|
|
|
|
METRO TODAY | DAILY NEWS | ASTROLOGY | ARCHIVES | INDIA TODAY | HOME |
|
|
House
by the Sea Capturing Goa's delightful buildings for posterity. By Joel Rai HOUSES OF GOA Think of Goa and it's sun 'n' sand that springs to mind. If not, it's the laid back existence filled with dance and music. The Goans themselves have a word for the life they lead: susegade, which, shorn of much of its local flavour, would mean "lazy". But susegade has been fast receding into the background. Caught up in the 20th century rat race, many Goans have left their littoral paradise, and history is dying a gentle death. Nothing is more symbolic of this than the houses left in neglect by migrating owners and landlords who would put their estates to more lucrative use. The structures -- a grand amalgamation of diverse styles and elements -- once represented Goan sensibilities. A simple, mud-house dwelling people who, under Portuguese influence, learnt to admire the decorative in architecture. The pursuit fitted in with their aspiration to live like their colonial masters. Houses of Goa, a labour of love for the trio of journalist Heta Pandit, architect Annabel Mascarenhas and photographer Ashok Koshy, records the eclectic style of the dying Goan tradition of house-building. Using the locally available laterite and abundant wood, Goans came up with spacious buildings, extravagantly embellished with carved corbels, fluted columns, arched windows and intricate railings. Typical of this style was the balcao, the patio-like space at the front entrance, where people could sit and talk in the cool of the evenings. A project of well-known architect Gerard Da Cunha and his Architect Autonomous, the book took over five years to research. The material also forms part of an exhibition, currently in Porto, Portugal, and scheduled to visit Lisbon in September, Mumbai in December and Delhi after that. Houses of Goa, however, is not only about stones and sticks. It has engaging chapters on life before the Portuguese stepped on the sandy beaches in the 1500s and on cultural norms and social mores during a colonial era; a harkening back to a genteel era that some families, like cartoonist Mario Miranda's, are still trying to perpetuate. The book, above all, is an admirable attempt to document the unique features of Goan houses before time's relentless march robs architecture of a unique style. Loneliness from a singularly migrant point of view. By Purabi Panwar AWAKE WHEN ALL THE WORLD IS ASLEEP Immigrant literature finds sustenance in the country of its author's origin, especially in the initial stages when one does not relate deeply to the country of adoption. For most Indians settled abroad, nostalgic re-creations of "home" find expression in creativity even when material considerations make it impossible to go back. A recent spate of long and short fiction by Indians settled abroad illustrates this. Awake When All the World is Asleep, a collection of stories by Shree Ghatage settled in Canada, can be included in this category of immigrant writing. This collection of 11 stories, most of them based in Mumbai, has the same characters flitting in and out of more than one tale. This gives the stories a continuity. Shaila, who returns home for her father's 60th birthday, is overcome by the memory of "strong aromas of frying curry leaves, roasting brinjal and garam masala" but rejects the idea of getting married and settling down in India. Is it because of her Canadian boyfriend Simon or a reluctance to a familiarly secure but closed ambience in a middle-class Maharashtrian set up? One wonders. Some of the stories are startlingly different. "Deafness Comes to Me" is about the hallucinatory experiences of a lonely woman who is slowly going deaf -- or thinks she is. Loneliness features in quite a few stories. It is often instrumental in giving unexpected twists to relationships, as in "I am the Bougainvillea". Loneliness born out of lack of communication -- between mother and daughter, husband and wife -- is something that figures significantly in immigrant writing. The nuances of middle-class life come across well and Ghatage retains many Marathi words. She explains them in a glossary, that one feels is not necessary. In the end, Shaila is ready to go back and one realises where her (and her creator's?) priorities lie. |
||||
| Top |
 BUSINESS TODAY | INDIA TODAY PLUS | COMPUTERS TODAY Write to us | Subscriptions | Advertise with
us |
