Bhikoo Pai Angle was versatile & multifaceted teacher who strengthened foundation of his students: Timblo

Auduth Timblo, Chairman of Fomento Group, speaks at the centenary celebration of late Bhikoo Pai Angle at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao on Saturday.

PANAJI

“I am the oldest living student of Bhikoo Pai Angle in this auditorium, as he taught me in Campion School in Mumbai in 1962, though my first meeting with him was in Margao in 1961,” claimed noted industrialist Auduth Timblo, while recollecting old memories of his school days and the time spent with the late Bhikoobab.   

Auduth Timblo, Chairman of Fomento Group,  was speaking at the centenary celebration of late Bhikoo Pai Angle at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao on Saturday. The event, organised in association with Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, and the celebration committee headed by Auduth Timblo, gathered friends, students, theatre colleagues, and relatives of the late Bhikoobab.   

“It was an honour to see a Goan teaching Marathi in a Jesuit school in Mumbai. Later, when the Maths teacher left, Bhikoobab taught Maths too. He was such a versatile and multifaceted teacher, who made the foundation of his students strong, be it in school or on the stage,” shared Auduth Timblo, who had travelled to Mumbai from Goa on a passport to get enrolled in Campion School, as during the Portuguese era, education in Goa was difficult.   

Timblo shared incidents of the Kapoor family, who were students at Campion School along with him, and remembered how Bhikoobab trained Rishi Kapoor to win in the elocutions. 

Timblo recalled an incident in Campion School when Bhikoobab, as a teacher, slapped the then student Randhir Kapoor, who was drinking a cold drink in class, and how Raj Kapoor came in his Impala to school to thank Bhikoobab for doing what he could not do: teaching discipline to his son.   

Three renowned actors who worked with the late Bhikoobab in the good old days—Shivaji Satam, Upendra Date, and Sushma Sawarker—attended the ceremony and relived the memories of their stage sharing and learnings. Satam, Date, and Sawarker were felicitated on the occasion. Calling it a complete circle to be present for the centenary celebration of his director, the late Bhikoobab, veteran Marathi actor and CID fame Shivaji Satam admired the latter’s acting and directional skills, and said he learnt the nuances of acting from the great actor-director who is no more.   

Marathi stage artist Sushma Sawarker recalled how she was still in school when she played the role of Rajaram in the popular play ‘Raigadala Jevha Jaag Yete,’ directed by the late Bhikoobab. Noted Marathi theatre actor Upendra Date shared an incident of the late Bhikoobab with late Marathi playwright Vasant Kanetkar when the duo visited the fort of Shivaji, Raigadh, and spent a few days there before the play’s script was written. “Theatre should survive and thrive,” asserted Date.   

Writer and professor Dr Shrikrishna Adsool, medical practitioner and actor Dr Vyankatesh Hegde, Bhai Naik of Mathagramastha Hindu Sabha, Anil Pai Kakode of the Goa Hindu Association Mumbai, industrialist Pravas Naik, and Adv Rajiv Shinkre also shared their memories and incidents of their encounters with the late Bhikoobab.   

Initially, after the inauguration of the event, audio-visual presentations of parts of the plays directed and acted by the late Bhikoobab were screened. Govind Bhagat compered the programme and Hemant Pai Angle proposed the vote of thanks. The programme ended with the staging of the Marathi play, ‘Raigadala Jevha Jag Yete,’ with the theatre troupe from Mumbai.

The second part of the programme of the centenary celebration is on November 12 at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao.