Humour is deeply human, intellectual, and profoundly social. It arises not merely from clever wordplay or slapstick accidents, but from a unique perception of life itself. According to the French philosopher Henri Bergson, comedy emerges when we witness life transforming into something mechanical, rigid, or object-like. Where life should flow with vitality, adaptability, and grace, the comic appears in...
The Logic of Laughter: Understanding Humour in Konkani Literature and Theatre through Benign Violation Theory
Humour is a universal human experience, yet its underlying mechanics often remain mysterious. Why do certain situations make us burst into laughter while others leave us indifferent or even offended? Benign Violation Theory, proposed by researchers Peter McGraw and Caleb Warren, provides a clear and insightful framework to answer this question. According to the theory, humour arises when something...
Submerged Echoes: Memories, Faith, and the Displaced Villages of Anjunem Dam
In the verdant folds of the Western Ghats in Sattari taluka, North Goa, the Anjunem Dam rises as a modern engineering feat. Completed in the late 1980s, this medium irrigation project was designed to harness the waters of the region, providing reliable water for agriculture and drinking needs across Sattari and neighboring Bicholim areas. For many residents in the...
Konknitva: Linguistic Imperiallism and the Erosion of Konkani Pluralism
Konknitva has emerged as a potent ideological force in the cultural landscape of Goa and the wider Konkani-speaking regions. At its core, it advocates for the exclusive standardization of the Konkani language through the Devanagari script, positioning this as the sole legitimate vehicle for authentic expression, education, administration, and literary production. Proponents frame it as a movement for linguistic...
Reflecting on Goa Revolution Day: What Kind of Goans Are We Becoming?
Every year on Goa Revolution Day, we pause to honour the spirit of resistance that shaped our identity. It is a day that recalls courage against colonial rule, the assertion of dignity, and the dream of a self-determined future. Yet, in the quiet moments of reflection this year, a more unsettling question rises: what kind of Goans are we...
The Last Bus to Vasco: Goans, the Last Men
In Brian Mendonça’s evocative collection Last Bus to Vasco: Poems from Goa, the title poem and its companions serve as a poignant elegy for a homeland in flux. One feels the urgency in lines that capture the ebb tide on the Zuari, where the barges furrow the seabed and the waters turn a muddy grey under the morning sun....
Goan-ness as Interrogation: Confronting Barbarism in the Age of Nationalism
In an era where civilizations congratulate themselves on having transcended barbarism, the resurgence of violence, exclusion, and mythologized identity under the banner of nationalism reveals a profound regression. India, and particularly Goa, stands at this crossroads. What was once hailed as enlightened progress democratic institutions, constitutional secularism, and cultural pluralism has morphed into its opposite: a administered conformity that...
A Call to Abide in Christ: Exploring Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão’s Pastoral Letter
In a world marked by rapid change, digital distractions, and shifting cultural values, the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman has received a timely spiritual guide. Archbishop Filipe Neri Cardinal Ferrão has issued a pastoral letter titled “Abide in Me,” drawing directly from the words of Jesus in the Gospel of John. This document, launched to...
The Giant and the Ropes: Hindutva’s Paradox in Modern India
Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels offers a timeless lens for understanding power and perception. In Lilliput, the giant Gulliver lies pinned to the ground by hundreds of tiny threads and stakes. The Lilliputians, small in stature but grand in their self-importance, treat him as both a miraculous asset and a dangerous force to be managed. They tie him down with...
The Trial of the Specters: Kafka in Contemporary Goa
In Franz Kafka’s The Trial, Josef K., an ordinary bank clerk, is arrested one morning without explanation. No specific crime is named. The authorities remain vague, the procedures opaque, and his repeated efforts to understand or defend himself only tighten the noose. The system does not require evidence of wrongdoing; the accusation itself creates the guilt. By the end,...
