> Dear Gabe, > > Aires Rodrigues is in the trenches - neither Eugene, > you nor I............. > are.
> Aires made a firm commitment to Goa and returned > home for good......we > haven't. Aires has chosen to be a social activist and, hence, he needs to be involved in issues affecting the Goan people. If that means he is in the "trenches", than there are so many others who like Aires are waging a war from these "trenches". Did Aires "really" return to Goa to improve the lot of Goans? One thing for sure, he ran away from Toronto, Canada. As a journalist, I have made few enquires about his professional life in Toronto. His insurance clients are looking out for him, to say the least. I am not sure why he left England. But I assume he went to Goa to make his voice heard, for after all he was a "student leader" and the label is handy if one wants to play a role in public affairs. Aires couldn't do much from either Toronto or in London to be in the Goan limelight. Maybe he could write lead articles or letters to editor, which he does besides making physical presence at some events. In India, politicians hang on for years. Take Goa for example and you will find Dr. Willy still wading through political waters. Like a soldier, Willy propbably wants to die with his political boots on. Aires came to Goa and completed his law degree. Lawyers are a different class in Goa. Lawyers earn added respect and politics is a good ground from lawyers to enter besides the courts. Ajit Singh kicked out a high-paying IBM job in the USA to take over the political mantle from his father, Charan Singh. I doubt if Aires earned the same money abroad as Ajit did. To Ajit, his was a political decision to return to India and get involved in active politics. In Toronto, Aires was a nobody even though word spread he was Goa's student leader. Nobody cared. I am not sure of London where, I am told, he kept a low-profile. It's only in Goa that Aires waxes and wanes. In fact, the day Aires wrote the piece in Herald I was visiting a priest and then both the priest and I went to see another person who owns trawlers. It was the priest who told me that Aires has written the leader in the Herald. The priest's friend claimed to know Aires and from his talk I could make out that he didn't have any great rewards for Aires. So, let me remind the doctor from Nassau that the reason for Aires to come to Goa could not ONLY be for improving Goa's social and political structure but could be for other reasons. Goa has been Aires's playground and he likes to play ball, as they say in North America, with politicians and bureaucrats. For him, like for many, it's an exercise they enjoy doing. Eugene Correia BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE .......and I invite Aires to > contradict me if I am > wrong. Aires is ON RECORD supporting the BJP and > .....he personally advised > me of his canvassing for the BJP ( Angle ) in South > Goa. circa 2000. > > > This does NOT make Aires a bad person - he made his > choices from a distance > ( my guess: with a little help from Chandrakant Keni > when the latter visited > the UK in 1999/00) - but learnt the realities when > he returned home. > > All of us make errors. Besides, the grass is always > greener on the other > side of the fence. > > Let's credit Aires for having Come, Seen & > Understood ......and changed > course. > > Eugene Correia's barb at Aires is quite unfair. > Aires could have made > "handsome" poixe by going along with turmeric . > But.....unlike the Goa > business folks .....he chose to follow his > conscience. > > > Mr. Correia's points about Goa Suraj are > surprisingly similar to Fred > Noronha's expressed (to me) views. And I disagree > with the bottom line of > that view point. > > Goa Suraj may NOT win a single seat ever - BUT never > write-off the work Goa > Suraj ( and Goa Foundation) has done. Activist > organizations have been > crucial in blocking successive Goa governments from > ripping the place up > even more. > > They have been watchdogs - in the presence (or is it > absence) of the wishy > washy Goa press. > > my view > > jc > > _________________________________________________________________ > The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months > FREE* > http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail > > > ########################################################################## > # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > # > # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), > and avoid top-posts # > # More details on Goanet at > http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # > # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to > reflect respect to others # > ########################################################################## __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! 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