The charm deluge is not offensive. In fact it’s a tsunami of culture, food
creativity and chic which has metamorphosised, Panjim into a capital of cool.
And for those who love Lisbon, (and there’s a fair
chance that if you say Alfama, Chiado or even bacalau in the Latin quarter of
Pajnim, ten heads will turn) and seen how it has grown into the nerve centre of
fashion, food and culture, will lovingly see parallels in Panjim. The scale is
nowhere near, and even the entire gamut of transformation is limited to the
beautiful radius around the banks of the Mandovi in and around the post office
till the rear of the Latin quarter.
The latin quarter is now Panjim’s Chaido, or Alfama or
our answer to Shoreditch of London or even Brooklyn or The Grenwhich Village of
New York
From the Ourem bridge over the creek which leads into
the old Latin quarter (known as the post office area), you see a transformation
which is awesome. An array of shops and cafes, in a new building, Bento Miguel
Building on D. Joao De Crasto Road, which marries the classical and the modern,
houses a music store, restaurants, a pub. most of them with roof top vistas and
terraces, overlooking the creek, the tiled roofs of homes and café’s in Sao
Tome and Fontainhas.
There’s music to be heard, conversations to be had
over cafes like Blue Tokai, housed in ancient homes transformed, belonging to
traditional Goan families. Blue Tokai, stands in the family home of Zito
Gouveia Pinto, one of Panjim’s masterful raconteurs, and has become a meeting
point of those who learnt to chill, discuss, work and relax.
Then there are poshtels, (posh- hostels) a term
borrowed from Lisbon like Old Quarter and their café’s where backpackers meet
locals and hang, eat, talk and work, in Mala.
The transformation has happened without uprooting and
disturbing any of the old. In fact it has blended beautifully. Look at Joseph’s
Bar for instance which was a hole in the wall, old style tavern. It still is
but with a vibe which is evolutionary, with freshly brewed craft beer regularly
topped up along with choris pao and prawn rissois.
Café Bodega, within the gorgeous Sunapranta art
Centre, a sprawling Portuguese mansion, with spaces for art, lawns and an
amphitheatre is an everyday go to place for most of us, with nooks and corners
to settle in with food and coffee or Kombucha (the tea based fizzy drink).
Fashion, books, foods, tattoos, art music and café’s
light up the landscape like colourful confetti, almost reminiscent of Lisbon’s
Jardim do Principe Real where, you can sit over a bica (local for espresso) at
one of Lisbon’s traditional kiosks, rehabilitated a decade ago by Portugal’s
darling of preservation, Catarina Portas, a journalist who has made her mark in
restoring and repackaging legacy brands and stores.
Tiny sized bars, deep within the recesses of the
labyrinth of lanes, are not watering holes to get inebriated, they have become
social hotspots for Panjim’s well heeled.
And the vibe is moving to places like Merces and Taleigao
as well. Taleigao has a lovely restaurant and meeting place and a music hotspot
Rumi while Merces has the pulsating Sadhna Del Arte.
It’s packed with events especially on Sundays. From
artists, writers and poets gathering to speak and perform on a themes of
democracy and good governance, through the language of poetry, films theatre,
to hosting a meeting of artists from all over the country gathering for an
artistic protest, it all happens at Sadhna Del Arte.
This week, it had an enchanting evening of book
reading of authors, accompanied by music, organised by a collective of
documentary directors, writers, graphic artists and creative gurus of the
national advertising world who live here. Writers Damodar Mauzo, Jessica
Faleiro and Pogoat ( Alfred Almeida) read from their works with musicians Joe
Ferrao, Sameeer Alvares and Alister D Sa accompanied them with music curated to
their reading, in a setting of another magnificent Portuguese villa in Merces.
What is delightful about Panjim is that this is
happening quietly, This at no point means that the town does not have problems.
But can’t we toast what is nice? Like Lisboetas (locals from Lisbon) who are
not shouting about their change from the colinas (hill tops) of Lisbon,
Panjimites are not doing it from Altinho either.
But we feel it. And we like it.
