[Goanet] Goan Clubs in Bombay
A Documentary on Goan Clubs in Bombay https://youtu.be/YTYE1WGcTdI Regards Maria Fatima Pais
[Goanet] The 2020 Goa Book Covers Campaign - Simply My Way – Bennet Paes
The 2020 Goa Book Covers Campaign Day 21: Book 21 #2020GBCC <https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/2020gbcc?__eep__=6=feed_text=HASHTAG> *Simply My Way – Bennet Paes* Paes’ first book covers a variety of topics, ranging from historical migrations and their aftermath on Goa and the Indian sub-continent, politics, music, business. It also reflects upon the roots of the Goan writer, who says it all like it is, from his own life experiences both in Goa and beyond, in a manner to be browsed over leisurely. Bennet Paes has also authored *Love ‘n Share It*, a fictional love story set in his beloved Sashti (roughly south) Goa, but within its many folds is the memory of a Goa lost or at any rate fading. What is interesting about Paes’s book is the observational precision with which he narrates village life. He provides minor asides to the main narrative by giving us descriptions of the caste system, the *ladhin* (sung litany), the Goan *botler* (butler on the high seas) and the ‘*kuhr*’ among other things. The *kuhr* or *kudd* is uniquely Goan, a sort of halfway house set up in Bombay, to assist new arrivals into the city, or transiting out of Bombay. Paes tells us how, often, the *kudds* themselves became gatekeepers of the caste system besides being gender-segregated, and he notes, that eventually women set up their own ‘*bailancho-kuhr*.’ Bennet Paes of Assolna, now retired has told it like it is and it seems he has lived a charmed life. What adventures! What journeys! What a way to travel abroad and come back to Assolna to roost! Truly there is nothing like a native of Assolna. His early life makes for a fascinating reading, especially how he researched his deeper roots from north India prior to transplanting them in the red soil of Assolna. The author’s long stay in Kuwait is like a dream that Aladdin on his magic mat would envy. Maria Fatima Pais New Delhi
[Goanet] The 2020 Goa Book Covers Campaign - Gowd Saraswa Brahmin’s Cookbook
The 2020 Goa Book Covers Campaign Day 10: Book 10 #2020GBCC <https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/2020gbcc?__eep__=6=feed_text=HASHTAG> *Gowd Saraswat Brahmin’s Cookbook* Annapoorna R. Nayak <https://www.amazon.in/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1?ie=UTF8=Annapoorna+R.+Nayak=stripbooks> & Maya Shenoi Living in Delhi, Goan food to me meant Sorpotel, Vindalho, Xacuti and Fish Curry Rice. The standard fare at restaurants and just about every function I went to when visiting Goa. Being more of a vegetarian, I used to wonder what options were there, until one Diwali when I was invited by a Goan Saraswat Brahmin friend to celebrate at her home. And what a lovely spread there was, dishes I had never heard of or seen. *The Gowd Saraswat Brahmin’s Cookbook* was first published in 1943 by the *Saraswat* Mahila Samaj. The book documents classic *recipes* from the Konkani-speaking community of Chitrapur *Saraswat Brahmins* (and to some extent, by default, *the Gaud Saraswat Brahmins*) and is available in both Marathi and English. The Gowd Saraswat Brahmin community has a unique culinary culture that is rich in flavour and variety. With several members making various parts of the country and the globe their home, the community has integrated well into different culturescapes, while keeping its traditional fabric, mother tongue konkani and culinary practices intact. Gowd Saraswat Brahmins are often tagged as fish-eating Brahmins. However, a sizeable section of them are pure vegetarians. They were early settlers near the mythical river Saraswati, which was once struck by a severe famine, leaving only fish to sustain them. The book also takes you through the history of the Gowd Saraswat Brahmins (GSB) and how 96 families migrated from the North to Gomantak around 1000 AD. Maria Fatima Pais New Delhi
[Goanet] The 2020 Goa BookCovers Campaign - Karmelinby Damodar Mauzo
The 2020 Goa Book Covers Campaign Day 7: Book 7 #2020GBCC <https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/2020gbcc?__eep__=6=feed_text=HASHTAG> *Karmelin **b**y Damodar Mauzo* *Translated from Konkani to English by Vidya Pai* The author presents a sensitive character study in his much acclaimed Konkani novel *Karmelin* (1981), aptly named after its protagonist. The novel chronicles the life of Karmelin, a lower middle class Goan from childhood to womanhood, tracing her relationships with the various men in her life. He subtly interweaves explorations of the grey areas of sexuality, femininity, and patriarchy in the narrative. When published, Mauzo’s novel was like a breath of fresh air in a culture that suppressed liberating discourse and treated sex as taboo. While society has progressed, patriarchy has remained constant to a certain degree. Thus, in the character of Karmelin, we find a microcosm of the experiences of women across the country. *Karmelin *won the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award for Konkani literature in 1983. Since then, it has been translated to English and multiple Indian languages. Maria Fatima Pais New Delhi
[Goanet] 2020 Goa Book Cover Challenge - Correction
Day 2: Book 2 #2020GBCC <https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/2020gbcc?__eep__=6=feed_text=HASHTAG> Goa: A Daughter's Story, written by Maria Aurora Couto, The book takes you through the history of Goa, through various invasions and the occupation by the Portuguese 450 years ago, the influence the Marathas and the Portuguese had on the culture of the people. The author touches upon the topic of religious persecution under the Portuguese and the forced conversions to Christianity, a subject still not openly talked about. The story moves naturally to the state of affairs in modern day Goa. Maria Fatima Pais New Delhi -- http://sunshinemay-sunshine.blogspot.com/
[Goanet] 2020 Goa Book Cover Challenge - Goa: A Daughter's Story, written by Maria Aurora Couto,
Day 2: Book 2 #2020GBCC <https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/2020gbcc?__eep__=6=feed_text=HASHTAG> Goa: A Daughter's Story, written by Maria Aurora Couto, This novel takes you through the history of Goa, through various invasions and the occupation by the Portuguese 450 years ago, the influence the Marathas and the Portuguese had on culture of the people. She touches upon the topic of religious persecution under the Portuguese and the forced conversions to Christianity, a subject still not openly talked about. I have always been inquisitive about this and the caste system among Christian Goans. The story moves naturally to the state of affairs in modern day Goa. Maria Fatima Pais New Delhi
[Goanet] Once Upon a time in Aparanta
Once upon a time in Aparanta - Sudeep Chakravarti "Goa Is Aparanta of old - the Land at the Horizon. The tale of Dino Dantas, protestor and self-appointed guardian of Aparanta and his innkeeper cousin Antonio begins here, in the sleepy village of Socorro Do Mundo by the sea, where time holds little meaning and the haze of nostalgia is as binding a force as faith in the benevolence of Our Lady Of Perpetual Succour, Perpet To Familiars" I picked up this book after reading the back cover of the book which begins this way and a few other reviews of the book which talk about the state of Goa as it is today, especially about people from other cities wanting to settle there. I'm a Goan living in Delhi and I sometimes wonder why the Goans seem to hate North Indians so much when on the other hand, Delhi people who come to know I am from Goa love me all the more for it!! Maria Fatima Pais -- http://sunshinemay-sunshine.blogspot.com/
