The picture of parents telling their children a story before
they go to bed is an image that is woven within the imagination of people of
all ages across the world. Irrespective of the cultural factors that may govern
geographical boundaries, the art of storytelling will always surround the
parent-child relationship. Embodying this very sentiment is celebrated Goan
photographer, Pantaleao Fernandes.
His latest endeavour, ‘Once Upon a Time in Goa’, is a
reflection of his own childhood experiences. “I used to read a lot of Enid
Blyton as a child, and growing up in Benaulim in a Goa from a different era
that was more rustic and surrounded by nature, I would create these scenarios
in my mind’s eye and relive what I had read in the novel,” reflects Pantaleao.
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This was further reinforced by the fact that his sister
would read to him, an exercise that only increased his affinity for the process
of having stories read to him. “My sister would read to me and as such, I
developed a fondness for the story-telling habit, which I looked to explore as
a writer. Yet the opportunity eluded me for a while,” he adds.
However, the opportunity eventually presented itself to
Pantaleao through the pleas of his youngest child, his son Nile. “Nile has a
tendency that leads him to not be able to rest until I have recounted a story
to him. In an attempt at being creative in this process, I began to weave my
childhood experiences in, such as the story of a rooster that had no tail and
hunting for frogs,” he says.
Pantaleao goes on to add that in the process of working
through the stories for his son, he realised that there was a huge disconnect
between his son’s youth and his own. He elucidates “I believe that the youth
has no connect to the ‘real Goa’. The state that I grew up in is far from what
it is today. Hence, it occurred to me that by putting all my bedtime tales in
text, I would be filling a reasonable gap in the market today for folkloric
tales for children. This, I believe, would put them in touch with their roots
from a young age.”
Pantaleao’s first offering in this vein has spurred him on
to follow it up with a sequel; one that he hopes is not too far off in the
future.
