Dear Ossie Somebody told me that you, our Sarpanch, Mr Oswald Cordeiro who has recently been elected as President of A A de Moira was looking for suggestions as to how to improve A A de Moira.
Somehow you forgot to ask me so I hope you don't mind if I make my suggestions here on MN with a cc to Goa Net so that someone or the other will pass on my opinions to you. 1) Buy about 25 tables and 100 chairs. Doing this will mean that whenever there is a function there will be no need to hire these and incur unnecessary expense. Also it will be possible to rent out these chairs and tables to those who need them for their private functions and thus earn revenue. 2) Buy an Inverter for the club. This will mean that whenever there is a power cut the club need not have to suffer. The cost of this is about Rs 20,000/=. 3) Both point 1 & 2 will enable the club to raise the hiring costs of the club which at the moment is a paltry 2 or 3 K if I mistake not. 4) Organize tournaments in carrom, chess, table-tennis, football, cricket... Get people who are not in your club committee to help out in such organization. I would be delighted to help out here if I was asked nicely to organize a chess tournament. I know people who would be happy to organize carrom and table-tennis etc for although they are not on the new committee they would oblige if approached nicely. 5) Get the youth involved. 6) Raise funds from members as this makes them feel part of the club. If people know you are organizing things they are willing to sponsor provided you give them credit. For instance if you say that every table one sponsors will bear one's name then I will be ready to sponsor 5 tables; Vincy may chip in with 10 tables; Francis with 15 tables and Ola - all the tables you need are there in your hands. And without asking Mark will say he will sponsor all the 100 chairs. If you approach the right people the 20 K for an Inverter will be easily given to you. (This btw is better than getting Acron or Timblos to sponsor as then they will demand their pound of flesh - if you know what I mean) 7) And MOST IMPORTANTLY - Make the Club More Broad Based - religion, caste, gaunkar / non-gaunkar, class, age and gender wise. After the last elections, FN cynically told me "Did you notice how cleverly the gaunkars made sure that all the committee were comprised of only gaunkars?" I said yes. Only Ossie himself and perhaps Caetano Raposo were non-gaunkars. Which is why I was extremely un-keen to contest an election which had been fixed before hand. In fact I was surprised that Bosco who hitherto never came to the club became a committee member. ;-) Mr Cordeiro, if you want to make the club as vibrant as it was in the middle 70's when I don't think you were around the place but when the A A De Moira had a football team with the brilliant defence of Nicholas Andrade and the forward skills of Gokuldas and the late Seby D'Cunha, and yet there were Francis D'Cunha, Noel Pinto Correia, Vinod Raikar, Shantaram Raikar, Ivo and Martin Fernandes and Jairam from Nachinola ... people of all castes and creeds playing then you will understand that a critical mass of people who are committed to the club is necessary if it is to do well. That was the time when there were Edmund and Edwin D'Cunha and Denzil D'Souza and Peter and Euclid Sequiera and from Nachinola Shivram and Desmond and Greg playing cricket and firing off 6s at will then you know what powerful teams we had and how many people used to come to watch our games which were played with seasoned balls. And you will remember the Banana Nites and the Christmas Programmes which were organized which made festive seasons truly festive. I think it is time we made the Club more broad based and it becomes a place where people of all castes and creeds feel that A A De Moira is OUR CLUB, and not just the private adda of some bamons and some gaunkars who talk a lot but can do not much for the simple reason that they do not have the numbers. One way to do what I suggest is to have activities where all sorts of people can participate; another is to ensure that the membership becomes more broad based. If the elitist attitude which was perpetuated during the more than two decades long President-ship of Romeo Coelho, himself not a gaunkar, continues, I don't thiink that we can expect any improvement in the club. So think about what I say Ossie and act firmly. Don't act like a servant of the ganvkars but take the initiative to be a modern forward looking Sarpanch and President. Regards Augusto -- Augusto Pinto 40, Novo Portugal Moira, Bardez Goa, India E pinto...@gmail.com P 0832-2470336 M 9881126350