Goan connection Time Out recommends A new Bombay book is about a bygone era, finds Time Out
“Look at what’s become of Bombay today — it’s a wonder we even survive!” exclaimed Reena Martins, looking up from her laptop which was buzzing every other minute with a new email. In a conversation with Time Out Mumbai, Martins, the author of the self-published Bomoicar, reminisced about a Bombay “in which people had time for each other. People could come over and you would cook for them; no one said, ‘I don’t have the time’.” Martins, in a slim volume of stories, gives us a peek into Bombay during the twentieth century, with stories spanning from 1920 to 1980. Bomoicar is the Konkani word for Goans from Bombay, and the 31 short stories in the 154-page book take us back to the Bombay that used to be, through the eyes of Goan immigrants. Martins, a journalist by profession, started working on the book nearly a decade ago, in 2004. She was part of a mailing list called Goanet whose members comprised of Goans living in different parts of the world. Using it as her only source, she crowd-sourced from members and got an overwhelming response. “The idea was to talk about the everyday Goan — not the rich upper crust,” said Martins. The book, which was released in May this year, gives us stories about a city that existed a century ago. The tales take you back to the days of the Prohibition when the Goan Aunty thrived, “big fat” pomfrets cost eight annas each, ladies knitted and chatted on the local to Thane, and Goans needed a visa to come to Bombay. Martins was keen on using the oral history method of narration, rejecting the idea of spending days researching in a library. She got in touch with a few people who lived through that period — Irene Heredia (now deceased, but then in her 90s), narrated stories about her days at Cathedral School, which she attended with “white girls”. Another source was John Menezes, a retired chief mechanical engineer, who gave her all her food stories. “I felt like I was being taken back into a completely different world, into another Bombay; I could never even imagine that it existed,” she quipped. When Martins, a born and bred Punekar of Goan descent, first moved to the city in 1995, she used to take a bus to Bandra, to walk around and gaze at the Portuguese cottages. But over the years she saw the cottages being broken down and replaced by high-rises, which deeply affected her. “I think it was that sadness that led me to work on this book. I wanted to see Bombay in a much better light and capture the lost glory of the city,” she explained, “I’m so disappointed in the Bombay of today — the city has become unlivable, attitudes have become completely callous. Everybody is so self-involved.” The story “Our Lady is Coming” makes us relive a common Goan tradition, in which the statue of Mother Mary is brought to a Goan Catholic house, and all neighbours, friends and relatives of the family come together to celebrate and to pray. This tradition still continues in some Goan communities in Bombay. Martins pointed out, “Our Lady had come to my neighbour’s house the other day, and so we all went over.” But traditions like these are dying out, “These days, nobody has time for Our Lady to come to their house, we’re all busy with work. But this is a conscious choice that we have made for ourselves.” Referring to “Cotton Mary”, a story about a woman who used to beg and sing on the streets of common Goan areas like Grant Road and Byculla, she said, “Back then, people would come out and listen to her and throw coins. Some of them would even send down their children with potato chops — who would do that in this day and age? Would a Cotton Mary stand a chance today if she came to my building?” Martins never expected such an overwhelming response to the book, and her phone has been ringing ever since it has been published. She attributes its success to the sense of nostalgia that she, and many other Goans living in different corners of the world, are trying to helplessly hold on to. “If that were not the case, Goans from all over the world would not be asking for this book, it would have been an insignificant book,” she explained, and hopes that while reading Bomoicar, they will relive those precious moments which, for some, are now lost forever. To order a copy of Bomoicar, email [email protected]/ [email protected]. By Tanya Sharma on July 03 2014 Photos by Stashia D'souza http://www.timeoutmumbai.net/mumbai-local/features/goan-connection
