The Wagle's Goan Jaunt - excerpt from Mango Mood By Sharmila Kamat, Rupa Books, 2010

The Wagles' Goan Jaunt - a spoof written during the airing of the original Wagle ki Duniya that was shown on Doordarshan from 1988-1990.

This is a fictional account of the Wagles' going to Goa for a vacation. This is when Raju and Manoj, the Wagle sons, were young boys. 

In the new Wagle ki Duniya - Nayi Peedhi, Naye Kissey, Raju, now a householder with two children of his own, wants to go to Goa for a holiday with his parents, wife and children. His plan is stymied when he injures his foot. 

 Still, what if things turned out different and the Wagles travelled to Goa for sun, sea, sands and serenity?

Would things be different this time around?

Here is a look at what happened on the last Goan Holiday:

 

 

Illustrations: Naguesh Sardessai

 

Short Takes Long Memories available in the Library of the Indian Parliament, New Delhi

Short Takes Long Memories (http://www.rupapublications.co.in/client/Book/Short-Takes-Long-Memories.aspx) available in the Library of the Parliament of India, New Delhi under Social History / Biographies
http://164.100.47.132/pdfload/MyFolder%5CEnglish_Jan_2012.pdf

Three Speeds - Slow, Slower, Stationary

In the summer, I took the caminhão from Margão to Ponda, a major commercial centre in central Goa, to spend a few weeks at my uncle’s estate in Khandepar, a picturesque village five kilometres from Ponda. Today it takes less than ten minutes to drive down from Ponda to Khandepar. Then, it took more than an hour of brisk walking before you reached your destination.
With other residents preceding, and following in, my footsteps, I did not lack for company during my trek. As I walked, I met villagers on their way to Ponda either to catch the caminhão to Panaji or Margão or to sell their produce in the market.
The trees lining the roads would offer a shady place to rest when I felt myself wilting under the summer sun. The thought of diving into the cool waters of the Khandepar River in the company of the other village boys spurred me on. That and the prospect of participating in the evening soirées on my uncle’s porch.
Just before sundown, a group of his neighbours would converge around the red-cemented seats lining my uncle’s balcão. He would be seated in a rocking chair in his favourite spot by the door, a tiny gold-coloured snuffbox in his hand. As each friend arrived, he would pour a small quantity of snuff onto his palm and offer it to the newcomer.
Taking snuff, they say, is one of the rare occasions when the hand that giveth rests beneath the hand that taketh. Each villager would take a pinch of snuff between his thumb and his forefinger, put it in one nostril and then the other and sniff deeply. I would watch the exercise fascinated, hoping for a chance to mimic their actions.
One evening, I summoned the courage to ask my uncle to allow me to sample the snuff. I had watched the three-step sequence so often I felt I could do it with my eyes closed. At first, my uncle demurred, contending that I was too young for these adult indulgences. When I persisted, he relented and let me sample the powder.
I pinched. I pushed. I sniffed. I began to sneeze loudly, uncontrollably. My throat was on fire. My face hurt. Water poured out of my eyes. As the mist before my eyes cleared, I caught a glimpse of the expressions on the faces around me. They oscillated between concern for my well-being and amusement at my predicament.
I never went anywhere close to a snuffbox again.
...............................


Experience life as it was lived in Goa, India just before its Liberation from Portuguese rule 50 plus years after Goa became part of the Indian Union in

Short Takes Long Memories by Prabhakar Kamat and Sharmila Kamat

Available at:
http://www.amazon.com/Short-Takes-Long-Memories-Kamat/dp/8129118211
http://www.rupapublications.co.in/client/Book/Short-Takes-Long-Memories.aspx

after reading some of the reviews like

http://www.thesundayindian.com/en/story/short-takes-long-memories/13/18503/s

and elseqhere in this blog

Babi, Shabi, pouca diferença

A popular Konkani (well actually, Portuguese) version of that English expression- one and the same thing.

Glance through Short Takes Long Memories to find out the antecedents of this expression and, in the process, learn of the Keystone Cops nature of the law-enforcers in Portuguese Goa

Growing up Goan during its passage to India after 451 years adrift in the Ultramar Português- a rollicking journey in time in the company of serendipity, Salazar and the spirit of socegado
http://www.rupapublications.co.in/client/Book/Short-Takes-Long-Memories.aspx

An amusing memoir.... an affectionate rambling account - In the Times of India Crest Edition

on Short Takes Long Memories

http://www.timescrest.com/culture/gallery/quick-review-5904

See also: http://mangomood.blogspot.com/2011/10/short-takes-long-memories-on-goas.html

Seasons in the Sun: A sneak peak into the land of sun, sand and socegado

Seasons in the Sun: By Sharmila Kamat in the Smithsonian Mag


Think of Goa and the following images spring to the mind - miles upon miles of sun-kissed beaches. Palm trees swaying gently in the mid-morning breeze. Narrow country lanes weaving their way through vast stretches of lush, green paddy fields.

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/departments/my-kind-of-town/your-kind-of-town/Goa-India.html#ixzz1b0Z8Jxpw

She has wielded her pen with ease - Review of Mango Mood by Sharmila Kamat

in the Hungry Reader

On the Bookshelf - Review of Short Takes Long Memories in DNA

http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/slideshow_book-shelf_1588699-4#top

Different shades of colors of life and society - review of Mango Mood

Written like a comedy film - Review of Short Takes Long Memories in Goa Today September 2011 issue

Narrated with a smile and many winks  by former administrador turned IAS Officer and diplomat

Review of Short Takes Long Memories by Augusto Pinto  in the September 2011 issue of Goa Today

"Fifty years ago, we wonder what was life back then ... " Read about Goa in the past in Planet Goa's review of Short Takes Long Memories

"Fifty years ago, we wonder what was life back then ... Was it a Golden Goa as the discourse suggests?...."

Read about how Short Takes Long Memories takes the reader on a memory trip to another time, another place in amchem Goem in Frederick Noronha's review in the August 2011 issue of Planet Goa

"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

Replug: Life and Times in Goa and Portugal

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

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