A ringside view of the passage to India of Goa, the subcontinent’s beach paradise, from prized jewel in the Ultramar Português. Short Takes chronicles the tale of a land caught between the irresistible pull of free India and the immovable obduracy of Salazarist Portugal. The book is based on the reminiscences of diplomat Prabhakar Kamat.
In the late 1940s, the narrator leaves Goa for war-ravaged Europe. Here, his adventures navigating the minefield of culture shocks are tempered with sobering encounters with revolutionaries from Asia and Africa. He returns to a Goa caught in a tug-of-war between free India and an unyielding Lusitania. A blink-and-you-missed-it Indian Army action lets Goa rejoin India and plunge into its hectic, colourful democracy.
Goa’s date with self-rule galvanises Portugal to follow suit.
In the late 1940s, the narrator leaves Goa for war-ravaged Europe. Here, his adventures navigating the minefield of culture shocks are tempered with sobering encounters with revolutionaries from Asia and Africa. He returns to a Goa caught in a tug-of-war between free India and an unyielding Lusitania. A blink-and-you-missed-it Indian Army action lets Goa rejoin India and plunge into its hectic, colourful democracy.
Goa’s date with self-rule galvanises Portugal to follow suit.
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