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Book review
In December 1961, Indian troops marched into Goa putting an end to over 450 years of Portuguese rule, the longest spell of colonialism on the subcontinent, and Goa became part of the Indian union. In popular imagination, however, Goa has remained a place not quite India, and stereotypes about Goa and Goans abound.
Maria Aurora Couto's unique blend of biography, memoir and social history brings us the Goa behind the beaches and booze culture that is projected for the tourist and which has unfortunately come to define Goa for the vast majority outside the state. Starting with an account of the immediate aftermath of Liberation, Couto goes back and forth in time to examine the fundamental transformations in Goan society from 1510, when Afonso de Albuquerque conquered Goa, up to the present.
Drawing upon the experiences of her own family and those of others, both Hindu and Catholic, she writes of the influences that have touched all Goans—the Luso-Indian culture; conversion and the Inquisition; political and cultural changes in Europe such as the French Revolution and the ideals of republicanism; folk traditions, music and the Konkani language; and, ultimately, freedom and integration with India. In the process she reveals how Goa, which combines the best of traditional and cosmopolitan lifestyles, has evolved into India's twenty-first-century model of economic development and communal harmony.
Written with sensitivity, insight and scholarship, Goa: A Daughter's Story is at once expansive and intimate: a moving narrative about home, the village and the world, in which the author crosses the boundaries between history and memory, truth and imagination, to evoke personal and community experience. It is as much an appraisal of Goa's past as it is an examination of its present and a vision for its future.
About the author Maria Aurora Couto is the author of Graham Greene: On the Frontier: Politics and Religion in the Novels. She has taught English literature in India, and contributed to periodicals in India and England.
In December 1961, Indian troops marched into Goa putting an end to over 450 years of Portuguese rule, the longest spell of colonialism on the subcontinent, and Goa became part of the Indian union. In popular imagination, however, Goa has remained a place not quite India, and stereotypes about Goa and Goans abound.
Maria Aurora Couto's unique blend of biography, memoir and social history brings us the Goa behind the beaches and booze culture that is projected for the tourist and which has unfortunately come to define Goa for the vast majority outside the state. Starting with an account of the immediate aftermath of Liberation, Couto goes back and forth in time to examine the fundamental transformations in Goan society from 1510, when Afonso de Albuquerque conquered Goa, up to the present.
Drawing upon the experiences of her own family and those of others, both Hindu and Catholic, she writes of the influences that have touched all Goans—the Luso-Indian culture; conversion and the Inquisition; political and cultural changes in Europe such as the French Revolution and the ideals of republicanism; folk traditions, music and the Konkani language; and, ultimately, freedom and integration with India. In the process she reveals how Goa, which combines the best of traditional and cosmopolitan lifestyles, has evolved into India's twenty-first-century model of economic development and communal harmony.
Written with sensitivity, insight and scholarship, Goa: A Daughter's Story is at once expansive and intimate: a moving narrative about home, the village and the world, in which the author crosses the boundaries between history and memory, truth and imagination, to evoke personal and community experience. It is as much an appraisal of Goa's past as it is an examination of its present and a vision for its future.
About the author Maria Aurora Couto is the author of Graham Greene: On the Frontier: Politics and Religion in the Novels. She has taught English literature in India, and contributed to periodicals in India and England.
Non-Fiction
Puffin Classics: Boyhood Days - By Rabindranath Tagore
Hidden inside an ancient palanquin on a hot, lonely afternoon, a young boy sets off on an imaginary adventure. He encounters gangs of bandit...more>>
Hidden inside an ancient palanquin on a hot, lonely afternoon, a young boy sets off on an imaginary adventure. He encounters gangs of bandit...more>>
A View from the Outside: Why Good Economics Works for Everyone - By P.Chidambaram
Economics is the science of the possible made to look like the art of the impossibleā€™ is a definition that would strike a chord wi...more>>
Economics is the science of the possible made to look like the art of the impossibleā€™ is a definition that would strike a chord wi...more>>
A View from the Outside: Why Good Economics Works for Everyone - By P.Chidambaram
Economics is the science of the possible made to look like the art of the impossibleā€™ is a definition that would strike a chord with a...more>>
Economics is the science of the possible made to look like the art of the impossibleā€™ is a definition that would strike a chord with a...more>>
Mohandas: A True Story of a Man, His People and an Empire - By Rajmohan Gandhi
A candid recreation of one of the most influential lives of recent times, Mohandas finally answers questions long asked about the timid yout...more>>
A candid recreation of one of the most influential lives of recent times, Mohandas finally answers questions long asked about the timid yout...more>>
Midway Station: Real-Life Stories of Homeless Children - By Lara Shankar
There are millions of children in India today who spend their childhood on the streets, in railway stations and jail-like shelters, living o...more>>
There are millions of children in India today who spend their childhood on the streets, in railway stations and jail-like shelters, living o...more>>