Contributed papers presented at a Seminar on Church in the Evolving Society of Goa held on 4th-5th Oct., 2003 at Old Goa.

In December 1961, Indian Troops Marched Into Goa Putting An End To Over 450 Years Of Portuguese Rule, The Longest Spell Of Colonialism On The Subcontinent, And Goa Became Part Of The Indian Union. In Popular Imagination, However, Goa Has Remained A Place Not Quite India, And Stereotypes About Goa And Goans Abound. Maria Aurora Couto S Unique Blend Of Biography, Memoir And Social History Brings Us The Goa Behind The Beaches And Booze Culture That Is Projected For The Tourist And Which Has Unfortunately Come To Define Goa For The Vast Majority Outside The State. Starting With An Account Of The Immediate Aftermath Of Liberation, Couto Goes Back And Forth In Time To Examine The Fundamental Transformations In Goan Society From 1510, When Afonso De Albuquerque Conquered Goa, Up To The Present. Drawing Upon The Experiences Of Her Own Family And Those Of Others, Both Hindu And Catholic, She Writes Of The Influences That Have Touched All Goans The Luso-Indian Culture; Conversion And The Inquisition; Political And Cultural Changes In Europe Such As The French Revolution And The Ideals Of Republicanism; Folk Traditions, Music And The Konkani Language; And, Ultimately, Freedom And Integration With India. In The Process She Reveals How Goa, Which Combines The Best Of Traditional And Cosmopolitan Lifestyles, Has Evolved Into India S Twenty-First-Century Model Of Economic Development And Communal Harmony. Written With Sensitivity, Insight And Scholarship, Goa: A Daughter S Story Is At Once Expansive And Intimate: A Moving Narrative About Home, The Village And The World, In Which The Author Crosses The Boundaries Between History And Memory, Truth And Imagination, To Evoke Personal And Community Experience. It Is As Much An Appraisal Of Goa S Past As It Is An Examination Of Its Present And A Vision For Its Future.

A work comprising three sections, rich with exclusive information and facts related to culture and history of Goa, its socio-economic facts, new dynamics of cultural patterns and evolution under the impact of rural urban migration, and dynamics of west coast under the presence of the Portuguese.

The state of Goa on India's southwest coast was once the capital of the Portuguese-Catholic empire in Asia. When Vasco Da Gama arrived in India in 1498, he mistook Hindus for Christians, but Jesuit missionaries soon declared war on the alleged idolatry of the Hindus. Today, Hindus and Catholics assert their own religious identities, but Hindu village gods and Catholic patron saints attract worship from members of both religious communities. Through fresh readings of early Portuguese sources and long-term ethnographic fieldwork, this study traces the history of Hindu-Catholic syncretism in Goa and reveals the complex role of religion at the intersection of colonialism and modernity.

Since the 1960s and 1970s century, the women's movements and women's studies have been beginning to rise throughout the world. In the past several decades, the status of women has been greatly improved. All the writings contain valuable insights highlighting the idea of feminism and trace the different forms it has taken in the countries under consideration. The book, specially has the concerns on: various aspects of feminism and queries of paradigm shift in women studies. The comprehensive coverage of the activities of women in numerous sectors and also hints at feminization of labour as well as household activities, conflict zones and environment in our society. A book to further reading in the light of the documents consulted and used in the chapters which may be a foundation for any serious researcher on women in the development process.

Papers presented at the International Conference on Jesuit History, Culture and Identity, held at Alto Porvorim on 28-29 December 2006.