As we plan our trip to Goa in 2023, I wanted to remind the kids about their ancestral roots in Chorão.

Dada’s family came from a small island called Chorão, accessible only by ferry that travels back and forth across the Mandovi River in northern Goa. We visited Chorão in 2022; I clicked a photo of Joe and Ritika looking out as the ferry arrives, with Chorão is in the distance.

I enjoyed visiting this island in the late 2000s for the first time when we visited with Dada’s auntie who was still living in one of the ancestral homes at the time. It was a meaningful experience to see where Dada had spent his time as a child; it felt intimate and rustic. I remember picking a tamarind pod off the tree in the front yard and tasting the sour pulp inside. In 2022 we went back to that ancestral home and visited with new family; we were invited in for Coke’s and Christmas fruitcake.

Chorão is also known as “Chodan, or Choddnnem, from the Sanskrit word chuddamonnim…Chudda means headwear and Monnim (Mani) signifies some thing worn in the shape of a necklace or a jewel of cylindrical shape.” You can get a sense of this today looking at the island via Google Maps:

Last year, after visiting with family and also seeing the ancestral home’s footprint, we stopped by the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary; we nearly missed it but Joe and Ritika spotted the sign near the ferry stop and decided to venture in. Located inside a mangrove forest, it was a fantastic experience as we walked on a bamboo walking bridge that hovered just a few feet above the forest floor. Above us was a thick canopy of trees that sprawled out to our left; on our right we could view the Mandovi River just through the tree cover.

This is a special place and worth visiting for the connections to family and nature while we visit Goa.