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Fiction Corrected
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Watching the chipped, silver – painted statues overlooking the rocky waters, the honeymooning couples suddenly got very jittery. They sincerely hoped the eternal love story of Dona Paula didn’t outdo theirs with its legendary glamour.
The guide screamed out, ‘If the Taj Mahal, the greatest symbol of love exists in Delhi, we have our very own legend of Dona Paula here in Goa.’ He pointed to the statues of the couple that were built on high rocks.
‘Dona was a woman of high society who was madly in love in Paulo, a poor fisherman. They wanted to be married, but were too afraid of the ridicule the society would inflict upon them. Unable to face the parental opposition to their love, they committed suicide by jumping from this very cliff. Ever since then, their love has been immortalized.’
A few credulous women sniffed and wiped their tears with the end of their saris. But not all were convinced.
Mario, a student of history, who was just passing by, heard the guide’s ‘story’ but he knew way too better than to believe it. The legend of Dona Paula had just been the topic of discussion in his history class and he had thus learnt that Dona Paula was no myth but a well-proven, once existent entity.
Paula was the daughter of the Portuguese Viceroy of Jaffnapattam in Sri Lanka. Adhering to the Portuguese tradition of addressing a married lady, she was called ‘Dona’ Paula. She was the wife of a Spanish fidalgo, Dom Antonio Souto Maior, who was a part of the defense service of Portuguese Goa. Dona Paula was an exteremely charitable lady who helped the villagers in times of trouble. Thus, they renamed their village of Oddavell as Dona Paula, a name that stays to this day.
Mario smirked at the confidence with which the guide narrated the legendary love story to the tourists. Legends are always more interesting than facts, he thought. But the real Dona Paula ought to be appreciated for her generosity rather than her ‘immortal’ love affair.
The guide screamed out, ‘If the Taj Mahal, the greatest symbol of love exists in Delhi, we have our very own legend of Dona Paula here in Goa.’ He pointed to the statues of the couple that were built on high rocks.
‘Dona was a woman of high society who was madly in love in Paulo, a poor fisherman. They wanted to be married, but were too afraid of the ridicule the society would inflict upon them. Unable to face the parental opposition to their love, they committed suicide by jumping from this very cliff. Ever since then, their love has been immortalized.’
A few credulous women sniffed and wiped their tears with the end of their saris. But not all were convinced.
Mario, a student of history, who was just passing by, heard the guide’s ‘story’ but he knew way too better than to believe it. The legend of Dona Paula had just been the topic of discussion in his history class and he had thus learnt that Dona Paula was no myth but a well-proven, once existent entity.
Paula was the daughter of the Portuguese Viceroy of Jaffnapattam in Sri Lanka. Adhering to the Portuguese tradition of addressing a married lady, she was called ‘Dona’ Paula. She was the wife of a Spanish fidalgo, Dom Antonio Souto Maior, who was a part of the defense service of Portuguese Goa. Dona Paula was an exteremely charitable lady who helped the villagers in times of trouble. Thus, they renamed their village of Oddavell as Dona Paula, a name that stays to this day.
Mario smirked at the confidence with which the guide narrated the legendary love story to the tourists. Legends are always more interesting than facts, he thought. But the real Dona Paula ought to be appreciated for her generosity rather than her ‘immortal’ love affair.
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