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Love, loss, and identity

By Navhind Times - 2024-01-13 # 33 " 0

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‘Rescuing a River Breeze’, the debut novel by poet Mrinalini Harchandrai, tells the story
of a young girl and her dreams against the backdrop of Goa of 1961

CHRISTINE MACHADO | NT BUZZ

How did the idea of this book Vrst come about, and when?

It was from a story that my mother narrated from her childhood several years ago. She said she
had a neighbour, a Portuguese girl of her age, whom she would meet every day. They were
inseparable and would spend time together chatting non-stop or huddling up with their shared
interests. My mother would also watch the daily Portuguese Zag hoisting and lowering ceremony
from her Panaji window by the Mandovi River.

One day, she was anticipating her daily get-together with her friend, but on that particular day
when she went to look for her, she wasn’t home. Mum returned home troubled, and soon there
was turmoil at home since there was a war outside. Later that evening, outside her window she
saw the Portuguese Zag being lowered, this time without any fanfare and solemnly a white Zag
was hoisted. After that, my mum says she never heard of her best friend again. The emotion in my
mother’s voice when she narrated the story all those years later gave me the initial impulse to
scratch the
surface. Here was a young girl whose emotions were at odds with the overthrowing of colonialism
in Goa. And how many others like this were there? I was stirred by the small personal stories that
remain largely unwritten against the bulwark of the
public narrative.

Tell us more about how you decided on the title of the book.

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It is taken from a line of dialogue within the novel that I felt summed up one of the main themes of
the book. I wanted to capture the ephemerality of dreams, the tender hopes of a young girl or a
Vsherwoman or even a soldier that often blow against the forces of history. I also wanted to evoke
the impossibility of individual identities to control the changes that take place during large socio-
political movements.

Was this the only story that you were focusing on to be your Vrst book, or were there others that
you were also toying around with?

Before this, I was working on a collection of poems and a three-part comic book, but somehow
along the way this novel gained more momentum towards its publication.

What was the kind of research that you needed to do while working on this book?

I delved into the history books, as well as into personal stories, both within my family and outside
of it. Also of memory of my vacations in the 1980s were spent with family in Panaji which then
was more reZective of a former time than the bustling town it is today. Apart from this, I did visit
most of the real sites mentioned in the book. I wanted to reimagine the places as they may have
been and visualise all those who may have come there before me. I wanted my storytelling to be a
tribute to a former way of life, and so research took on the colour of a pilgrimage in a way.

Our history has been subject to manipulation in the past and even present times. And there are
bound to be various views about historical events. How did you tackle this challenge while putting
together your book? What other challenges did you face?

At Vrst, the varied viewpoints were certainly a challenge. However since they are inevitable, I went
with them, even seeking them out. Beyond its geography, Goa is not a monolithic idea in the minds
of people. Everyone has a deVnition of what Goa is, what it means to them. So the story attempts
to show a cross-section of characters with varied notions of their Goa, and their identity linked to
it. Usually, we think of history in black and white. But this is a novel where I was trying to explore
the emotions of the characters, their particularities, losses, wonderments, hopes, friendships, and
what they harbour in their heart for their verdant land. This is a story of several identities during a
colonial time, of whose lives are interlinked but we only hear of the dominant historical narrative. I
wanted the narration to honour the unheard voices.

Although much has been written about history, both through Vction and non-Vction books do you
feel that enough attention is paid to it today?

Thankfully, for being a place that had the Vrst printing press in the subcontinent, today there is a
vibrant book community and a fairly strong independent bookstore scene in Goa. During my
research, I found that there is a lot of published non-Vction that has an academic tone, but
fascinatingly there is a self-publishing trend where oral histories do make it to the page, and
there’s a small but strong section of Vction. It would be great if there was more translation
between Portuguese, English, and Konkani that calls for cross-dialogue and an exchange of
stories. Goa has a couple of literary festivals that are getting better known. However, I do think the
nuances of the Goan story remain relatively unclear to the rest of the country, and the world. This
is part of the reason I felt compelled to write this story.

What other projects are you currently working on?

I’m working on a collection of poetry, and I have an idea for another novel which is simmering
within me and I’m taking the time to develop it.

(Published by Bloomsbury, the book

will be launched today, January 13, 5 p.m.
at Fundacao Oriente, Panaji)

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