My Mangalorean friend (and author) Alan Machado's family was quite pleasantly surprised to encounter Mapusa market at the recent Kochi Biennale [http://www.kochimuzirisbiennale.org/]. When I met them recently in Bangalore (oops, Bengaluru), they told all what they had encountered there, and willingly share photos of the same too.
As it happened, Alan and Zina had only months back visited the (real life) Mapusa market with me. Sometimes, when in a good mood, I humour visiting friends with a walking tour around some part of Goa which I'm familiar with, and which simultaneously interests them. Mapusa Market is a favourite, a place with many sights, smells, sweets, spices and special bargains! A+Z claimed they would have won many of the prizes hands down (daughter Alpa was there with them too, but she didn't encounter Mapusa with us). Unfortunately, by the time they reached, the offer on the quizzes was long over. Sad. Alan incidentally is an engineer-turned-history buff, who specialises on the history of the Mangalorean Christians and authored *Sarasvati's Children*, *Shades Within Shadows*, and *Slaves of the Sultans*. The middle one is a novel, the other two are non-fiction works in history. In both he touches on the little-known and much-misunderstood 'captivity' of the Mangalorean Christians by Tipu Sultan. Incidentally, while the rivalry now between these two Christian communities (specially in migration destinations like Mumbai) might not give you a hint of this, the Mangalorean Christians are actually very largely of Goan origin. Alan has often told me: "Rico, you talk about the Goan diaspora so often, but you tend to forget one of your earliest and largest diasporas." Meaning, the Mangaloreans. His Australia-educated daughter Alpa designed the cover of this book, which has done well in the market despite very little direct publicity. Alan's next work, again focussing on the intriguing and confusing world of Indian history, is expected to be more ambitiousm, and take on a wider canvas and a far bigger geography. Just by way of interest, below are some of the photos Alan shared with me on the Mapusa market (the exhibition at Kochi that is, not the place 6.3 kms away from my home). FN Entry to the 'Mapusa market' https://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/33134460411/in/dateposted/ Pepsi, Braganza, Korgaonkar... and more https://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/33221315756/in/dateposted/ Zantye's, Simonia and Zina https://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/33262865325/in/dateposted/ Jewellery https://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/33262853625/in/dateposted/ Alpa https://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/32419424794/in/dateposted/ Quiz prizes... over https://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/33221337576/in/dateposted/ Mapusa, Sirsasana-style (ouch, camera problem!) https://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/32419477224/in/dateposted/ A link to Orijit Sen's work: http://www.kochimuzirisbiennale.org/tag/mapping-mapusa-market/ -- _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ _/ _/ Frederick Noronha http://about.me/noronhafrederick http://goa1556.in _/ P +91-832-2409490 M 9822122436 Twtr @fn Fbk: fredericknoronha _/ Goa,1556 shared audio content https://archive.org/details/goa1556 _/ _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
