Bryce's Corner

It was a Saturday afternoon when I had just returned back from college with the news that lectures would be cancelled on account of the Corona virus pandemic when I just got to know that my mother was going out for something special carried out every year in the village during the Lenten season and that was none other than the great to witness 'Stations of the Cross' which had happened at around 5 in the evening. On hearing the news, I was really filled with excitement as I personally like to attend these village gatherings and feel the true essence of what it is to experience the traditions that are carried out in the village and get the feel of the simplicity of the locals in their adherence to their customs. So this too was an equally great experience to actually be penning it down. Since it had been a last minute thing, it was planned that my mother would go for it on her own, but then on realizing that the next day would be a holiday, I thought to myself that why not I ...

As a student of St. Xavier's College, Mapusa which you all would have been familiar by now is one of the most popular and talked about colleges in Goa, I get an opportunity to witness many inter-collegiate events that take place at our campus organized by various departments. But the most captivating of all of these was an inter-collegiate event organized by the NSS just recently and that was the 'Kalakram 3.0'. 'Kalakram' as the word essentially translates as 'art sequence', it portrayed the traditional cultural dance forms and singing of our very dear and beloved Mother India including our folk cultural dances such as the 'shigmoh' as well as our very own 'mando' with girls and boys swaying together accompanied with the playing of the 'ghumot'- the traditional percussion instrument of Goa as well as a violinist to give a melodious rhythm to the beautiful singing of the performers on stage. These were the performances that marked...

There is this very captivating location that you would have come across if you happen to visit Saligao specially on a Tuesday, and that is the 'Made in Saligao' market which is held somewhere in the interior part of the village after you have crossed the famous 'Saligao Road'. That was where my mom, my sister and I decided to head to spend a part of evening, exploring the place as we have never come across it earlier. As our rickshaw which had picked us up to take us there finally reached the location, we saw a big crowd that had gathered there and we felt that surely there must be something really going on over there, and as we proceeded to enter the market, we saw a lot of really nice stalls with people selling a whole lot of items ranging from our very own popular dishes of sorpotel, a fried king-fish preparation with masala which we too as Goans prepare, besides a lot of handicrafts on display done by the locals of the village including some really nice handmad...