Goa, May 31 -- RAJDEEP SARDESAI

For many Indians, Goa is a holiday. For me, Goa is home. Not in the conventional sense perhaps, because I did not grow up there, I can't speak Konkani, but emotionally, spiritually and historically, Goa has always been part of my identity. It is my father's land. And every time I return, I feel I am reconnecting not merely with a place, but with a part of myself.

My father was the first and is still the only Goa-born male cricketer to play for India. That fact alone gave Goa a special meaning in our family. Long before Goa became India's favourite tourist postcard, before beach shacks and mega festivals became its global image, there was another Goa - quieter, gentler, deeply-rooted in community and cultu...