A Goan Connection

by Yulette Coutinho
Posted on 2008-09-15
If Goa and its passion have left you speechless, its time to pick up your copy of a timely and captivating novel set in contemporary Goa “Once Upon a Time in Aparanta” by Sudeep Chakravarti, a fiction novel, based on Goa in entirety and an accumulation of the strong sentiments conveyed to the author by Goans.
‘But this must be more than Eden…Eden had only one serpernt, one Adam, one soon-to-be-busy Eve. Did Eden ever sell its soul? Did it sell all hope?’
Penguin Books India and Literati Bookshop and Café were pleased to announce the launch of Sudeep Chakravarti’s new Novel on 12th September, 2008 at Gallery Gitanjali which saw a gathering of friends, well-wishers and book lovers all gathered to pick their copy and get it autographed by the Author.
Penguin Books Publisher, Mr Ravi Singh, said, “this book is a fiction of a different kind and appreciated the author for his variety in writing after his two previous novels “Tin Fish” and “Red Sun” and said, “This promises to be a good book, it is a Novel with a lot of Anger and humour, with memorable characters. The author spells out the contemporary realities of Goa and his vision of what’s going wrong.”
“Goa is Aparanta of old – the Land at the Horizon. The tale is of Dino Dantas, protestor and self appointed guardian of Aparanta, and his innkeeper cousin Antonio begins here, in the sleepy village of Socorro Do Mundo by the Sea, where time holds little meaning and the haze of nostalgia is as binding a force as faith in the benevolence of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, ‘Perpet’ to familiars.
For some time now, the world and some of Aparanta’s own have been engaged in a feeding frenzy on the natural treasures of this land of plenty. Chief among the poison-mongers is Winston Almeida, supreme thug, land shark and political aspirant, who will stop at nothing to appropriate all that this creaky, corrupt paradise has to offer. For this he has allied with Sergei, a Russian druglord; the Princess, a tantalizing Brazillian transsexual go-between; and Fernandes, her Goan policeman lover-and their alliance is blessed by Number One, the political overlord of
Aparanta.
In the face of their collective greed stands Dino, determined as ever to preserve what he can of his homeland… But can one man’s courage and fervour alone save Aparanta from being betrayed by
its own?”
Sudeep Chakravarti, a columnist, media consultant and analyst, referred to his book as a distillant, a part lyrical, part brutal satire, but yet passionate as it evokes the essence of a paradise on the verge of losing its soul. He said, “It’s a very angry and hopeful book.” His nexus with Goa began as early as in mid-1980 and he has since been captivated by the spirit of Goa, which actually got him to move here 4 years ago. The character of Dino Dantas, he said was a tribute to his friend Norman Dantas, who also had a vision for Goa, and it was him who expressed a lot about Goa to the author. In the midst of this sentiment, the book was launched at the hands of Norman’s sister, Marion Dantas Talyerkhan, as a tribute to his friend Norman
Dantas.
Sudeep, shared his experience of the book, as being a very passionate one, dealing with issues in Goa, a lot of people may think of it in the lines of a political book and he has imbibe that feeling from Goa primarily. He said the book most definitely had a very theatrical style to it and would make an excellent read as he read passages from 2 chapters of
his book.
Goa, one of the most unique places in the world, has been in the news in recent years for several reasons, from wayward politics and land-grabbing to being labeled a destination for paedophiles and merchants of narcotics, rising tensions over the ‘outsiders’ issue, and fierce debates between a colonial past and post-colonial future. Once Upon a Time in Aparanta captures this churn of present-day Goa, its charm and follies, its greed and grouses, its colourful characters and peerless natural beauty, and its seamy side that can rival any
banana republic.