We took a bus from Santa Cruz to the Panaji bus stand on our second (and last) day in Goa, then walked to the Krishnadas Shama State Central Library. We both had never been to the library before, so it took us some time to figure out the right way to get there. Because modern technology can only take you three-fourths of the way, this was one instance in which we realized how crucial it is to interact with the locals.

The Krishnadas Shama State Central Library is in Panaji, the capital of Goa. It has been dubbed “India’s best library.” Even though the library is in a modern building, it is the oldest library in the country. It is named after Krishnadas Shama, also known as the Father of Konkani literature and the founder of Konkani prose. There are approximately 2.5 lakh books in English, Hindi, Marathi, Konkani, and even Portuguese in this library.