In the second episode of a monthly series session titled “Culinary Conversations” hosted by One of the Top Hospitality & Hotel Management Institutes in India, V. M. Salgaocar Institute of International Hospitality Education (VMSIIHE), the students of the hospitality institute had the opportunity to interact with musician, entrepreneur, photographer and filmmaker, Vince Costa to talk about his recent documentary film, Saxtticho Koddo: The Granary of Salcete. Vince’s documentary is based on rice cultivation.
The film has received accolades at screenings in Goa and at film festivals across Europe where it was screened and has brought about conversations on agriculture and rice cultivation.
Stemming from his passion and fascination for stories and storytelling serial entrepreneur Vince Costa discovered a calling in documentary filmmaking a few years ago which led to the creation of Redmackeral, a company that aims to tell authentic local stories that capture the diversity of Goa, its people, and the beautiful cultural heritage. For his debut documentary film, he put the spotlight on his home village of Curtorim in South Goa documenting the local history, culture, and challenges of a village that sets its roots deep in agriculture.
During the live online session with Vince, the students of the leading hospitality institute, VMSIIHE took the opportunity to ask Vince various questions around storytelling, rice cultivation, and local Goan traditions around agriculture.
To a question asked by a student Covin Colaco on how agriculture can be encouraged among students, Vince said, “We have outsourced our responsibility towards food only to the farming community because the rest of us are busy doing other things. I think if we change that perspective and we look at food as our own responsibility, we’ll take the onus upon ourselves to grow that food, and obviously, our kids will look at us doing it and get in line with that culture”. He urged the students to help change that perception and engage more willingly in agriculture, farming, and growing vegetables.
Speaking candidly with the students of VMSIIHE, Vince said he didn’t realize how much he didn’t know about his own village and there was so much wealth of knowledge available for us to learn and absorb. Said Vince, “The journey taught me vital lessons on the agrarian culture of our state. We love to go to school, we love to get great marks and that’s great. But we are disconnected from nature, from our history, from culture, from traditions”.
Vince advised students to listen to stories told by our elders on how they did things in the past. He also encouraged students to document these stories for posterity and share it with each other. “This is how you can preserve culture,” he told the students.
The students of VMSIIHE avidly engaged with Vince and were fascinated with what he had to say. Aditya Desai, a student of VMSIIHE who was part of the discussion felt Vince Costa’s words resonate within him. “I was so floored with how passionate he is, how he has stayed so true to his Goan roots despite how much he has achieved,” said Aditya. “The documentary was a purely visual representation of authenticity and rawness, it was an eye-opener. I took away so much from the film and felt connected to the community,” added Muerel Viegas, another student.
The Culinary Conversations session ran through an hour and was extremely engaging as Vince and the students interacted with each other. Vince advised the students on various aspects of culture and history, giving them an added perspective and behind the scenes of the journey he went on while making this documentary as he hopes that this film impacts those who watch and others like the students at VMSIIHE to be storytellers of Goa’s traditions and culture.
