t we the guys who had completed a Post Graduate degree, after studying, huge tomes of Literatura; Pessoa, Garret, Camões. Hadn’t we completed thirty two projects? And what about those books we had waded through, including that terribly sappy, romantic ‘Amor de Perdição’. Sadly no, we were in Aveiro to grapple with the finer nuances of Grammar. How we worked at Grammar, we conjugated verbs, we probed the Pret mais que perfeito, we played around with Pret Imperfeito and most of all we broke our heads over the Conjutivo. How the Grammarians in our class shone! If the going was tough we just had to take a look at Maria Helena and Dhruv! Sigh, how they had grammar at their finger tips. We ambled on, we worked hard.
We discussed and analysed various aspects of the Portuguese Culture. What happens to the Common Civil Code, Who could have asked such a question?! Why are women so submissive in India? Now which woman wants to know that?! Are gay marriages permitted in Portugal? Everyone wanted an answer!! No way did Prof Rosa allow us to slack, behind that cool exterior lurked a tyrant. At the end of three weeks we did satisfy her very exacting standards. It was Scarlet however, who was the star of the course, with her very precise writing, she could encapsulate a great deal. My skin gets a green hue, every time I dwell on it……..

Mass in Portugal - A culture shock for Jason Keith Fernandes

When in Portugal, many of my friends, used to attend Mass on Sundays as well as on some important days of the liturgical calendar, the feast of Corpus Christi. I thought this letter published by ‘Goa-Net News might be of interest to you. I transcribe it without any alterations.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 7, 2011
Letter from Portugal: Culture Shock!

By Jason Keith Fernandes
jason.k.fernandes@gmail.com

Speaking somewhat flippantly, but not entirely unseriously, one of the lovely things about being Catholic is that it allows you to be at home in the world. You know that where ever you may go, no matter what the language spoken in the region, there is a set of people who move through the same
motions as you when in community prayer.

So all you have to do is bob along with the ritual motions, mumbling the prayers in your language underneath your breath, and voila, you can imagine yourself back home, worshiping the way in which you did when you were little.

For this reason, in the course of my many travels, and especially when homesick, the local church has provided a space to return to the womb, be it St. Paul's Church in San Francisco (that operated as the set for the film Sister Act), the Mesquita in Cordoba or the Igreja de Santa Catarina and the Capela do Rato in Lisbon.

There are times though when all is not quite what you expect it to be; my experiences in the churches
in Lisbon having been along those lines. There is a certain, shall we say, laxity among those who
attend Mass in Lisbon. It should be borne in mind that while Portugal is referred to as a "Catholic
country", (whatever that may mean) at least in the urban centers, and among younger generations, there are not too many who attend church on a regular basis. It appears therefore, that a Church in
decline is grateful that there are people attending Mass in the first place, and would rather not
berate the requirements of comportment when the precious few wander in.

And such comportment! Take for example the situation where once they enter the church there is no expectation of sitting in silence until the priest enters to commence the Mass. Oh no! They enter and chatter, fall on each other in greeting, kissing and exchanging all manner of information.

I kid you not, this one time, when entering the uncommonly crowded Capela rather late, I almost passed out, seeing a couple snuggle up to each other, apparently to save space for more people. If you go to church a couple or more minutes earlier, in the hope for a quiet prayer, more often than not,
you are wont to hear someone chattering away. You could of course leave this private, intense prayer time for once the entire Mass is over. But this option presents its own challenge.

You see, at least in one of the locations I frequent for Mass, the congregation bounds out of church the moment the priest leaves the altar; regardless of the fact that the choir is still singing the recessional hymn. It is only in the villages, my informants assure me, that people still wait for the hymn to end. This leaves you looking like a yokel,when you stand, refusing to budge, until the hymn ends!

And yet for all of these shocking transgressions of propriety around the time of the Mass, there are some norms that the Portuguese follow that speak to the lack in Goan practice.

For example the respect shown to the Blessed Sacrament as it makes its way from the altar to the tabernacle after the Communion rite. Almost without fail, the congregation stands up, as it should, in respect. In the often woefully empty Igreja de Santa Catarina, they continue to follow a touching
custom, where after the Communion rite, the Blessed Sacrament is held aloft as it makes its way to the tabernacle and is shielded part of the way by an embroidered umbrella.

A home away from home it appears, can at times allow for
culture shock!

--
A version of this post was first published in the O Heraldo
7 Aug 2011

'Dona Flor e seus dois maridos' Jorge Amado

Jorge Amado happens to be one of my favourite authors, but I do have a confession to make, I have such a deep affection for Latin American authors, Spanish as well as Portuguese. Amado is humorous in a ribald sort of way but what is most important about him, is that he is completely non judgmental.
I read “Dona Flor e seus dois Maridos"as an English translation and found it beautiful. The original Portuguese, however, is pretty much different, it deals with many more aspects of Brazilian Culture that the English translation does not, but both are very good.
Coming back to the essence of the book, we all have two sides to our selves, and Dona Flor is no exception. As a young girl she marries Vadinho, the love of her life. Vadinho proves to be a wastrel, a bom vivão, in short a Lofor, who loves to gamble, whores around, for him the most important event is Carnaval. And then, much as Vadinho would have desired, he just drops down dead in the midst of the Carnaval festivities. Dona Flor is relieved, Dona Rozilda ecstatic - although everyone hated Dona Rozilda, Dona Flor’s mother, I loved her venomous tongue; her 'Brazilian Insults' had me in splits. Slowly, Dona Flor builds her business; she cooks and gives cooking lessons. Amado just loves Bahia, its food and most important azeite-de-dendê. Time moves on, Dona Flor is very secure financially, but something is missing, her students notice that she is not as alegre as she used to be earlier. What could be missing in her life, money? That she has. Respect? No chance, everyone respects the pretty young widow. Just when she cannot bear this inner turmoil any longer she realises that the missing ingredient in her life is….Sex. Oh! how she misses her sexual dalliances with Vadinho. She now realises that those happy, fulfilling romps in bed are a thing of the past. Then her despair turns to joy, when the very staid and correct Teodoro proposes marriage to her. It is a meeting of minds and souls. Teodoro is a man with his own business, a cultured gentleman who loves classical music, has his own quartet. Could Dona Flor ask for more? Of course not, Teodoro is every woman’s dream; strong, reliable, dependable, any woman could entrust her future and life in Teodoro’s capable hands, a far cry from the Lofor Vadinho. Or is he? Teodoro is a man of extremely regular habits; everything has its time and place and that includes sex. How can you have sex at prescribed, regular times sighs Dona Flor. Sex so regular and predictable that Dona Flor wants to scream and tear her hair in despair. Vadinho, O meu Vadinho, how she yearns for the much maligned Vadinho. We feel the turmoil in Dona Flor’s life. Here is Teodoro who loves her, treats her with respect, never deprives her of her hard earned money on the other hand we have the Lofor Vadinho who only has his sexual expertise. How Dona Flor pines for Vadinho, her body cries out to him and in that yearning Goddess Yemanja comes to her aid. Yemanja with her magical powers ‘brings back Vadinho” and well…..you can only imagine how happy Dona Flor is, the romps are back and they are just as good as before Vadinho died. For Dona Flor a dream come true.
The book has many facets to it; the central one of course being Dona Flor’s physical needs, her sexual cravings. Ironically both Vadinho and Teodoro save her from depravity. We could take a look at our darker inner selves, if of course we would be willing to admit to having one!
Jorge Amado, also shows us what it is to be a gambler, the hunger, the despair, the win are interwoven in this book, incidentally it is not pleasant to win all of the time, it takes away the edge of the game.
Amazing how this book leads us into so very many unexplored avenues, forcing us to think without prejudice
Vadinho sums the book when he as a ghost says,
"Tambem do meu amor precisas para ser feliz, desse amor de impurezas, errado e torto, devasso ardente, que faz sofrer"

We must never forget that when the African Slaves where brought to Brazil, they could not bring anything with them, only their Gods, and Yemanja is just one of them. Amado’s writings show his strong belief and respect for the Gods of Africa.
For those of us who visited Aveiro, the tiny shop across the Museu de Santa Joana, where you could buy esoteric products had a great many statues of Yemanja and other West African Gods. They had Yemanja candles too for good fortune.