in goa, the erosion continues...

...physically and otherwise.

kafka in goa!

the undergrowth had gotten thicker n the clearing took a lot longer with more labour...the babus threw some more paperwork at me...but what's new?! c'est goa!!...but what does one do about the undergrowth in the mind that's getting denser n thicker?! stuckness reigns on my dad film front n not much else happening on the work front either...a good time to experiment one might think...but but but...am most excited about the spot we finalised to build...diagonally up across the plot facing northwest looking over the treetops all the way west to the sea!...

the labour situation being what it is in goa, every now n then, i feel i should just get a truckload of "ghantis" n do whatever it takes...but each time i go with the slow, steady, sometimes lazy local labour...so what if they work only from 8 to 11 and then 2 to 5...they're a mine of knowledge n folklore...there's this huge anthill just about bordering the "spot"...and they insisted that is what made it "not a good place" to build...i mean, what the hell, it's just a anthill after all...but nay, the king dwells therein n it is his place!...they tried reasoning with me but that much konkani i could not comprehend...turns out that there'd be a king cobra in that anthill and i'd have to appease him first with prayer n offerings before i embark on busting his home :) you live n you learn n i've been learning tons here...about dog ticks, about kingfishers, about which caterpillar results in which butterfly!...about how little one actually needs to get by...about how we fill our lives with so much distraction...

i try to generate as little garbage as i can...this time i trumped the last with just one small bag after a week!...and just 2 half blocks of ice over 7 days for all my chilling needs (beer mostly ;)...but so much around is already changing along the quiet road that winds up from handka to the plot...two apartment blocks, two row house projects, two fancy restaurants tucked deep near the local spring...the spring i was looking to do the summer workshop around...

it's the beginning of the season n there was a lot happening... stalin's dalit film played at the snooty new goa centre for the arts. up in altinho, my guess is that it's gonna be lost in the heady mist of ysl n channel, inert n out of bounds to those who'd really benefit from a space like this. a brazilian jazz concert got washed out by that bitch phyan....o but such awesome lightning and thunder!...madness tho, this climate change is showing up too often now...then there was the nsd repertory ka festival at this huge 800seater in margao...i went for 'kafka ek adhyay'...a hundred of us looked apologetic in that giant space. cellphones rang n calls were taken right thru :( an energetic performance it was combining video to cut betw archive n story. but waltzes, corsets, vienna didn't sit well in hindi, me felt...

lost my train of thought :(

bom-goa-bom-goa-bom

man!...in less than a month i have been more often to goa than i have been to churchgate!!...my brother anil's been kicking my arse to step up my flaccid pace on the learning centre project on the plot at verna. in his inimitable way, we did more than i'd ever imagine...met up with a local architect and a contractor...sought advice, got an idea of costs involved, the permissions required, etc. so hopefully by the next trip, will be able to put in the file n let it take its time.

but such a sense of desperation n hopelessness one gets from talking with the locals...almost like they've given up the fight. makes me wonder why am i even moving there. but now starts the most exciting phase...the dream taking shape. two horizontally displaced hemispheres at differing levels - one the private space n the lower, the public. where the money will come from i have no idea, nor how do i make it financially viable...but i know it will happen...

ajay vernekar

so! en fin...verna becomes second home in goa...an old portuguese house built at turn of the century...n view from my window :) come let's go!

bombay in goa

...imagine that!...all of goa looking like bombay...highrises, et al :(

post monsoon brilliance!

such colours!....

bom-goa

so much green..all along...such blisss!

tino n his table

the clearing

i taalo-ed(postponed) it as much as i could...just couldn't bare the loss of thick shrubbery n all the birds n bees that would have one place less to nest n rest. but this time i just had to...it's summer, less to clear, got labour finally n started the clearing.
the plot's in a valley nestled between some ever-dwindling green cover. the spring which ran alongside the plot, dry now. i've decided to clear just half the plot n let the other half just be the "jungle" it is. finally, i was able to walk around the plot, get a sense of the slope of the land n select a spot to build...just above the tree level looking northwest into the sunset...next, get down to work on the design of the centre n start building after the monsoons! yaay!!

off to goa...yet again!

squeezed perfectly between two schedules of paanchvi pass, i'm off to go, again. this time to prepare for a workshop we plan to do end-may. also, there's always some paper work that needs attending to and keep thinking n working on a design plan for the centre. so see you at the end of the week.

meanwhile, my driving's getting better. haven't run over anyone yet :)

the goa it is a-changin!

and fast n furiously!...altho i've been going there once in 2-3 months, the rate of change boggles me...largescale unplanned development...buildings, bungalows, industry...the global juggernaut is in spin here n how!...the same paranoia about the "outsider"...aggression n distrust rapidly replacing the sussegaad spirit...politically at an all-time naadir...while stashes of crores buy n sell the very soul of this state...

i scratch my head as i walk around "the plot" in verna, dreaming up my idyl...a place where kids of all ages, religion, caste n class can interact n share n play n learn...am still scratchin my head n chewing my nails...

workshop-ing

...so i leave for goa tomorrow early morning, for what should be the beginings of the resource centre for kids i've been thinking about...it is an idea i've had in my head for a while and now it is time to get my hands dirty. figured that we'd keep it low-key this time round and approach it like a trial/pilot workshop. call kids from the neighbourhood as opposed to go public with ads, leaflets and announcements. this way, i'll get a feel of the kids of kids, their backgrounds, get to know about their school n teachers, teaching aids available n being used or not, my own comfort level with them (as i've only done this with grad n post grad students), language issues (no konkani is almost non-existant!!)...

my friend tino will be doing stuff on theatre n pottery and me on the audio-visual medium. so like a creativity workshop, where your expression could be in any of these media...i'm carrying a 35mm still cam, chottu digital still cam, my mini-dv camcorder, laptop AND a telescope!!...printed out the sky map for the 26th and feel most excited...

but also so much anxiety/trepidation/nervousness...what if no one lands up!! but i've just decided to have a blast, try things i've never done before...will keep you posted!!

going going goan (yikes! bad one)

...just back from a short 3day trip to goa...to see how work on my new plot of land is progressing and to discuss a weekend summer workshop with tino - ceramic artist friend...all's well there and we've even hit water.

but on a drive up across the plateau above us we were horrified to see largescale rock-blasting and land-flattening...all to feed a new mega housing project...of course there is no board announcing it, though there's this spanking new road (without a single private car/bike) abuzz with dumper trucks n jvc's. someone's fattening the golden goose!!

back home, on revisiting google earth, we realise that we have the last of the two arms of greenery along the valley down from that plateau...increasing our resolve to preserve it...but therein lies the dilemma - the rubble that will come in to "terrace" our new property is going to come from up there. the wild shrubbery that we're "clearing" to get "an idea of the land" will deprive the multitude of birds their home...tiktoktiktok...whattodowhattodo??

later, i go to caranzalem to anita's...and got lost!! i couldn't recognise the place and couldn't find her row of buildings...the local insatiable glutton mla has filled up ricefields, broadened roads running thru people's houses, put up round-abouts with tall halogen lighting...all for another fat goose - a premium humungus housing project pushed by either the mining dons or sahara! crazy!!

what am i ranting about - the apt i am in now here in bombay is built on a plot which was reserved as a playground for the area. once upon a time not so long ago, this must've been a thick wild forest...and so was bandra...can see goa going the same way but in an accelerated sort of way...and the rest of india and indeed most of the planet...i guess we'll all just evolve to need less water and drop a pill for food!! burp!!!

"Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return". Gen3:19