Ahista
Café · Junas WaddoA slow café. Long tables, longer conversations, filter coffee that takes its time.
CoffeeWork-friendly
MāndrēCreators’ Village
A place to build without losing the place.
Mandrem is a village in North Goa. More people are arriving every season — creators, builders, people who came for three weeks and stayed. This is a collective working out how that can happen without the village stopping being a village.
01 — The ideaMandrem is changing.
Mandrem is changing.
That part is not up for debate.
More people are arriving. Creators are coming. Builders are building. Businesses are growing. Rents are moving. Roads are getting busier. This has happened to every good place in Goa, and it usually happens the same way — quickly, without anyone deciding anything.
We believe growth doesn’t have to mean losing what made Mandrem worth coming to. But that only holds if the people arriving take part in the place rather than consume it.
The whole philosophy, in two wordsGrowth × Peace
Not a compromise between the two. A multiplication — each one worth less here without the other.
02 — The Mandrem we want
Both of these. At the same time.
- Build a startup.Buy vegetables from the local shop.
- Meet people from around the world.Know your neighbours.
- Order dinner online.Walk home through a quiet street.
- Create something ambitious.Live simply.
Every place that lost itself lost itself by choosing one column and calling the other one nostalgia.
03 — Documentary
Mandrem, Before the Next Chapter
We asked the people who have been here longest and the people who arrived last year the same question: what would you not want to lose? Almost nobody answered with a building. This is the record we wish someone had made of every place that changed before anyone thought to film it.
04 — Directory
Where to eat, fix, buy and make things.
Open the directory→A practical map of the village, kept up to date by the people who use it. Anyone can add a listing; a contributor checks it before it goes live.
Akajaiba
Café · MandremKitchen, courtyard and a stage that gets used. Tuesday is open mic night.
Open micCourtyardForkex
Restaurant · MandremSmall menu, changed often. Whatever the market had that morning.
LunchChanging menu
15Listings, growing every week
6Long-standing local businesses
₹0What it costs to be listed. Always.
05 — Events
Something on, most nights of the week.
See the calendar→6 things happening in the next seven days. Open mics, slow sessions, screenings, walks, cleanups. All of it added by whoever is organising it.
- TUE01SEPCreativeTomorrow
Open Mic
20:00 · Akajaiba · Every Tuesday
Music, poetry, stand-up, half-finished things. Sign-up sheet goes up at 19:00.
- WED02SEPBusinessIn 2 days
Builders' Breakfast
09:00 · OdD Table · First Wednesday of the month
Founders, freelancers and people building something. No pitches, no decks.
- THU03SEPCreativeIn 3 days
Slow Sessions
18:30 · Ahista · Every Thursday
Ambient sets, quiet room, no talking over the music. The Not-So-Slow set closes it out.
06 — Participate
The future of a place is decided by whoever bothers to show up.
There is no membership and nothing to pay. Add your business, put an event on the calendar, correct something we got wrong, or bring something we haven’t thought of.