2. About The Author
▪ Professor Lucio Rodrigues is another one in a long line of literary geniuses that Goa
has produced. He may have long departed this world but nevertheless his legacy of
literature lives on through his writing and his students. An authority on Goan
folklore, Prof Lucio Rodrigues was not only a visiting professor of folklore at the
Indiana University, USA in 1969; his essays in English, as well as those translated
from Konkani, were published as Of Soil and Soul and Konkani Folktales after his
death in 1973. It was the revised edition of this compilation, renamed Ambolim,
which was released at the commemoration of this exceptional son of Goa’s birth
centenary (15th April, 2015) at the Xavier Centre of Historical Research, Porvorim.
3. Paragraph-1…
• The story takes us back to the time when Goa was ruled by the Portuguese. They were very
famous for their breads.
• They think about the past and tell them that though the Portuguese have left Goa but the
bakers of bread still exist, if not the original ones, their legacy is still being continued by their
sons.
• The bakers are still being referred to as ‘Paders’. Pader means baker in Portuguese. This
reference shows how much of an impact the Portuguese had in their lives.
• Everything about baking is still the same; ranging from those who mould the bread loaves, to
the furnaces which have survived the ruins of time. The sound of their arrival and the thud of
their bamboo stick can still be heard just like the olden times.
4. Paragraph-2
• The narrator remembers that the baker
used to be their friend and companion
during their childhood in Goa. He used to
visit them twice a day, in the morning on
his selling round and in then again when he
came back with his empty basket.
• The thud from his bamboo was like an
alarm for them and they ran to meet up
and greet him. It wasn’t for the love of the
loaf, as they were bought by the maid or
the servant of the house. Instead it was for
those bread bangles he made for them.
5. Paragraph-3
• The baker used to make his entry with a
loud sound made by his specially made
bamboo staff.
• He would then greet the lady of the house,
and place the basket on the ground.
• The children would be waiting for their
bread, but they would be pushed away and
then baker used to hand the loaves over to
the servant.
• The children would excitedly peep into the
basket climbing on top of a bench or a
parapet.
• The children used to get bangles and the
elders used to get the loaves.
6. Paragraph-4
• The author talks about how marriages and
other functions are meaningless without
the traditional Goan delicacy called bol
which was made of sweet bread.
• The authors also talks about how
important Bakers are to a village.
• The lady of a house should prepare
sandwiches for her daughter's
engagement.
• Cakes and bolinhas were also important
traditional delicacies during Christmas
and other festivals.
7. Paragraph-5
• During the olden days in Goa, bakers
wore a special dress called Kabai.
• In the writer’s childhood; the bakers
used to wear a shirt and trousers
(less than the full-length pants)
• Even today, if someone saw a person
wearing that, they’d call him a
“Pader!”
8. Paragraph-6
• Bakers collect money (bills) at the end
of every month.
• Baking was very profitable.
• Baker’s family are always happy and
prosperous.
• They seemed to be in plump
physique.