Leslie's Laughs

  (This piece was published in My Kolkata on 23.02.2024 Read it here ) A Kolkata Goan, visiting home during Carnaval time in Goa, does a quick round up of the bands and duets he heard.  From small parties to weddings to massive stage shows, Goan musicians have it all in the blood - tune, tempo and emotion. The pounding of the waves on the Calangute shore was overwhelmed by the pounding of bhangra emanating from the “shacks” on the beach. The continuous boom-boom of disco tracks, indistinguishable from each other, melded into what can loosely be described as a racket - to which local tourists danced in gay abandon, wearing matching coord sets, kurtis, I Love Goa tees and even sarees. The soft Billy Joel from the speakers in the coffee shop in which I attempted a cappuccino was completely drowned by the surge of sound from the beach. “Stay off the beach!”  The advice given by a college friend and established sound engineer couldn’t be more appropriate. And stay off I did e...

The original of this piece was published in My Kolkata on 16 February 2024.  You can read the published article here   The unedited piece is reproduced here, as written. Destination Goan Weddings (A Kolkata Goan visits his desh  to attend two family weddings and finds similarities and differences cutting across communities and cultures, religions and rituals.)  The newspaper advertisements scream “Destination Wedding” for Bangkok, Vietnam, and Goa.  Most of these are five-star affairs where the richer families book entire hotels and transport everyone across for a few days of happy chaos.  Destination wedding for some, a fairy tale wedding for others, a family wedding back home in Goa for the rest of us non-resident Goans. Travel and accommodation is every visitor’s own responsibility unless, like me, you know someone!   Pre-party A few days before the wedding, Goans have the Roce ceremony - equivalent of the haldi, or gayer halud for the Bengalis...

 Published by My Kolkata on 07 February 2024.  Read the published article here .  Or read the original below: [A Kolkata Goan, camping in Goa after 18 years, takes an irreligious look at vegetarianism and food through the eyes and taste buds of an almost-omnivore!] Let me just get over the shock and then we can discuss the main topic, though it’s intricately related to the shock!  In between Om Sai Vegetarian Restaurant and Shree Sagar Eating House (Pure Veg) we found Calangute Beach and our delightful homestay at Goa. On the way there from North Goa airport, Mopa, at 9:30 p.m. my daughter and I were most amused to see the number of Lunch Homes and Eating Houses marked Pure Vegetarian, not to forget the occasional Udipi Hotel. Goa has changed. Where did the Martin, D’Souza, Fernandes clans go?  Your guess is as good as mine.  After discovering the beach -- hidden between garish LED lighting, loud Punjabi bhangra music and multitudes of dudes selling hats, s...