It has been a pleasure to work with Ben Antao. Originally from the Goan village of Velim, Ben cut his teeth in journalism while working at the Indian Express as a reporter. He subsequently migrated to Canada where he works a certified financial planner. Ben’s heart, though, still beats for Goa and the numerous books he has written are testament to that. His books speak of an innocent time when life in the village was idyllic and people cared for each other.
CinnamonTeal has published two of Ben’s books. The first one was a new edition of his earlier work, Images of Goa. The second, recently published in October 2012, is a bi-lingual book consisting of short stories in English and Konkani. We are proud to have published this book, titled Xirap and her Nnov Kotha (literally ‘The Curse and nine other stories’)/The Madhouse and nine other stories, making it possible for us to realise our dream of publishing bi-lingual books. We have always believed in this format because we believe that it speaks to a community that communicates in English, mostly for economic reasons, but also wishes to not lose sight of a language it holds dear.
We enjoyed every moment we worked on this book and we hope you will enjoy reading it. The book is available for sale here.