[Goanet] Corruption... and human rights
Interesting to compare with the situation in Goa. FN -- Forwarded message -- Factors that determine the effective protection and promotion of human rights in India: In addition to governmental indifference, there are a number of factors that are determental against the effective protection and promotion of human rights in India. These include: * Widespread corruption at all levels in the bureaucracy, including the law enforcement agencies. * Political interferences in the functioning of the police. * Insufficient training and sensitisation of the law-enforcement agencies in human rights matters. * The lack of an adequately vigilant and empowered citizenry. * Communal, caste, linguistic and other divisions across the country. * Widespread illiteracy. * Great poverty among vast sections of the population... From www.legalpundits.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet === For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
goanet-digest V1 #4033
goanet-digest Thursday, May 30 2002 Volume 01 : Number 4033 - In this issue: [Goanet] Quebec Goans Association function... 25 years strong [Goanet] Goan poet on NDTV website [Goanet] FEATURE: Magicians 'seal' fate of Goa politicians... in bank vault [Goanet] Your vote we depend on [Goanet] IMAGINE [Goanet] Corruption... and human rights See end of digest for information on subscribing/unsusbcribing. -- Date: Mon, 27 May 2002 15:23:50 -0400 From: C. Felix D'Sa [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Goanet] Quebec Goans Association function... 25 years strong C. Felix D'Sa QGA - VP [Publicity] The Quebec Goan Association (QGA) Montreal will be completing twenty five years of its founding on 17th July 2002. The Board of Directors of the QGA invites all its members, and members of sister institutions, to a 'Gala Dinner Dance to be held at the Saint James Club, 1145 Union Ave., Montreal, Quebec, Canada on Saturday October 12th 2002 at 6.30 pm. For futher details call 450-466-4469 or 514-363-9277 or any other members of the QGA Board of Directors. [Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]] -- Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 15:09:15 -0600 (MDT) From: News [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Goanet] Goan poet on NDTV website GOAN POET ON NDTV WEBSITE (www.ndtv.com) 4 recent poems of dr brian mendonca, 3 of which are on goa, are currently on view at the website of new delhi television, india's largest private producer of news, current affairs and entertainment television. The poems were earlier read to a highly appreciative audience on may 18th at 'poets cafe' a forum for creative fusion organised by 'katha' a new delhi based group working in the area of translation.The poems are 'sonya','homecoming', 'in conclusion' and 'sousa lobo'. Other poems read at the venue included 'Fr joseph rowland salema' on the parish priest of siolim on the feast day of st anthony and 'fugitive.' brian also read poems in portuguese - 'barcos' and 'inscricao' - from the collection of maria andressen entitled 'mar'(2001). brian said that a poem of his was like a photograph seeking to capture the memory of a specific time and space. brian linked his poetry reading to the cataclysmic social changes goa is going through due to 'development'and stated that it was his intention to tell the truth like it is. he ended with singing and accompanying himself on the guitar to the dulpod 'hundra mhojea mama'. at the end brian invited the audience to take away copies of some poems from his corpus of poems which the milling crowd were only too delighted to do.at he beginning he had also displayed his published work on lengths of thermacol, which made the audience take him more seriously as a writer and poet. -- Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 01:53:13 +0530 (IST) From: Frederick Noronha [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Goanet] FEATURE: Magicians 'seal' fate of Goa politicians... in bank vault Magicians 'seal' the fate of Goa politicians in a bank vault By Frederick Noronha PANAJI (Goa), May 30: Even before a single vote could be cast, the fate of politicians contesting Goa's May 30 elections has been sealed -- not in a ballot-box. Magicians here claim they can accurately predict the fate of the ambitious men and few women trying to make it big via electoral politics. Late Tuesday evening, the Goa Magicians Guild, in the presence of journalists representing the local and outstation press, offered their predictions of who would win Goa's critical elections. But, in true magic style, there's a trick attached. Predictions were tightly sealed in a wooden box, and handed over to Mahesh Parikh, a banker of the State Bank of India. These predictions of the mystery men will be kept away safely in a bank vault, till after the election results are formally out on June 1, and then the citizen will be able to judge the efficacy of the magician -- vis a vis the non-delivery that politicians have come to be known for. We spoke to some official in the Election Office, and they said that such predictions had never been done. Since this was the case, they didn't know what the rules were. So, they told us to go ahead and decide (whether it was within the law or beyond), says veteran magician D.Satish, half in jest. Satish has been four decades in magic, and says proudly: My first victim was General Vassalo Silva, the last Portuguese Governor of (colonial) Goa. This popular magician is a well known figure across Goa, having put up shows that a generation grew up with. In fact, Satish at one stage even employed as a stage-manager a person who's stage-name was Z.Somu -- Somnath Zuwarkar, who went on to become an often-controversial minister in multiple Congress ministries in Goa, and is currently contesting the Taleigao assembly
[Goanet] Re: Meeting in memory of Hugo's life
small correction. meeting is on Friday the 31st of May and not on June 1. regards, Sam - An informal meeting to remember Hugo Souza and his life is called by Hugo's friends. This meeting will be the kind of meeting Hugo would have liked. It is going to be on Friday 1st June at 5 pm in the Freedom Fighters' office, Lohia Maidan at Margao. Your participation is urged. regards, Sam Samir Kelekar, Margao/Bangalore. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet === For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
goanet-digest V1 #4034
goanet-digest Thursday, May 30 2002 Volume 01 : Number 4034 - In this issue: [Goanet] Talk on Goan Community. Mertons' Forest of Dreams. [Goanet] Meeting in memory of Hugo's life [Goanet] Alfred D'Cruz's purported statements [Goanet] FEATURE: Past the pulpit... sound-and-light at Old Goa See end of digest for information on subscribing/unsusbcribing. -- Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 15:44:40 +0100 From: Cliff Pereira [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Goanet] Talk on Goan Community. Mertons' Forest of Dreams. Talk on the Goan Community. Date - Monday 8 July 2002 Venue - Wimbledon Community Centre, St. Georges Road, SW19. Time 7.00pm Entrance is free. For more info see www.merton.gov.uk/arts Merton's Forest of Dreams Festival, will include a talk by Cliff Pereira on his recent and ongoing research on the Goan presence in London. The talk will look at the positive and negetive aspects encountered while researching this subject and will provide an historical outline of research on this topic. Also available will be some displays from the Bexley Local and Family History fair held last year. _ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp. -- Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 22:06:41 -0700 (PDT) From: Samir Kelekar [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Goanet] Meeting in memory of Hugo's life An informal meeting to remember Hugo Souza and his life is called by Hugo's friends. This meeting will be the kind of meeting Hugo would have liked. It is going to be on Friday 1st June at 5 pm in the Freedom Fighters' office, Lohia Maidan at Margao. Your participation is urged. regards, Sam Samir Kelekar, Margao/Bangalore. - -- -- Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 15:32:15 +0530 (IST) From: Frederick Noronha [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Goanet] Alfred D'Cruz's purported statements Below is what AVF wrote in goanet-digest 4015.=20 As it happens, I recently got the chance to meet veteran journo Alfred D'Cruz, and we got acquainted. As a matter of curiosity, I wrote to the octogenarian writer, to check up the veracity of what was stated below. I was surprised to hear what he had to say: the version below is totally incorrect, and Alfred had made no such comments. In fact, his mother died in Bombay, he told me. Please note, that I am not taking sides here between those who favour the pre-1961 situation and those who favour the post-1961 scenario. In my opinion, today trying to show that one side is better than the other is an irrelevant debate. What matters is the quality of life that any regime (and obviously those who act as its local representatives in Goa, taking cover under various hues of political colours) can offer to every citizen of this state. But, in whatever position taken, the facts relied on to build the argument have to be accurate. Just that FN PS: It would be interesting for historians to study this understudied period of Goa's trajectory, and weed out the facts from the myth. - -- Date: Sat, 25 May 2002 07:04:09 + From: A. Veronica Fernandes [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Goanet] Compensate Tiatrists/Rape Victims COMPENSATION FOR RAPE VICTIMS AND TIATRISTS TOO. GOENKARANCHO EKVOTT DEMANDS COMPENSATION TO RAPE VICTIMS OF 1961^=D4 Dear Agnelo Gomes Bab, =2E.. Alfred D^=D2Cruz was a renowned Goan journalist from Bombay, after wo= rking for 40 years at Times of India he retired and now leading a retired life at his Bombay Bandra Home, near Linking Road. Hailing from Saligao Bardez and coming from an aristocratic family he as a boarder at Arpora finished his Matriculation and completed his double graduation in Bombay and soon joined Times under the British Editor. While in Bombay he involved in Goa's liberation movement and because of which he was banned by the Portuguese Government in Goa from entering Goa. Even when his dearest mother died he could not attend to her funeral though he tried his level best to cast his last glance on his dead mother. Soon after Goa was grabbed by Bharat, Nehr= u was in Bombay addressing a press conference. During this conference Nehru spotted D^=D2Cruz and asked him thus Mr. D^=D2Cruz! Are you satisfied tha= t your beloved Goa is now liberated by our troops? For this Alfred D^=D2Cruz retorted thus Mr. Prime Minister, it hurts me very much to ask you that - have you sent your troops to Goa to liberate my Goa or to rape our innocent women and loot my Goa? For this Nehru was totally embarrassed, so too others. The rapes, pillage and loot done by Indian Military personnel in 1961 was not a fake argument but a truth and REAL TRUTH -- Date: Thu, 30
[Goanet] 15th anniversary of Goa Statehood
possible duplication. Goemkars - May 30th is the second of the three days of special significance this year to our Konkani language, not because it is election day in Goa but because it is the 15th anniversary of Goa Statehood (which statehood would not have been possible without the territory having first its own approved language). The other two special dates are: February 4, 15th anniversary of the Language Act which made Konkani Goa's sole official language, and August 20, 10th anniversary of the Parliamentary law which incorporated Konkani in the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution. Jorge de Abreau Noronha who lives in Portugal has written a small article which I am posting here today on his behalf. rene GOA DAY - 2002 Thanks to the timely initiative of Rene Barreto in 1999, the yearly celebrations of a Goa Day became a reality as from 2000, wherever there are Goans or descendants of Goans, be it in various cities, towns and villages of Goa be it in the diaspora. And I suppose everybody recollects why August 20 was selected as the ideal date for those celebrations: to honour the day when our language came of age (if I may say so) by being included in the 8th schedule of the Indian constitution and by being in this way recognised as one of the national languages of the country. The 2001 celebrations were held under the banner of Solidarity, and August 19 of that year, being a Sunday, saw for the first time the GOA DAY being celebrated in Lisbon. In this year 2002 let us dedicate the celebrations in a very special way to our avoi-bhas, to our mother tongue Konkani. It is true that many of us in the diaspora, and particularly those of the second and third generations - born far from the tiny state of Goa and many of them with difficulties in maintaining contact with their roots -, do not know to write or sometimes even to speak the language and, of those who do write it, most do so in the Roman script while unfortunately this script is being discarded in Goa thus affecting adversely, for instance, the tiatrs which have been traditionally written in Romi Konknni by Christian tiatrists. But, irrespective of whether we know or not the language of our state, it is undeniable that amchi bhas is the basis of our Goanness and, if only for this reason, we are dutybound to honour it. And why do I say that the 2002 Goa Day should give special relevance to our language? At least for three strong reasons: February 4th of this year was the fifteenth anniversary of the Language Act by which Konkani was approved as the official language of Goa by Goa's Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly) today, May 30th, marks the fifteenth anniversary of Goa's statehood which would not have been possible if the territory didn't have its own official language; and August 20th will see the 10th anniversary of the unanimous approval, by the two houses of the Indian Parliament, of the law which included Konkani in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution. In Portugal there is an additional reason: it was in May 1987 that an association of Goans, Damanese, Diuese, Dadraites and Nagar-Haveliites was informally instituted, under the designation of Casa de Goa, which was later legalised through a notarial deed on July 15 of the same year. It is thus the year of its fifteenth anniversary. The Goa Day - 2002 will therefore be recorded in Portugal, in August this year, as Dia de Goa, Damco e Diu (Goa, Daman and Diu Day), the organsing committee being busy in the planning of the multifarious celebrations along the period of 17th to 20th August. (Note: As in terms of the Portuguese Estado da India Dadra and Nagar Haveli were part of the district of Daman, for those residing in Portugal Daman includes those two enclaves which were annexed by India and turned into a Union Territory on August 11, 1961). Coming back to the language. Many Goans, especially the Christians, and particularly those in the diaspora, resent the fact that, when Konkani gained the status of a national language of India, it was approved that only Devnagri would be its true and legal script. A year ago I advocated that, our mother-tongue being the only one that is written in five or six different scripts (which is one of its richest facets), we should struggle to have this richness officially recognised. I remember having then been strongly opposed by some quarters. Recently however I was glad to learn that the Government of Karnataka had decreed that in that state the official script for the Konkani language would be Kannada and none else. Why then can t we have the Romi Konknni legalised in Goa? Let's face the facts squarely: in Karnataka (Mangalore, Karwar, etc.) Konkani is written in Kannada script, in some other region of the same state in Tulu, in Kochi in Malayali script, in Gujarat in Gujarati and Urdu scripts; so why not in Devnagri and Romi in Goa? Let's be proud not only of being Goans but of being Konkanis, and let's honour our
[Goanet] MESSAGE TO ALL GOANS
Hi Joel, Just received a message from your composerja address which my scanner indicated carried a virus attachment -- I have deleted it -- please check at your end Cheers Aloysius D'Souza =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet === For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
[Goanet] Goan Ladin in Kuwait.
LADIN IN KUWAIT. In Kuwait there is one well known Choir in the Holy Family Cathedral The main Catholic Church at Kuwait City. It was formed by Mr Albino Fernandes who is deeply involved in Church affairs and other social work. He is very much known in the community. In order to promote the Church activities he inducted many Goans in his Choir and thereby gave identity to many of the unknown souls. As a great lover of Konkani and Goa Albino introduced Konkani Hyms too for the English Mass and by listening to these Hyms it really looks great and brings back nostalgic feelings. Recently according to my information Albino the founder of this Choir Holy Family Choir has withdrawn from this Choir and totally detached from all its activities. It is very surprising to know this and more so because how Albino was allowed to dissociate himself from this Choir by the very people whom he did so much. As per one source, Albino was dissatisfied with the politics of defamation carried out on Internet by one of his own colleagues. If this is true then the discipline of the Church Circle is upset. The very people who should give good example of their good deeds are creating disorder by taking advantage of Church premises. May be because of such anti-Catholic incidents Catholics are getting fed-up of our Church people and embracing other denominations in bigger and bigger number. For so long Albino Fernandes was synonym with this Choir doing so many activities for the good cause and also promoting his colleagues. Sometime back by organising a cultural event Albinos group collected some funds and donated one lakh of rupees to Mother Theresas Mission in Calcutta. In this way Albino and his group organize lot of activities. Albino Fernandes on Friday 31st of this Month in tune with Goan tradition will organize in the Church Compound in front of Grotto of Our Lady Goan style Laudainha. It will be held at 7.00 after the evening Mass and will be sung in Latin with the accompaniment of Violin which will be played by a young Goan boy. This is oranised to mark the Day of Mary to spread the devotion of Mother Mary. In maintaining with Goan tradition Ukoddlole Chonne will be served to give a real Goan touch. Ladin singers and others are expected to join in good number. A.Veronica Fernandes, Kuwait. _ Join the worlds largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet === For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
goanet-digest V1 #4035
goanet-digest Thursday, May 30 2002 Volume 01 : Number 4035 - In this issue: [Goanet] Re: Meeting in memory of Hugo's life [Goanet] 15th anniversary of Goa Statehood [Goanet] RESPONSE REQUIRED: Subscription to [EMAIL PROTECTED] offered [Goanet] ONE GOA [Goanet] MESSAGE TO ALL GOANS [Goanet] Goan Ladin in Kuwait. See end of digest for information on subscribing/unsusbcribing. -- Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 02:09:41 -0700 (PDT) From: Samir Kelekar [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Goanet] Re: Meeting in memory of Hugo's life small correction. meeting is on Friday the 31st of May and not on June 1. regards, Sam - - An informal meeting to remember Hugo Souza and his life is called by Hugo's friends. This meeting will be the kind of meeting Hugo would have liked. It is going to be on Friday 1st June at 5 pm in the Freedom Fighters' office, Lohia Maidan at Margao. Your participation is urged. regards, Sam Samir Kelekar, Margao/Bangalore. -- Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 12:18:34 -0700 From: rene barreto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Goanet] 15th anniversary of Goa Statehood possible duplication. Goemkars - May 30th is the second of the three days of special significance this year to our Konkani language, not because it is election day in Goa but because it is the 15th anniversary of Goa Statehood (which statehood would not have been possible without the territory having first its own approved language). The other two special dates are: February 4, 15th anniversary of the Language Act which made Konkani Goa's sole official language, and August 20, 10th anniversary of the Parliamentary law which incorporated Konkani in the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution. Jorge de Abreau Noronha who lives in Portugal has written a small article which I am posting here today on his behalf. rene GOA DAY - 2002 Thanks to the timely initiative of Rene Barreto in 1999, the yearly celebrations of a Goa Day became a reality as from 2000, wherever there are Goans or descendants of Goans, be it in various cities, towns and villages of Goa be it in the diaspora. And I suppose everybody recollects why August 20 was selected as the ideal date for those celebrations: to honour the day when our language came of age (if I may say so) by being included in the 8th schedule of the Indian constitution and by being in this way recognised as one of the national languages of the country. The 2001 celebrations were held under the banner of Solidarity, and August 19 of that year, being a Sunday, saw for the first time the GOA DAY being celebrated in Lisbon. In this year 2002 let us dedicate the celebrations in a very special way to our avoi-bhas, to our mother tongue Konkani. It is true that many of us in the diaspora, and particularly those of the second and third generations - born far from the tiny state of Goa and many of them with difficulties in maintaining contact with their roots -, do not know to write or sometimes even to speak the language and, of those who do write it, most do so in the Roman script while unfortunately this script is being discarded in Goa thus affecting adversely, for instance, the tiatrs which have been traditionally written in Romi Konknni by Christian tiatrists. But, irrespective of whether we know or not the language of our state, it is undeniable that amchi bhas is the basis of our Goanness and, if only for this reason, we are dutybound to honour it. And why do I say that the 2002 Goa Day should give special relevance to our language? At least for three strong reasons: February 4th of this year was the fifteenth anniversary of the Language Act by which Konkani was approved as the official language of Goa by Goa's Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly) today, May 30th, marks the fifteenth anniversary of Goa's statehood which would not have been possible if the territory didn't have its own official language; and August 20th will see the 10th anniversary of the unanimous approval, by the two houses of the Indian Parliament, of the law which included Konkani in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution. In Portugal there is an additional reason: it was in May 1987 that an association of Goans, Damanese, Diuese, Dadraites and Nagar-Haveliites was informally instituted, under the designation of Casa de Goa, which was later legalised through a notarial deed on July 15 of the same year. It is thus the year of its fifteenth anniversary. The Goa Day - 2002 will therefore be recorded in Portugal, in August this year, as Dia de Goa, Damco e Diu (Goa, Daman and Diu Day), the organsing committee being busy in the planning of the multifarious celebrations along the period of 17th to 20th August. (Note: As in terms of
[Goanet] A brief journey... (unheard voices column)
A brief journey (UNHEARD VOICES/HERSH MANDER/FRONTLINE MAGAZINE) The saga of Sushila's struggle with AIDS captures the essence of the untold stories of scores of women whose voices have perhaps been lost forever. http://www.flonnet.com/fl1911/19110880.htm SUSHILA'S brothers did not want to send her so far away. But she was growing older, and the prospective bridegroom John, a Goan truck driver, seemed eligible - he was soft-spoken and earned well. He said that he lived alone in his home in Mumbai and assured her brothers that she would be happy with him. Initially, the wedding proposal included a demand for dowry. But Sushila spiritedly opposed this, and ultimately John agreed to accept her without it. The marriage was fixed, and seven years ago, in a modest Bangalore church, Sushila's life was tied to John's. Irrevocably, as it turned out, in many ways, both anticipated and unanticipated. When this proposal first came for Sushila, the youngest of five sisters and brothers in a conservative Catholic family in a village close to Bangalore, the family had debated it for a long time. Her father had died only months earlier, and her elder brothers were concerned and protective about her future. One brother worked as a clerk in an office. The other had become an evangelist after chequered years in the army, some worrying months of heavy drinking, and an unsuccessful experiment in running a furniture store. The brothers lived together, with their families. They were strict with their sisters, and did not allow them even to talk to their own male friends who visited their home. One sister became a nun and was in Bihar; another was married and had two children. Now only Sushila remained. The first shock came when she arrived at her husband's home in Mumbai, just days after their marriage. He had lied to her; he did not live alone. In a small shanty in a sprawling Mumbai slum, John lived with two unmarried brothers and a divorced sister. The next morning itself, he set off on his truck without a word to her, and returned only 15 days later. But this was barely for one or two nights, before he was on the road again. John's family had grown up in the big city, and their ways were very different from those that Sushila had been used to. They would think nothing of visiting tea stalls and the cinema, or talking in the rough, coarse, open way of the city streets. Sushila was desperately lonely and missed the protected world of her family and village. But who was there to speak to? Her husband was rarely home. Sushila returned to her brothers' home in Bangalore when she became pregnant. The child was still-born, and the doctors said that she had contracted some venereal disease from her husband. The miscarriage left her critically ill, and her brothers gave money and blood to save her life. Her husband was hundreds of kilometres away, driving his truck, oblivious of all this. When he returned a whole month later and asked 'where is my child', Sushila was furious with him - for causing the infection, for not caring and for not being there when she needed him most - and she cried out loud and long. Her brothers persuaded John to stay back with them in Bangalore and to give up driving his truck. He agreed, and they found him some work in Bangalore itself. For Sushila, this was the happiest phase of her married life. But it did not last long. One day, only weeks afterwards, he disappeared without warning. Two months later, he returned with his truck, and demanded that Sushila go back to Mumbai with him. Her brothers tried to dissuade her, but she did not want to remain dependent on them. She returned tearfully to her husband's home. He promised to take better care of her this time. The reason for his long absences, he told her, was that he was not a licensed driver and therefore his employers and the police could harass and exploit him. He persuaded her to sell her gold chain, a gift from her family when she was married. He said that he needed the money to pay bribes in order to acquire a bus driver's badge, and he started driving a passenger bus between Mumbai and Goa. Sushila began to see him more regularly. She soon became pregnant again. The child, born in her uncles' care in Bangalore, was a healthy baby girl. Labour was prolonged and painful, and in the end the doctors in the government hospital took recourse to a caesarean section. By the time Sushila returned to Mumbai with her daughter, John had quit his regular job on the Mumbai-Goa bus and was back to driving his truck across the length and breadth of the country. His absences became longer and more uncertain, and in time her unmarried older brother-in-law took to harassing her sexually. Sushila once pushed him down the broken staircase, and he broke his leg. She complained to her husband, but he refused to intervene. Before long, she was pregnant once again. This time, they refused to send her to her brothers' home. After the fifth
