The map of the Maldives left by the Portuguese after the administration of the islands from the colony of Goa (1558-1573) is a remarkable document. However, Portuguese rule was short-lived and does not appear to have been appreciated in this island region. A popular uprising expelled the Portuguese. This event is still celebrated as the National Day of the Maldives in a small museum and memorial in honor of the national hero and later Sultan Muhammad Takurufaan Al-Azam, on his home island of Utemu, in the south of Tiladhummati Atoll. . Paradise remained with the Portuguese in the 16th century. According to Jorge Luis Borges, “I always imagined that paradise is a kind of bookstore” and, according to Federico García Lorca, “Earth is probably a lost paradise.” These two phrases seem to refer to the same thing, but one defines true paradise and the other a vanishing paradise. From a house full of books to the Planet itself, both listed globally, I believe that heaven is where we find it according to our values. In advertising campaigns, there are places called “Paradise”, and the Maldives is probably the first to come to mind. It is a group of over a thousand islands, but only about 200 of them are inhabited. The capital Male belongs to a small island with a population of 100,000 people. The visitor is invited to the most eccentric experiences after being greeted to the sound of drums and palms, i.e. living in huts above the sea, diving under concave islands, affordable soap menu, eating in a restaurant at a depth of 5 meters and with a 180-degree panoramic view of the Indian Ocean, learn the basics of “dhivehi” (local dialect), astronomy or local cuisine and, for a millionaire, drink 1795 Portuguese wine. Luis Borges, I asked at the hotel where I could have access to the prose and poetry of local writers, even if they are written in a dialect. There was no. Just a book of attendance, where phrases, prose and some poetry are written in different languages from so many customers who have already passed there. Fortunately, I wrote these words on a piece of paper in the hotel before putting them in the guest book: “An island where I can feel the blue ocean evaporating, which connects with the Olympic landscapes of nature. Freedom, where light floods the water, boats levitate, and the body returns to the sea. Leaving paradise is the only way not to forget it, but poetry is never abandoned, especially that which is born in paradise.” This paradise gave me a traveling dream.
Jorge Mangorrinha, University Professor and PhD in Tourism, makes an essay of memory through fragments of travel by air, sea and land, as well as views, readings and conversations, between a dream come true and a dream come true. Fascinating journeys described by the only Portuguese to date who has expressed with figurative words what he feels for every country in the world. The series to read is here in the digital edition of DN.
