life rattle show no. 1231

Presented on THURSDAY, November 22, 2012

Hosted by Laurie Kallis

featuring

"A Spectral Sword Fight, the Alvares Spinsters,
Dukor Dorju and Silent Salvador: An Excerpt
from The Taste of Water: A Novel"

by Franky Dias

tonight's Show

Tonight, on Life Rattle Number 1231, we present an incredible
story from the upcoming publication by new writer Franky Dias.

The Taste of Water: A Novel weaves history, folklore, humour and irreverence into a magical tale.

Franky Dias grew up in a small village near Mangalore, India. At the age of twenty-one, he moved to Mumbai and worked as a bank officer. Later posted to Goa for five years, he wrote and produced a musical, then moved to Dubai where he worked in international banking and wrote a column for the local newspaper. He is fluent in Konkani, Kannada, Tulu, Hindi and English. In 1990, he and his wife, along with their daughter and son, then three and six years old, moved to Toronto, Canada. Franky Dias spends his time composing music and writing, and lives between Canada, India and the south of France.

In the excerpt that we feature tonight, you will meet six of the multitude of characters who people The Taste of Water:

the Alvares sisters, devout spinster twins who eventually decide that they have offered enough masses, sacraments, prayers, novenas and sodalities to accumulate more than enough grace for their eternal lives, and venture into carnal threesome relationships with a younger, fellow villager, and then a man of the cloth;

Silent Salvador, their mute brother who peppers the novel with four-line written verses that prove to be foretelling aphorisms;

Dukor Dorju, called “Dukor” because his pork was without doubt the best to be had in all the ten surrounding villages and towns, due to his accidental discovery that the secret of the exquisite taste lay in having pigs die happy, laughing to their last breath;

Victor, the central character, and his friend Shambu, who both go on from the scene we hear tonight to share a lifetime of struggles with ambition and success, love and lust, power and impotence, and sin and redemption.

Click on the book cover image above for more information about
The Taste of Water: A Novel and for details of the upcoming book launch and video release on December 2, 2012 at Supermarket in Toronto.

Note: tonight's story contains material that some may find disturbing. Listener discretion is advised.