What Is This Book?
Shri Vindaloo is a grand and wonderful pig from Goa who seems to be always travelling – from Goa to America – New York, California, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Fort Worth and multiple points in between; to Mexico to Ireland to Turkey to London and Paris, even the Trans-Siberian Railway and, of course, always returning to Goa for the sunshine, the coconuts and the (cashew) feni.
A World of Unforgettable Characters
There is Lola Flores, the Pig Queen of the Tango; and Galina, the throaty-voiced researcher in Leningrad. In church one Easter Sunday in Goa, he meets Nishisha, a beauty consultant, who invites him to the Easter Parade in New York, where he meets Patty Pig, a poet, who invites him out to the California desert.
Back in Goa, he rescues Senor Lagarto, a tourist sunburning on the beach, who invites him to Mexico in search of “the greatest margarita in the world”; in Mexico City, he meets Guadalupe, Senor Lagarto’s sister, a very special and wonderfully elegant piglady.
After a magical twist of airline fate, he arrives in New Orleans, where he runs into Zack and Pearlie who take him to the zydeco festival in Abbeville. And, of course, there is EunicePig back in Goa who “knows Shri Vindaloo better than he knows himself”.
The Pope makes a kind of appearance and the Imperfect Master plays a very joyous role in resolving a tricky issue. And with two small Mexican piggies adding their recipe of pure joy, it all ends up in a grand wedding in an Elvis chapel in Las Vegas.
The Chapters
at a Glance
Jamal Mecklai wrote this book from the inside out. Shri Vindaloo is not just a character — he is Goa, he is love, and he is the most Jamal thing Jamal has ever made.
Known in his professional life as a leading voice in currency markets, Jamal has spent his real life imbibing exactly the kind of joy, love, and silliness that fills these pages. He also narrates every animated chapter himself — a voice as warm, Feni-filled, and irresistible as the story.