First Rains

Goa is a state on the western coast of southern India. It was ruled by Muslim Shahs for hundreds of years before the Portuguese, who they managed to hold on to it for years even after India won its independence. The Indian Army had to seize the land in the early sixties and a nearby landmark, Fort Aguada, was besieged twice in the conflict.

According to the Indian tour guide, the first time the Portuguese hid in their underground bunker before fleeing by sea in cowardice. The second time the Indian army blocked off the escape route and was victorious. I wonder what a Portuguese tour guide would have said.

The two cultures have blended rather strangely with weathered white shrines to both Christ and Krishna tucked away on the sides of narrow dirt roads. Christians, the majority religion in the state, have kept the Hindu nationalist party out of power here but both were campaigning hard today. The local elections are nigh and dirty old vans blared slogans down the muddy streets of Anjuna.