Stories and Myriad Thoughts

The shorter version of the article was published in Spectrum, The Tribune Jan 12, 2020 https://epaper.tribuneindia.com/m5/2505813/Spectrum/SP-12-January-2020?fbclid=IwAR22pKOf_1fTQiu7MJNCuaIBF_wja309SKzMIcY-oslw4rrwjhBcYAMC6PQ#dual/3/1 Turkey often invokes in images of Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, hot air balloons at Capadocia, or the white travertine terraces of Pamukkale. However, the province of Izmir, often ignored, in western part of the country is home to ancient structures and heritage sites since it hosted numerous civilizations and communities. In in this province, and Izmir city in particular,  one can experience conflation of regal  history of Byzanitne Greek era and modern shared cosmopolitan culture with Europe. On our first step on its land, the city presented us with double surprises. The first one came in the form of free Izban (local train) journey from Airport till Bayrakali. After deboarding the train Gulbeg, our friend and host during our stay in Iz...

The same article was published in Spectrum, The Tribune on 19 May, 2019  https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/going-going--774920 Enjoying the cold breeze of the Arabian Sea overlooking Korlai Fort on the top of the hill, Rekha and Albert D’Souza are chatting with their neighbour from the porch of their house at Korlai, a village 135 kilometres south of Mumbai. They are conversing in a language undecipherable to majority of Indians. This couple and nearly 237 families of their Catholic community speak a Creole language of Portuguese origin, formed from the contact of the Portuguese with the Marathi natives. This small community, clustered around the three centuries old church at upper Korlai village in Raigarh district of Maharashtra has embodied the Portuguese legacy in unison with Marathi culture. The village is surrounded by non-catholic communities yet the imprints of Portuguese rule on the cultural landscape of Korlai are exhibited thr...