-Brian Mendonça
The ros omelette
is touted as a must-have on the list of culinary favourites in Goa. The chicken
curry spread over a freshly fried egg omelette is what lifts it to a different
plane. Indeed the juice or rasa makes
the experience unforgettable. There is an entire theory woven around the
various flavours that life affords.
Rasa theory is an influential aspect of Indian
aesthetics. According to rasa theory there are nine rasas to apprehend life. These are:
1. ‘Erotic’ or sringara
rasa
2. ‘Laughter’ or hasya rasa
3. ‘Rage’ or rudra
rasra
4. ‘Compassion’ or karuna rasa
5. ‘Disgust’ or bibhatsa rasa
6. ‘Terror’ or bhayanak
rasa
7. ‘Heroic’ or veera
rasa
8. ‘Amazement’ or adbhuta rasa
9. ‘Peace’ or santa
rasa
All these rasas
are to be experienced in Goa.
Sringara:
People come to Goa to experience love. Be it
on the beaches, riding on a bike or hanging out with friends. They come to get
lost in Goa. In doing so, they discover each other.
Hasya:
Memories are made of laughter. Pulling each other legs, or having a family meal
with bonhomie are all laced with the
comic. The more the merrier.
Rage:
With desire comes frustration. Many alliances end in violence and pain. When
intentions are thwarted, the baser instincts surface. Often lives are lost.
Compassion:
The many NGOs, caring for people with substance abuse; the People for Animals
movement show how caring takes a human face. Goa’s only 24-hour food bank for
the poor is a case in point.
Disgust:
One has only to look at the mounds of garbage piling up lining the roads to
avert one’s face in disgust. The swathes of trees decimated for development
makes you wonder if it is all worth it.
Terror:
Old couples being attacked in sleepy villages in the dead of night is an
increasing occurrence. Sometimes the marauders spare their lives. Other times
they are not so lucky.
Heroism:
The acts of valour of our defence services stationed in Goa deserve a salute.
Traffic police personnel and firemen have risked their lives in the call of
duty.
Amazement:
When you ponder how Providence has taken care of your needs it fills you with
wonder and thankfulness.
Peace.
Mostly
everyone comes to Goa for peace. Goa offers a peace of mind away from the
madding crowd. Nursing your drink watching a sunset, makes you want to pitch
anchor right here.
According to Bharata in his Natyashastra (200 BCE to 500 CE) the dramatist, if skilful, can
evoke all the emotions, viz. rasas in
the audience.
The rasika is
a connoisseur of the arts. He or she is able to appreciate the nuances of
artistic form. In Sanskrit it means to be full or passion, appreciating with
discernment.
Like the navrasas,
Emperor Akbar who ruled from 1556 to 1605 had his navratnas at the Mughal
court to advise him. These were Raja Mansingh, Tansen, Fakir Aziao-din, Faizi,
Birbal, Mulla-do-Pyaza, Abdul Rahim Khan I Khana, Raja Todar Mal and Abdul
Faizl.
----------------------------------------------------------------------Published in Gomantak Times Weekender, St. Inez, Goa on Sunday 8 July 2018. Pix courtesy openart.in
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