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Pearl Windows
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Francisco never regretted the fact that his room window wasn’t made of glass. When the morning sunlight seeped in through the mother-of-pearl windowpanes, it transformed into streams of misty light that fell on his study table in overlapping circles. Francisco believed his home in Velsao was the best home in the whole of Goa.
The use of the nacre of the mother-of-pearl shell to cover windows may have originally come to Goa from Gujarat via Bassein and Diu. Using inferior quality timber, the Goan carpenters slid the shell cut into lozenge shapes into wooden battens – completing the windows. Though these have largely been replaced with glass windowpanes today, one can have such windows custom – made from areas like Duler in Mapusa in North Goa.
Such windows also allowed one to forfeit the use of curtains, as they were translucent enough to allow the transmission of sunlight without bringing with it the eyes of prying neighbours. Due to their special structure, it was also difficult for the neighbourhood children to cause these any damage with their amateur cricket matches.
The mother-of-pearl windows look like enchanting pieces of art – not mere obligations of furnishing Goan homes.
The use of the nacre of the mother-of-pearl shell to cover windows may have originally come to Goa from Gujarat via Bassein and Diu. Using inferior quality timber, the Goan carpenters slid the shell cut into lozenge shapes into wooden battens – completing the windows. Though these have largely been replaced with glass windowpanes today, one can have such windows custom – made from areas like Duler in Mapusa in North Goa.
Such windows also allowed one to forfeit the use of curtains, as they were translucent enough to allow the transmission of sunlight without bringing with it the eyes of prying neighbours. Due to their special structure, it was also difficult for the neighbourhood children to cause these any damage with their amateur cricket matches.
The mother-of-pearl windows look like enchanting pieces of art – not mere obligations of furnishing Goan homes.
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