I AM on a high. It’s something that I always wanted to catch up with. When Mom offered to teach me Portuguese as a kid I was defiant, “What would I do with a language that is rarely spoken?” She learnt the “aksars” from our Nepali watchman and got us to our books. The passion for learning continues. It is stoked by a beast that lay dormant.
The Spoken Word
MY love for languages has resurged. Be it the “must do” in the secondary languages of Hindi and Marathi, my deceased brother and I were learners for keeps. He would recite his 5th standard poems and chapters in Hindi and I vividly recall the joy of trying to drown his voice out with my recitation from the Marathi Bharti. Our neighbours were impressed “Thap, thap phadti, angavarti prajaktachi fhule” rang from our balcony. I doubt their kids felt the same about being told “Pinto ke bache phad rahe hai.”
Parlez-vous Français?
I PREENED as French secretary and revelled in the syllabus novels in degree college. It was always so much fun to have practical learning. Of course there was no getting away from academic (more exceptions to the rules) grammar. While I considered fortifying my skills with structured courses by Alliance Français, I would opt for the movie option in French or read my Bible with an English translation by the side. More recently I discovered Mass in French by the Francophone Society. Over years of attending Mass, the sequence is so ingrained, it is the homily that is a bit of a challenge.
Nossa Verdade (Our Truth/Reality)
SOMEWHERE deep down I must have internalised the spoken language of Portuguese. Be it her maternal Tias (Aunts) whose postcards always began with “Querida” (Dear) or Mom’s recanting of math tables, geography, conversations or just breaking into gentle, melancholy songs of her growing years in Goa Portuguesa, the clock has come full circle. I now look forward to the 7 am online class of Maria Shanti Colaço who takes me back to these sounds and intonations.
Mom called to ask how was my class. I gushed about how I savour the homework and felt very enthu cutlet raising my hand to take a turn at pronunciation. I have an exam and she wishes me good luck for it. I feel like a child again.
Amchi Bhaas
THROUGH all of my connections with the various dialects of Konkani over the years, it is the complexities of scripts that have become a battleground. Layers of history have influenced our languages. Languages are the fabric of society down civilizations. We need to keep the goalpost of communication in sight and identity in perspective. The spoken language sounds sweet no matter the minor differences.
Dayanita’s Lexicon
“PHOTOGRAPHY is fiction in the guise of non-fiction,” says Dayanita Singh. “Photo Lies” is her touring exhibition covering her work from 2019-2024 at the Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation, CSMVS. The curation by Puja Vaish, director of JNAF, dwells on the deception that the medium of photography can hold of while it documents a static moment.
Hers is a pioneering journey of using the tool of photography to create images and our experience of them. The exhibition carries excerpts from “Dancing with My Camera.” The exhibition bears the clarity of thought of the creator’s concept of spaces and harmoniously ties the images across time and geography. Images of architecture from her archives come together to form a new narrative through analogue, montage, masking, framing and scale. “File Museum” visible in its bare structure finds recall in “Mona in the Archive,” and again appears subtly in “Painted Masks.”
At the preview in Mumbai, Dayanita shared how the breakdown of the offset machine resulted in the accidental effect that captivated her and she zeroed in on it. It took me back to the grainy blue pre-press bromides in the finalising of pages from Jasras or Mitter Bedi. Further back in the day, proofreading of copy meant getting a reel fresh from the in-house lino typesetters. The copy you subbed and sent for typesetting came back. The ink of the copy, barely dry, covered our fingers in black. We had to check for fresh mistakes during the process and the corrections went back and forth. These were indicated with symbols in the shorthand language of sub-editing before the final OK. I have taken a peek at her photo installation at the Textile Gallery and it gives you the lens into her unique vision. Seeing is believing or is it not? What do you see? You leave with many more such questions.
On view till February 23, 2025
Making Music
NOVEMBER 22 is a tradition that marks a feast celebrated in Goa, St Cecilia, patroness of musicians and the music industry. Bandra’s Mount Carmel parish did the honours with the main celebrant priest joining the musicians for the finale. The Mass is a lively affair with all musicians carrying lighter instruments like the violin, trumpet, etc and accompanying the hearty singing of the choristers. On the heels of this is another tradition, the solemnity of Christ, the King that draws the respective communities of parishioners. The roads are decorated for the church procession. Little girls carrying ornate baskets precede and strew flower petals en route as people join in the procession from their nooks.
Graphite
APNAVI Makanji’s fourth solo exhibition “Modern Romance and Other Deaths” at TARQ gallery, features an all-new body of works in graphite, collage and video. Centred on themes of queer ecology, this show will be the first after being awarded the prestigious FEMS Prize in 2024.
Till December 20, 2024
Gõychem Khobor
SRILA takes her eclectic Baro Market to Goa! I am not soaking in Goa sunshine but for those who are around it’s at Marai, Vegas Vaddo, Arpora till 8 pm on November 30.
On the list
Thanks to the high pollution levels in the city I decide to skip a visit downtown to preview Solitary Gardens by Arjuna Gunarathne at Akara Contemporary. Also missed a lovely brunch with the lovelier Shalini Passi who inaugurated Salvador Dali’s beautiful Rhino sculpture at the Palladium, Lower Parel brought in by auction house Astaguru. Now that sis has returned to the wonderful colours of autumn in TO via Amsterdam, the cat is all set to swish her Art swag with renewed gusto.