Window screens fashioned out of nacre are a characteristic of the traditional upper class Goan house. It is unclear where or when exactly the idea originated. Some say it came from coastal Gujarat, others point to Cape Comorin. Given the mercantile links Goa enjoyed with the rest of the west coast from the earliest times,…
By default, the term “pilot” in Goa refers not to someone in the cockpit of an aircraft, but to the owner and driver of a motorcycle taxi. This mode of public transportation, perhaps not found elsewhere in India, is now a relic back from the day when Goa had a civilization. If you were going…
Breakfast this morning at one of Panjim‘s legendary cafés, Café Tato (established 1913). More on the city’s storied cafés in a future post. The bhaji-puri is Café Tato‘s signature dish. The main ingredient in the bhaji is boiled potatoes, blended and cooked in a mix of secret spices and herbs formulated in the distant past….
I have a good recollection of the Goan gentry of my young days, of their modes of dress, speech and mannerisms, of the old world charm, adapted from the Portuguese and synthesized into a uniquely Goan composite. That kind of codger is today a rare sight in Panjim. Likewise, the hardy Goan of the working…
