When Savia
Viegas proffers a thick book and calls it a novella, the eyebrows have to raise. It is only
when you leaf through it that you realise that ‘Song Sung Blue’ is a new idea –
it’s indeed a novella, illustrated at that, and then there is another section
that is the same story told in a graphic novel format, with all illustrations
by Savia herself. The reader has a choice – either read the novella or read the
graphic novel.
The innovation, however, does not end there, keeping the eyebrow
raised even some more. You have to read the story to appreciate how Savia
effortlessly takes the protagonist, who is the narrator of the story, and
places her in context with the changes happening in Goa. As you read through,
you do get the distinct impression that Divina, the protagonist, could well be
Goa itself, going through the pangs of rediscovering herself after Liberation.
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And the writer admits it. “I was curious to know what it meant
to be young in liberated Goa. There were many complexities about being Indian
and being Goan but I gave that a raincheck and concentrated simply on a rural
Goan story. What were the attitudes of the young regarding caste, love, sex,
religion and identity? I did try deliberately not to cramp ideas of the old
society on the characters in the book. Indeed they were changing but some ideas
of the old time did influence them and their actions. Yes I did use the
character as a trope for the state. Things that happen in Divina’s life also
are dominant issues in the life of the state,” says Savia.
She started writing
the book in 2011 when the state was in the throes of its half centennial
celebrations. So, aptly the book begins with the Liberation of Goa, with
turbulence in the air and the birth of Divina’s sister, Maria de Ceu (Maria of
the Sky), and is set at the time when caste and class structures were plainly
defined, yet the time when the youth were beginning to explore the world beyond
the village and the caste barriers.
The book is set in
Savia’s village of Carmona. It’s the story of a bhatkar’s daughter who grows up
being told that she belongs to a certain caste and should therefore choose a
groom who is worthy of her and the family. But this is liberated Goa, teenagers
go to college and attend other courses and make new friends beyond the
immediate circle of the parents’ social class. They are out of the house for
long hours of the day without parental supervision. The forbidden fruit is
tempting, and she falls in love with a boy from a lower caste and class, and
that’s when her troubles begin.
No, this is not a
straight forward love story of a rich-girl-poor-boy variety, where the parents
finally relent and embrace the couple. This is different. ‘Song Sung Blue’
takes the reader deeper to another parallel world, where tragedy is a part of
life, and joy, a fleeting dream. It keeps the reader riveted, but only a Goan
will be able to discern that here is a story that tells more than what the
words say.
But, on completing
reading the book and the inevitable ending, curiosity on the choice of names
led to a question to the writer. Is the name Divina significant to the story,
as the protagonist’s life takes a turn that is not divine?
Replied Savia,
“Having grown up in a conservative Roman Catholic household I have a penchant
for names that come with a holy investiture i.e. ‘You are named after the
Virgin Mary, so you have to be an exemplary child.’ Maria do Ceu and Divina are
actually names of two of my cousins but I borrowed the names because they
fascinated me and are apt for my characters. Maria do Ceu with her religious
disposition is indeed a Maria of the Sky. But Divina, named thus because she
‘fell from the sky’, is in fact a fallen angel. I think the name is apt for the
character. Divina, who by her propensity or predisposition to break down pales
of society and religion, embroils herself into an outsider status. Images of
suffering in the novella are directly influenced by religious images of
motherhood and loss but convey a panoply of inverted meanings and ideas.”
Beautifully
illustrated, all in shades of blue, ‘Song Sung Blue’ had a long gestation
period. “Several projects simmer on my creative burner at all times. The
manuscript of ‘Song Sung Blue’ has been with me for some years. The text was
ready by 2014 but it had not yet developed an appealing form. Many more
paintings have been added on in the last two years to upgrade it to its present
state,” Savia said. As a writer, she will surely be proud of the final product.
