Alexyz has had a long, brilliant career as a cartoonist in Goa. His unflinching opposition of political leaders, humorously portraying them to shame them for their misdeeds, has been well documented.
He is an integral part of Goa’s contemporary history. Supported by the erstwhile editor of the Herald Rajan Narayan, Alex Raphael Fernandes, or Alexyz, advocated for Goa’s statehood and making Konkani Goa’s official language.
The conscience keeper of politicians now approaches his 80th birthday on October 24. The countdown to the birthday celebrations of Alexyz, a son of the village of Siolim, began in earnest from October 5 to 15, starting with Xavier de Moira’s brass band entertaining one and all.
Various performances, exhibitions and competitions took place during the ten days to highlight the life of a man who has lived entirely on the basis of truth and humour. The whole series of events was organised by friends of Alexyz, including Claude and Norma Alvares, poet Tino D’Sa and others.
Most notably, an exhibition of some of Alexyz’s best cartoons and other artworks was held at the Art Chamber- Galeria de Belas Artes, Calangute. The exhibition also had works by up-and-coming cartoonists being mentored by Alexyz.
Alexyz, who has sparred with the likes of Churchill Alemao, who threatened him, and Luis Proto Barbosa, who Alexyz depicted dressed in a bikini, now has a documentary on himself. The celebrations included the screening of the documentary called Alexyz-The multicoloured cartoonist by Kurt Fernandes.
On October 13, World Goa Day was celebrated by Festakar Marius Fernades to honour Alexyz. The cartoonist has been a fixture at Marius’ fests, always supporting the promotion of Goa’s cultural heritage.
The festivities continued today, October 22, 2024. Alexyz’s impression upon the younger generation was emphasised with a special surprise birthday party hosted by Communicare Trust at St Francis Xavier High School, Siolim, at 10 am.
Cartoons by students from different schools in Goa, all inspired by his illustrious work, were on display and the plucky cartoonist enjoyed appreciating the work.
A significant feature of this special surprise party was a cake designed by Svenin Da’ Costa, a student from Loyola High School, Margao, which featured one of Alexyz’s cartoons. This cake epitomises the influence of Alexyz’s career with his cartoons reaching even this new generation.
Nalini Elvino de Sousa of Communicare Trust said, “I love Alexyz as a person. He is a very generous and a genuine individual. Communicare Trust wanted to extend the celebrations to the youth and being SFX (St Francis Xavier High School) in Siolim, just next to his home, we thought this would be the ideal place for his surprise party.”
Leaxan Freitas curated a one-hour listening session of rare vinyl records based on Alexyz’s book Caricatures of 100 Great Tiatrists. The session featured performances by some of the tiatrists in the book.
This momentous occasion culminated with students from SFX singing “Happy birthday” to Alexyz.
Alexyz has been overwhelmed by the love and attention he has received thus far. He said, “I’ve had such a lovely time. There seems to be something happening every day. I have so many friends who have been arranging all these celebrations. I’m flooded with gifts and wishes.”
The master of witticisms expressed profuse gratitude to his friends who had taken on the seemingly impossible task of documenting and preserving 40,000-50,000 of his cartoons.
He was quite surprised by his surprise birthday party as he was “grabbed” by Nalini de Sousa and companions to be felicitated by 60-100 students. Alexyz said, “We laughed and sang and danced. I even had a laughter session with them.”
“It’s lovely, what the kids have done. All of them wanted an autograph from me,” he said, expressing his embarrassment at all the attention.
Alexyz at 80 has had a remarkable journey, not only as an activist, but as a humanitarian who has personally touched and changed lives. This surprise birthday party stressed the strong connection the cartoonist and voice of society has with the youngsters of Goa. Hopefully, he and his monumental body of work will influence them to carry on his legacy.