Goa – The Story

A tribute to Chinua Achebe.

“I believe in the complexity of the human story and that there’s no way you can tell that story in one way and say, This is it.”

–Chinua Achebe, Nigerian writer who died in March 2013.

Is Goa about guitars and beaches?
Yes and no and maybe.
Is Goa about sitar and witches?
Yes, and no and maybe.
No one single story

No one single story about Goa.
Is Goa Hindu? Is Goa Catholic?
It is and it isn’t.
Did Goa have a big Muslim population?
It did and it didn’t

No one single story about Goa
Was there a Goa
before the Portuguese stepped in
and what were its boundaries?
No one single story

Does its scenic beauty
And the sound of the waves
Make it different
Did people conquering make it different?
No one single story

Is Goa to be scripted only
by its conquests
Or by its corridor existence
Or by the contributions of its people
Many histories, herstories, emstories, theirstories

Is Goa about wine and women
Yes we produce wine,
And yes there are wonderful women
But Goa isn’t about ‘wine and women’
Maybe women and wine is one story

Are women in Goa great?
Of course we are
N we also do sing and dance
But what’s great about the women?
No one single story

No one single story about Goa
Is it a coastal state?
Or is it a hinterland state?
No one single story,
all of it.

Is Gos sussegado?
What is sussegado?
Is sussegado a way of life?
Is sussegado about laziness?
No one single story

Is Goa a geographical location
Or is it a way of life?
Or is it a nationality or separate entity
Or is Goa an idea or concept
No one single story.