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 holds little 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 this land of plenty. Chief among the poison-mongers is Winston Almeida, supreme thug, land 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 drug lord; the Princess, a tantalizing Brazilian transsexual go-between; and PI Fernandes, her Goan policeman lover—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 partly lyrical, part brutal satire, yet always passionate Sudeep Chakravarti evokes the essence of a paradise on the verge of losing its soul.
SUDEEP CHAKRAVARTI is an award-winning author of bestselling works of narrative non-fiction including Plassey: The Battle that Changed the Course of Indian History, The Bengalis: A Portrait of Community (shortlisted for The Hindu Prize 2018, and Tata Literature Live! Award 2018) as well as several works of fiction, including The Baptism of Tony Calangute: A Novel, Tin Fish, and The Avenue of Kings, as well as several short stories. His other notable non-fiction works are Red Sun, Highway 39, and Clear.Hold.Build. His work has been translated into various languages including Bengali, Hindi, Tamil, Spanish, Portuguese, and German.
An extensively published columnist, he has over three decades of experience in media. Sudeep has worked with major global and Indian media organizations including the Asian Wall Street Journal, where he began his career, and held leadership positions at Sunday, the India Today Group, and HT Media.
Sudeep read history at St Stephen’s College, University of Delhi. He is co-founder of Coastal Impact, an organization of divers and scientists, which conducts research for institutions, and evangelizes marine conservation to school and university students. He lives in Goa.