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Stage Play: ON THE HOLY TRAIL
Staged By: The Mustard Seed Art Company
Where: Kala Academy - Mini Open-air Auditorium
When: Dec 20 & 21, 2007 @ 7pm
Read a Review at:
http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2007-December/066558.html
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I could not agree with Santosh more on this post. Some time ago, I had posted
the following on GRN (Goa Research Network) and cautioned the readers about
what will happen down the line. Looks like my hunch was right earlier than I
had predicted. I think Goanetters will enjoy (LOL) the interview of this
English author.
It is bad enough that native Goans have to put up with distortions from
Diaspora Goans. Now others including best selling authors and post-graduate
students writing their PD thesis, from Europe to North America to South America
are preying on Goans.
Regards, GL
This was posted by me on GRN - Goa Research Network
Below, are abstracts from an Internet web page of an interview with an author
who wrote a novel / historical account about the Inquisition in Goa - Richard
Zimler's novel Guardian of the Dawn. Goan authors and wannabe authors would
find the following of great interest. Likely in two years someone on one of the
Goan or the RSS web sites will quote this book as authoritative.
Kind Regards, GL
Abstract from the Internet web page interview with:
Richard Zimler: Author of Guardian of the Dawn.
Interviewer: Lindsay Pereira
http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/sep/14inter1.htm
The advertising byline to the book is:
"Goa Inquisition was most merciless and cruel ... It is important to reopen old
wounds"
-----------------
The research involved in Guardian of the Dawn is obviously immense. Could you
tell me a little about the kind of preparatory work you had to put in?
To write the book, I tried to read everything I could about daily life on the
west coast of India -- more specifically, in and around Goa -- at the end of
the sixteenth century. The Internet has made that sort of research much easier
than it used to be, and I was able to order books about everything from
traditional medical practices -- including recipes for specific ailments -- to
animals and plants indigenous to that region.
When I write a novel, I want to get all the details right, so this is very
important. Of course, it was also vital for me to know as much as I could about
Hinduism and Catholicism. As you mentioned, I studied Comparative Religion at
university, so this was pretty easy. One of the main characters in the novel is
a Jain, which is a religion I have always been curious about, so I read three
or four books about Jainism as well. It was wonderful to be able to learn a bit
about Jain belief and practice. Writing is always a great opportunity for me to
keep learning.
Did you visit Goa at any point? If not, what did you base your descriptions of
the state upon?
No, I decided not to go to Goa, because I didn't want any images from modern
Goa to infiltrate into the novel. I didn't want to risk inadvertently putting
something from today into it. So I based my descriptions on other areas of the
world I've visited that have similar flora and fauna -- Thailand, for instance.
Also, I read all I could about the city so that my descriptions of the
buildings, for instance, would be accurate. I then used my imagination, which
is the most important thing for a writer. I now have a landscape in my head
that is Goa -- and the surrounding region -- in 1600. I don't know how it
developed. It's almost magical.
As an author -- more specifically, an author devoted to history -- you have a
unique perspective on the past. As a journalist, how important is examining the
past to you?
As a journalist, it's important, because I think we can change the world by
exposing past injustices. By writing about atrocities, we can change policy and
avoid future wars. We can get war criminals punished. We can help people win
fundamental human rights. Unfortunately, so much journalism is superficial and
stupid that there is little room left for important articles.
------------ Santosh Helekar wrote:
We ought to learn about our history in gruesome detail, however painful and
distasteful it might be. But the history we learn has to be accurate. It is
very easy to distort and revise it, and to propagate the distorted view through
the internet without checking on the accuracy of the facts being propagated.
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Spread the Christmas Cheer, even when you're not here!
Send classic greetings to your loved ones in Goa.
EXPRESSIONS - 2007 Christmas Hamper
Visit http://www.goa-world.com/expressions/xmas/
Or e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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