Amchém Daiz - June 2025

Notes and Updates from HFG

HFG is an acronym (and how we love acronyms in Goa!) for Heritage First Goa. It’s a not-for-profit organisation that puts Heritage First, Goa First. All our programmes are aimed at building awareness, learning, and education on Goa’s unique, invaluable, fragile, and precious heritage. That is why we are registered as HFG Learning and Education Foundation.

Here is who started HFG

Heta Pandit has written 11 books on Goa’s heritage. The titles are: Houses of Goa, Hidden Hands – Master Builders of Goa, Dust & Other Short Stories from Goa, Walking in Goa, Walking in Old Goa, Walking with Angels, There’s More to Life Than a House in Goa, Grinding Stories-Songs from Goa, Grinding Stories Retold and Stories from Goan Houses. Her Marathi to English translations have been published in Govapuri and Ferry Crossing- An Anthology of Goan Short Stories, ” edited by Fulbright scholar Manohar Shetty. Grinding Stories Songs from Goa and Grinding Stories Retold are anthologies of songs sung at the grinding stone, translated by her from the original Marathi-Konkani dialect. She has numerous published articles and papers in international journals to her credit.

Jack Ajit Sukhija - President, TTAG

Partner at WelcomHeritage Panjim Inn, Goa's first classified Heritage Hotel. It is a Franchisee of Maharaja Heritage Resorts Pvt Ltd, a Joint venture between ITC Hotels and the Maharaja of Jodhpur. Current President at TTAG- Travel & Tourism Association of Goa.

Snigdha Manchanda is a first-generation entrepreneur based in Goa, where her love for architecture, nature, and community led her to make it home over a decade ago. She is the founder of Tea Trunk, a global wellness tea brand, with a café housed in a 100-year-old heritage home in Fontainhas, Panjim. India’s first certified Tea Sommelier and a public speaker, Snigdha’s work bridges culture, ritual, and identity—reimagining heritage for future generations, one story, one space, one cup of tea at a time.

Here’s how we went about it since we began

We began in November 2024 with a Heritage Walks and Workshops Festival. Yes, 32 heritage walks and workshops. Here’s a recap of our 2024 schedule.

We then dreamed up a night walk, a Full Moon Walk along the Stepped Streets of Panjim. Our pilot for this one is none other than Jack Ajit Sukhija, A Panjimite and advocate of the city’s history. Panjim is one of the few cities in India that has stepped streets (around 15 of them!), and we take the route from the Panjim Church Steps to the Lyceum steps, right up to Altinho, and end back in the ring at the Church. The full moon over the Church is worth every step!

Picture credits: Aaron Monteiro & Chayne Lobo

In March 2025, we launched a brand new series of walks. Walking with Icons is a unique, HFG Signature Walk where we accompany our living, breathing history. Yes, we walk with the legends of Goa, achievers in the field of music, football, literature, ecology, and film. We walk through the quiet villages where they grew up, meet their families, and listen to the stories of how they were encouraged (or discouraged) on their journeys.

What is the logic behind these walks and workshops? Well, let’s put it this way…if we were to show you a monument and extoll its architectural value, its historic value, and value to the community, you’d get that this is history, right? These legends or icons are, in fact, our living legends, our breathing, pulsating living idols, our walking, talking histories, our oral history.

Our first walk was on 30th March 2025 with famed footballer Brahmanand Shankhwalkar. Icon Brahmanand Shankhwalkar is a Padma Shri and an Arjuna Awardee, the former captain of the National football team, and a true Goan football icon. We walked with him in his village of Taleigaon, listened to his stories, and heard about his family, his neighbours, and his mentors. When our 2 hours were up, nobody wanted to leave! Tea Trunk supported the walk with iced tea and sandwiches.

Picture credits: Chayne Lobo

Our second walk with icons was on 27th April 2025 with Damodar Mauzo, Konkani writer, Jnanpith Awardee, Sahitya Academy winner, and a champion of the Konkani language and one of the most powerful voices in Goan literature. A recap of his childhood memories, an introduction to his neighbours, the Posro that he took care of in the Majorda village tinto and how his writing came from the village folk sharing their stories. The walk ended at the Victoria Bakery in Majorda with tea and Goan bakery treats.

Picture credits: Chayne lobo

On 12th May 2025, we added a unique full moon night walk with Pilot Rhea Lopez at the Khazans in Salvador do Mundo.

Picture credits: Chayne Lobo

Our third walk was on 25th May 2025 with famed ecologist Rajendra Kerkar through the village of Keri, Sattari, where he grew up and where he was inspired to protect the sacred groves, the wildlife, the Mhadei river, and the forests of the Western Ghats.

Picture credits: Nolan Ramos

“There’s no place on earth like my village,” said Icon Rajendra Kerkar as he regaled us with stories of how his village shaped his life’s work in protecting Goa’s biodiversity. Mrs Pournima Kerkar and the family put out an extraordinary meal with wild edibles and some home-grown vegetables and fruit. We had never seen pineapples, cucumbers, and bhindi (okra) being turned around like this before!

Upcoming Events

June 29

The Goa monsoons have prevented us from curating a walk, and so we have curated a workshop instead! This will be held indoors at the Fallari house, Aquem -Margao, and will be curated by our Icon of the Month, Dr Shakuntala Bharne.

Picture credits: Aaron Monteiro

Icon Dr. Shakuntala Bharne is a vocalist, writer, and senior announcer at AKASHVANI Panaji. Dr Bharne has been a disciple of Padma Vibhushan Dr Gangubai Hangal and has also taken musical guidance from Padma Vibhushan Gannsaraswati Kishori Amonkar.

Dr Bharne is the author of several books on music and is the recipient of two state-level awards- Konkani Academy Sahitya Puraskar and Konkani Bhasha Mandal Puraskar, and has performed at concerts all over India.

The two-hour workshop will demonstrate the threads of commonality between Goan traditional music and the Hindustani Classical genre. She will also share stories from her own life and how the waves of the sea at Miramar inspire her riyaz every evening.

July 27

The last Sunday in July will bring us another workshop, this time with Icon Sachin Chatte, an expert on cinema. Icon Sachin Chatte is a film critic residing in Goa, with a career in film criticism spanning three decades, beginning in 1993. Since 1998, he has been a film critic with The Navhind Times, Goa, and has also contributed to numerous other publications.

He is a member of FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) and, in addition to his role as a critic, he curates films for the Cinephile Film Club under the aegis of the Entertainment Society of Goa. He has participated in various juries and covered several film festivals, including Cannes. He teaches Film Appreciation at colleges throughout the state. A passionate enthusiast of music and cricket, he is a Radio Jockey with AIR FM Rainbow for over 25 years and is also a cricket commentator for All India Radio.

To end the season, we will be holding a HERITAGE FILM FESTIVAL over two days, curated by our team members Saloni Sardessai, Leaxan Freitas and Avnita Koshy Sukhija, and Icon Sachin Chatte. Films will cover natural and cultural heritage, and wherever possible, we will introduce the producers/directors/actors to you, followed by a Q&A. Food and drinks stalls will keep your energy replenished!