What can one buy at the fair? You name it. Fresh fish, straight from the sea, from the beaches of Candolim and Calangute, oysters and mussels, large and sparkling, from the rocky beds of Chapora, pickles and preserves, like sausages, mango jam, and guava cheese and blended condiments for Goan ethnic delights at Olivia Ferrao. But in your enlightened interest take note of the inexorable fact that she cloes her shop at the stroke of one (p.m.) - on the dot. And there are heaps of local fruit, tender coconuts, bananas of a special breed - �Moira� - a genetic miracle performed by mid-16th century Franciscans. With any luck,one might find antiques: blue china, bronzed candelabras and if you are prepared to give it a try: shards of 18th century chamber pots.

There is more, spices, fried fish, salted pork. And, of course, cabbages, red peppers, limes, apples and oranges, garments and amani women selling mirrored blouses, skirts and bric-a-brac. There are wayside astrologers and palmists and herbalists offering cures for all imaginable human ailments and predicaments. And, of course, they lottery vendors.

Visit the Cafe Xavier, where the falooda is said to be fabulous. The place is so crowded that eight or more people, out of sheer necessity, sit at tables meant for four. The cream puffs at C. D�Souza are still rated as the best and this is where those filled with nostalgia sit and reminisce: it was Goa�s most famous cafe in the Forties and that was where Maxulo, the pet name of a pint-size ace footballer called none-too-realistically Maximinano Fernandes, was fawned over and feasted by his countless fans: cheering boys and gigly girls, teenagers once and now matronly grandmothers.

Sample the Mapusa fair and as sure as eggs are eggs you will return. If you are a fairs person, a tip. There are weekly fairs in Goa, perhaps not as famous or as well provided, but almost as colourful every day of the week at different places, and once, when there was litle to do in Goa, they provided an excellent pretext for the locals to do a bit of tourism, in copper-plated buses meant for ten passengers but carrying 25 or more, Calangute on Saturdays is still worth a visit. With luck, you get cookies made by foreign women. So are Wednesdays at Sinquerim, a few kilometers away from Bicholim, Goa�s cashewnut heart-land - also famous for its potters. One of them Jiblu Harmalkar, a NID (National Institute of Design) graduate, replicates in terracotta ancient wood and ivory icons and I bet you won�t know the difference.