From gourmet meals in the plush five-star hotels to the humble fish curry and rice in every home in Goa, no dish would be worth its salt without – salt! The great Mahatma organized the famous Dandi March to safeguard the interest of salt pan workers. “You are the salt of the earth” says the Bible elevating this simple chemical compound Sodium Chloride into a virtue of self giving. “Salt is born of the purest of parents: the sun and the sea.” said Greek philosopher Pythagoras. But for the ordinary men and women who toil in the salt pans in Goa no one will give a salty grain of thought.
Today saltpan workers have been reduced to practical oblivion – an oddity for tourists at best. So dismal is their condition, so uncertain their future that many who have known no other occupation for decades are today considering giving up their ancestral occupation.

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Villagers commemorate the festival of Holi by walking across fire on the preceeding night. Preparations start in the morning with a large “holi” – a pile of logs set up before the village temple. In the evening, the menfolk walk up the adjoining hillock to the old cremation ground. Here they perform rituals to call on the village protectors (spirits) – the devchars. After some chanting and praying, two men suddenly fell to the ground, wriggling and turning. I’m told they were possessed by the devchar. A third man, appeared to be in two states of possession and non-possession. Villagers shouted at the devchar to manifest himself in the man. To which the spirit responded (through the man) that some village disputes were preventing the manifestation.
After a lot of heated discussions among the villagers, the three possessed men took the flame and ran down the hill and lit the “holy”. After this, they ran right through the entire village, torch in hand, ostensibly possessed. This is a ritual followed over centuries in many villages. How they manage to get the stamina to run through the village is remarkable.
In the wee hours, on the day of Holi, the embers of the holi bon-fire are spread out and the menfolk run across it, barefeet. They are then followed by even women and children. I acutally saw a woman, holding an infant, run barefeet across the fire. In most cases, there were no visible burn marks.
Later, the three possessed men sit before the temple and answer individual questions of the villagers. These include problems between neighbours, personal and family problems and even career issues. I’m told, people believe these questions are directly answered by the “protector” of the village.
This seems an interesting concept as far as unity and harmony in a village are concerned as this is one occasion where village disputes are addressed.

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Tequila from Mexico, Scotch from Scotland.
Cashew Feni is considered one of the chief products of Goa by locals and tourists alike. The intoxicating drink is consumed both as a social drink as well as a medicine for various illnesses including sore throats etc.
In spite of the popularity of the drink, not much is known about the process involved. The traditional feni distillers are found in places like Pernem and Colvale in the north and Quepem, Canacona in the south. These people sweat it out from March to May. It is a labourous job. Yet it is not these people who really make the money. While they sell their product for about Rs 25 per bottle (less than a dollar), the middle men in shops hike the price to even over Rs 100 per bottle (over two dollars).
This photo documentary is dedicated to the hard workers who strive to put the famous Goan Elixir into bars and homes all across the state.
Today efforts are on to acquire a global patent for the drink, much like tequila in mexico.

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The potters of Goa have been known for their creativity and indeed their patience for the art. From collecting clay from the various fields to baking the finished works of art, these men and their families toil daily at an art form that is slowly dying.

While in the old days, there was a lot of business for earthenware in the house, today aluminum and plastic have taken over. As a result, in villages like Succor in Porvorim where earlier there used to be exclusively potters, today few remain. Some have elevated themselves to “designer artists” and seek to survive through up market clients others “perform” at five-star hotels for foreign tourists – giving them a glimpse of the way the wheel turned, in the process, making Poetry in Clay.

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Nestling between the cool blue waters of the Arabian sea and the dusty heights of the Sayadhri mountain range, Goa is one of the more popular tourist destinations in India.

Beggars or street children were traditionally a rarity. A high per capita income, above average literacy levels and a peace loving people, marks this western-Indian state apart.

But an influx of migrant labourers from neighbouring states, with their large families has changed all that. They arrive in the hope of escaping the abject poverty in their home states only to find themselves on the outer margins of society, unable to sustain themselves on the meager wages.

The children are the main victims in this sorry tale. They scour the streets in search of jobs to feed themselves, never having seen a school. Illiterate and alone they are easy targets for exploitation and abuse in hotels and shacks.
When you are at the bottom of the ladder, you are pushed further down. Luckily for many, the future is not as bleak. Homes run by El Shaddai Street Child Rescue like the House of Kathleen, Victory House, Rainbow House, Shekinah House and other centres such as Asha Deep or Stepping Stones Night Shelter and Day Care Units hold out hope to these children.

Within their walls, more than food, clothing and shelter, these children have been offered life’s second chance.

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