Here’s the Answer - by Jim Reeves When two worlds collide, over an Ordinance
By Cecil Pinto The seething saga that led to what is popularly known as the Cidade de Goa Ordinance has thrown up a lot of names. Auduth & Anju Timblo, Gustavo Renato Pinto, Claude and Norma Alvares, Rozendo Mendonca, Ivo Cardozo, Charles Correa, Babush Monserrate, Victor Albuquerque, Cove Machado, Emiliano da Cruz, Digambar Kamat, Minguel Martins and of course eventually Aires Rodrigues will pile on. One name that has been ignored is Jim Reeves, whose Christmas Carol album is mandatory in every Christian home in India. Gentleman Jim as he was called, because of his warm velvety voice, died in a plane crash in 1964 – the very exact same year that the central Land Acquisition Act of 1894 was made applicable to Goa. Coincidence you say? Read on as our special correspondent Skeeter Davis answers a few Frequently Asked Questions regarding the Ordinance. Q: I hear the ITC WelcomGroup chain of hotels was involved in the controversy? A: Nothing of that sort. A popular song by Jim Reeves was, “Welcome to my world, Won't you come on in, Miracles I guess, Still happen now and then. Knock and the door will open. Seek and you will find. Ask and you will be given. The key to this world of mine”. The Timblos took this as their theme song and many politicians and bureaucrats have since knocked on their doors, and in reciprocal opened many doors for them. Q: Is that why some prominent people opposed to the ordinance still refer to Audhut and Anju Timblo as their ‘good friends’, and as ‘decent’ people? A: How people who are committing huge atrocities on Goan land and its people, through destructive mining and illegal hotel operations, can be termed as ‘decent’ is beyond me. The Timblos have played host to everyone who matters in Goa at one time or another. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Now its payback time and that’s why you see so much groveling. As Jim Reeves sang, “From a Jack to a King, With no regrets I stacked the cards last night. And lady luck played her hand just right, And made me king of your heart.” Q. What about the Opposition? How come they’re not raising hell? A: How can they? You must understand that till two years back they were in power. As Jim Reeves sang, “I can't stop loving you, I've made up my mind, To live in memories, Of old lonesome times. I can't stop wanting you, It's useless to say. So I'll just live my life, In dreams of yesterday. Those happy hours, That we once new, Though long ago, Still make me blue. They say that time, Heals a broken heart. But time has stood still, Since we've been apart” Q: Is it true that many of the hotel’s employees will loose their jobs if the illegal section is demolished? A: First understand who are the crocodiles and why the tears. One gardening contractor (turned writer overnight) will lose one of his many landscaping contracts around Goa. One musician (turned writer overnight) will lose one of his many entertainment contracts. It’s not about livelihoods, but about greed. A few employees might be retrenched as happens all over Goa in much bigger numbers. The hotel owners arm-twisted all these people to get sympathy from the public. They failed miserably but the Government got the excuse they needed to pass the Ordinance. The Timblos used these words by Jim Reeves to convince the gullible employees, students and contractors, “No matter what the world may say about me. I know your love will always see me through. I love you for the way you never doubt me, But most of all I love you 'cause you're you.” Q: Can’t these Cidade and Timblo lovers stop being so pathetically subservient and self-serving? A: They should sing, as Jim Reeves did, “Please release me let me go, for I don't love you anymore. To waste our lives would be a sin, Release me and let me love again” Q: Now that the Timblos have broken so many laws are you saying only the general public, who have not been feted and pampered at Cidade de Goa, will stand up in protest? A: All right-thinking citizens, whoever their employer whatever their livelihood, should protest against this coterie of greedy businessmen and politicians. “Your world was so different, From mine don't you see. We just couldn't be close, Though we tried. We both reached for heavens, But ours weren't the same. That's what happens, When two worlds collide.” What we, the Goan public, want is different from what they want. The key word is ‘clean’. We want a clean environment and a clean government. What they want is money, and more money. Period. If the Goan public does not protest at this daylight thievery then the experiment will have been successful and the floodgates will be open for all sorts of ordinances to legitimize criminal acts. Q: What is the Governor’s role in all this skullduggery? Should Goans demand that the Governor be dismissed? A: The Governor acted unethically so let me quote Jim Reeves, “Put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone, Let's pretend that we're together all alone. I'll tell the man to turn the jukebox way down low. And you can tell your friend there with you, he'll have to go.” Q: What are Auduth Timblo’s clear instructions to his high profile PRO Sujay Gupta? A: To quote Jim Reeves “Make the world go away, And get it off my shoulder. Say the things you used to say, And make the world go away.” Q: Is it true that all this would have not come to the fore if Cidade de Goa had kept the pathway to the beach open to the public? Did they actually block the road? A: As Jim Reeves sang “Adios amigo. Adios my friend. The road we have traveled must come to an end”. They may try to block out pathways and our roads, but we shall overcome. A rally to protest the dastardly Ordinance, where everyone wears black to mark the demise of the sanctity of law, is being organised on Monday 23rd March at 4 pm in Panjim. I will attend the rally with my family and my friends. Let’s force the powers-that-be to hear the Distant Drums. --------- The column above appeared in Gomantak Times dated 19th March 2009 =====