Readings from Mango Mood - with words of encouragement by Gulzar

Goa served Sunny Side Up - a reading from Mango Mood on Goa's Golden Day

On the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of Goa's Liberation from Portuguese colonial rule, a reading of Mango Mood by Sharmila Kamat (Rupa Publications, 2011) at the Goa LitFest held at the International Centre, Goa.
Noted writer and lyricist Gulzar enjoys the tongue-in-cheek take on that part of India that till 50 years back spoke with a Portuguese accent.
Picture courtesy: Galileo Fernandes
www.goaartlitfest.com
www.internationalcentregoa.com

Mango Mood at the Goa Lit Fest

http://www.goaartlitfest.com/galf2011/participatingauthors_2011_III.htm#Sharmila

http://www.rupapublications.co.in/client/Book/MANGO-MOOD.aspx

On the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of Goa's Passage to India after 451 years adrift in the Portugues
Ultramar

http://www.amazon.com/Mango-Mood-Sharmila-Kamat/dp/8129117223/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323240251&sr=1-1

On the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of Goa's Liberation

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1111127/jsp/7days/story_14804236.jsp

Books — including Goan writer Manoharrai Sardesai’s poetry — are also being launched to mark the event. ---------Sharmila Kamat’s Short Takes, Long Memories and Mango Mood will released at the art-and-lit fest.

A ringside view of Goa’s passage to India after 451 years adrift in the Ultramar Português:  http://tinyurl.com/7lcux2o
Of men, matters and madcap capers in the part of India that once spoke with a Portuguese accent: http://tinyurl.com/6o53eby

An observant eye and a witty turn of phrase

On Goan culture and society - with tongue firmly in cheek

“On the first day, he is not unduly perturbed, the taste of yesterday’s fish curry is still fresh, on the second day the memory persists-but only just.
On third day, no sooner is the idol of Lord Ganesh given a ceremonial immersion than he’s back to where he belongs – in the fish market, making up for the lost time.”
-from the book ‘Mango Mood’
The most common problem with reader is that he used to get addicted to a particular mood. Though there may be different kind of claims by author or publishers or readers of a book or author but the central theme of most of the books is generally one. Love or affection, technology or science, horror, conspiracy, corruption or any other the central theme moves around the one theme whether author does it unconsciously or deliberately.
Bringing out different shades and colours of life and society in a book through writing requires serious observation and presentation skill. When the book comes as a collection of writings the reading becomes more interesting. ‘Mango Mood’ is one of the books falls in this category.
Though the book heavily talks about Goan culture and society but despite it the writings presents different shades of Indian mindset. From fish curry to Ganesh Chaturthi, Wagle ki Dunia to modern politics, Bapu to Las Vegas, common family and social issues… author tried to talk about everything though in a lighter vein.

http://www.rupapublications.com/client/Book/MANGO-MOOD.aspx

Short Takes Long Memories: On Goa's passage to India after 451 years of Portuguese rule

Short Takes Long Memories

By

Prabhakar Kamat and Sharmila Kamat

(New Delhi: Rupa Publications, 2011).

Price: Rs. 195/-       ISBN_PB: 9788129118219

Short Takes Long Memories is a ringside view of Goa’s passage to India after 451 years of Portuguese colonial rule. Published by Rupa Publications, this is based on the reminiscences of Mr. Prabhakar Kamat, a retired IAS officer and diplomat based in Goa. The book is an account of Growing up Goan in a land buffeted by the conflicting claims of newly free India and a Salazarist dictatorship unable to reconcile itself to imperialism’s waning appeal.

A set of evocative images characterise Goa in the 1940s. As the global conflict rages on, in Goa the caminhão lurches along narrow lanes even as the funcionário público sips his ardha single in a safed cup of tea and the bhatcar berates the local layabout in pidgin Portuguese.

The end of the war allows the narrator to travels to Europe for graduate studies. In Lisbon, he adjusts to life under Dr. António Salazar, the Portuguese strongman as famed for his tight fist as for his tightfistedness. He learns why the Portuguese love coffee houses and is reminded that stepping out sans necktie is an egregious breach of etiquette. His interaction with freedom fighters from the larger Ultramar Português makes him privy to the unswerving resolve of men like T.B. Cunha, Agostinho Neto and Marcelino dos Santos.

As the 1950s proceed, he returns to Portuguese Goa and joins the colonial administration. Indian efforts to dislodge the Portuguese culminate in a blink-and-you-miss-it Army action. As Goa joins India, he gets to contrast the administrative styles of a colony with a free land.

The loss of the ‘swaggering capital of the Portuguese Empire of the East,’ to quote William Dalrymple leads to momentous changes in Portugal. Democracy is ushered in by the Carnation Revolution of 1974. Restoration of diplomatic ties between India and Portugal allow the narrator to return to Lisbon as an Indian diplomat. He gets to witness Portugal savouring freedom after 40 years of dictatorial rule - right around the time Emergency is imposed in India. 

Humorous and thought provoking, Short Takes includes rare photos from Mr Kamat’s private collection. Priced at Rs 195/-, it is available in major Goan bookshops, online and at Rupa’s site: http://www.rupapublications.co.in/client/Book/Short-Takes-Long-Memories.aspx

Mango Mood: of people and peculiarites in the idea of India

http://www.rupapublications.co.in/client/Author/Sharmila-Kamat.aspx

Mango Mood

By

Sharmila Kamat

(New Delhi: Rupa Publications, 2010).

166pp. Paperback. Book Size: 5.1x7.75.  

Price: $10/-. Rs. 195/-

ISBN_PB: 9788129117229

This book chronicles the story of Goa, and India, in its recent past, as retold by a bemused yet indulgent Goan writer. Using mostly gentle, sometimes hard-hitting and always insightful satire, Mango Mood leads the reader through headline-grabbing incidents in Goa and the rest of the country in recent times using the medium of 42 short satirical pieces.

The first half of the book, “A Goan Pot-Pourrie” concerns itself with all things Goan – from the melee that follows the arrival of the first crop of Mancurados to the vegetable market to the game of musical chairs that passes for democracy in amchem Goem. It beams approvingly at the extraordinary leap in the number of wordsmiths penning tomes on Goan history even as it purses its lips in disapproval at the urge to purge Goa of its green and shining shawl shown by wannabe real estate pashas who are then driven by an equally strong urge to splurge the self-same riches on the many floating gaming houses on the River Mandovi.

The piece-de-resistance of the book is a history of Goa retold, from its birth at the hands of Lord Parashurama, through the 451 year long Portuguese interlude, to its status, in the Golden Jubilee year of its Liberation, as the undisputed party capital of an aspiring superpower. En route, the trip from eternity to here takes frequent detours – here to comment on Goa’s propensity to mend sundered hearts, there to smile indulgently at the Goan love for fish, fun and feni.

In the second half of the book, “With a Dash of Garam Masala,” the cast of characters expands to include personalities, and events, across India. There’s the reverent nod to the Indian street, that microcosm of Indian life ‘where everything happens – people eat, sleep, cook, and fight on it,’ to quote tennis great Boris Becker. There’s the shudder of apprehension as one contemplates modern air travel with terrorism fast overtaking tourism as the preferred religion of the frequent flyers. There’s the look of baffled awe at the manner in which the results of a Lok Sabha election so closely resemble Quantum Mechanics. Unpredictable? Check. Uncertainty? You cannot get chancier than this. And, yes, let us not forget the amused glance in the direction of a burgeoning population of socialites, social climbers and desperate-to-mingle social animals whose ‘lives are finished’ if they fail to appear on Page Three of the next day’s paper, ‘This is the Life’ writ large on their faces and ‘A good time was had by all’ engraved in bold on the captions accompanying their pictures.

A collection of tongue-in-cheek pieces gleaned from articles that had appeared in the local press and fresh observations on the world around us, Mango Mood presents an up, close and personal account of the part of India that once spoke with a Portuguese accent and the India that seeks to adopt the global tongue. Like the King of Fruits whose soft exterior belies the hard core at the centre, this light-hearted account conceals pertinent comments on certain hard realities in our society. Besides, can there be a better symbol for Goa than the luscious, mouth-watering mango? 

The appeal of Mango Mood is enhanced by apt illustrations that succinctly bring alive the punch line of each story. This humorous, thought-provoking and elegantly designed book will offer stimulating reading for the general public. Published by Rupa Publications (India) Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, the book, which is priced at Rs 195/- in India and $10/- abroad, is available at all major bookstores in Goa, as also online from the publisher’s website. Its ISBN no. is 9788129117229.