The flotilla of barges plying in Goa‘s rivers presents a charming diversion to the tourist, but this picture postcard scene masks a dark and ominous reality. Goa is being mined to death, with devastating consequences, some of them not yet upon us. Forests have been flattened, and beautiful villages trashed, muddied, their air rendered unbreathable…
Earlier this week I called on Tulsidas Borkar, the virtuoso of the harmonium, at his home in Mumbai. He received me warmly. We reminisced about the great Goan musicians of the 20th C and their disproportionate contributions to Indian Classical Music. He then pulled out his harmonium and launched into an impromptu recital. Tulsidas-bab was…
I have fond memories of childhood summer days slaked by the mere sight of the Codd soda bottle – named after its British inventor Hiram Codd. In Goa we knew it as “Guddechi baatli” and possession of the embedded “goddo” (the glass marble) gave many a young brat not inconsiderable bragging rights. Today the Codd…
The wedding of the sacred plant Tulsi – known as Tulsi lagna or Tulsi vivah – was celebrated in Hindu households throughout Goa on the evening of Oct 30. I meandered through the villages of Chorão and Tikhazana, sampling the primed Tulsi Vrindavans of varied designs and the associated festivities. …
In the realm of Portraiture, two lenses in the Canon line-up – EF 85mm f/1.2 L II and EF 135mm f/2 L – have attained occult status for their superlative optical performance and for the creative possibilities they open. The 85L II lens was primarily conceived as a portrait lens. Not the fastest autofocus arrow…
