On his whirlwind trip to Delhi, Goa CM Digambar Kamat took the time to share a moment with Goan poet Dr Brian Mendonça - author of the self-published Last Bus to Vasco: Poems from Goa.
With this rare gesture Mr Kamat showed in action what he said in his address on Sunday 9th November - the concluding day of the Goa Festival 2008 - on the spacious lawns of the Goa Sadan, New Delhi. ‘I want Goans to know that the Government of Goa is with them wherever they are,’ he said to loud applause. Though a Goan may be settled elsewhere, his heart always yearns for his land, Mr Kamat said.
Brian, who compered the widely appreciated cultural evening curated by Blanche Gomes, articulated this yearning: ‘My heart is roaming in the wild blue yonder /But where I lie will always be Goa / Between the black soil of the plains / and the red mud of the coast / There for me is India’s peace.’ These lines from the poet’s poem ‘A Peace of India,’ form the title of his next book A Peace of India: Poems in Transit (forthcoming).
Brian presented a copy of his debut volume Last Bus to Vasco containing ‘A Peace of India’ to Mr Kamat as a souvenir of the moment.
The previous evening, the poet hauled his personal collection of books on Goa over the last 10 years and displayed it at the venue in an elegant upright bookshelf sourced from FabIndia. He also brought a munda (bamboo stool) for book lovers to sit by the shelf and browse a book - so chic in the crisp autumn air! - while munching on a sprig of chicken cafreal from the food stall across. The initiative generated a lot of interest.
With this rare gesture Mr Kamat showed in action what he said in his address on Sunday 9th November - the concluding day of the Goa Festival 2008 - on the spacious lawns of the Goa Sadan, New Delhi. ‘I want Goans to know that the Government of Goa is with them wherever they are,’ he said to loud applause. Though a Goan may be settled elsewhere, his heart always yearns for his land, Mr Kamat said.
Brian, who compered the widely appreciated cultural evening curated by Blanche Gomes, articulated this yearning: ‘My heart is roaming in the wild blue yonder /But where I lie will always be Goa / Between the black soil of the plains / and the red mud of the coast / There for me is India’s peace.’ These lines from the poet’s poem ‘A Peace of India,’ form the title of his next book A Peace of India: Poems in Transit (forthcoming).
Brian presented a copy of his debut volume Last Bus to Vasco containing ‘A Peace of India’ to Mr Kamat as a souvenir of the moment.
The previous evening, the poet hauled his personal collection of books on Goa over the last 10 years and displayed it at the venue in an elegant upright bookshelf sourced from FabIndia. He also brought a munda (bamboo stool) for book lovers to sit by the shelf and browse a book - so chic in the crisp autumn air! - while munching on a sprig of chicken cafreal from the food stall across. The initiative generated a lot of interest.
Comments