There must be hundreds of stories about the achievements of women, which might never get told, unless someone decides to take on the task. Thanks to documentary filmmakers Anjali Monteiro and KP Jayasankar, the wonderful story of Libia Lobo Sardesai will reach people outside of Goa through their lovely film, Libby De Liberdade.
At the age of 102, looking much younger, she is spry and lucid, with a clear voice, an infectious chuckle, and a memory that goes back to the decades of her remarkable life and digs out nuggets of anecdotes.
Libia “Libby” Lobo was born on May 25, 1924, in Goa, the only girl with five brothers, which, she says, resulted in her being “unladylike”. Her wish to educate herself and pursue a career must have been perceived as unusual at a time when most girls were expected to marry and settle down as soon as possible. Her family moved to Bombay when she was a child, and she grew up in the city in the throes of the Independence movement. In the documentary, she does not talk much about her family, but they must have been progressive and encouraging of her ambition.
She began her working life as a translator and a "censor", deciphering letters written by Italian prisoners of war during World War II. When she enrolled for a law degree at Siddharth College (in South Mumbai), she was the only Christian girl in her class. She had, as one of her professors, the great BR Ambedkar himself, who had established the college and interviewed her for admission. Ram Jethmalani was also a professor. In the film, she says that it was his words about India not being really free so long as Goa was under Portuguese rule that drew her into Goa’s struggle for independence. While studying law, she also worked as a stenographer and librarian at the All India Radio in erstwhile Bombay, which possibly led to her working with the underground radio that aided the anti-Portuguese movement.
In 1954-55, the Portuguese attacked and killed several peaceful satyagrahis who had come to Goa demanding the end of colonial rule; they censored newspapers, restricted public gatherings, and cut Goans off from independent sources of information.
Libia Lobo, Vaman Sardesai, and Nicolau Menezes came together to form an underground radio station—Voice of Freedom—that transmitted news messages to Goans, right under the noses of the Portuguese. Something like what Usha Mehta and her team had done in Mumbai during the British rule.
Using the alias "Vimal Nadkarni", Libia became one of the station's principal broadcasters. The broadcasts, delivered in English, Konkani, Portuguese, and Marathi, reached listeners throughout Goa with uncensored news, patriotic messages, and information from India. The king of Sawantwadi permitted them to use his forested property to park the truck from which they conducted their secret broadcast. In her interview, Monteiro gently extracts memories of those days, though Lobo Sardesai speaks more about the adventure and the difficulties of a young woman surviving in the jungle amidst snakes and wild animals (their host obligingly shot a panther heading towards their camp) in primitive conditions.
When this location was blown, Lobo and Sardesai shifted to Castle Rock in Karnataka. They were even approached by the Indian Defence Forces, and on December 17, 1961, the station transmitted a direct message from then defence minister, VK Krishna Menon, asking the Portuguese governor general to surrender. Following the success of Operation Vijay and the return of Goa to India, on December 19, Lobo and Sardesai were invited to board an Indian Air Force plane with a radio and loudspeaker attached to it, flying over Goa, dropping leaflets and announcing the freedom of Goa, with the immortal words, “Rejoice, brothers and sisters, our Goa is now free and united with Mother India.”
The highlights of Libby’s life are narrated as a beautiful mural comes alive on a wall opposite her Panaji apartment—painted by Solomon Lobo, the grandson of the prominent artist Francis Newton Souza and her childhood friend.
She got married to Vaman Sardesai in 1964, charmingly dismissing it as no big deal—no revelations of a great romance.
After Goa’s liberation, Libby threw herself into public life. She first joined the ministry of external affairs, assisting in the repatriation of Portuguese military personnel. In March 1962, she became the first director of tourism for Goa, Daman, and Diu, and in this role, she got roads tarred and hostels built for tourists. She was also the first practicing female lawyer in Goa. In the film, she says that she mostly fought cases for poor people and narrates an amusing incident in which she fought—and won—a case against the chief minister of Goa over the chopping of a tamarind tree.
She went on to be the founder and promoter of the Women’s Cooperative Bank, which is run by women. She was also the founder and president of the Goa College of Home Sciences.
When her husband was appointed Ambassador of Angola, she travelled with him. In 1994, following her husband's death, she founded the Vedanta Institute "to help people become better versions of themselves."
She was felicitated when she turned 100, awarded the Padma Shri, one of the many honours bestowed on her. The mural and photos of her youth show her dressed in Khadi saris, her preferred mode of dress most of her life. Now, she wears Western dresses, perhaps for convenience, but the fire has not dimmed with age. In Libby De Liberdade, she speaks against casinos and the ill effects of this kind of tourist culture on Goa.
Libia Lobo Sardesai is such an inspiration and deserves more films, books, and maybe a web series on her life. At 102, she has the will and energy of youth—and the documentary is a simple, warm, and respectful tribute to the extraordinary woman.
Deepa Gahlot is a Mumbai-based columnist, critic and author.
