MARGAO 1964

Margao, Goa. India. 1964

Picture by Tony Fernandes

(Guirim, Cumbiem Morod, Bardez, Goa - India)

This picture is converted from an original Kodachrome slide, lying dormant for so many years among the other pictures in my collection of slides of that era. So to bring it back to life on the computer I used my old Asahi Pentax close-up lenses with Hansa bellows slide-copier coupled with Nikon D401X Digital Camera. And voila! I thought now we are getting somewhere, although the result is not super, I guess it will be acceptable, considering the numbers of years that have passed by, being stored in its immediately identifiable Kodachrome trademark yellow box and a transparent lid of that time!

The attributes of the picture worth noting without a doubt are the obvious ones: the clean Margao streets, the good old Caminhao is seen in the distance, Volkswagen Beetles, left over from the years prior to 1961 from the Portuguese era, are seen in front of the imposing building that bears a sign that reads: THE GOA STATE COOPERATIVE BANK, upon a close macro view of the original slide.

Generally, in the overall picture very few people seem to be out on the streets. No hustle and bustle. Everything appears to be calm, simple, rustic and no one seems to be in any apparent hurry as is evident in the leisurely walk of the 2 guys in the foreground. In the bottom left of the picture I surmise that it may be a short-trousered Goan perhaps, befriending someone in a 'lungi' for the first time on the streets of Margao.

Barely three years into the Indian take-over of Goa, when the photo was taken, it seems the 'lungiwalla' has already made his initial foray into looking at business opportunities or possibly in his earnest interest in looking out for a job!

The lone cyclist also seems to have his way – he is riding right in the centre of the road, which is unimaginable and simply not possible today.

It seems that the Caminhao is empty. Were the passengers on strike? I wonder.

See the 'Glycodin' for cough hoarding in the back ground below the hill and the 'No horn please' sign in the foreground? Simple, rural and rustic charm.

Kodachrome colour reversal film from Eastman Kodak was a process-paid film available in the 1960’s in Indian sub-continent and in the Middle Eastern countries. During my years in Goa and Bombay, I sent my film to the Bombay Film Laboratories at Dadar in Bombay for processing in slides; and when I worked in Dubai, I sent them to Hemel Hempsted Labs in the United Kingdom. In later years I got the slides developed at the United Film Laboratories in Ajman, U.A.E.

The trend of colour slides declined over the years, and finally disappeared from the scene.

The added joy of taking pictures using colour slide films was that one could have a slide show for family and friends to watch at home by using a 35mm film slide projector. Thus one could not only have personal projection of slides at a evening get-together with family and friends, but could also have prints made from the slides as well if required. Though the cost of making this choice was expensive, it was fun as a hobby. The reason behind this extra expense was due to the fact that the colour labs had to first make a negative from the dia-positive slide, and then make a colour print from the negative.

The advantage of using slide film was the clarity, a balanced skin tone and general fine picture quality. The benefit of using medium speed 35mm 64ASA was less grain, resulting in exceptionally sharp pictures.

Tony Fernandes
Guirim, Cumbiem Morod,
Bardez, Goa - India