Good insights on Goa's past ... Enjoyed reading and had a good laugh - Reader Luis Gomes on Short Takes Long Memories

Extracts from the observations by reader Luis Gomes from Margao, Goa after reading Short Takes Long Memories"

"As I am a Goan, born in East Africa and spent my first 14.5 years there, I have been keen to read and know more of Goa hence grateful for having read the above book. It has given me some good insights on our past.

I enjoyed reading about the visit to pharmacy;  Portuguese's boxes of sausages; and the Kundaim Village Elder's Speech and really had a good laugh. I have narrated these stories to a few friends."

Luis Gomes

*The blog thanks Mr Gomes for permission to use his reader's review on this website

Short Takes Long Memories: featuring for some odd reason on Malaysia News site

ReviewShort Takes

And in The Freedom Village Tribune in Portugal in the News

Short Takes Long Memories

Short Takes, Long Memories (Rupa, Rs 195) by Sharmila Kamat and Prabhakar Kamat describes itself as a “ringside view of an eventful period in Goa's history”. .....

Short Takes Long Memories: Paperback Pickings featured on UN3.com

Review

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110729/jsp/opinion/story_14295938.jsp

Featuring on WorldNews

Short Takes Long Memories on WorldNews.com

A fascinating first-person account of Goa's history - Short Takes Long Memories review in Paperback Pickings in The Telegraph, Calcutta July 29, 2011

An account of Goa's history by someone closely associated with the centers of powers, both in Portugal and in India

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110729/jsp/opinion/story_14295938.jsp

Short Takes Long Memories at the Global Goan Convention, London 22-25 July

Featuring as part of the Goa Books on Sale at the meeting of the global Goan diaspora in London

Courtesy: Books Convention 2011

"There is something particularly pleasing and sweet in an authentic narration of vignettes.."

In the Bookworm in Herald july 24, 2011, a review of Short Takes Long Memories.

Some highlights:

- Sharing of the experiences
- An appropriately designed cover
- Peppers his stories with funny anecdotes
- Excellent contents

Written in a light-hearted style and peppered with stories of meetings with Prime Ministers and Presidents

In Viva Goa July 2011 - Short Takes Long Memories

On Hindustan Times New Books list - Featuring in What's cooking as Memoirs

Short Takes Long Memories

New in Goa - in Target Goa : Short Takes Long Memories

Goa news

An engaging work with an easy read and vast canvas: Review of Short Takes Long Memories in the Sunday Indian

His personal experiences are woven with passion that entice the reader till the end

Read it all here

Replug: Life and Times in Goa and Portugal

A new book on Goa and Portugal - announced on the Gulf Goans newsletter

of interest to the Goan diaspora in Kuwait, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and other places

Replug: In the Afternoon Despatch and Courier: Goa as it then was and is now

Goa Book Short Takes Long Memories - On Mitra Images

Available in South Asia books

How stereotypes and cliches have dominated the Goa-Portugal relation and how books like Short Takes Long Memories help in setting the record straight

Commenting on how the Goa-Portugal narrative has been dominated by a sense of victimhood disallowing a proper reappraisal of how the relationship shaped attitudes in both the lands

.... and how books like Short Takes Long Memories - a memoir by a Goan administrator who occupied the senior echelons of both the Portuguese Goan and the Indian (IAS) bureaucracy help set the record straight

In the 13 July 2011 issue of Herald:

Get an insight into how the Portuguese were different from the British (though not always in a bad sense)

in the very-well analysed review of Short Takes Long Memories by Frederick Noronha in the Gomantak Times

Aparant and the winds of trade

Goa - Its Tryst with Trade
Goa's journey as an entrepot of note over the last centuries.

By Dr Pratima Kamat
Published by Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Price: Rs 1,500

For details on how to acquire this piece of history contact the blog

As Mhadei gears up to become Goa's first tiger sanctuary, a reminder of the its role in blending water and worship

Tarini and Tar Vir: The Unique Boat Deities of Goa

Author: Dr Pratima Kamat,
Publisher: GOINCARH
Price: Rs 500
Fabulous discount for students, researchers and academics

Get your copy TODAY!

The book explores the cultural linkages between water and worship in India's famed travel destination - Goa and analyses the boat motifs found on the unique Devi ('Tarini') and Vir ('Tar-Vir') sculptures located away from the coast, along the banks of River Mhadei, and its tributaries, in the forested, hilly sub-Ghat administrative districts of Sattari and Sanguem in Goa.

These unique 'speciality' Devis (Goddesses) of Goa, which are exclusive to Goa, are cast in the mould of well known Hindu religious deities like Mahishasuramardini, Brahmani, Gajalakshmi and Jogeshwari. They are either standing or seated in a boat, or portray the boat as a howdah or have the boat carved on the pedestal. The sculptures of the Vir, with the boat motif etched on its pedestal, have also been analysed in the book.

The 'Tarini' is an amalgam of folk, Sanskritic, Buddhist and Jaina traditions and provides valuable clues about the Western Ghats-Arabian Sea trade of which Sattari had served as an important conduit in the past.

Tarini and Tar-Vir gives us an insight on the ports of the Mhadei and the ship-building/repair centre that this region must have played host to in the early medieval times.

The book is based on studies conducted along the banks of the River Mhadei and its tributaries, in not so easily accessible and heavily forested environs and relies on primary and secondary documentation repositories in Goa and other parts of India. It includes maps, a rare collection of photographs of the deities and rare cultural forms of the two adminisitrative districts Sattari and Sanguem covered in the book.

For enquiries please contact the blog

Featured in the Book Review section of Uday India

Short Takes Long Memories - My Goa as it then was and in some ways still is in the July 2011 issue

Snapshots of a bygone era in the July 2011 issue of My Goa

As the global conflict rages on, in Goa the caminhão lurches along narrow lanes even as the funcionário público sips his ardha single in a safed cup of tea and the bhatcar berates the local layabout in pidgin Portuguese.

On penny-pinching dictators and penny-saving locals: in the July issue of Goa Today

Featuring Short Takes Long Memories - a commentary on Goa, Portugal and Antonio Salazar - the fascist ruler as noted for his tightfistedness as for his tight fist

On the Sunday Herald Supplement of the Deccan Herald - Book Rack

Short Takes Long Memories - Based on the memories of a diplomat, this book captures an eventful period in Goa’s history — its transition from being a Portuguese colony to becoming Indian.

Short Takes Long Memories announced on The Goan Voice, UK

Announcing a new book on Goa, Portugal before and after Liberation in the newsletter of the portal of the Goan diaspora in the UK

A chance to slip into the frame and absorb the ambience of another Goa

Customer review on Crosswords.in for Short Takes Long Memories:


For those who are interested in getting a feel of just how Goan evolved (and in some cases, as in the laid-back attitude, did not evolve) over the years from a sleepy overgrown village to what it is today, this book offers a chance to slip into the frame and absorb the ambience. The phenomenal memory of the author allows him to remember quirks of the 1940s when rigid rules of social interaction required that even dishes, plates and spoons be different for persons of different religions eating at a restaurant. There are some interesting titbits about George Fernandes and his Socialist Party and their activities in Portugal during the Emergency.
Review

Short Takes in Hello Magazine: Check out BookMark in the July 2011 issue

With sharp insights and witty anecdotes, the book showcases life as it was and, in some cases, still is in Goa.

As sea and serenity meet: Tarini and Tar Vir the unique boat deities of Goa

Author: Dr Pratima Kamat,
Publisher: GOINCARH
Price: Rs 500

Get your copy TODAY!

The book explores the cultural linkages between water and worship in India's famed travel destination - Goa and analyses the boat motifs found on the unique Devi ('Tarini') and Vir ('Tar-Vir') sculptures located away from the coast, along the banks of River Mhadei, and its tributaries, in the forested, hilly sub-Ghat administrative districts of Sattari and Sanguem in Goa.

These unique 'speciality' Devis (Goddesses) of Goa, which are exclusive to Goa, are cast in the mould of well known Hindu religious deities like Mahishasuramardini, Brahmani, Gajalakshmi and Jogeshwari. They are either standing or seated in a boat, or portray the boat as a howdah or have the boat carved on the pedestal. The sculptures of the Vir, with the boat motif etched on its pedestal, have also been analysed in the book.

The 'Tarini' is an amalgam of folk, Sanskritic, Buddhist and Jaina traditions and provides valuable clues about the Western Ghats-Arabian Sea trade of which Sattari had served as an important conduit in the past.

Tarini and Tar-Vir gives us an insight on the ports of the Mhadei and the ship-building/repair centre that this region must have played host to in the early medieval times.

The book is based on studies conducted along the banks of the River Mhadei and its tributaries, in not so easily accessible and heavily forested environs and relies on primary and secondary documentation repositories in Goa and other parts of India. It includes maps, a rare collection of photographs of the deities and rare cultural forms of the two adminisitrative districts Sattari and Sanguem covered in the book.

For enquiries and to get a slice of Goa's ancient history at a fantastic discount please contact the blog

Tale of land caught between India and an inflexible colonial regime - in the Hindu

Book Reviews featuring Short Takes Long Memories in the Hindu Print Pricks

There's the lingering feeling that the ethos of the Goemkar has remained

says the Afternoon Despatch and Courier after reading the review of Short Takes Long Memories

Now available in the UK - Short Takes Long Memories

Abe Books

Featuring on Joel Pics Goa Books

Short Takes long Memories on Joel's pics