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

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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.