For 65-year-old
Goa-based artist Shireen Mody, Goa was a paradise that she loved living in; it was also the inspiration
for her art. Her every creation oozed the true Goan essence that was captured
through her eyes. Living for almost four decades in the state, she had embraced
everything Goa had to offer, especially its scenic beauty. Her clientele based
around the world took her piece of Goa to the furthest shores. Unfortunately,
Goa is the same place where her life abruptly came to an end.
“I would question not the safety but the whole system. Why is it
that independent women, who live life on their own terms, whether it is Monika
Ghurde or Shireen Mody, evoke with their lifestyle, certain kind of men. Why is
this society such that independent, strong women are not safe? I feel Goa is a
safe place but such cases bring up questions that need to look deeper into the
cultural issue. I think in comparison to many other places in the world, not
just India, Goa is a very safe place for women. However, there are our cultural
issues that trigger this question,” says Katharina Poggendorf-Kakar, an author
and artist.
Inger Solberg from Norway shuttles between Denmark and Goa. She
has been calling Goa her home since the 1990s. Living in Calangute, she penned
down her Indian experiences in her debut book, ‘Pushpa’. “I have known Shireen
since 2005, when I purchased one of her paintings. She was so creative and such
a wonderful person, I always admired her work. When I received a phone call yesterday
about this sad news, I was devastated. My heart is bleeding for her daughter,
Saffron, who is now left alone,” says Inger, who is currently in Denmark.
Speaking about safety in Goa, she says, “I have never felt unsafe in Goa but I
am also very careful. But this situation where domestic help attacks you can
happen anywhere; it is not particularly the safety in Goa. I used to have many
domestic helpers and I never felt unsafe.”
Kornelia Santoro, originally from Bavaria, Germany made Goa her
home since 1996. She wrote cookbooks here, which also won the Gourmand World
Cookbook Awards. “Shireen was a wonderful person and a wonderful artist. Our
home would not be the same without her paintings. Every time we look at them,
we feel joy. We knew her for decades and appreciated her greatly as a friend
and as an artist. It is so sad how she was taken from us and my husband Alberto
and I are still under shock. We wish her daughter strength, courage and
endurance in this time. May Shireen Mody rest in peace and follow us from
heaven,” says Kornelia.
Rajendra Usapkar, a
Goan artist, knew Shireen personally and as an artist too, visiting each
other’s galleries. He says, “Even though she was an internationally acclaimed
artist, she was a very simple person. She didn’t have an airs about it. She
used to visit exhibitions and mingle with limited artists, especially in
Arpora. She has a documentary done by BBC on her works and her life. I read her
news on social media and people from the art community informed me about the
murder. It is really tragic.”
Yolanda de Sousa
Kammermeier, a Goan artist, knew Shireen well. “I knew her more in the 1980s
and then we were very friendly when we met. She was in Goa for years and lived
like a Goan. What I liked about her art was her passion for Goa because all her
works were based in Goa. Right from the time I’ve know her works, it was the
fields that she drew. She connected a lot with Goa. She had shows in her own
place and had her clientele. She opened a gallery with her daughter, Saffron,
in November 2018, called Studio Arpora. She painted on her own terms and her
space. What is tragic is her loss,” says Yolanda.
She adds, “She was a
lovely person, who was enjoying her life. One must see that these things don’t
recur. Monika Ghurde was murdered on the same day, October 6, 2016, by her
security guard. It is a call to take care and be serious of whom you employ and
not take chances. One wouldn’t expect your own gardener to do this but in
today’s world, in Goa, it is happening too much. These are people who you take
for granted and expect to be loyal to you, which they normally are.”
Italian Mariagrazia
Raschi, the proprietor of Baba’s Wood Café in Arpora, which is close to
Shireen’s home, shares her thoughts: “Shireen was a very smart, funny, full of
life and optimistic person. She was my neighbour for three years in Arpora and
I was shocked to hear the news about her murder. She used to visit me at least
twice a week at the Café. This is a general problem; I feel Goa is very safe.
You have to register your employees because you don’t know where they are
coming from. For the moment, it is difficult to understand what exactly
happened. The gardener was working with her for many years; he knew where the
exits were and what would make him climb a high wall? It is also difficult to
relate how a fall from the wall, which might be 5-6 metres, can kill him. There
is something strange,” says Mariagrazia.
Installation artist
Subodh Kerkar was influenced by Shireen’s painting of a Goan window: “It was a
window of Dr Wilfred D’Souza’s house that she had painted nearly 25 years back
and I was so impressed by that painting that I might have painted hundreds of
Goan paintings after that. Shireen was very impressive with her art. She had
paintings on rice fields, which were very beautiful, with palm trees casting a
shadow on the green fields. She had series of paintings on cows, palm leaves,
the Night Market etc,” says Subodh.
Refraining from drawing comparisons on the murder of Monika Ghurde and Shireen Mody, Subodh explains, “Both these cases are different. Monika’s murder was a case of revenge as the security guard was sacked from his job and it was a rape and murder. Shireen was allegedly attacked by her gardener. These are well known women and artists, which is making the news. There are problems with other women too, who are less famous. I don’t think safety should be questioned here because Goa is safe for women.”