http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/feb192006/books1157472006216.asp
Goan story retold Marianne de Nazareth The book takes one back to when the Portuguese ruled Goa and reveals among other things the customs of yore, some of which continue till today. Inside Goa-Manohar Malgaonkar Published by Architecture Autonomous, pp 495, Rs 695 As a Goan who identifies more with New Delhi and Bangalore than with Goa the state my ancestors hailed from, Manohar Malgonkar's 'Inside Goa' has been a sort of pilgrimage back to roots. The large coffee table book is a delightful read from start to finish with Malgaonkar deftly tracing the history of Hindu and Christian Goa. He dwells on the intricacies of how the Portuguese conquered Goa and changed the landscape and culture over hundreds of years of domination. The book has been masterfully illustrated with intricate drawings by the famed Goan cartoonist Mario Miranda, who is known for his eye for detail. Written in a fluid and easy reading style Malgaonkar takes every Goan back to the days when their Portuguese 'masters' converted them to Christianity forcibly– "Let him who wants to live in the islands become Christian". The others ran away to Mangalore and remained Hindu. Those who were converted supposedly acquired unfettered citizen privileges, as the Portuguese unlike the British were not colour and class conscious. "After they made that painful leap of faith, Goans became entitled to all the freedom that the Portuguese enjoyed. They, too, became sharers of Goa's prosperity," says Malgaonkar. Strangely only the 'Sonars' or the gold smiths were allowed to remain hindu and had to pay a shendi tax of three gold xeraphims annually for the privilege of keeping their little tufts of hair. However Malgaonkar has done his homework well and cleverly noticed that the caste system of Hinduism was absorbed into the new faith and that arranged marriages are common to both faiths till today. In fact, Malgaonkar reveals the Mirandas of Lotolim still send their annual gifts to the family temple of Shanta Durga 400 years after conversion among other families! He has also made an observation that there never has been a riot between religious factions in Goa, where live and let live is the motto. Malgaonkar traces the steps of St Francis Xavier, the patron saint of Goa, his death in 1552 in Canton and finally how his body was brought to Goa in 1554. The story of how the coffin was opened and the almost perfect body of the saint was found. It was only in 1622, that Fancis Xavier was canonised and his body was moved to its present home in the Cathedral of Bom Jesu. Socegado which means 'take it easy' has quite literally come to mean the Goan way of life. Malgaonkar talks about the Goan three-hour afternoon siesta, the preferred drink being kaju feni and seet corri (rice and curry) being the accustomed repast. Of course, the Goa of today has changed and "the siesta is only for holidays". However, the Portuguese did not want to give up Goa and in 1918 rumblings of discontent among the Goans began with the chief spokesman being Louis Menezes Braganca, who ran his own paper called O Debate and Pracasha. Finally, in 1961 our Indian troops marched into Goa Daman and Diu and Goa was 'liberated.' The rest of the book talks about the legacies left in Goa by the Portuguese besides their shining lime washed churches. Malgaonkar waxes eloquent about the green hinterland of Goa and her vast shoreline with the almost perfect beaches. The cuisine and the craft, the artists and the poets and the multi-millionaires who surfaced once the Portuguese left. To Malgaonkar, a Goan thank you– Tujen Dev baren karo! -- Peace be with you! Gabe Menezes. London, England
