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| Empty bottles of rum. |
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| Lepo thali |
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| Viva Goa bar and restaurant |
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| Viva Goa |
- Brian Mendonca
Empty bottles of rum
Like skulls on a shelf
Old monks debate
the meaning of life.
Carrom board to the left
Motko to the right.
Dessai fries the fish
-a one-man show.
One gent hollers
making for the door
The other - rotund and beaming
nurses his whiskey.
'Ghor bantta';'Kuwait halolo'
animate the conversation,
Bottles flicker
in the dim light.
Blue-collared workers
arrange chairs at a table,
A request for a job
I savour my Lepo thali.
Villagers lounge
in the placid afternoon
On the road to Raia
'RICE PLATE AVAILABLE'.
(Viva Bar and Restaurant
Raia road, Goa
12 March 2026)
Notes
Old Monk: a popular brand of rum.
Motko: a system of betting on a number.
Dessai: cook, server, cashier, cleaner - all in one.
Ghor bantta: (Konkani) to build a house.
Kuwait halolo: (Konkani) 'He was in Kuwait'
Blue-collared: Staff with blue shirts from a company nearby.
Lepo: Sole fish (Konkani: Murdoshi) found locally in Goa. It is a sea fish which also moves close to the coast and estuaries. Found off the coast in Benaulim and Morjim.
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Pix by Brian Mendonca. Updated 15/3/26.
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