OLD ROOTS, NEW SHOOTS — A Goan’s journey of discovery in her own homeland

Stanley Carvalho

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3 min read

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Jan 12, 2024

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The title of this book and the blurb ‘A contemporary coming-home story’ grabbed my attention. A cursory flip of the pages was enough to spot striking similarities. It could have well been my story, our story; the resonance was obvious.

The author, a Goan, grew up in Pune, worked in Mumbai and after marriage moved to Dubai, Bangkok, London where she and her husband worked and lived with their two children and a Labrador. In mid-2020, during Covid-19, they relocated to Goa to put down roots in an old house her grandparents had left for her.

It is from here that Michelle’s story (in first person) begins — of setting up home and adapting to a new life in Siolim, one of north Goa’s charming villages and discovering and learning much about the past and the present of Goa, its histories and mysteries. As she aptly writes: “The design of my home in Siolim is a metaphor for my life here — while the centre and the heart remain Goan, the extension has a modern, multicultural dimension.”

Michelle dwells on the history, geography and tourism of Goa in the early chapters, moving on to examining who Goans are and what is special about these people on that coastal strip, not forgetting the Goan diaspora who remain interested in their ancestry, longing for ‘amchem goem’.

The insight into Siolim’s history, people, legends and stories is fascinating. Goa’s sweetest mango ‘Hilario’ or ‘Manghilar’ took birth in this village as also the game of Football, introduced by a Jesuit priest. I was touched to read about Siolim’s Edward Carvalho’s (no relative) passion for the game.

The tales of family holidays in Goa, of weddings, festivals and market fairs. Parties, adventures, beach picnics gave me a nostalgic glow as memories of our own summer holidays in Mangalore came flooding back.

Although Michelle has worked in advertising, her writing style is more journalistic with a chatty tone and flashes of humour complete with tongue-in-cheek observations. Her own criteria (nearly 20) for being Goan based on her study is funny but spot on.

After being a ‘town mouse’ for nearly two decades, life as a ‘country mouse’ is no cakewalk and the author rightly carps about what Goa has become today with the influx of all kinds of people that has led to the sky-rocketing of real estate prices, the strain on infrastructure, the environmental impact and the dilution of local culture.

But three years of living in Siolim and while juggling the joys and challenges of managing a house in a village, Michelle seems well on her way to becoming a ‘true-blue’ Goan, having already learnt how to haggle and buy good fish at the local market and where to buy the best sausages and vinegar. If that’s not enough, she has become an expert on Feni and a Gin-Fluencer.

The last chapter is a veritable tourist guide about Goa — what to do, where to go, a worthwhile book to carry if one is travelling to Goa.

ENDS.

PS: I grew up in Bangalore and after working overseas for over two decades, I returned in 2020 when Covid-19 began. Michelle’s heartfelt, coming-home story resonated with me as much as life in Goa which is similar to life in my native, Mangalore.