The dreaded afternoon slot. Susegaad time. Gulp. Will they show up at all? And even if the serious few heritage nuts decided to attend, will a conversation about an unreleased book by a non-Goenkar resonate? The butterflies were fluttering in all directions in the tummy. I left the fate of my session at the Goa Heritage Festival to the mercy of the sleeping gods in the sunshine state.

But they showed up in decent numbers, across age groups, and listened attentively. And when questions were thrown open to the audience, they were both insightful and thought-provoking; in fact, the curiosity about how my book themed on heritage for young minds took shape [perhaps stemming from their familiarity with Bombay] organically seeped into the session. Soon enough, I was able to draw in examples and references from my home city without any hesitation. The affirmative nods and more observations from within the group meant things hadn’t gone south. Also in the audience were stalwarts of the Goa Heritage Action Group [GHAG] – Heta Pandit and Vivek Menezes – who had steered this ambitious idea of organising a heritage festival along with fellow members of GHAG into a living, breathing reality. While the group has been organising festivals including the Fontainhas Arts Festival and others earlier, this edition was the blending of those collective experiences, a scaled-up, exhaustive avatar, infused with new energy after the dreary days of the pandemic. The issues faced by Panjim with its ‘Smart City’ tag, its rampant urbanisation and other pressing civic concerns came up in the course of the many sessions, making it an eye-opener for this outsider. The community was there to support and speak up about their home city and state, and bring to the table issues that mattered.