#goanwaterproject

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WELLS OF ALDONA : COMICS Wells of Aldona talks about Martha, a lady who comes back to her childhood home to find her well gone! Her grand-kids are on a mission to get their avo her well back and luckily for them, they run into Shashi, their avo’s old friend who has still clung tight to her well. What happens next? Read to find out! 

Research & Story: Pragya Priyadarshini Storyboarding: Pragya Priyadarshini & Utkarsh Chaturvedi Artwork: Utkarsh Chaturvedi

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WELLS OF ALDONA

My first introduction to in-house wells was unfortunately through a dysfunctional well right next to the parking lot in my apartment complex. The building, I had learnt was fairly new. How could the well have ruined so soon then? Upon further prodding my nose into neighbors’ affairs, I got to know that the apartment complex was actually built after the demolition of a 100+ year old house, that belonged to one of my neighbors, Ms. Pascoal D’Souza.  The house, that Mr. D’Souza’s grandmother had built, withered when the family moved away for work and education. When the house couldn't bear its own weight, the D’Souzas decided to bring it to ground and make an apartment complex instead. The apartment complex saved the land but ruined the well. We now have 24 hours PWD water-supply and the well lies dysfunctional, overgrown though still not dry. 

This is not the story only from the D’Souzas, Its true for so many other houses in this inland village of North Goa. With the alarming rate of outward migration and increasing number of apartment complexes coming up, how soon will it be till be see this age-old practice of ground water utilization being ruined?

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Wells right by the kitchen window are a unique feature of Goan houses. My neighbour, Ms. Rodriguez uses her’s as her primary source of water, supplemented by tap water whenever needed.  She was the inspiration behind the character of ‘Shashi’ in the ‘Nital Goem, Nital Baim’ comic. 

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What it’s been like!

For the first 25 years of my life, I had carved a very safe distance between myself and Goa. My only frames of reference for what Goa has to offer were #GoGoa #partyallnight updates from social media and of course, the classic, Dil Chahta Hai. So when I was told that Quicksand is doing a project on Goan Heritage, I wondered what they were talking about except for the old Goan-Portugese architecture. Let’s just say I have come a long, long way since then!  I’ve transitioned from a person who thought for the longest of time that Goa the state might also have a city called Goa inside it, to  one who often drives upto 50kms at a stretch to attend meetups  about water-conservation that are often almost entirely in Konkani. I know more people who are 60 and above in my neighbourhood than I know 20-something in all of  Goa. They call me ‘the water-girl who lives in Honorato’s house’ and I can’t deny that I am secretly in love with the idea!

In the first two weeks of whats going to be a 3.5 month long internship, we explored different topics- right from migration trends to craft clusters to study and compare in different neighborhoods and topographies. I met craftsmen like Mr. Shankar Turi- one of the only proponents of the Azulezos art from in the country and looked through every traditional spice and paraphernalia related to cooking in the office kitchen. For a day or two I also considered capturing the unique typographic elements of the age-old lettering in areas like Fontainhas and in our very own village. In the end though, we decided to work on the ecological heritage of Goa. The initial idea behind studying water developed over evening walks next to the centuries old sluice gate systems in the nearby Khazan lands. The curiosity only increased when I discovered wells in office and apartment compound and was told that they are infact a rather common phenomenon.  

Working in this project, has made me mutant of sorts, inside the office I learn about things like writing screenplays and storyboarding for comics,  while out of it, I find myself speaking with marine biologists, activists, peeping into wells that are 100s of years old,  navigating my way through government offices and most majorly, embracing my hatred for driving two-wheelers! I can now drive for upto 15kms without a map, ladies and gentlemen.

The fact that I am involved in doing and documenting extensive primary and secondary research along with making the comics-series, not just makes my storytelling and visuals nuanced and hopefully more effective, it also justifies my position at the cusp of a design firm and a policy think-tank. Hopefully in the month and a half that are still to go for my project here, I will learn how to balance design research and policy research in my unique mutant-like way and create a manner of practice that can benefit from all my interdisciplinary skills.

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The Goan Water Project

The Goan Water Project is a part of the larger umbrella of ‘Reviving Goan Heritage’ project that looks at ways of public engagement in heritage  through mixed media, specially using technologies like VR, AR and MR.  It urges people to come out of closed spaces like museums and to experience heritage- architectural, ecological, culinary, musical and sartorial, in open spaces and through a wider lenses of technology. My role in the project is to create: a) Research and documentation of 8 major topics related to Goa’s Hydrological system, to be further used in the project either in Policy Labs or for the ‘Reviving Goan Heritage’ project b) A series of 1-pager comic strips on the above 8 topics, that could be used as methods of public engagement through publications and in outreach activities.

But why study water or the lack of it in a high-precipitation zone that has nine rivers flowing through it? Why study it as the part of heritage conservation? 

Goa, though abundant in water prima facie is steadily heading towards a water-scarce future. The abuse of resources along the coastal belt and by industries like hospitality and mining have created a jarring gap between the haves and have nots when it comes to water. The increasing developmental pressure and severely irresponsible tourism which promotes a very one-sided image of Goa does not do much to further the cause of conservation of Goan ecological heritage, specially water. This project is an attempt to study the peculiarities of the Goan hydrological systems and find ways in which the stories of water can be told to the people who’s water it is. The eight topics covered in the project range from the traditional khazan agri-system to responsible marine tourism and CRZ violations.

The 8-comic series is being directed by me(Pragya) and illustrated by 8 different artists in 8 different artistic styles.