The simple and the elaborate

On our walks in Goa we “collected” all kinds of wonderful buildings. The one that you see above seemd fairly ordinary: a simple single storeyed bungalow with the usual balcao and tiled roofs. What I liked about it was the striking traditional colour: that bright yellow with white trim. A little weather-beaten, with the incessant rain, but nothing that couldn’t be cleaned off in the autumn.

This place, on the other hand, must have been elaborate. The massive gate, jammed open by the sagging pillars on which they were mounted, gave on to a large garden. And what I could see of the Indo-Portuguese house looked elaborate: with great arched doors. The moment I stopped to take a photo, a dog came barking on to the porch. No one followed it; they must be used to it barking at every passerby.

These two buildings should really be seen together. I was quite taken by the simplicity of the first: an ordinary hut in the vernacular style, seen here from the back. The front had the usual Goan balcao, but was otherwise clearly a small place, kept in good repair. The second, Nosso Sonho, or, Our Dream, was a bit of a technicolour movie set! I’ve seen the equivalent in a Bollywood studio imagination of an elaborate Goan family home. And here it was, actually standing at the curve of a back road in the village!