In one short verse, the great Goan poet Bakibab Borkar (1910-1984) captured the essence of what it means to be Goan1:

Please Sir, God of Death
Don’t make it my turn today,
not today
There’s fish curry for dinner.

[1] Great Goans by Mario Cabral e Sa and Lourdes Bravo Da Costa, N.N.A.P. Publications, 1991.

Fish is the Goan’s raison d’être, and to say that our seafood cuisine has no equal in the world is a statement of fact, not a boast. When two Goans meet, the conversation opener is always “What fish did you have today?”

Entire communities in the coastal fishing villages were once committed to the occupation. The advent of commercial fishing and its big trawlers in recent times has considerably weakened the older socio-economic practices. And with access to education and alternate career choices, the children of traditional fisherfolk have taken to casting their net on Facebook instead. There is still enough critical mass of fishing culture left in Goa to perhaps last another generation or two.

The photos in this sequence were taken in Siolim and Siridona, and convey a sense of the informal market setting in a Goan village.

Catch of the Day
5D, 24-105L

Fresh fish for the early bird
5D, 24-105L

Sorting
5D, 24-105L

Traditional fisherwoman in Siolim
5D, 24-105L

A classic Goan village scene - in Siridona
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50 f/2 MP

In Siridona
5D Mark II, Zeiss ZE 50 f/2 MP

The Goan fish market - by Mario Miranda
From 'GOA with love'

Toddy tapper Premnath Govekar of Siolim, Goa
5D, 24-105L

Mario Miranda's version (from 'GOA with love')

Premnath Govekar
5D, 24-105L

PS: Toddy.

Shiro is the classic Goan dish made with semolina, milk, sugar, and ghee. Variations on the theme are found elsewhere in India but the shiro made in Goa has its own distinct signature. When fresh banana pulp is added on special occasions, ingestion of shiro becomes a sublime religious experience. It can be consumed as a standalone item or as a plugin with the main course. Shiro is also known for its medicinal properties and will cure you of sound arterial health.

Note: A word on Konkani pronunciation – the ‘ro’ in shiro is phonetically similar to the English ‘raw’.

Shiro
5D, 24-105L

Hearty Goan breakfast
5D, 24-105L

Purveyors of shiro - a village café in Siolim
5D, 24-105L

The first rays of the morning illuminate this lone fisherman’s canoe on the Chapora river in Siolim, Goa.

Lone fisherman on Chapora river
5D Mark II, 135L

Early mornings in Goa are were like nowhere else in the world. Not long ago, Goans arose to a serene landscape serenaded by birdsong. We took the quietude and beauty of our surroundings as our birthright. But good things don’t last long (especially in today’s India). The assault on Goa‘s environment by builders & miners in cahoots with local politicos, and the unsustainable influx of outsiders into Goa have lead to a calamitous depreciation in what was perhaps the last surviving idyll in the land. In this series, I shall attempt to convey the visual essence of the Goan morning as we have known it, now on its last legs.

The present post features images made earlier this month from the bridge on River Chapora in Siolim. This is a magical locale, one that I have staked out numerous times. As the position of the sun changes through the year, so do the crepuscular atmospherics leading into sunrise. February mornings bring low hanging mist to the terrain. For a different take from another time of the year, see this.

Since the height of my tripod barely exceeded the height of the fence ringing the bridge, I had to perforce shoot handheld. As luck would have it, on this particular morning a fishing vessel appositely moored provided foreground interest to the composition. Upon the sun’s arrival, the first rays illuminating the coconut trees behind me in the village of Chopdem was another sight to savour.

Sunrise over River Chapora in Siolim
5D Mark II, Zeiss 50mm f/2 Makro Planar + Singh-Ray Reverse GND Filter

Mornin' in Siolim
5D Mark II, 135L

Coconut fronds lit by the first rays of the sun
5D Mark II, Zeiss 50mm f/2 Makro Planar

The quaint village of Siolim in northern Goa stirs to life as the first rays of the sun irradiate the waters of River Chapora.

Sunrise in Siolim
5D, 300L f/4 IS