The Roses, Their Lives, Their Music
by Joaquim Fernandes
The Roses were in Goa recently. Yes, though Alfred and Rita Rose live in Mumbai, they come home every year. It’s a pilgrimage they must make. For it is the motherland Goa and the mother tongue Konkani that inspired Alfred Rose to sing all those songs; songs so beloved of Goans and the Konkani speaking Diaspora spread all over the world. In a musically prolific period spanning more then four decades, Alfred Rose composed Konkani songs, set them to music and sang them: solos, duets, trios with myriad themes, often sung with his wife Rita and children.
Age and two paralytic strokes have taken a toll on the man lovingly known in Goa as the “Melody King”. In an informal chat with The Navhind Times, Alfred Rose’ wife Rita Rose, recounts their life, their triumphs, his illness, her faith and their music. Join us then, on a brief journey through the life and times of Konkani music’s most enduring, most endearing couple.
It’s on a rainy June afternoon that we barge into her brother John’s apartment at Mapusa where they are holidaying. Rita Rose is gracious and agrees to talk. Also present are Alfred and Rita’s two children Schubert and Alria with her husband and toddler son. Sadly, Alfred Rose is resting and will not come out. After the niceties, Rita Rose goes down memory lane.
“I first acted in his show Monis Vo Deunchar while still in school in Bombay,” she says. “My husband and I gave our last show together in Canada in 1999. He got his first attack in 2000. But even when he was moving in and out of hospital, he wrote music for an entire cassette.” She says her husband has produced 40 Konkani cassettes. The 41st is nearing completion. “The one he wrote while he was ill is very spiritual,” says Rita. That will be cassette number 42. The numbers apart, as far as Konkani music goes, Alfred Rose is a pioneer in more ways then one; he staged the first Konkani programme on Bombay Doordarshan, he produced the first Konkani audio cassette and also produced the first Konkani non-stop musical show.
“Yes, he is a trailblazer,” says Rita. “Fourteen plays, five musical shows including the Konkani Rock musical show and the Musical Fiesta. He has written two Konkani novels. But most important are his countless songs.”
Is he pained that the Goan government did not honour him with the state award? “His fans keep asking us that,” says Rita. “And his answer will be the same that he gave in a television interview to Srirang Narvenkar a few years ago: `I did not produce Konkani music for awards. I did it because God blessed me with the talent and because of my love for Konkani’.”
The government’s indifference notwithstanding, love and support from fans has been overwhelming. Rita quotes Dr Rebello, a Goan heart specialist, who told her, “I don’t think he needs awards. He is an icon who will be remembered for a long time. But it is silly of the government to overlook his immense contribution to Konkani and give the award to less deserving people.”
There is nothing like happy memories to forget the hurts. “We’ve performed in London, Canada, Beirut and all over the Gulf,” she smiles. For almost thirty-five years of their married life they sang together, delighting audiences, savouring the shows, the songs, the bouquets and the adulation. But Alfred Rose wrote a whole lot of romantic songs for other girls, you tell her jokingly. There is Esta, Angela, Celina, Janet and Lynette and others. “But he sang one of his first love songs for me Tuji mhoji bhett,” she laughs.
Did Alfred Rose have a fixed routine when he sat to write his songs? “No, No. He wrote songs anytime, all the time. Sometimes, he composed songs in a jiffy; like when Rajiv Gandhi died.”
So how does he cope now? “He can handle himself but needs help. Of late he is a little demoralised because he is not getting well. But I won’t give up. My faith is strong and I keep on motivating him.”
She devotes a lot of time to her husband now but has refused to sit and mop. “I have not given up performing. He is supportive of me and wants me to continue singing,” she says. It will be for a long time that Alfred and Rita Rose will hear their songs being played on the radio or sung by others. And whether they sing together again or not, at least Alfred Rose will have the satisfaction of smiling and whispering in her ear, “Darling, they’re playing our song.”
Courtesy http://www.navhindtimes.com/
