‘Rescuing a River Breeze’: A joyful romp through mid-20th century Goa

It is not easy writing historical fiction. Histories are often contested, pivotal points in time viewed from entirely different loyalties lead to entirely different perspectives. It is almost an impossible task to weave these disparate threads into a single narrative, but Mrinalini Harchandrai’s novel Rescuing a River Breeze manages to navigate the minefield with grace and agility.

In December 1961, the Indian army advanced into Goa and claimed the territory as part of the Indian Republic. By then, Goa had been colonised by the Portuguese for four and half centuries and the long durée had produced a society caught been two worlds – that of Europe and South Asia. Much of Goan Catholic society had morphed into a hybrid that felt culturally distanced from heartland India. They had been severed by religion, by language, by their sense of loyalty to Portugal. They recognised very little in themselves as part of India. But it was not just Goan Catholics that had been transformed, there were other loyalties forged in the crucible of capitalist considerations. Mining leases granted by the Portuguese government had been taken up by dominant Hindu families, creating a creamy, privileged layer of Hindu Goans who felt their interests may better be served...

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