chapter 5
practices of remembering
The final chapter, Practices of Remembering, serves not only as a summary of the preceding chapters but, more importantly, as a space for reflection on the questions that remain unresolved. Being frequently haunted by a sense of guilt for not doing enough to deconstruct the dominant Portuguese narrative that glorifies the colonial past, or even for potentially contributing to its perpetuation, it has taken time - and remains an ongoing process - to begin to overcome my fear of “being colonial.” Gradually, I came to realise that engaging with people who might initially appear to be sympathisers of Portuguese rule, and critically unpacking those assumptions to reveal their nuanced understanding and condemnation of the violence and oppression of colonialism, is as valid a scholarly path as working exclusively with those who immediatly reject it.
The author at Reis Magos Fort, Goa. The final frames of a half-roll intentionally left black on the left side. Photos by Yash Sawant.
In conclusion, by examining my participants’ everyday practices of nostalgically recalling the past, frequenting Mr Baker or dedicating time to recording their memories, I aimed to demonstrate how remembering is an individual but also collective practice, how it manifests openly in discourse or remains hidden within the body and how future ceases to exist without a clear definition of the past.