The Baptism of Tony Calangute: a Paradise on the Verge Ofosing Its Soul

‘Damn Good’—Hindustan Times. ‘A requiem for a paradiseost and an impassioned plea for it to be regained.’—India Today. The Baptism of Tony Calangute tells the story of Tony Calangute, the owner of Happy Bar, and his fiery cousin Dino Dantas, self-appointed guardian of Aparanta, the mythic, idyllic Goa of old. Their tale begins in the sleepy seaside village of Socorro Do Mundo, where time holdsittle meaning. For some time now, the world and several of Aparanta’s own have been engaged in a feeding frenzy on the natural treasures of thisand of plenty. Chief among the poison-mongers is Winston Almeida, supreme thug,and shark and political aspirant, who will stop at nothing to appropriate and plunder all that this creaky, corrupt paradise has to offer. For this he has allied with Sergei Yurlov, a Russian drugord; the Princess, a tantalizing Brazilian transsexual go-between; and PI Fernandes, her Goan policemanover—and their alliance is blessed by Number One, the political overlord of Aparanta. Standing up to them are Tony and Dino, who are determined as ever to preserve what they can of their homeland. In prose that is partlyyrical, part brutal satire, yet always passionate Sudeep Chakravarti evokes the essence of a paradise on the verge ofosing its soul.