Scent of a man

Illustration/Uday Mohite

It's a long time since I heard church bells chime, now from St Sebastian's Chapel, with hymns sung by the locals, ringing out in the morning air. I'm in the lovely Fontainhas, the Latin Quarter, imbued with its rich Portuguese legacy, in Panjim, Goa. With street names like Rua 31 de Janeiro (31st of January Street), and houses with name plates like Cantinho dos Afonsos (corner house of the Afonsos) and Vivenda Pinto (House of Pinto), in azulejos-style blue and white ceramic tiles. I'm here for Film Bazaar and the International Film Festival of India, IFFI Goa.

At Film Bazaar, I catch up with the talented Goa-based Ridham Janve, who's making a new film, sort of handmade style. Another gifted filmmaker Amit Datta, who lives in Himachal Pradesh, is editing his film - wow! They have been playing chess online, Ridham says, and they continue, editing chess-style, with Amit making an edit pass, then Ridham making his edit suggestions. Lovely!

Then I meet two European film festival-related people; it turns out both of them are into perfume. One of them is so passionate about it, he says, "I discovered very late that I love perfume so much. If I had discovered my passion early on, I might have become a perfume person, than a film person (he's director of a major European film festival). "I've come to IFFI Goa for three days, so I have five perfumes for each day, so I'm carrying 15 small perfume bottles in my suitcase." Over lunch with friends, he speaks so passionately about his favourite perfumes, I remember only a couple. He is in ecstasy, describing all kinds of woody, mossy notes, and more, of Mukallat by Montale, Paris, and Houbigant's Ambre des Abysses (Amber of the Abysses, uff!) and more. Google says its "top notes are mint, orange blossom and bergamot; middle notes are geranium, amber, patchouli, jasmine and rosemary; and base notes are vanilla, oakmoss, tonka bean and leather." He introduces me to a new word, ‘sillage,' that I haven't met before - pronounced "see-yahzh," French for "wake", like the wake of a ship in the water - or the trail of perfume one leaves behind. Another quick google search reveals that sillage is the trail your perfume leaves behind, while projection refers to how far your perfume radiates. "If you'd like to leave a sillage around you, then the back of your neck and the inside of your knees are good spots," is Google Mata's advice… ahem, ahem. All this is a new world for me and I'm fascinated.

I'm also up late, watching film submissions for the Berlin Film Festival. Then feeling peckish, I go out for a small bite and discover the wonderful store Global to Local, with a wide range of Goan/locally sourced products, started by Asha Arondekar to support local women, at House No 4, Tarcar Mansion in Fontainhas. It is ideal for gifts for others and yourself. I raid it, picking up a beautiful red Kunbi Goan handloom sari, Goan goodies, including perad (a sweet made of guava, lime juice, sugar), phanas poli ("jackfruit bar"), Tarovoti papad (roast, made of urad and tarvoti chillies), prawns balchao, Xacuti powder, Ambotik masala, and they have many jams with jaggery instead of sugar; handmade soaps (charcoal; besan) and more.

At night, I meet a Bombay family that moved to Goa ages ago - the dad is a senior software expert; the daughter has a fashion store; and the mom, a retired former professor of Economics, now busies herself also making beautiful upcycled decorations, so she can fund the daily meals and medical bills of a bunch of street dogs in the area. From my late dad, I learnt that between being right and being kind, go for being kind. Goa, you have my heart.

Meenakshi Shedde is India and South Asia Delegate to the Berlin International Film Festival, National Award-winning critic, curator to festivals worldwide and journalist.
Reach her at meenakshi.shedde@mid-day.com