Moments In Time

By Clara Rodrigues
Posted on 2008-11-14
Heard a lot about Calizz. Heard it won national accolades, heard it got the most innovative tourism project 2007-08 by ‘Incredible India’. Heard a lot but seen, seen nothing. That set me off to Candolim to catch a glimpse of the heart of Goa - Calizz – the brainchild of Laxmikant Prabhakar Kudchadkar.
Manish Arora, the general manager of Calizz showed us around with a lot of enthusiasm. Calizz cannot be termed a museum because a museum gives one the feeling of journeying through a bygone period. However, walking through the Calizz one gets a feeling of living the life of the people there. Manish says it deserves the term ‘heritage house’.
Calizz hints at the rules and ethics prevalent during the two eras Goa went through using a simple concept. The heritage house acts like a complex sheltering a number of smaller units. The concept is adapted from Dona Berta, the actual owner of the house. She had three sons and a daughter. One son became a priest, the other a doctor and the third a lawyer. The room of each member gives us a representative idea of the lifestyle of the people living then.
Walking through Calizz you can literally feel Dona Berta’s eyes following you as you enter her kitchen. For a minute I felt like Manish was one of Berta’s son who was leading me into his room for a consultation. Such is the live feeling.
The doctor and lawyer’s consultation rooms are separated from the main house. The doctor’s room has various instruments that are no longer used today. Modern day tools have replaced them. However, a look at these old tools conveys the fact that in even in those days the method of treatment was both skilled, specific and yet at the same time simple.
If a reptile bit you the doctor would not explain this to you using scientific jargon rather he would show you the specimens of various reptiles that were bottled and kept on display to indicate what exactly bit you. If you step into the lawyer’s room you will see numerous seals some of which are used till this day.
Calizz brings you, time and again, a feeling that what you are seeing is so very familiar. In fact, I found myself interrupting Manish so many times, exclaiming, “Even, I have the same thing at home!” This led Manish to remark that very often we have so many valuable things in the form of antiques, things as simple as a hanger maybe or a bed of a particular design, furniture, etc, which we dismiss as non-valuable. Manish, however, warns us not to throw them away. They are worth a fortune he says.
The priest’s room is very austere, showing us the lifestyle of the man given to God. The walls are not smooth. On a table are statues of the crucified Jesus from different angles. Manish showed us a crystal like ball, dark in colour that is believed to have in it spirits removed from people…Eeeeuuugh...creepy, but nonetheless that didn’t stop me from touching it.
Goan heritage is a happy blend of Indo-Europeanism, which is evident from the designs on the chairs and wooden art. The use of the temple leave design on these items or perhaps Dona Berta’s daughter’s painting of a bird saving a princess from the clutches of her enemy, a parallel seen in the Mahabharata, reminds us of the indigenous local element.
As Manish leads us to chapel for which we have to leave the main house, another fact about Goan houses becomes obvious. These houses may look small from the exterior but if you look at them from the inside they are very spacious.
The chapel has a seating capacity for more than 50 people. Apart from the main altar there are numerous altars on either sides. These altars are in fact facades of different churches in Goa. It took me a while to identify my village church but in the end I found it right in the front, to my left. The church organ looked pretty intact with the outer covering of the keys peeling off. It reminded me of flaking teeth enamel. Restoration, Manish explains, is not easy. Sometimes it takes months to restore an artefact, as everything has to be properly looked into. Restoration involves a lot of research in order to construct the probable use and purpose of an object.
Outside the chapel, a big 300-year-old banyan tree invites us to the cool mud houses of the carpenter, the Brahman and the landlord. These mud houses are so cool; Manish explains that people used to be very eco friendly. They lived in tune with nature. In fact they followed Vastu Shastra, a fact clearly seen in the Brahmin house (it had rooms at all the four corners). The mud houses easily adapt to the climate. Staying in a mud house keeps you warm during the winter and cool during the summer.
The tobacco house here houses more of trading articles. The Portuguese were one of the leading nations in trade activities. Goa was one of the main transit points in their trading activities. As such, many items, especially those used for measuring, are found here. You will be amazed at the various metric systems over here. Different trading centres used them.
Entering a Goan house fills one with a feeling of contentment. Maybe it’s the architecture, the aura, or perhaps the ‘Susegado chair’ in Dona Berta’s room, which Manish vouches will put you to sleep within 15 minutes. The houses are in perfect harmony with nature. Here is a lesson that modern man can draw from. Restoration is not a one-time job. It is a continuous and ongoing process, which requires time, professional supervision and loads of patience. This can all be seen at Calizz.
At Calizz, I chanced upon an aspect of Goa that I knew full well but really didn’t notice so carefully or in detail. I must say that my visit to Calizz not only made me see the heart of Goa but also feel its beat.