--------------------------------------------------------------------------- **** Annual Goanetters Meet **** ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual Goanetters Meet - January 3, 2012 - 12:30 - 2pm Tourist Hostel, near the Old Secretariat, Panaji (Panjim) Planning to attend? Send an email to eve...@goanet.org with contact details --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dan, it's Gerard Street you're talking about. Little India it's still called, but the street has been truncated with Chinese and Korean businesses. Those Indian businesses that still exist, have undergone makeovers and do a thriving trade from Indian tourists, not from city residents. I don't know why those visitors would want to visit Little India when they themselves are from Big India, but it could be curiosity to see what their kind of shopping in the western world looks like. The reason for the reduction in the number of Indian stores at Gerard Street since the time you left, is that Indian merchants and restaurants have sprouted throughout the city wherever there is a south Asian pocket. Mississauga which you would remember as a hick town is now all gleaming and ritzy ever since Russian moneybags started investing in houses there about 15 years ago. Now, that suburb is the new immigrants' first choice to live if they have sufficient dinero. Get off any highway ramp and you are greeted with the sight of tall luxury residential condominium buildings. They used to be double the area and half the price 10 years ago but low interest rates and easy mortgage approvals have been culprits. T'O has changed a lot since the last 20 years, not all of it good. The major arteries haven't kept up with the increasing traffic on city roads. There is gridlock during commuting time and even through the non-peak day. The last couple of mayors haven't helped. The last one was a leftist wacko who was more interested in building bike lanes and the present one is a right-wing redneck whose idea of stopping the gravy train at City Hall is to increase taxes and cut manpower and services for those who most need them. Despite all that, the city has become better than ever, since most newcomers to Canada insist on living here. The money they bring doesn't do the metro any disservice and Toronto has always succeeded in being a model of wonderfully functioning diversity. When you come here, you'll still find the Marshall McLuhan environment and then some. The big shots keep on donating sizable sums to universities, entertainment, arts and culture. We are a far cry from New York which is still the centre of the world, but T'O continues to be a city well worth living in. At least in spring, summer and fall. I'll understand if you feel the craving to leave for Goa during our winters. Roland. Toronto. -----Original Message----- From: goanet-boun...@lists.goanet.org [mailto:goanet-boun...@lists.goanet.org] On Behalf Of DAN DRISCOLL Sent: Sunday, December 25, 2011 8:13 AM To: Goa's premiere mailing list, estb. 1994! Subject: Re: [Goanet] Dan Driscoll fearlessly leaks his Christmas brag-letter. . . Roland Francis: Thanks very much. I fear for availability of the right condiments for Goa/India cuisine in Halifax. Will probably have to go to 'Little India' in To., if it's still there. With my lame old brain I can't even remember name of the street---south of Wellesley, east of Yonge!! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---------------------------------------------------------------------------