Sahitya Akademi award winner, Damodar Mauzo, long-time resident of the Majorda village is looking forward to the release of his latest book of short stories, Tishttavni via an online session on Friday. Says the affable author, “This is the first-ever virtual book-launch in my life. But with the onset of the digital world, this had to happen someday. I am sure, while we will miss the flavour of a physical book event spiced by refreshments and music, the virtual events have come to stay.” Giving us a sneak peek into his book, Mauzo explains that while most stories are set in Goa, there are some which are set in other parts of the country. “For instance, the story, Jhel Vitalltana (As the Ice Melts) is set against the backdrop of the warfare in Kargil where the central character is a stubborn looking Colonel. The landscape is the snow-laden Dras and Kargil region in the Kashmir valley. While in Sundarkayecho Upasaka (The Aesthetist ), the fallacy of a wealthy man who claims to have aesthetic wisdom is exposed. The ambience described here is the affluent society of Mumbai,” Mauzo says. As is his wont, Mauzo seems to have taken the bull by its horns in some of the Goa-based stories in this latest book. In one story, Mauzo highlights the apathy displayed by a commoner towards the perpetrated communal divisions. “This is a story which reflects the lynching incidences happening in the country,” the author says, while in another story, he depicts the selfish motives of a taxi operator who skilfully plays the communal card to attract tourists for monetary gains. Mauzo readily acknowledges that the short story format is indeed challenging. “It is indeed a challenging form that demands craftsmanship of the highest order. Of all the major aspects of a good short story, most appealing to me is the precision with which it is told. The beauty of a short story lies in its brevity,” the veteran author says. Explaining his style of storytelling, Mauzo says, “A story, even when it is surreal or abstract, mirrors life. In that sense, all my stories are a mixture of imagined depiction of real-life characters, places and incidents.” On the other hand, when members of the Margao Book club discuss Savia Viegas’ 2012 book of fiction, ‘Let me tell you about Quinta’ on Saturday, it promises to throw light on the many traditions followed by the Catholic community in Goa’s coastal south. Viegas, who has described very eloquently the lives and times of a large family living in Carmona, agrees that the book is part, ‘auto-fictional’. Speaking to Café, the articulate author says, “I have deliberately crafted the ‘Quinta’ with an authorial, auto-fiction footprint because I believe that a writer’s life and experiences shape the perceptions and ideas deployed in a narrative and its treatment. I have deliberately made this even more incestuous. The novel is set in Carmona, the main family has the surname that I bear and if you probe deeply the locations of the houses is very close to where I live. I was living in Mumbai and my memories of the place I was writing about were drawn from my childhood.” According to Viegas, every first book is laced with the DNA of people its author has known. “Parents, siblings, lovers and friends. For literature itself embodies life and always borrows slices of it to garnish and repackage. It is only in subsequent writings that camouflage comes to be effectively used to distance writing from the author's own experiences,” the author says. Viegas like Mauzo is also equally excited about the proposed online discussion via video conferencing. According to Viegas, the Margao Book club already has had two, successful online book discussions in which they have discussed books written by Jerry Pinto and Annie Zaidi, with both the authors attending their respective sessions. “The social distancing norm which is in force to help fight the pandemic would have made us lose momentum at the book club. Going online was the only way out and we have been able to make a smooth transition, with the presence of the authors adding the vital touch to the discussion,” Viegas said.