On banana leaf lay stone ground coal-roasted cashew apple chutney and roti. In the courtyard, a fat hen was cackling and an invisible cow mooed. Two frail women were powdering rice in an old-fashioned stone grinder, their hands moving the wheel at 70 rpm (maybe more).

A traditional hair decoration of Goan women. (Photo Credit: Preeti Verma Lal)

In a corner, a man was aggressively rubbing two flint stones to create fire for a quick home-made beedi drag. In a blink, the spark lit the char cloth, the man lit the beedi, made smoke swirls and hummed away. No, hurry. No stress. No jarring sound of the food processor. No packaged, processed food. A slow day in a slow world.

Women in Valpoi now perform the Ramayana which for long was a male preserve. (Photo Credit: Preeti Verma Lal)

That April morning, in the house of 70-something Laxmi Harvalkar, time was standing still. It was a dusty road to her brick-thatched home in Valpoi (Goa) and the moment I hopped off the vehicle to an old, forgotten world, I knew I was a sartorial incongruity.

Not a pottery wheel but a manual stone grinder for flour. (Photo Credit: Preeti Verma Lal)

Picture this. I walk into a 19th-century milieu wearing a black halter-neck jumpsuit and burgundy oxfords. I sure looked discordant in the world in which women wore nine-yard sarees, tucked flowers in their hair and smiled without stress furloughed on their forehead.

Laxmi Harvalkar creating music from madd dovlo (coconut spoon). (Photo Credit: Preeti Verma Lal)

“It will be a full-day tour to another world,” Sawani Shetye, an archaeology graduate who runs Bhoomij Heritage, a start-up that organises themed tours in Goa, had dropped the hint when I signed up for the tour. “We will go to the home of state awardee Laxmi Harvalkar. Please note that there will be no silverware and dining tables. Sit on the floor and eat with your hands,” Shetye added what to/not expect.

Flint stones and char cloth used to create fire. (Photo Credit: Preeti Verma Lal)

In the village where electricity arrived barely two decades ago, there is quiet - and entertainment - of another kind. After breakfast, Laxmi decided to create music. In a cliched Goan moment, it would have the guitar or the ghumat (a local percussion instrument). But this was a madd dio/dovlo (coconut spoon). The stage was not set and the amplifier not cranked. Laxmi merely upturned a rectangular wooden bowl traditionally used to knead rice flour, sprinkled ash on its back and scratched the surface with the handle of a ladle made of coconut shell. It did not hit a dulcet note immediately but as Laxmi’s song synced with the harmony of hand movement, music filled the air. That moment, I understood why Laxmi has been honoured with a state award for her contribution towards preserving Goan folk traditions.

A local in old-fashioned headgear. (Photo Credit: Preeti Verma Lal)

More entertainment waited after lunch. No head bobbing this time. No heavy metal. No high decibel level. Instead, a group of women from village self-help group performing the Ramayana, which until recently, was a male preserve. Not any more. Laxmi Nagesh Bottorkar, 52, dressed as a male priest and interspersed Ramayana’s anecdotes with messages about hygiene and cleanliness. On an ordinary day, Devyani Devdas is a demure villager, but when her face is painted as Hanuman, she borrows his fierce stance and stomps her feet. Syncing my heartbeat with the beat of the dhol, I sat in the clay-mopped courtyard lost in the forgotten world where there are no modern contraptions, just old-world happiness, togetherness and sense of belonging.

On the way home, as the tyres kicked dust, I remembered what Agatha Christie had said about Happy Families… "So sweet and funny and old-world. You just can't think of anything nasty happening here, can you?” Sometimes, all we need to do is raise an eyebrow at the absurdities of modern existence and let life slow down. The old-fashioned way.

Good to know: Bhoomij Heritage offers various themed tours and can be reached at 077768 87807

Preeti Verma Lal is a Goa-based freelance writer/photographer.

First Published:May 3, 2019 10:29 PM IST