Kalyani Jha
Panaji
From exploring the language of plants to reflecting on the significance of silence in art, the 13th edition of the Goa Arts and Literature Festival (GALF) opened on Thursday at the International Centre Goa (ICG), Dona Paula.
The three-day literary gathering brings together writers, artists, and intellectuals from across India and abroad.
The festival was inaugurated with keynote addresses by academic and author Sumana Roy and Sahitya Akademi awardee Shanta Gokhale, a poetry recital by Ramesh Gadi, and the unveiling of an artwork by Goan artist Sonia Rodrigues Sabharwal. The event was attended by ICG President Yatin Kakodkar, ICG Director Pushkar, GALF curator and Jnanpith awardee Damodar Mauzo, and writer Vivek Menezes.
Menezes paid tribute to filmmaker and photographer Tarun Bhartiya, who attended GALF 2024 and had described Goa as his second home after Shillong. He also reflected on the festival’s growth since its inception in 2010 and its role in fostering intellectual exchange in Goa’s inclusive cultural landscape.
In her keynote address, Roy discussed the “language of plants,” citing scientist Jagdish Chandra Bose’s research on plant sensitivity and how his theories, once ridiculed, are now validated by modern science. She also referenced Rabindranath Tagore, Katie Holten, and various plant scripts that remain on the periphery of human language.
Gokhale’s address focused on the power of silence, lamenting the loss of quiet spaces in urban life due to rampant construction. “I feel this great urge to turn violent. But I can hardly throw the noisy excavators into the sea,” she said. She spoke about how Mahatma Gandhi emphasised silence as a means of self-reflection and how theatre director Peter Brook used minimalism and long pauses to bring epics like the Mahabharata to life.
Sabharwal unveiled her artwork Goddess of Art and Literature, inspired by the Kabir song Jheeni Jheeni Beeni re Chadariya, which her student performed for the audience.
Poet Ramesh Ghadi, originally from Saligao, recited four Konkani poems, including Mhaka Kainz Farak Padto Na and Avoin Mhaka Goenche Maati Chitin…Dhadige, reflecting on his nostalgia for Goa after years spent working in the Gulf.
The inaugural session was followed by a discussion on historian William Dalrymple’s book The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World between the author and Padma Bhushan awardee Vidya Dehejia.
