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Friday, February 7, 2014
Thursday, February 6, 2014
What To Do When in Doubt
Published in Gomantak Times, Panaji, Goa on February 7, 2014
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Were Ganjem in Goa and Ganjam in Odisha linked in ancient times?
Research of history Professor Dr Pratima Kamat suggests that this was the case:
For an account of this linkage, see the report in The Times of India:
When East met West
For more on Pratima's research on the ancient port of Ganjem in Goa, also read this story in The Times of India:
Ganjem: Where the last port-of-call created the unique devi-in-a-boat
For an account of this linkage, see the report in The Times of India:
When East met West
For more on Pratima's research on the ancient port of Ganjem in Goa, also read this story in The Times of India:
Ganjem: Where the last port-of-call created the unique devi-in-a-boat
The Goa - Odisha Cultural Connect
The East and West coasts of India come togeter in a shared history of culture, maritime history and religious iconography
By Dr. Pratima P. Kamat
Goa’s cultural experience through the ages has turned the tables on Rudyard Kipling’s oft-quoted phrase, “Oh, East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet” because in Goa the twain have met to create a hybrid heritage.My ethno archaeological research into the ‘Boat Deities’ of the Mhadei River Valley (Tarini and Tar-Vir: The Unique Boat Deities of Goa, 2008) has revealed exciting new linkages between Goa and Odisha. Certain cultural similarities are visible in the ethnographical heritage of the two maritime societies, Goan and Odia, located on opposite coasts of the Indian peninsula etched in the early medieval times. Read about the age-old bond between Goa and Odisha in
The Navhind Times' Panorama Sunday Magazine on
The Goa-Odisha Cultural Connect
By Dr. Pratima P. Kamat
Goa’s cultural experience through the ages has turned the tables on Rudyard Kipling’s oft-quoted phrase, “Oh, East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet” because in Goa the twain have met to create a hybrid heritage.My ethno archaeological research into the ‘Boat Deities’ of the Mhadei River Valley (Tarini and Tar-Vir: The Unique Boat Deities of Goa, 2008) has revealed exciting new linkages between Goa and Odisha. Certain cultural similarities are visible in the ethnographical heritage of the two maritime societies, Goan and Odia, located on opposite coasts of the Indian peninsula etched in the early medieval times. Read about the age-old bond between Goa and Odisha in
The Navhind Times' Panorama Sunday Magazine on
The Goa-Odisha Cultural Connect
When the Catholic Clergy in Portuguese Goa donned the Swadesh garb
AUGUST 'KRANTI': PRIESTS AGAINST PORTUGUESE PIGMENTOCRACY
By Dr. Pratima P. Kamat
The months of August and January hold special significance to us, Indians, on account of their association with the Quit India Movement, the Independence of our country and the setting up of the Indian Republic. Interestingly, the history of Goa’s resistance to colonial hegemony has thrown up red-letter dates in these very same months. On January 26, 1852, Dipu Rane unfurled the banner of revolt against the Portuguese; the Adilshahi invasion of Goa on August 12, 1654 was influenced by Bishop Matheus de Castro, who aimed at overthrowing the racist alien rule present in his homeland; a revolt was planned for August 10, 1787 which, it is said, aspired to replace the Portuguese rule with a republican government; and in August 1895, Padre Alvares was branded ‘seditious’ for pursuing his ‘swadeshi’ ideology.
Read this riveting account of how the clergy rose in revolt against the colonial regime in Pre-Liberation Goa in
The Navhind Times's Panorama magazine: Protesting Priests of Goa
By Dr. Pratima P. Kamat
The months of August and January hold special significance to us, Indians, on account of their association with the Quit India Movement, the Independence of our country and the setting up of the Indian Republic. Interestingly, the history of Goa’s resistance to colonial hegemony has thrown up red-letter dates in these very same months. On January 26, 1852, Dipu Rane unfurled the banner of revolt against the Portuguese; the Adilshahi invasion of Goa on August 12, 1654 was influenced by Bishop Matheus de Castro, who aimed at overthrowing the racist alien rule present in his homeland; a revolt was planned for August 10, 1787 which, it is said, aspired to replace the Portuguese rule with a republican government; and in August 1895, Padre Alvares was branded ‘seditious’ for pursuing his ‘swadeshi’ ideology.
Read this riveting account of how the clergy rose in revolt against the colonial regime in Pre-Liberation Goa in
The Navhind Times's Panorama magazine: Protesting Priests of Goa
Sunday, September 30, 2012
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
http://164.100.47.132/pdfload/MyFolder%5CEnglish_Jan_2012.pdf
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Friday, July 20, 2012
When the star gets stage fright
What's to be done when the star of the show has stage fright?
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Cameo-complications/articleshow/15046862.cms
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Cameo-complications/articleshow/15046862.cms
Monday, July 2, 2012
When Paranoia strikes!
Of conspiracy theories, random targets and the art of deflection:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/The-sum-of-all-fears/articleshow/14561248.cms
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/The-sum-of-all-fears/articleshow/14561248.cms
Friday, June 1, 2012
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
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
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
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