Aldona, THE Coolest place in Goa... :)

This next article is about a place very close to my heart, my hometown Aldona.

Aldona is a sleepy village located in North Goa about 10 kms from Mapusa and roughly 20 kms from Panaji. It is one of the more developed villages in Goa with a literacy rate of about 94%, where women are given as much importance as men.

The total population of Aldona as on 2011 was roughly 6,320.

The current archbishop of Goa, Daman and Diu Filipe Neri Ferrao is from Aldona. Aldona has also produced many priests who have made their mark in Rome, Delhi and various other parts.

Aldona is blessed with the best infrastructure, open minded people, state of the art infrastructure and overall prosperity.

Aldona is also home to some pretty famous people. Amitav Gosh being one of them. Writers, Actors and musicians all love Aldona because it has an old world charm, with much of the village retaining it’s nostalgic air, yet not primitive in any way.

The architecture in Aldona is also the best. There are many homestays and bunglows for rent in Aldona that give out a heritage hotel vibe. Its a home not a hotel. Rooms and things in it, in the main house, remain as orderly or disorderly, as it would in our own homes.

Every house in Aldona (Although bungalows would be a better term for them) have a large garden with flowers, fruits, trees, dogs and sometimes even pigs.

Some of the advantages of staying in a town like Aldona are:

1)      Hand drawn water from the well :- All villages [Aldona included] abhor using plastic bottles. Drinking water is freshly drawn from wells and kept in earthen pitchers called gurgurette [usually in the shape of a cock where water comes from the beak].

2)      No Air Conditioners: - Heat is naturally controlled through high walls with slated roofs having sufficient space for ventilation and big windows opening out onto the garden as well as on the opposite side of the room into the back open space.

3)      Traditional food practises: - Or perhaps organic is a better word to explain. Food is always cooked fresh, from the produce of one’s own garden or sometimes purchased from the market. There is sort of a zero wastage understanding among the family members, so whatever little is left over, if it can’t be fed to the pigs is used in the compost to prepare manure for the gardens.

Most Goan women are kitchen queens, making their own jams and pickles using fresh fruits and without any preservatives. Words would fall short to describe Goan women’s cooking skills at savouries and desserts alike. Every Goan woman learns to cook at a very young age. From traditional Goan dishes of Chicken Xacuti and Sorpotel  to more continental ones like baked vegetables and of course traditional Goan desserts like bebinca Ale Bele and Penagre.  And the best thing is that every Goan home cook will try to convince you how easy these dishes really are to make.

The universal truth about Goans is that they love to talk, So if you want an evening of pastime just find a true blue Goan, place a glass of urrack [ a locally brewed alcohol made from coconut toddy or caju] in his Hand and sit back and enjoy yourself.

Above is a pic of Goa's only cable stayed bridge located at Aldona to connect Aldona with A little island called Khorjuem.
Also I just have to add that Aldona is voted THE RICHEST VILLAGE AS PER THE LATEST CENSUS