Tag: MOG Sunday

Events in Goa

MOG Sunday: Goa Writers Redefine Desire Beyond Beaches

Tanisha Cardozo

Panaji: Moving beyond the familiar imagery that often defines Goa in the public imagination, a recent MOG Sunday session at the Museum of Goa brought together writers to explore how desire shapes contemporary life in the state. The discussion centred on Appetite: New Writing from Goa, an anthology of essays, short stories and poems that attempts to present a more layered and intimate portrait of Goa.

Edited by Shivranjana Rathore and Tino de Sa and published by Penguin Random House India, the anthology brings together voices connected to Goa, each interpreting the idea of “appetite” in deeply personal and varied ways. While the theme might initially evoke food, the conversation quickly expanded into broader territories of longing — for love, land, belonging, power and identity.

Opening the discussion, the editors reflected on how appetite is not merely about hunger, but about the deeper emotional and social currents that shape people’s lives. Rathore explained that the theme emerged organically within the group, yet strongly reflects the current moment in Goa. She spoke about a widespread “hunger for Goa” that exists both within and outside the state, influencing how it is experienced, imagined and sometimes contested.

Importantly, the editors clarified that the anthology does not attempt to define Goan identity in a fixed way. Instead, by focusing on intimate narratives and lived experiences, it resists the tendency to package Goa into a singular, consumable image. This approach shifts attention away from the familiar tropes of beaches, food and tourism, offering readers a more nuanced and human perspective.

Rathore also highlighted how the collection captures different layers of time, with contributors moving between past, present and imagined futures. This sense of temporality allows the anthology to reflect Goa’s ongoing transformations — from migration and changing livelihoods to evolving aspirations — without prescribing a singular narrative.

The discussion also touched on the broader role of literature in today’s fast-paced and often overwhelming media landscape. Describing the present as a “hyper-propaganda era,” Rathore suggested that writing offers a way to slow down and engage more thoughtfully with reality. By documenting lived experiences, literature creates space for reflection rather than reaction.

Co-editor Tino de Sa added another dimension to the conversation by describing appetite as cyclical and ever-evolving. Using metaphors from his own work, he suggested that desires enter and exit people’s lives, only to return in new forms, shaped by time and circumstance.

For readers in Goa, the anthology hopes to offer a sense of recognition, reflecting everyday realities such as community expectations, work in the tourism economy and shifting ideas of belonging. For those outside the state, it challenges simplified perceptions and invites a deeper engagement with Goa as a lived, complex space.

As the conversation at the Museum of Goa demonstrated, there is far more to the state than its postcard image. Through stories rooted in personal experience and collective memory, Appetite: New Writing from Goa opens up a richer, more layered understanding of a place that continues to evolve beyond its stereotypes.

Events in Goa

Museum of Goa Hosts Turtle Walker Screening; Discussion Highlights Coastal Threats to Sea Turtles

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Written by Intern Rency Gomes || Team Allycaral 

Panaji, February 2026: The philosophy of conservation must actively involve local communities and cannot be limited to animal protection alone, said filmmaker Taira Malaney during a post-screening discussion of her documentary Turtle Walker, held as part of a recent MOG Sunday event at the Museum of Goa (MOG), Pilerne. The screening was attended by members of the Jnana Foundation, followed by an audience interaction with Malaney and creative producer Saif Khan.


Set against India’s fragile coastline—where nesting beaches overlap with tourism, fishing livelihoods, and dense human activity—the documentary highlights how sea turtle conservation is deeply intertwined with social and ecological realities. Drawing from the film, Malaney underscored the role of local communities in supporting the work of marine biologist Satish Bhaskar, the film’s protagonist, whose extensive surveys of turtle nesting beaches began in the late 1970s.

“Real conservation needs to involve communities. It cannot be purely about protecting the animal,” Malaney said, noting that community members assisted Bhaskar in identifying nesting sites, navigating difficult terrain, and collecting field data across India and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Turtle Walker documents Bhaskar’s decades-long surveys that led to the identification of previously undocumented nesting beaches and helped lay the foundation for long-term sea turtle conservation efforts in India.

During the discussion, Malaney addressed the growing threats faced by turtles along increasingly urbanised coastlines. She highlighted artificial lighting as a major concern, explaining that hatchlings rely on moonlight to find the sea, while streetlights and beachfront illumination often disorient them, leading to high mortality rates.

“Noise, crowds, and daytime human activity can discourage adult turtles from nesting, causing them to return to the sea without laying eggs,” she said, adding that hatchlings on developed beaches also face threats from stray dogs and poaching.

Fishing-related risks were also discussed, with Malaney noting that turtles are often accidentally trapped in fishing nets during offshore mating. While turtle exclusion devices (TEDs) exist to allow turtles to escape, she pointed out that their implementation in India remains inconsistent.

Referring to existing conservation efforts in Goa, Malaney cited Forest Department-managed hatcheries at beaches such as Morjim, Agonda, and Galgibag, where nests are relocated to protected zones to minimise losses from human disturbance and predation.

Creative producer Saif Khan said the film was developed alongside an impact campaign aimed at extending conservation engagement beyond screenings. “Storytelling can have an impact at multiple levels, but it needs to be combined with on-ground work,” he said. The campaign supports marine mammal stranding networks in Goa and Karnataka, conservation education programmes, and initiatives addressing threats such as abandoned fishing nets.

Further screenings and outreach activities are planned as part of the film’s ongoing impact campaign, alongside its public screenings and festival run.

Films

Sholay’s Enduring Appeal Lies in Navarasa Tradition, Says Screenwriter Anjum Rajabali

Tanisha Cardozo

According to screenwriter and cinema theorist Anjum Rajabali, the reason why Sholay continues to captivate Indian audiences across generations lies in its emotional architecture rooted in the navarasa tradition of Indian aesthetics. Speaking at the Museum of Goa in Pilerne during a recent MOG Sunday session celebrating 50 years of Sholay, Rajabali explained that the film’s lasting appeal cannot be attributed only to its stars, dramatic dialogue, or iconic action sequences. Instead, it’s the way the film embodies the nine rasas — love, laughter, sorrow, anger, courage, fear, disgust, wonder, and peace — that makes it emotionally complete. He described how the film’s emotional balance creates a connection with audiences that transcends time and familiarity.

Rajabali illustrated this through scenes such as Jai’s ultimate sacrifice, which embodies heroism, grief, and loyalty simultaneously. He pointed out that comedy in Sholay does not function as a break from tension but as an emotional counterbalance, seen through characters like Basanti and Soorma Bhopali. The laughter, he said, arises naturally from personality and circumstance rather than being forced. Discussing casting choices, he recalled how Amjad Khan’s portrayal of Gabbar Singh was designed to evoke terror and disgust subtly, with “dead eyes” that communicated menace without theatricality.

Rajabali emphasized that rasa is not an intellectual framework but an instinctive experience that audiences feel. Even without understanding the theory, viewers connect emotionally because the film operates through these timeless human essences. He believes that removing even one rasa would have weakened the story’s emotional harmony. Reflecting on modern cinema, he suggested that while some rasas like peace are underexplored today, Sholay achieved a rare equilibrium — a blend of drama, humour, tragedy, and tranquility — that continues to make it one of India’s most enduring films.

Social

Goa’s Overlooked Eight-Legged Arachnids Need Attention; ‘Development’ Needs to go Hand-in-Hand With Ecology

allycaralgoa

Panaji, June 2025 – Embankments along the national highway in Mollem, home to a rare tarantula species, were wiped away due to road widening projects and heightened the risk of local extinction, according to Prof. Manoj Ramakant Borkar, who at a recent MOG Sunday talk at the Museum of Goa, Pilerne, stressed that development goes hand in hand with ecology. These tarantulas and other arachnids, Borkar said, are dependent on specific microhabitats and microclimatic regimes, which cannot be replicated beyond the mounds and burrows of the embankment.

In his talk titled ‘Whip Spiders, Whip Scorpions & Tarantulas: The ‘Not-So-Charismatic’ Wildlife of Goa,’ Borkar emphasised that tarantulas have restricted and limited dispersal and that whip spiders and whip scorpions remain largely unaccounted for by major conservation frameworks. 

“They have not been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, nor are they included under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act schedules,” says Borkar, head of the Department of Zoology, Carmel College for Women, South Goa and founder of the Biodiversity Research Cell.

The talk included detailed insights into the anatomy and traits of these species. The whip scorpion, also known as a vinegaroon, is named after its defence mechanism, in which the creature lifts its whip and sprays a vinegar-smelling substance on the provoker. Another unique feature of the tarantulas, according to Borkar, is their behaviour of layering their burrow with their webs, whether it is a pipe or a crevice in a tree.

Drawing from ongoing fieldwork, Borkar revealed the elaborate mating behaviour of whip spiders in which the smaller male takes the lead. “We have established a new hypothesis, where the prey drive is overridden by mating priorities,” he said.

He believes Goans are extremely eco-conscious and eco-sensitive, but not always vocal. Those who speak up are silenced with incentives. “All those who speak for the environment are not anti-development. They’re only insisting on sustainable development. You just cannot replace the earth’s capital with manufactured capital,” he said.

The talk touched on the role of ecotourism and its potential impact on Goa’s ecology. While it has the potential to raise awareness, Borkar warned that its focus has often shifted toward recreation and commercial gain. “We need to be ethical in our approach to tourism. Without strong environmental regulation, there can be no sustainability,” he said.