[Goanet] Special status for moneybags headed to Goa (Dr Claude Alvares)

[Goanet Reader]

SPECIAL STATUS FOR MONEYBAGS HEADED TO GOA!

FB post by Claude Alvares

For the past ten years now, Goa has been almost in a
permanent state of war. There have been regular invading
armies and conquests, mostly originating out of Delhi, or
Mumbai, or even Haryana and other places, each biting off
slices of Goan villages, and the Goa government has in every
conceivable case, gone all out to support them.

The political leaders who run this government only come to
the villagers when they want their votes.

Look at these simple facts about the new brewery and
distillery approved for erection at Amdai, on the banks of
the Uguem river -- a depressing repeat of hundreds of similar
invasions being fought at Cavelossim, Carmona, Tiracol, etc:

* The land at Amdai (64,439 sq mts) is purchased in 2013 by
  Vani Agro Farms, registered in Delhi, headed by Guptas and
  Jains, for the sum of Rs.2,39,71,308 (Rs.2.4 crores) from
  Anselm Furtado and Sheryl Furtado, living at Chouquivaddo,
  Carmona. The adjoining plot of 60,000 sq.mts is also bought
  up by the same group, so now the total land acquired is
  1,24,439 sq.mts. Vani Agro applies to Canara Bank for a
  loan of 43 crores.

* The land is zoned as orchard in the regional plan, because
  it has magnificent spread of coconut and cashew trees. The
  new owners claim in a media interview that the Tree Act
  being amended to exclude coconut trees, they do not need
  permission to mass-kill the trees on the plots.

* According to the project report, there is "plentiful
  water" to produce 5 lakh hecto litres of beer. There is
  simply no acknowledgement that the water belongs to -- and
  has been hitherto sustainably enjoyed by -- the people
  living in the area. The water, in fact, belongs to them
  since they have been using it for decades.

* The company applies for permission to extract 506 m3
  daily from the Uguem river on 11.11.2013. This is granted
  by the Water Resources Department on 26.11.2013, in less
  than 15 working days. The Uguem river today is the only
  source of water for hundreds of ordinary Goan villagers for
  all their primary needs ranging from drinking to washing
  clothes. (Ironically, at this very moment, the Goa
  government is fighting the Karnataka government which wants
  to divert the waters of the Madei river to provide drinking
  water to Hubli and other Karnataka cities!)

* The company applies for a public health clearance on
  29.7.2013. The PH certificate is promptly issued by Dr
  Vinod Naik, Goan Health Officer, on 31.7.2013.

* The company applies for an NOC from the Sanguem Municipal
  Council on 18.7.2013 and, lo and behold, a provisional NOC
  is issued by Goan Chief Officer, Pramod V. Desai, on
  26.7.2013 (within one week). The CO does not consult the
  elected council. He issues the certificate on his own.

* The company applies for Town Planning permission. However,
  even before the TCP can consider the proposal, the new Goa
  Public Investment Board approves the proposal on 16/01/2015
  and at two further meetings held on 17/6/2015 and
  6/10/2015. The officers or people at the Public Investment
  Board who approved this file include Martin Ghosh, Nitin
  Kunkoliencar, Atul Pai Kane and some functionaries
  including the CM.

When ordinary Goans approach the same bodies for similar
permissions or approvals, they are made to run around coconut
trees. Now even that may not be possible, because at Amdai,
more than 1,000 coconut trees will be cut to produce liquor
and beer for tourists and other elements, as if they haven't
already drunk themselves senseless.

No further comment, I believe, is necessary.

Similar scenario was repeated earlier at Tiracol as well,
where the entire village lost 12,12,000 sq mts out of
13,84,000 sq.mts for a golf course again by another Delhi
party, the Jatias, through Leading Hotels. The CM has been
openly backing that project as well.

Got the message? Want more cases?

Competent Automobiles (Maruti-Suzuki dealers from Delhi) have
purchased prime beach area in Cavelossim even though the
village and panchayat say they do not want another five-star
hotel in their midst. At Baga, huge illegal constructions put
up at La Calypso, had to be finally demolished because of
court orders. The owner of La Calypso is from Delhi. Who
allowed him to build and exploit the illegal structures for
years? The answer is blowing in the wind.

So it is time we scrapped the pretence of having become an
independent State in 1987. We were ruled from New Delhi from
1961-1987. After 1987, our new landlords are also coming from
Delhi while 12,000 Goans have acquired Portuguese passports.

As Alfred E. Neuman from MAD magazine used to say in my kid
days in the mid-1960s: "Something funny is going on here!"

Please circulate to all Goan networks because the people of
Amdai are determined to fight this latest conquest, and they
will need your help and support.

[Goanet-News] Goa Catholic Church is targetted in 'hate video' as stir against urbanisation plan stings government (Pamela D'Mello)

[Goanet Reader]

Goa Catholic Church is targetted in 'hate video' as stir
against urbanisation plan stings government

The anonymously
produced video claims
that the Church has
consistently opposed
development projects.

Pamela D'Mello

A video targetting the Catholic Church in Goa for its
purported anti-development positions is "meant to incite
violence and cause disturbances", the Aam Aadmi Party said in
a police complaint filed on Wednesday. The video emerged
online in the wake of the decision of a Church affiliate, the
Council for Social Justice and Peace, to join 14 other civil
society groups to oppose the state's plan to urbanise nearly
two dozen villages.

Organising under an umbrella body called Goencho Awaz, or
Goa's Voice, the groups are currently mobilising support for
a protest meeting in Margao last Friday.

The video -- the source of which is as yet unknown -- lists
several initiatives that it claimed the Church has opposed,
including the Konkan Railway, the plan to build a new airport
at Mopa and school education in Konkani. "Goemkars [Goa
residents] don't get misled," the video declares.

In its complaint, which has been filed against "unknown
persons", the Aam Aadmi Party says that the video "brazenly
seeks to promote communalism by inciting hatred against the
Christian community".

A grab from the controversial video.

  The Goencho Awaz coalition was formed in response
  to a decision by the Manohar Parrikar government in
  December to put 22 villages in North Goa under the
  jurisdiction of various urban Planning and
  Development Authorities, essentially declaring them
  urban areas. This decision was opposed by residents
  of these villages, who contended that it would
  cause "unnecessary urbanisation" and destroy their
  way of life. Their protests drew support from
  several social organisations.

On March 31, the Goa government relented, but only partially:
Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai said most
of the 16 villages given over to the Greater Panjim Planning
and Development Authority would be dropped from the plan.
Sardesai's Goa Forward Party is a key member of Parrikar's
Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition in the state.

The protestors were not satisfied and continued their
agitation at Panjim's Azad Maidan. They demanded that instead
of urbanising the villages, the state government should amend
the Town and Country Planning Act to give Village Development
Committees more authority as mandated by 73rd and 74th
amendments to the Constitution.

Sardesai hit back, alleging that the protestors were making
"anarchic demands". He attacked the Church for supporting the
agitation and accused it of "playing politics to destabilise
the government". Also targeting the opposition Congress, he
said the agitation was aimed at forcing him to break his Goa
Forward Party's alliance with the BJP.

'It is a diversion'

Though the anti-Church video has been produced anonymously,
political observers claim that it is the handiwork of
supporters of the Goa Forward Party. Ironcially, it could
damage the political standing of Sardesai, who has lately
emerged as the de facto acting chief minister in the absence
of the ailing Parrikar. In fact, if the growing opposition to
the urbanisation plan is any indication, Sardesai's image has
already taken a hit for championing the Planning and
Development Authorities, which have become synonymous with
corruption and for promoting builder interests in Goa.

... activists involved with the protests said the minister’s
outburst and the video that has followed are an attempt to
shift the focus away from the real issues. "Obviously, it is
a diversion," said Abhijeet Prabhudesai of Rainbow Warriors,
one of the constituents of Goencho Awaz. "The main issue is
that the Regional Plan 2021 is full of scams and corruption,
which they desperately want to take our attention away from.
But I don't think they will succeed because people are quite
aware what is at stake. People will recognise these moves for
what they are."

The Regional Plan 2021, in abeyance since 2012, was recently
revived by Sardesai. Activists allege that the plan aims to
commercialise rural land and hand it over to private players
to construct high-rise buildings or develop as controversial
eco-tourism zones.

A message issued by Goencho Awaz.

Support our journalism by subscribing to Scroll+ here. We
welcome your comments at lett...@scroll.in.

https://scroll.in/article/877061/goa-catholic-church-is-targetted-in-hate-video-as-stir-against-urbanisation-plan-stings-government

[Goanet] Goa Catholic Church is targetted in 'hate video' as stir against urbanisation plan stings government (Pamela D'Mello)

[Goanet Reader]

Goa Catholic Church is targetted in 'hate video' as stir
against urbanisation plan stings government

The anonymously
produced video claims
that the Church has
consistently opposed
development projects.

Pamela D'Mello

A video targetting the Catholic Church in Goa for its
purported anti-development positions is "meant to incite
violence and cause disturbances", the Aam Aadmi Party said in
a police complaint filed on Wednesday. The video emerged
online in the wake of the decision of a Church affiliate, the
Council for Social Justice and Peace, to join 14 other civil
society groups to oppose the state's plan to urbanise nearly
two dozen villages.

Organising under an umbrella body called Goencho Awaz, or
Goa's Voice, the groups are currently mobilising support for
a protest meeting in Margao last Friday.

The video -- the source of which is as yet unknown -- lists
several initiatives that it claimed the Church has opposed,
including the Konkan Railway, the plan to build a new airport
at Mopa and school education in Konkani. "Goemkars [Goa
residents] don't get misled," the video declares.

In its complaint, which has been filed against "unknown
persons", the Aam Aadmi Party says that the video "brazenly
seeks to promote communalism by inciting hatred against the
Christian community".

A grab from the controversial video.

  The Goencho Awaz coalition was formed in response
  to a decision by the Manohar Parrikar government in
  December to put 22 villages in North Goa under the
  jurisdiction of various urban Planning and
  Development Authorities, essentially declaring them
  urban areas. This decision was opposed by residents
  of these villages, who contended that it would
  cause "unnecessary urbanisation" and destroy their
  way of life. Their protests drew support from
  several social organisations.

On March 31, the Goa government relented, but only partially:
Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai said most
of the 16 villages given over to the Greater Panjim Planning
and Development Authority would be dropped from the plan.
Sardesai's Goa Forward Party is a key member of Parrikar's
Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition in the state.

The protestors were not satisfied and continued their
agitation at Panjim's Azad Maidan. They demanded that instead
of urbanising the villages, the state government should amend
the Town and Country Planning Act to give Village Development
Committees more authority as mandated by 73rd and 74th
amendments to the Constitution.

Sardesai hit back, alleging that the protestors were making
"anarchic demands". He attacked the Church for supporting the
agitation and accused it of "playing politics to destabilise
the government". Also targeting the opposition Congress, he
said the agitation was aimed at forcing him to break his Goa
Forward Party's alliance with the BJP.

'It is a diversion'

Though the anti-Church video has been produced anonymously,
political observers claim that it is the handiwork of
supporters of the Goa Forward Party. Ironcially, it could
damage the political standing of Sardesai, who has lately
emerged as the de facto acting chief minister in the absence
of the ailing Parrikar. In fact, if the growing opposition to
the urbanisation plan is any indication, Sardesai's image has
already taken a hit for championing the Planning and
Development Authorities, which have become synonymous with
corruption and for promoting builder interests in Goa.

... activists involved with the protests said the minister’s
outburst and the video that has followed are an attempt to
shift the focus away from the real issues. "Obviously, it is
a diversion," said Abhijeet Prabhudesai of Rainbow Warriors,
one of the constituents of Goencho Awaz. "The main issue is
that the Regional Plan 2021 is full of scams and corruption,
which they desperately want to take our attention away from.
But I don't think they will succeed because people are quite
aware what is at stake. People will recognise these moves for
what they are."

The Regional Plan 2021, in abeyance since 2012, was recently
revived by Sardesai. Activists allege that the plan aims to
commercialise rural land and hand it over to private players
to construct high-rise buildings or develop as controversial
eco-tourism zones.

A message issued by Goencho Awaz.

Support our journalism by subscribing to Scroll+ here. We
welcome your comments at lett...@scroll.in.

https://scroll.in/article/877061/goa-catholic-church-is-targetted-in-hate-video-as-stir-against-urbanisation-plan-stings-government

[Goanet] Many social problems exist in India, but, above all, is the rising communal violence (Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao)

[Goanet Reader]

Many social problems exist in India, but, above all, is the
rising communal violence

Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao
archbp...@gmail.com

As I listened to the various speakers [from different faiths
and sections of our society], Mahatma Gandhi's description of
the seven deadly social sins came to my mind. The Father of
the Nation named these as the seven deadly sins: "Wealth
Without Work; Pleasure Without Conscience; Knowledge Without
Character; Commerce Without Morality (or, rather, Business
without Ethics); Science Without Humanity; Religion Without
Sacrifice; and Politics Without Principle."

I thank the speakers for the passion and love for the
country with which they delivered their speeches. Indeed,
they have highlighted that our beloved country is built on
diversity, tolerance and communal harmony and that the only
way it can continue to exist and progress is not simply by
maintaining these time-tested values, but, in fact, by
proactively fostering and strengthening these attitudes among
the people of India, across the divides of religion, creed,
region or language.

We must admit that the 'deadly social sins' mentioned by the
great Mahatma are to be found in countries all over the world
and quite pronouncedly in our own, beloved India.

  There are many social problems existing in our
  society which stand as stumbling blocks in the way
  to development: poverty, unemployment, pollution,
  regionalism, illiteracy, criminality, violence
  against women, drug trafficking, child marriage,
  corruption and various other challenges that are
  posing a threat to the nation's development and
  unity. But above all these social menaces, the
  rising communal violence in India is emerging to be
  the most dangerous of all social distrusts.

Mahatma Gandhi realized the damage which communalism could
cause and attended to the problem with the seriousness it
demanded. He regarded the abolition of communal disharmony
and the ensuing Hindu-Muslim unity as the essential
pre-requisite for the Swaraj.

Right from his early public life, Gandhi kept alive the idea
of communal unity. He lived in South Africa for twenty years
in the midst of Muslims, who treated him as a member of the
family. Realizing the lack of unity between Hindus and
'Mussalmans' in South Africa, he said, "I had realized early
enough in South Africa that there was no genuine friendship
between the Hindus and the Mussalmans. I never missed a
single opportunity to remove the obstacles in the way of
unity" (M K Gandhi, An Autobiography or the Story of My
Experiments with Truth, Navajivan Publishing House,
Ahmedabad, 1927, p. 341).

Our dear Pope Francis has placed culture in a very beautiful
light: "A culture is strengthened by its openness and its
exchange of views with other cultures, as long as it has a
clear and mature awareness of its own principles and values.
I, therefore, encourage professors and students to experience
the University as an environment of true dialogue, which
neither flattens nor intensifies diversity but opens to
a constructive comparison. We are called to understand and
appreciate the values of others, overcoming the temptation of
indifference and fear. Never be afraid of an encounter, of
dialogue, of debate!" (Address of Pope Francis to "Roma Tre"
University, February 17, 2017).

  Down the ages, India has been a rich and beautiful
  mosaic, a confluence of many religions, races,
  tribes and ethnic communities, having different
  cultures, languages, scripts, customs, cuisine and
  living styles, with very long ancient historical
  traditions. Here Hindus, Muslims, Christians,
  Buddhists, Jains, tribals, Jews and men and women
  of every religion, language, belief and conviction
  have, to a large extent, lived together in
  exemplary harmony and tolerance.

The world looks with awe at India's wonderfully diverse and
plural society. The composite culture of India owes its
existence not to one single community, race, tribe or
religion, but to an intricate collage of varied influences,
resulting in a way of life that has been crafted by an
intermingling of cultures and peoples over the centuries.

May I use the words of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, who, in
his poetic style, tells us: "The highest education is that
which does not merely give us information but makes our life
in harmony with all existence. Melody and harmony are like
lines and colours in pictures. A simple linear picture may be
completely beautiful; the introduction of colour may make it
vague and insignificant. Yet colour may, by combination with
lines, create great pictures, as long as it does not smother
and destroy their value. Life’s errors cry for the merciful
beauty that can modulate their isolation into a harmony with
the whole ... Life is given to us, we earn it by giving it.
Let the dead have 

[Goanet-News] In Goa, a spirited fight against bid to put villages on fast track to urbanisation (Pamela D'Mello, Scroll.in)

[Goanet Reader]

The state has sought to include
22 villages in the jurisdiction
of Planning and Development
Authorities -- bodies that
experts say are
unconstitutional.

Mar 27, 2018 · 06:30 am

Pamela D'Mello
dmello.pam...@gmail.com

Residents of about 22 villages in North Goa have risen up
against the state government's decision to put their villages
under the jurisdiction of Goa's controversial Planning and
Development Authorities. This will put the villages on the
fast-track to unnecessary urbanisation, they say, dealing a
death blow to their way of life.

  On December 21, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led
  coalition ruling Goa issued a notification
  incorporating 16 villages from Tiswadi taluk,
  around state capital Panjim, into the newly-created
  Greater Panjim Planning and Development Authority.
  In neighbouring Bardez taluk, the villages of
  Arpora, Nagoa and Parra were amalgamated into the
  North Goa Planning and Development Authority, from
  where the Greater Panjim body was carved out. The
  North Goa body already covers the tourism hubs of
  Calangute, Candolim and Baga.

Since then, village residents have held a series of protests,
public meetings and gram sabhas or village councils.

Villagers note that areas under Planning and Development
Authorities are permitted a much higher floor area ratio than
that allowed in villages, which will lead to tall buildings
sprouting up everywhere, increasing congestion in spaces that
are not designed to take high population loads. The floor
area ratio or FAR determines a building's total floor area in
relation to the the size of the plot it stands on. The higher
the floor area ratio, the taller the building.

Sitaram Kunkolkar, from Chimbel village, 6 km east of Panjim,
said that in his tribal village of 14,000 people, the village
panchayat can sanction a FAR of upto 80. "FARs in PDA
[Planning and Development Authority] areas are three times
more, upto 200 and 250," he said. "It will completely finish
off what is left of our fields, hills and orchards. Chimbel,
as we know it, will disappear."

However, Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardessai,
who heads the Goa Forward Party that is part of the ruling
alliance, has attempted to stand his ground, saying vertical
growth is inevitable in Goa.

Controversial bodies

Planning and Development Authorities were first created in
Goa in the 1970s. They have to prepare comprehensive
development plans for their notified designated planning
areas. They demarcate residential, commercial and industrial
zones and decide on the location, height, and size of
buildings and open spaces in its jurisdiction. They also
issue permissions for all this.

Because of their sweeping powers over land use, membership to
the Planning and Development Authorities became coveted --
second only to positions in the state cabinet. They are
usually headed by political appointees.

"The outline development plans slowly became instruments to
increase the built-up area of plots in these towns regardless
of the surroundings," said architect and environmental
activist Dean D'Cruz.

  The 73rd and 74th Amendment to the Constitution in
  1992 granted powers of planning to municipalities
  and panchayats, which must be assisted by the Town
  and Country Planning Department. But the Goa
  government never devolved planning powers to the
  elected bodies, continuing with the centralised
  Planning and Development Authorities. D'Cruz and
  other activists say this is unconstitutional.
  Currently, there are five such bodies notified in
  Goa to accommodate the political compulsions of the
  coalition government.

Village residents at a meeting on the Planning and
Development Authority issue in Calangute, North Goa. (Photo:
Benedict D'Souza/Facebook).

Angry opposition to plan

The Kunbi-dominated village of Chimbel is about 4.2 sq km in
area, and supplies vegetables to Panjim's markets. It has
been included in the Greater Panjim Planning and Development
Authority since it is adjacent to the panoramic Kadamba
plateau, a rapidly developing residential suburb.

Some of Goa's biggest construction firms have sprawling
luxury residential projects on the plateau, where a low floor
area ratio so far has kept the area relatively low-rise and
open. Chimbel's inclusion in the Greater Panjim Planning and
Development Authority could potentially triple the floor area
ratio, allow high rises and increase real estate value in the
entire area -- a bonanza for realtors, builders and property
owners.

  The original inhabitants of villages like this feel
  they will be culturally and demographically
  obliterated by such development. "We will be
  completely swamped, our small heritage houses
  surrounded by high-rises, like in the cities, and
  we will 

[Goanet] In Goa, a spirited fight against bid to put villages on fast track to urbanisation (Pamela D'Mello, Scroll.in)

[Goanet Reader]

The state has sought to include
22 villages in the jurisdiction
of Planning and Development
Authorities -- bodies that
experts say are
unconstitutional.

Mar 27, 2018 · 06:30 am

Pamela D'Mello
dmello.pam...@gmail.com

Residents of about 22 villages in North Goa have risen up
against the state government's decision to put their villages
under the jurisdiction of Goa's controversial Planning and
Development Authorities. This will put the villages on the
fast-track to unnecessary urbanisation, they say, dealing a
death blow to their way of life.

  On December 21, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led
  coalition ruling Goa issued a notification
  incorporating 16 villages from Tiswadi taluk,
  around state capital Panjim, into the newly-created
  Greater Panjim Planning and Development Authority.
  In neighbouring Bardez taluk, the villages of
  Arpora, Nagoa and Parra were amalgamated into the
  North Goa Planning and Development Authority, from
  where the Greater Panjim body was carved out. The
  North Goa body already covers the tourism hubs of
  Calangute, Candolim and Baga.

Since then, village residents have held a series of protests,
public meetings and gram sabhas or village councils.

Villagers note that areas under Planning and Development
Authorities are permitted a much higher floor area ratio than
that allowed in villages, which will lead to tall buildings
sprouting up everywhere, increasing congestion in spaces that
are not designed to take high population loads. The floor
area ratio or FAR determines a building's total floor area in
relation to the the size of the plot it stands on. The higher
the floor area ratio, the taller the building.

Sitaram Kunkolkar, from Chimbel village, 6 km east of Panjim,
said that in his tribal village of 14,000 people, the village
panchayat can sanction a FAR of upto 80. "FARs in PDA
[Planning and Development Authority] areas are three times
more, upto 200 and 250," he said. "It will completely finish
off what is left of our fields, hills and orchards. Chimbel,
as we know it, will disappear."

However, Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardessai,
who heads the Goa Forward Party that is part of the ruling
alliance, has attempted to stand his ground, saying vertical
growth is inevitable in Goa.

Controversial bodies

Planning and Development Authorities were first created in
Goa in the 1970s. They have to prepare comprehensive
development plans for their notified designated planning
areas. They demarcate residential, commercial and industrial
zones and decide on the location, height, and size of
buildings and open spaces in its jurisdiction. They also
issue permissions for all this.

Because of their sweeping powers over land use, membership to
the Planning and Development Authorities became coveted --
second only to positions in the state cabinet. They are
usually headed by political appointees.

"The outline development plans slowly became instruments to
increase the built-up area of plots in these towns regardless
of the surroundings," said architect and environmental
activist Dean D'Cruz.

  The 73rd and 74th Amendment to the Constitution in
  1992 granted powers of planning to municipalities
  and panchayats, which must be assisted by the Town
  and Country Planning Department. But the Goa
  government never devolved planning powers to the
  elected bodies, continuing with the centralised
  Planning and Development Authorities. D'Cruz and
  other activists say this is unconstitutional.
  Currently, there are five such bodies notified in
  Goa to accommodate the political compulsions of the
  coalition government.

Village residents at a meeting on the Planning and
Development Authority issue in Calangute, North Goa. (Photo:
Benedict D'Souza/Facebook).

Angry opposition to plan

The Kunbi-dominated village of Chimbel is about 4.2 sq km in
area, and supplies vegetables to Panjim's markets. It has
been included in the Greater Panjim Planning and Development
Authority since it is adjacent to the panoramic Kadamba
plateau, a rapidly developing residential suburb.

Some of Goa's biggest construction firms have sprawling
luxury residential projects on the plateau, where a low floor
area ratio so far has kept the area relatively low-rise and
open. Chimbel's inclusion in the Greater Panjim Planning and
Development Authority could potentially triple the floor area
ratio, allow high rises and increase real estate value in the
entire area -- a bonanza for realtors, builders and property
owners.

  The original inhabitants of villages like this feel
  they will be culturally and demographically
  obliterated by such development. "We will be
  completely swamped, our small heritage houses
  surrounded by high-rises, like in the cities, and
  we will 

[Goanet-News] Samir Kelekar on Monday's "mining dependent" strike

[Goanet Reader]

GOANS ARISE AWAKE: YOUR GOVT IS IN LEAGUE WITH MINING LEASEES AND FOOLING
YOU

Samir Kelekar

Tomorrow there is a massive morcha in Goa of so-called mining dependents
fully orchestrated by one or more mining companies.

A press note has been issued by the police to avoid congested roads even as
XII standard students have their public (board) exams.

A lame duck section 144 has been imposed to fool the people.

CM Parrikar is in the USA, so some of the ruling MLAs who are directly or
indirectly stakeholders in mining are allowing this massive show of
strength and deliberately creating law and order problem to sabotage the
Supreme Court order on closure of mining leases in Goa and fresh auctioning.

It is no secret that most Goa governments have been funded and propped up
by mining lobby. Today is no exception. They pull the strings from behind
the scenes.

If it was any other rally they would not have been allowed to Panjim.
Whereas tomorrow the mining stakeholder (read footsoldiers put in the
forefront by mine leaders and politicians) will be given a free entry to
Panjim at the expense of xii class students and office goers and people.

The idea seems to be to create law and order situation and collectively
attempt to sabotage the order of the supreme court on stoppage of mining
and auction the mining leases.

[Goanet] Samir Kelekar on Monday's "mining dependent" strike

[Goanet Reader]

GOANS ARISE AWAKE: YOUR GOVT IS IN LEAGUE WITH MINING LEASEES AND FOOLING
YOU

Samir Kelekar

Tomorrow there is a massive morcha in Goa of so-called mining dependents
fully orchestrated by one or more mining companies.

A press note has been issued by the police to avoid congested roads even as
XII standard students have their public (board) exams.

A lame duck section 144 has been imposed to fool the people.

CM Parrikar is in the USA, so some of the ruling MLAs who are directly or
indirectly stakeholders in mining are allowing this massive show of
strength and deliberately creating law and order problem to sabotage the
Supreme Court order on closure of mining leases in Goa and fresh auctioning.

It is no secret that most Goa governments have been funded and propped up
by mining lobby. Today is no exception. They pull the strings from behind
the scenes.

If it was any other rally they would not have been allowed to Panjim.
Whereas tomorrow the mining stakeholder (read footsoldiers put in the
forefront by mine leaders and politicians) will be given a free entry to
Panjim at the expense of xii class students and office goers and people.

The idea seems to be to create law and order situation and collectively
attempt to sabotage the order of the supreme court on stoppage of mining
and auction the mining leases.

[Goanet-News] Goa's cow politics: How gau rakshaks and NGOs have worked to starve the state of beef (Pamela D'Mello, Scroll.in)

[Goanet Reader]

Goa's cow politics: How gau rakshaks and NGOs have worked to
starve the state of beef

Vigilantes are halting
consignments of meat and cattle
coming across the border from
Karnataka. As a result, Goa's
only legal abattoir is
struggling.

PHOTO: Goa's cow politics: How
gau rakshaks and NGOs have
worked to starve the state of
beef Sidhesh Kanodia, Wikimedia
Commons [Licensed under CC
BY-SA 4.0 ]

Pamela D'Mello
dmello.pam...@gmail.com

Days after beef suppliers and traders in Goa called off a
four-day strike last week to protest harassment by gau
rakshaks and animal welfare groups, consignments of buffalo
meat have started trickling into the state. But with
anti-beef groups getting emboldened in the Bharatiya Janata
Party-ruled state, it is becoming clear that the fight over
beef in Goa could well get uglier.

  The strike was triggered by two incidents. On
  December 25, the police in the state capital of
  Panjim seized 1,300 kg of beef that it deemed had
  been illegally transported into the state.
  According to a news report, phenyl was poured on
  the consignment. On January 6, another 1,500 kg
  consignment of beef was impounded in North Goa.

Meat traders were outraged. "There is a law and order
procedure," said Manna Bepari, president of the Meat Traders
Association of Goa. "If they have a complaint, then it should
be investigated as per law, and the consignment should be
scientifically checked by the FDA [Food and Drugs
Administration] and returned to us if nothing is amiss."

He added: "Instead, NGOs and gau rakshaks come armed with
phenyl and throw it on the meat, destroying it completely,
putting us at a loss of Rs 5 lakhs to Rs 6 lakhs. No case is
booked against them but cases are booked against the drivers
and suppliers. There is a limit to how much loss we can bear
so this time our suppliers themselves stopped supply to Goa."

The daily local demand for beef in Goa, which has a large
meat-eating Christian population, is about to 25 tonnes to 30
tonnes. This demand is now fulfilled mainly by meat
transported from neighbouring Karnataka.

On January 9, the meat traders association said at a press
conference that they would resume business the next day after
being given assurances by police officials that beef
consignments transported from Karnataka would be certified by
Goa officials at the Goa-Karnataka border and accorded police
protection.

Local demand

  The slaughter of cows has been banned in Goa since
  1978. When the government set up the state-run
  abattoir, Goa Meat Complex, it passed a law
  designating it as the only legal abattoir where the
  slaughter of buffalos and bullocks is permitted --
  if certain conditions are fulfilled.

Because the state's own cattle population is small, the
70-odd Muslim traders of the Qureshi community who operate
the state's fresh meat business used to transport livestock
from Karnataka to the abattoir, and sell the meat in Goa's
municipal markets. However, this stopped in October after
several cattle were impounded by animal welfare groups.

Credit: HT Photo.
Years of harassment

In recent years, Goa's beef traders have lost scores of
cattle to gau rakshaks, who either release the animals or
impound them in shelters. Hundreds of kilos of beef have been
destroyed with phenyl or burnt, while many transporters have
been arrested.

The sudden strike led to the shortage of beef in local
markets during the peak tourist and festive season, and an
outcry from consumers. During the strike, Chief Minister
Manohar Parrikar steered clear of commenting on the issue.
Instead, he maintained the position he has previously state:
that the legal supply of beef would continue in the state.

Some political analysts say that Parrikar is trying to pull
off a fine balancing act between the impulses of the BJP at
the Centre, which favours a beef ban, and the party's
electoral compulsions in Goa.

Wild allegations

Though beef supplies resumed on January 10, cow protection
groups in the state have made their intentions clear. "We
have no demand for a beef ban," Hanuman Parab, president of
the Govansh Raksha Abhiyan told reporters. "But we want a law
like the law in Maharashtra."

  That essentially is a call for a complete ban.
  Maharashtra, Goa's northern neighbour, banned the
  slaughter of bulls and bullocks in 2015. The
  slaughter of cows had been banned in 1976.

Parab also said that his outfit did not have any faith in the
government machinery and wanted to check the documents of
beef traders themselves. Others at the forefront of the
anti-beef movement in Goa are honorary officers of the Animal
Welfare Board of India, a statutory advisory body on animal
welfare laws. At a press conference on Friday, these honorary
officers denied accusations by beef traders that they were
involved in throwing phenyl on seized consignments of 

[Goanet] Goa's cow politics: How gau rakshaks and NGOs have worked to starve the state of beef (Pamela D'Mello, Scroll.in)

[Goanet Reader]

Goa's cow politics: How gau rakshaks and NGOs have worked to
starve the state of beef

Vigilantes are halting
consignments of meat and cattle
coming across the border from
Karnataka. As a result, Goa's
only legal abattoir is
struggling.

PHOTO: Goa's cow politics: How
gau rakshaks and NGOs have
worked to starve the state of
beef Sidhesh Kanodia, Wikimedia
Commons [Licensed under CC
BY-SA 4.0 ]

Pamela D'Mello
dmello.pam...@gmail.com

Days after beef suppliers and traders in Goa called off a
four-day strike last week to protest harassment by gau
rakshaks and animal welfare groups, consignments of buffalo
meat have started trickling into the state. But with
anti-beef groups getting emboldened in the Bharatiya Janata
Party-ruled state, it is becoming clear that the fight over
beef in Goa could well get uglier.

  The strike was triggered by two incidents. On
  December 25, the police in the state capital of
  Panjim seized 1,300 kg of beef that it deemed had
  been illegally transported into the state.
  According to a news report, phenyl was poured on
  the consignment. On January 6, another 1,500 kg
  consignment of beef was impounded in North Goa.

Meat traders were outraged. "There is a law and order
procedure," said Manna Bepari, president of the Meat Traders
Association of Goa. "If they have a complaint, then it should
be investigated as per law, and the consignment should be
scientifically checked by the FDA [Food and Drugs
Administration] and returned to us if nothing is amiss."

He added: "Instead, NGOs and gau rakshaks come armed with
phenyl and throw it on the meat, destroying it completely,
putting us at a loss of Rs 5 lakhs to Rs 6 lakhs. No case is
booked against them but cases are booked against the drivers
and suppliers. There is a limit to how much loss we can bear
so this time our suppliers themselves stopped supply to Goa."

The daily local demand for beef in Goa, which has a large
meat-eating Christian population, is about to 25 tonnes to 30
tonnes. This demand is now fulfilled mainly by meat
transported from neighbouring Karnataka.

On January 9, the meat traders association said at a press
conference that they would resume business the next day after
being given assurances by police officials that beef
consignments transported from Karnataka would be certified by
Goa officials at the Goa-Karnataka border and accorded police
protection.

Local demand

  The slaughter of cows has been banned in Goa since
  1978. When the government set up the state-run
  abattoir, Goa Meat Complex, it passed a law
  designating it as the only legal abattoir where the
  slaughter of buffalos and bullocks is permitted --
  if certain conditions are fulfilled.

Because the state's own cattle population is small, the
70-odd Muslim traders of the Qureshi community who operate
the state's fresh meat business used to transport livestock
from Karnataka to the abattoir, and sell the meat in Goa's
municipal markets. However, this stopped in October after
several cattle were impounded by animal welfare groups.

Credit: HT Photo.
Years of harassment

In recent years, Goa's beef traders have lost scores of
cattle to gau rakshaks, who either release the animals or
impound them in shelters. Hundreds of kilos of beef have been
destroyed with phenyl or burnt, while many transporters have
been arrested.

The sudden strike led to the shortage of beef in local
markets during the peak tourist and festive season, and an
outcry from consumers. During the strike, Chief Minister
Manohar Parrikar steered clear of commenting on the issue.
Instead, he maintained the position he has previously state:
that the legal supply of beef would continue in the state.

Some political analysts say that Parrikar is trying to pull
off a fine balancing act between the impulses of the BJP at
the Centre, which favours a beef ban, and the party's
electoral compulsions in Goa.

Wild allegations

Though beef supplies resumed on January 10, cow protection
groups in the state have made their intentions clear. "We
have no demand for a beef ban," Hanuman Parab, president of
the Govansh Raksha Abhiyan told reporters. "But we want a law
like the law in Maharashtra."

  That essentially is a call for a complete ban.
  Maharashtra, Goa's northern neighbour, banned the
  slaughter of bulls and bullocks in 2015. The
  slaughter of cows had been banned in 1976.

Parab also said that his outfit did not have any faith in the
government machinery and wanted to check the documents of
beef traders themselves. Others at the forefront of the
anti-beef movement in Goa are honorary officers of the Animal
Welfare Board of India, a statutory advisory body on animal
welfare laws. At a press conference on Friday, these honorary
officers denied accusations by beef traders that they were
involved in throwing phenyl on seized consignments of 

[Goanet-News] The Part-Time Glory Makers (Book Extract, Stars Next Door by Cyprian 'Skip' Fernandes)

[Goanet Reader]

The Part-Time Glory Makers

  What was it about the Kenyan coastal capital that
  produced the largest number of male and female
  track athletes, among them the greatest Goan
  athlete of all time: the 1962 Commonwealth Games
  double sprint gold medalist Seraphino Antao? There
  has never been a Goan or East African sprinter of
  his ilk again.

Was it the sea air, the fresh fish curry and rice (the Goan
national staple diet), an abundant array of fruit, fresh
young delicious coconuts that continue to live in the memory
of those who tasted them, was it the club: the Mombasa Goan
Institute, was it the girls and boys Goan schools, was it the
soft beach sands of Mombasa, or was it the genius of coach
Ray Batchelor that was responsible for as many as five or six
stunning male sprinters (Albert Castanha, Joe Faria, Jack
Fernandes, Antao, Pascal) which molded into the finest sprint
relay teams had ever seen and remained so for a long time,
three female sprinters, a couple of middle distance
specialists, a large number of soccer and hockey players
(four or five who played for Kenya), one of whom, Albert
Castanha, played international football and hockey for Kenya
and was on the verge of Olympic selection as a sprinter but
sadly fell short at the last moment? Was it the fact that
they all banded together and formed the wonderful Achilles
Athletics Club under Ray Batchelor and dragged each other
beyond the individual limits of achievement?

Or was it just the nature of the things? It was a time before
television and there was little or nothing of interest on the
radio but carrying on doing the leisure things that had won
their hearts as young school children was the natural thing
to do?

Again, what set Antao apart from his compatriots? Was it the
rivalry amongst them? Did they spur each other on?

Albert Castanha had dominated Antao and the others for many
years before Antao took off on his own towards gold medal
glory. Once he achieved his impossible dream, he was the
toast of the international track world. If only he had
dragged the other Goan sprinters with him, what a wonderful
world that might have been!

Similarly, what was it about the mild temperate climate in
Nairobi at an elevation of 5,889 feet above the sea level?
Was it the dust, from the murram fields the young players
practised on, the Dr Ribeiro Goan School which produced all
of the Goan Olympians born in Kenya and some from outside
Kenya or was school coach and teacher Anthony De Souza the
factor? Many will swear that it was really De Souza's
coaching skills, honed on his own experiences of playing for
the Lusitanians in Bombay and other parts of India that made
the difference. Others will say it was his caring and kind
but firm attitude coupled with his experience as a hockey
player at the top layer of the game that made the difference.
Whatever it was, it meant that at least a dozen or more
players were selected for and played in the Olympics Games.
Yet others represented Kenyan in internationals both at home
and away. Only three players from the coast were Olympians
and a few others were capped for Kenya.

Seraphino Antao

At school, he mainly played soccer like everyone else. Then
one day his cousin Effie Antao asked him to come and take
part in the annual East African Railways and Harbours
athletics carnival. Seraphino ran barefoot and easily won the
100 yards and the 200 yards. A future star was unearthed that
day.

That was in 1956 and within a few months he had equaled the
Kenya records for both sprints, a modest 10 seconds for the
100 yards. Much later he actually broke the world record for
the 200 yards but that was ruled out because of wind
assistance.

Later, in 1957, be broke the Kenya records for the sprints
and continued to improve upon them in the ensuing years.

He improved in the 100 yards to 9.7 and improved even more
after first tasting international competition in the 1958
Empire Games (a pre-cursor to the modern Commonwealth Games).

 At the Rome Olympics in 1960, he reached the
 semi-finals of the 100 metres and the second round
 of the 200 metres. In the first heats of the 100
 metres, he had easily beaten Armin Harry clocking
 10.5. However, Harry went on to win the semi-finals
 and the Gold Medal. Seraphino finished sixth in his
 semi-final but he was delighted with his
 performances in both sprints.

The American *Jet* magazine, in its edition of July, 12 1962,
reported: "African runner ties 100-yard dash record: During
an international track and field meeting in Dublin, Ireland,
Seraphino Antao of Kenya, East Africa, clocked a new world
record tying for the 100-yard dash time of 9.2 seconds to win
the event by more than eight yards over his nearest
competitor. However, the time will not be sanctioned because
of the nine mile per hour trailing wind rule."

Over the next two years he was winning races 

[Goanet] The Part-Time Glory Makers (Book Extract, Stars Next Door by Cyprian 'Skip' Fernandes)

[Goanet Reader]

The Part-Time Glory Makers

  What was it about the Kenyan coastal capital that
  produced the largest number of male and female
  track athletes, among them the greatest Goan
  athlete of all time: the 1962 Commonwealth Games
  double sprint gold medalist Seraphino Antao? There
  has never been a Goan or East African sprinter of
  his ilk again.

Was it the sea air, the fresh fish curry and rice (the Goan
national staple diet), an abundant array of fruit, fresh
young delicious coconuts that continue to live in the memory
of those who tasted them, was it the club: the Mombasa Goan
Institute, was it the girls and boys Goan schools, was it the
soft beach sands of Mombasa, or was it the genius of coach
Ray Batchelor that was responsible for as many as five or six
stunning male sprinters (Albert Castanha, Joe Faria, Jack
Fernandes, Antao, Pascal) which molded into the finest sprint
relay teams had ever seen and remained so for a long time,
three female sprinters, a couple of middle distance
specialists, a large number of soccer and hockey players
(four or five who played for Kenya), one of whom, Albert
Castanha, played international football and hockey for Kenya
and was on the verge of Olympic selection as a sprinter but
sadly fell short at the last moment? Was it the fact that
they all banded together and formed the wonderful Achilles
Athletics Club under Ray Batchelor and dragged each other
beyond the individual limits of achievement?

Or was it just the nature of the things? It was a time before
television and there was little or nothing of interest on the
radio but carrying on doing the leisure things that had won
their hearts as young school children was the natural thing
to do?

Again, what set Antao apart from his compatriots? Was it the
rivalry amongst them? Did they spur each other on?

Albert Castanha had dominated Antao and the others for many
years before Antao took off on his own towards gold medal
glory. Once he achieved his impossible dream, he was the
toast of the international track world. If only he had
dragged the other Goan sprinters with him, what a wonderful
world that might have been!

Similarly, what was it about the mild temperate climate in
Nairobi at an elevation of 5,889 feet above the sea level?
Was it the dust, from the murram fields the young players
practised on, the Dr Ribeiro Goan School which produced all
of the Goan Olympians born in Kenya and some from outside
Kenya or was school coach and teacher Anthony De Souza the
factor? Many will swear that it was really De Souza's
coaching skills, honed on his own experiences of playing for
the Lusitanians in Bombay and other parts of India that made
the difference. Others will say it was his caring and kind
but firm attitude coupled with his experience as a hockey
player at the top layer of the game that made the difference.
Whatever it was, it meant that at least a dozen or more
players were selected for and played in the Olympics Games.
Yet others represented Kenyan in internationals both at home
and away. Only three players from the coast were Olympians
and a few others were capped for Kenya.

Seraphino Antao

At school, he mainly played soccer like everyone else. Then
one day his cousin Effie Antao asked him to come and take
part in the annual East African Railways and Harbours
athletics carnival. Seraphino ran barefoot and easily won the
100 yards and the 200 yards. A future star was unearthed that
day.

That was in 1956 and within a few months he had equaled the
Kenya records for both sprints, a modest 10 seconds for the
100 yards. Much later he actually broke the world record for
the 200 yards but that was ruled out because of wind
assistance.

Later, in 1957, be broke the Kenya records for the sprints
and continued to improve upon them in the ensuing years.

He improved in the 100 yards to 9.7 and improved even more
after first tasting international competition in the 1958
Empire Games (a pre-cursor to the modern Commonwealth Games).

 At the Rome Olympics in 1960, he reached the
 semi-finals of the 100 metres and the second round
 of the 200 metres. In the first heats of the 100
 metres, he had easily beaten Armin Harry clocking
 10.5. However, Harry went on to win the semi-finals
 and the Gold Medal. Seraphino finished sixth in his
 semi-final but he was delighted with his
 performances in both sprints.

The American *Jet* magazine, in its edition of July, 12 1962,
reported: "African runner ties 100-yard dash record: During
an international track and field meeting in Dublin, Ireland,
Seraphino Antao of Kenya, East Africa, clocked a new world
record tying for the 100-yard dash time of 9.2 seconds to win
the event by more than eight yards over his nearest
competitor. However, the time will not be sanctioned because
of the nine mile per hour trailing wind rule."

Over the next two years he was winning races 

[Goanet-News] As highways expand in Goa, those facing eviction ask: 'Who is this development for?' (Pamela D'Mello, Scroll.in)

[Goanet Reader]

As highways expand in Goa, those facing eviction ask: 'Who is
this development for?'

Several homes and businesses
are threatened with demolition,
while forests in the Western
Ghats face the axe as part of
the expansion projects.

PHOTO: NH 17 highway has come
right up to houses in Cortalim
in South Goa. | Pamela D'Mello


Dec 24, 2017 · 09:00 am
Pamela D'Mello

On December 10, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar received
considerable media coverage when he rode a bicycle and urged
people to go green by shunning motorised transport, at an
event in suburban Porvorim, three kilometres from state
capital Panjim.

For Porvorim's residents, there was black mockery in the
event. Hectic expansion work on NH17 (renamed NH66), which
links Panvel in the North to Kanyakumari in the South, while
cutting through Goa, has cleaved the area in two. The highway
was already dangerous for pedestrians, and the work to expand
it, which started in 2016, has made it all the more difficult
for local residents to make the East-West crossing across the
highway on foot. Pedestrians and users of public transport
are often seen stranded on either side of the road, unable to
cross without risking their lives.

  Recently, residents of Porvorim, including those
  living in Goa's first journalists' colony, received
  land acquisition notices linked to the National
  Highway Authority of India's plans to expand a
  136-km stretch of NH17, from the North of Goa, near
  the border with Maharashtra, to the South, near the
  Karnataka border. This stretch includes Porvorim,
  where elevated corridors are proposed to be built.

Metres away from the colony, construction on the
controversial third bridge over the Mandovi river near Panjim
has been going on for the past two-and-a-half years. Another
bridge is also in the offing, with approach roads planned
through Porvorim. Its residents do not know what its
alignment will be.

"There is considerable turmoil in our colony and in
residential colonies here," said retired journalist Gurudas
Singbal. "Last month, the local legislator held a meeting and
assured us that our homes in Journalist Colony would be
spared. But none of the other residential colonies here know
what will happen. I told officials, if citizens are going to
be dehoused for development, then for whom is this
development? But they just laughed."

His sentiments are echoed all along the highway expansion
route, where several homes and businesses face demolition.

Goa's highways were once district and village roads built
around settlements before they were elevated as national and
state highways.

  "There are 800 lawful residences and businesses
  along the Porvorim main road [NH17] which will be
  affected by this proposal," said Dr Ravi Chodankar,
  who runs a hospital in Porvorim. "They are not even
  showing us the plan of what they are doing. This is
  supposed to be a democracy, not a dictatorship with
  a fake majority." Chodankar belongs to the National
  Highway 17 (Porvorim) Action Committee that is
  agitating on the matter.

Local residents allege that the hectic road works are being
executed for two reasons: first, to facilitate the transition
of Goa from sleepy coastal state to a busy coal hub; and
second, to protect the investments of politicians of all
hues, made in the northernmost taluka of Pernem, where a
greenfield airport is scheduled to come up.

Western Ghats the casualty
--

The infrastructure projects are being executed with financial
help from the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
Last year, its minister, Nitin Gadkari, announced that Rs
15,000 crores would be spent on highway works in the coastal
state by 2018.

In addition to NH17, national highway NH4A (renamed NH748) is
also being expanded frenetically. It covers a 70-odd km
stretch from Panjim in the West to Mollem to the East, on the
Karnataka border.

Expansion work on both these highways has been revved up in
recent months.

According to the detailed project report for the NH17
project, the existing two-lane highway is being expanded to a
four, six and eight-lane high-speed express corridor, with
two-way service roads on either side. It is expected to
affect 43 of Goa's 186 villages, require 200 hectares of land
acquisition, and impact 527 structures. The report admits
that this will have a major social impact.

NH4A is being widened to four lanes from two. It passes
through 22 villages, requires 89 hectares of land
acquisition, and will impact 377 structures, according to its
detailed project report.

Goa's lush Western Ghats forest cover is expected to be a
major casualty of this expansion. Large tracts of thick
forests are expected to be cut especially in the national
park and sanctuary areas in eastern Goa.

The state's Public Works Department has already sought
permissions 

[Goanet] As highways expand in Goa, those facing eviction ask: 'Who is this development for?' (Pamela D'Mello, Scroll.in)

[Goanet Reader]

As highways expand in Goa, those facing eviction ask: 'Who is
this development for?'

Several homes and businesses
are threatened with demolition,
while forests in the Western
Ghats face the axe as part of
the expansion projects.

PHOTO: NH 17 highway has come
right up to houses in Cortalim
in South Goa. | Pamela D'Mello


Dec 24, 2017 · 09:00 am
Pamela D'Mello

On December 10, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar received
considerable media coverage when he rode a bicycle and urged
people to go green by shunning motorised transport, at an
event in suburban Porvorim, three kilometres from state
capital Panjim.

For Porvorim's residents, there was black mockery in the
event. Hectic expansion work on NH17 (renamed NH66), which
links Panvel in the North to Kanyakumari in the South, while
cutting through Goa, has cleaved the area in two. The highway
was already dangerous for pedestrians, and the work to expand
it, which started in 2016, has made it all the more difficult
for local residents to make the East-West crossing across the
highway on foot. Pedestrians and users of public transport
are often seen stranded on either side of the road, unable to
cross without risking their lives.

  Recently, residents of Porvorim, including those
  living in Goa's first journalists' colony, received
  land acquisition notices linked to the National
  Highway Authority of India's plans to expand a
  136-km stretch of NH17, from the North of Goa, near
  the border with Maharashtra, to the South, near the
  Karnataka border. This stretch includes Porvorim,
  where elevated corridors are proposed to be built.

Metres away from the colony, construction on the
controversial third bridge over the Mandovi river near Panjim
has been going on for the past two-and-a-half years. Another
bridge is also in the offing, with approach roads planned
through Porvorim. Its residents do not know what its
alignment will be.

"There is considerable turmoil in our colony and in
residential colonies here," said retired journalist Gurudas
Singbal. "Last month, the local legislator held a meeting and
assured us that our homes in Journalist Colony would be
spared. But none of the other residential colonies here know
what will happen. I told officials, if citizens are going to
be dehoused for development, then for whom is this
development? But they just laughed."

His sentiments are echoed all along the highway expansion
route, where several homes and businesses face demolition.

Goa's highways were once district and village roads built
around settlements before they were elevated as national and
state highways.

  "There are 800 lawful residences and businesses
  along the Porvorim main road [NH17] which will be
  affected by this proposal," said Dr Ravi Chodankar,
  who runs a hospital in Porvorim. "They are not even
  showing us the plan of what they are doing. This is
  supposed to be a democracy, not a dictatorship with
  a fake majority." Chodankar belongs to the National
  Highway 17 (Porvorim) Action Committee that is
  agitating on the matter.

Local residents allege that the hectic road works are being
executed for two reasons: first, to facilitate the transition
of Goa from sleepy coastal state to a busy coal hub; and
second, to protect the investments of politicians of all
hues, made in the northernmost taluka of Pernem, where a
greenfield airport is scheduled to come up.

Western Ghats the casualty
--

The infrastructure projects are being executed with financial
help from the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
Last year, its minister, Nitin Gadkari, announced that Rs
15,000 crores would be spent on highway works in the coastal
state by 2018.

In addition to NH17, national highway NH4A (renamed NH748) is
also being expanded frenetically. It covers a 70-odd km
stretch from Panjim in the West to Mollem to the East, on the
Karnataka border.

Expansion work on both these highways has been revved up in
recent months.

According to the detailed project report for the NH17
project, the existing two-lane highway is being expanded to a
four, six and eight-lane high-speed express corridor, with
two-way service roads on either side. It is expected to
affect 43 of Goa's 186 villages, require 200 hectares of land
acquisition, and impact 527 structures. The report admits
that this will have a major social impact.

NH4A is being widened to four lanes from two. It passes
through 22 villages, requires 89 hectares of land
acquisition, and will impact 377 structures, according to its
detailed project report.

Goa's lush Western Ghats forest cover is expected to be a
major casualty of this expansion. Large tracts of thick
forests are expected to be cut especially in the national
park and sanctuary areas in eastern Goa.

The state's Public Works Department has already sought
permissions 

[Goanet-News] The 225th anniversary of a Pune church is a reminder of a forgotten Portugese-Peshwa connection (Deborah D'Souza, Scroll.in)

[Goanet Reader]

The 225th anniversary of a Pune church is a reminder of a
forgotten Portuguese-Peshwa connection

As Our Lady of Immaculate
Conception turns 225, the focus
shifts to modern-day tussles
between church and state. The
225th anniversary of a Pune
church is a reminder of a
forgotten Portugese-Peshwa
connection The Peshwa of the
Maratha Empire in his durbar,
1805. | Thomas
Daniell/Wikimedia Commons
[Public Domain]

Deborah D'Souza

You could say the reason Pune's oldest Catholic church exists
is war.

At the close of the 18th century, Peshwa Madhavrao II, the de
facto leader of the Maratha Empire, wanted Catholic soldiers
from Goa enlisted in his army to have a place to worship in
his capital. Historical records say Madhavrao donated four
acres of land towards this purpose in 1792, marking the birth
of the Catholic Church in Pune.

Pune's Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Church, also known
as City Church, stands today on that same piece of land in
the crowded Nana Peth area, tucked snugly between narrow
lanes. Its 225th anniversary was celebrated by the Catholic
community in early December. Peshwa descendants – Vinayakrao
Peshwa and his nephew Mahendra Peshwa – were felicitated
during the mass, which saw priests, two bishops of Pune and
the Archbishop of Goa at the altar. The gothic structure,
which was erected in 1852 in the place of the original mud
and mortar building, was cloaked in lights and its spires
resembled giant lit candles.

City Church, Pune. Photo
credit: Amandeshmukh/Wikimedia
Commons [CC Attribution-Share
Alike 3.0 Unported licence]

Savio Ambrose, a parishioner for the last 40 years, called
the honouring of the Peshwa descendants "a great gesture" by
the parish priest, Father Salvador Pinto. Ambrose, who was
responsible for placing banners along the route of the
procession on that day, said, "The church has been a very
important part of my life and of most parishioners." He added
that although many Catholics from the area moved away in the
last few decades, mostly in and around Fatima Nagar, they
still return to City Church for feast masses and Christmas.

Cheryl Martyres, a parishioner of the church since she was
baptised there 21 years ago, sang in the choir on December 8
and also applauded the Peshwas. "It is because of them we
have this beautiful church which has brought so many people
together," she said.

Forgotten histories

  Few know of Portuguese contributions to Peshwa
  might. By 1788, according to PS Pissurlencar's
  Portuguese Mahratta Relations, there were about 100
  Portuguese and over 200 Goan Catholic soldiers
  enlisted in the Peshwa army. They were recruited
  for their knowledge of artillery, something the
  Marathas had failed to master, and gunners in the
  army were handsomely rewarded in comparison to
  other soldiers. "In the seventeenth century, every
  European in India was supposed to be an artillery
  expert," writes Romesh C Butalia in The Evolution
  of the Artillery in India. Dom Noronha, a prominent
  Portuguese officer born in Goa, is said to have
  been behind Madhavrao's gift.

 Peshwa Madhavrao II. Image credit: James Wales/Wikimedia
Commons [Licensed under CC BY Public Domain Mark 1.0]
Peshwa Madhavrao II. Image credit: James Wales/Wikimedia
Commons [Licensed under CC BY Public Domain Mark 1.0]
This history, however, throws into sharp relief how tricky
land dealings have been for the Catholic Church in modern
India. A priest who worked on property matters of the diocese
in Pune for years said the process of seeking permission to
construct a church or registering a building as one involves
nearly two years of paperwork, at the end of which,
hopefully, approval is granted by the Maharashtra Home
Ministry no less. He says the authorities use this time to
verify, among other things, if the institution would be a
source of noise pollution in the area, if there is sufficient
space for parking and if the construction complies with fire
safety regulations.

"We just don't receive permission," insisted Pune's Bishop
Thomas Dabre in an interview, adding that the authorities
fail to understand what "true secularism" is. He made it
clear that this is not unique to the current government, and
that this resistance was faced during the tenure of the
earlier regimes as well. The biggest piece of evidence in
support of this claim is that, historically, some of the red
tape is avoided if the building holding the holy sacrament is
a prayer hall and a school or if other social and educational
facilities are present on the premises.

Uphill battles

  "Your votes do not count," said the priest who
  worked on property matters. According to him,
  people belonging to the Catholic community make up
  such a small portion of the electorate that the
  church's causes draw very little support from
  political players, 

[Goanet] The 225th anniversary of a Pune church is a reminder of a forgotten Portugese-Peshwa connection (Deborah D'Souza, Scroll.in)

[Goanet Reader]

The 225th anniversary of a Pune church is a reminder of a
forgotten Portuguese-Peshwa connection

As Our Lady of Immaculate
Conception turns 225, the focus
shifts to modern-day tussles
between church and state. The
225th anniversary of a Pune
church is a reminder of a
forgotten Portugese-Peshwa
connection The Peshwa of the
Maratha Empire in his durbar,
1805. | Thomas
Daniell/Wikimedia Commons
[Public Domain]

Deborah D'Souza

You could say the reason Pune's oldest Catholic church exists
is war.

At the close of the 18th century, Peshwa Madhavrao II, the de
facto leader of the Maratha Empire, wanted Catholic soldiers
from Goa enlisted in his army to have a place to worship in
his capital. Historical records say Madhavrao donated four
acres of land towards this purpose in 1792, marking the birth
of the Catholic Church in Pune.

Pune's Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Church, also known
as City Church, stands today on that same piece of land in
the crowded Nana Peth area, tucked snugly between narrow
lanes. Its 225th anniversary was celebrated by the Catholic
community in early December. Peshwa descendants – Vinayakrao
Peshwa and his nephew Mahendra Peshwa – were felicitated
during the mass, which saw priests, two bishops of Pune and
the Archbishop of Goa at the altar. The gothic structure,
which was erected in 1852 in the place of the original mud
and mortar building, was cloaked in lights and its spires
resembled giant lit candles.

City Church, Pune. Photo
credit: Amandeshmukh/Wikimedia
Commons [CC Attribution-Share
Alike 3.0 Unported licence]

Savio Ambrose, a parishioner for the last 40 years, called
the honouring of the Peshwa descendants "a great gesture" by
the parish priest, Father Salvador Pinto. Ambrose, who was
responsible for placing banners along the route of the
procession on that day, said, "The church has been a very
important part of my life and of most parishioners." He added
that although many Catholics from the area moved away in the
last few decades, mostly in and around Fatima Nagar, they
still return to City Church for feast masses and Christmas.

Cheryl Martyres, a parishioner of the church since she was
baptised there 21 years ago, sang in the choir on December 8
and also applauded the Peshwas. "It is because of them we
have this beautiful church which has brought so many people
together," she said.

Forgotten histories

  Few know of Portuguese contributions to Peshwa
  might. By 1788, according to PS Pissurlencar's
  Portuguese Mahratta Relations, there were about 100
  Portuguese and over 200 Goan Catholic soldiers
  enlisted in the Peshwa army. They were recruited
  for their knowledge of artillery, something the
  Marathas had failed to master, and gunners in the
  army were handsomely rewarded in comparison to
  other soldiers. "In the seventeenth century, every
  European in India was supposed to be an artillery
  expert," writes Romesh C Butalia in The Evolution
  of the Artillery in India. Dom Noronha, a prominent
  Portuguese officer born in Goa, is said to have
  been behind Madhavrao's gift.

 Peshwa Madhavrao II. Image credit: James Wales/Wikimedia
Commons [Licensed under CC BY Public Domain Mark 1.0]
Peshwa Madhavrao II. Image credit: James Wales/Wikimedia
Commons [Licensed under CC BY Public Domain Mark 1.0]
This history, however, throws into sharp relief how tricky
land dealings have been for the Catholic Church in modern
India. A priest who worked on property matters of the diocese
in Pune for years said the process of seeking permission to
construct a church or registering a building as one involves
nearly two years of paperwork, at the end of which,
hopefully, approval is granted by the Maharashtra Home
Ministry no less. He says the authorities use this time to
verify, among other things, if the institution would be a
source of noise pollution in the area, if there is sufficient
space for parking and if the construction complies with fire
safety regulations.

"We just don't receive permission," insisted Pune's Bishop
Thomas Dabre in an interview, adding that the authorities
fail to understand what "true secularism" is. He made it
clear that this is not unique to the current government, and
that this resistance was faced during the tenure of the
earlier regimes as well. The biggest piece of evidence in
support of this claim is that, historically, some of the red
tape is avoided if the building holding the holy sacrament is
a prayer hall and a school or if other social and educational
facilities are present on the premises.

Uphill battles

  "Your votes do not count," said the priest who
  worked on property matters. According to him,
  people belonging to the Catholic community make up
  such a small portion of the electorate that the
  church's causes draw very little support from
  political players, 

[Goanet-News] Moving to the UK -- a land we had only heard of (Mervyn Maciel, special to Goanet Reader)

[Goanet Reader]

MOVING TO THE U.K. -- A LAND WE HAD ONLY HEARD OF

Mervyn Maciel
mervynels.watuwasha...@gmail.com

Did I ever think of leaving Kenya, the land of my birth?

Never!

Did I ever feel my job would soon be Africanised?

Not really. I knew that I would one day have to go, but never
thought the end would come so soon. Many of my African
colleagues and even my own immediate boss had felt that my
services would be required for a long time.

  How shocked I was when a work colleague who had
  travelled to the Kenyan national capital of Nairobi
  on duty, found out that among some of the executive
  posts that were to be Africanised, mine was one of
  them. I just couldn't believe this when he relayed
  the news to me in a phone call. My immediate boss
  had not heard of it either and was equally
  surprised.

But then, I had to remind myself that I was serving under an
African government and not the colonial government I once
served. Politicians had promised the Kenyanisation of the
civil service -- but now, the clamour for Africanisation as
opposed to Kenyanisation had become louder. We had to think
fast. Recounting out experiences during that terrible bloody
revolution in Zanzibar, we felt we had to leave this
beautiful country we loved so much and move to the United
Kingdom -- a land we had only heard of.

Some friends had described it as the land of milk and honey.
We had no friends there apart from my cousin Jock Sequeira
and his family who had moved there a year earlier after his
own post as Education Officer was due to be Africanised.

In addition to a very modest compensation package we, the
'Forgotten Men' were given -- modest in comparison with the
over-generous package our European colleagues got -- I was
also given six months notice on full pay. So there was ample
time to look for a job once we got to the U.K.

It was sad to leave a country and people we loved so much.
There was much heart-ache when we finally left Nairobi for
London en route Entebbe. It was sad to part from our old
faithful cook (Magama Nyangechi) who always told me that I
would be in my job forever!! We promised we would keep in
touch.

Our reception at Heathrow airport in London was very
friendly, with one of the airport officials welcoming us with
open arms.

It was the summer of 1966 and the climate seemed no different
from that of Kenya when we arrived in England. I wondered
about all those 'scare stories' we'd heard from friends about
the English weather. Little did I just then realize then that
there was worse to come in the months ahead!

For a few months, we were the guests of my dear cousin Jock
and his family at their Latimer Road home in Wimbledon. How
they agreed to accommodate six of us (Elsie, sons Clyde and
Andrew, and very young daughters Josey and Pollyanna, who was
a mere babe in arms then), when they had a large family of
their own, I shall never know. But we all remain ever
grateful for their hospitality.

  I had six months leave on full pay and didn't feel
  the need to look for a job immediately. I was
  taking life a trifle too easy, thinking that, like
  in Kenya, houses were easy to come by. Mortgages
  and visits to the bank manger were alien animals to
  me. I thought it would all be plain sailing.

How wrong I was.

After staying in a guest house in Wimbledon for a few weeks,
through the sheer encouragement of another cousin (Rita nee
Sequeira), I finally made the effort to get off my backside
and start looking for somewhere to live. We went to several
estate agents, building societies, liked a house and lost it
since someone had ready cash had paid for it and moved in
sooner.

I had to go through the building society, obtain a mortgage
(the very word was Greek to me!) and so on. To cut a long
story short, we, finally, after seeing and losing two lovely
properties we liked, moved into our present residence in
Sutton, Surrey. Since this was a small terraced house in
comparison to the spacious government-provided bungalow I was
given in Kenya, we decided to call our home 'manyatta' (a
little hut, and that's what it is!). Despite its size though,
we have entertained many guests from various nationalities
over the years.

  Jobs in those days were easy to come by and I had
  no difficulty finding one. The only irritation I
  felt was when officials at he job centre asked me,
  what I can only describe as a stupid question: "Do
  you have any London experience?".

How on earth did they expect one who has just arrived in the
country to have London experience? Didn't take the first job
I was offered since a friend (Tilak Castellino) suggested
that I take a job at the firm he had just moved from and
where my salary would be higher than what I had been offered
earlier.

My first impressions of the English office worker were not
impressive. Whereas I found I could 

[Goanet] Moving to the UK -- a land we had only heard of (Mervyn Maciel, special to Goanet Reader)

[Goanet Reader]

MOVING TO THE U.K. -- A LAND WE HAD ONLY HEARD OF

Mervyn Maciel
mervynels.watuwasha...@gmail.com

Did I ever think of leaving Kenya, the land of my birth?

Never!

Did I ever feel my job would soon be Africanised?

Not really. I knew that I would one day have to go, but never
thought the end would come so soon. Many of my African
colleagues and even my own immediate boss had felt that my
services would be required for a long time.

  How shocked I was when a work colleague who had
  travelled to the Kenyan national capital of Nairobi
  on duty, found out that among some of the executive
  posts that were to be Africanised, mine was one of
  them. I just couldn't believe this when he relayed
  the news to me in a phone call. My immediate boss
  had not heard of it either and was equally
  surprised.

But then, I had to remind myself that I was serving under an
African government and not the colonial government I once
served. Politicians had promised the Kenyanisation of the
civil service -- but now, the clamour for Africanisation as
opposed to Kenyanisation had become louder. We had to think
fast. Recounting out experiences during that terrible bloody
revolution in Zanzibar, we felt we had to leave this
beautiful country we loved so much and move to the United
Kingdom -- a land we had only heard of.

Some friends had described it as the land of milk and honey.
We had no friends there apart from my cousin Jock Sequeira
and his family who had moved there a year earlier after his
own post as Education Officer was due to be Africanised.

In addition to a very modest compensation package we, the
'Forgotten Men' were given -- modest in comparison with the
over-generous package our European colleagues got -- I was
also given six months notice on full pay. So there was ample
time to look for a job once we got to the U.K.

It was sad to leave a country and people we loved so much.
There was much heart-ache when we finally left Nairobi for
London en route Entebbe. It was sad to part from our old
faithful cook (Magama Nyangechi) who always told me that I
would be in my job forever!! We promised we would keep in
touch.

Our reception at Heathrow airport in London was very
friendly, with one of the airport officials welcoming us with
open arms.

It was the summer of 1966 and the climate seemed no different
from that of Kenya when we arrived in England. I wondered
about all those 'scare stories' we'd heard from friends about
the English weather. Little did I just then realize then that
there was worse to come in the months ahead!

For a few months, we were the guests of my dear cousin Jock
and his family at their Latimer Road home in Wimbledon. How
they agreed to accommodate six of us (Elsie, sons Clyde and
Andrew, and very young daughters Josey and Pollyanna, who was
a mere babe in arms then), when they had a large family of
their own, I shall never know. But we all remain ever
grateful for their hospitality.

  I had six months leave on full pay and didn't feel
  the need to look for a job immediately. I was
  taking life a trifle too easy, thinking that, like
  in Kenya, houses were easy to come by. Mortgages
  and visits to the bank manger were alien animals to
  me. I thought it would all be plain sailing.

How wrong I was.

After staying in a guest house in Wimbledon for a few weeks,
through the sheer encouragement of another cousin (Rita nee
Sequeira), I finally made the effort to get off my backside
and start looking for somewhere to live. We went to several
estate agents, building societies, liked a house and lost it
since someone had ready cash had paid for it and moved in
sooner.

I had to go through the building society, obtain a mortgage
(the very word was Greek to me!) and so on. To cut a long
story short, we, finally, after seeing and losing two lovely
properties we liked, moved into our present residence in
Sutton, Surrey. Since this was a small terraced house in
comparison to the spacious government-provided bungalow I was
given in Kenya, we decided to call our home 'manyatta' (a
little hut, and that's what it is!). Despite its size though,
we have entertained many guests from various nationalities
over the years.

  Jobs in those days were easy to come by and I had
  no difficulty finding one. The only irritation I
  felt was when officials at he job centre asked me,
  what I can only describe as a stupid question: "Do
  you have any London experience?".

How on earth did they expect one who has just arrived in the
country to have London experience? Didn't take the first job
I was offered since a friend (Tilak Castellino) suggested
that I take a job at the firm he had just moved from and
where my salary would be higher than what I had been offered
earlier.

My first impressions of the English office worker were not
impressive. Whereas I found I could 

[Goanet] How Political Patronage Has Kept the Sanatan Sanstha Afloat in Goa

[Goanet Reader]

How Political Patronage Has Kept the Sanatan Sanstha Afloat in Goa

BY DEVIKA SEQUEIRA
devikaseque...@gmail.com

Starting out as just a fringe
irritant, the shadowy
organisation has been
emboldened by the Goa
government's support

PHOTO: The headquarters of the Sanatan Sanstha in Ponda.
Credit: Sneha Vakharia


Panaji: With the needle of forensic findings now pointing to
a clear link between the killers of journalist Gauri Lankesh,
Kannada scholar M.M. Kalburgi and communist leader Govind
Pansare of Kolhapur, the spotlight is once again on the
shadowy Goa-based Sanatan Sanstha.

Almost two decades after the hardline Hindutva organisation
parked itself in Goa -- it was registered by a trust deed in
the state in March 1999 (a copy of the deed is with The Wire)
-- very little is known of what goes on inside the Sanatan
Sanstha's 'ashram' in Ramnathi, Ponda, or who actually calls
the shots there, as its reclusive founder, Jayant Balaji
Athavale, a Mumbai based hypnotherapist who turned 75 this
year, stopped making public appearances at the ashram since 2004.

  It isn't clear if it was Athavale's wife's Goa
  links, or the fact that he received a warm embrace
  from saffron-leaning politicians in Goa, that
  prompted the shift of the Sanatan headquarters from
  Panvel in Maharashtra, to Ponda in Goa.

But Ramnathi, in Bandora village, Ponda taluka, would have
seemed the natural choice. As home to a cluster of some of
the biggest and best known temples in Goa, Ponda is both a
religious and cultural hub.

The taluka is also the political base of the controversial
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) politicians Sudin and
Deepak Dhavlikar, who are the Sanatan's biggest benefactors
and supporters in Goa. Both the Dhavlikar brothers' wives,
Jyoti and Lata, are sadhaks at the Sanatan, something they
propagate quite openly. The Dhavlikars have said their wives
are Sanatan members to "help promote our Hindu dharma and culture".

Lata Dhavlikar, whose husband was a minister in the Goa
government till he lost the election earlier this year, waded
into a controversy two years ago when she publicly asked
parents to stop sending their children to convent schools,
and pronounced rape was on the rise in the country because
Indian women were becoming more and more westernised.

A politician with the ability to cling to power even though
the MGP has not won more than three seats in each of the last
four elections in Goa, Sudin Dhavlikar is currently a
minister in the BJP-led coalition government and holds the
lucrative portfolios of PWD and transport, among others.

  Why did they support an organisation suspected in
  the killings of three rationalists, I asked Deepak
  Dhavlikar before the election in February this
  year. He was enraged by the question. "Why are you
  studying this so deeply? If some members are
  involved, does it mean all Hindus are guilty?" was
  his reply, before he slammed the phone down.

But shouldn't the presence of two Goa ministers -- both
Dhavlikar brothers and their families attended prayer
functions in the Sanatan ashram last year -- in the premises
of an organisation linked to the murders of at least three
people who were outspoken in their criticism of intolerance
in the country, raise questions in Goa?

  The Sanatan's move to Goa and its furtive
  functioning was viewed with both suspicion and open
  hostility in Bandora village, long before its
  violent intent came out into the open in the Margao
  bomb blast that killed two of its sadhaks, Malgonda
  Patil and Yogesh Naik in October 2009. There were
  complaints and cross-complaints in local police
  stations, and the right-wing group even moved the
  courts in 2004, claiming it was being defamed by
  some locals. The defamation case was dismissed by
  the high court in 2007.

But it was in 2012, after the BJP won a majority on its own
in Goa in the election that year -- propelling Manohar
Parrikar to the chief minister's post again -- that the
Sanatan Sanstha and its offshoot, the Hindu Janajagruti
Samiti (HJS), became all the more publicly and visually
assertive. The Sanatan and HJS went into overdrive to put
together the first All Indian Hindu Convention "for
establishment of Hindu Rashtra". The convention took place at
Ramnathi in June of that year, and the right-wing
organisation crowed that not for 125 years had such a large
gathering of pro-Hindu groups taken place.

The second Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Adhiveshan in June 2013 saw
Narendra Modi, who was then still Gujarat's chief minister,
sending a message of greetings to the organisers. The event
is still held every year. In March 2017, a reporter reported
about the convention for The Wire.

  PHOTO: Narendra Modi’s message to the Second All
  India Hindu Convention, 29013.

How much 

[Goanet] How Political Patronage Has Kept the Sanatan Sanstha Afloat in Goa (Devika Sequeira, The Wire)

[Goanet Reader]

How Political Patronage Has Kept the Sanatan Sanstha Afloat in Goa

BY DEVIKA SEQUEIRA
devikaseque...@gmail.com

Starting out as just a fringe
irritant, the shadowy
organisation has been
emboldened by the Goa
government's support

PHOTO: The headquarters of the Sanatan Sanstha in Ponda.
Credit: Sneha Vakharia


Panaji: With the needle of forensic findings now pointing to
a clear link between the killers of journalist Gauri Lankesh,
Kannada scholar M.M. Kalburgi and communist leader Govind
Pansare of Kolhapur, the spotlight is once again on the
shadowy Goa-based Sanatan Sanstha.

Almost two decades after the hardline Hindutva organisation
parked itself in Goa -- it was registered by a trust deed in
the state in March 1999 (a copy of the deed is with The Wire)
-- very little is known of what goes on inside the Sanatan
Sanstha's 'ashram' in Ramnathi, Ponda, or who actually calls
the shots there, as its reclusive founder, Jayant Balaji
Athavale, a Mumbai based hypnotherapist who turned 75 this
year, stopped making public appearances at the ashram since 2004.

  It isn't clear if it was Athavale's wife's Goa
  links, or the fact that he received a warm embrace
  from saffron-leaning politicians in Goa, that
  prompted the shift of the Sanatan headquarters from
  Panvel in Maharashtra, to Ponda in Goa.

But Ramnathi, in Bandora village, Ponda taluka, would have
seemed the natural choice. As home to a cluster of some of
the biggest and best known temples in Goa, Ponda is both a
religious and cultural hub.

The taluka is also the political base of the controversial
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) politicians Sudin and
Deepak Dhavlikar, who are the Sanatan's biggest benefactors
and supporters in Goa. Both the Dhavlikar brothers' wives,
Jyoti and Lata, are sadhaks at the Sanatan, something they
propagate quite openly. The Dhavlikars have said their wives
are Sanatan members to "help promote our Hindu dharma and culture".

Lata Dhavlikar, whose husband was a minister in the Goa
government till he lost the election earlier this year, waded
into a controversy two years ago when she publicly asked
parents to stop sending their children to convent schools,
and pronounced rape was on the rise in the country because
Indian women were becoming more and more westernised.

A politician with the ability to cling to power even though
the MGP has not won more than three seats in each of the last
four elections in Goa, Sudin Dhavlikar is currently a
minister in the BJP-led coalition government and holds the
lucrative portfolios of PWD and transport, among others.

  Why did they support an organisation suspected in
  the killings of three rationalists, I asked Deepak
  Dhavlikar before the election in February this
  year. He was enraged by the question. "Why are you
  studying this so deeply? If some members are
  involved, does it mean all Hindus are guilty?" was
  his reply, before he slammed the phone down.

But shouldn't the presence of two Goa ministers -- both
Dhavlikar brothers and their families attended prayer
functions in the Sanatan ashram last year -- in the premises
of an organisation linked to the murders of at least three
people who were outspoken in their criticism of intolerance
in the country, raise questions in Goa?

  The Sanatan's move to Goa and its furtive
  functioning was viewed with both suspicion and open
  hostility in Bandora village, long before its
  violent intent came out into the open in the Margao
  bomb blast that killed two of its sadhaks, Malgonda
  Patil and Yogesh Naik in October 2009. There were
  complaints and cross-complaints in local police
  stations, and the right-wing group even moved the
  courts in 2004, claiming it was being defamed by
  some locals. The defamation case was dismissed by
  the high court in 2007.

But it was in 2012, after the BJP won a majority on its own
in Goa in the election that year -- propelling Manohar
Parrikar to the chief minister's post again -- that the
Sanatan Sanstha and its offshoot, the Hindu Janajagruti
Samiti (HJS), became all the more publicly and visually
assertive. The Sanatan and HJS went into overdrive to put
together the first All Indian Hindu Convention "for
establishment of Hindu Rashtra". The convention took place at
Ramnathi in June of that year, and the right-wing
organisation crowed that not for 125 years had such a large
gathering of pro-Hindu groups taken place.

The second Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Adhiveshan in June 2013 saw
Narendra Modi, who was then still Gujarat's chief minister,
sending a message of greetings to the organisers. The event
is still held every year. In March 2017, a reporter reported
about the convention for The Wire.

  PHOTO: Narendra Modi’s message to the Second All
  India Hindu Convention, 29013.

How much 

[Goanet-News] How Political Patronage Has Kept the Sanatan Sanstha Afloat in Goa (Devika Sequeira, The Wire)

[Goanet Reader]

How Political Patronage Has Kept the Sanatan Sanstha Afloat in Goa

BY DEVIKA SEQUEIRA
devikaseque...@gmail.com

Starting out as just a fringe
irritant, the shadowy
organisation has been
emboldened by the Goa
government's support

PHOTO: The headquarters of the Sanatan Sanstha in Ponda.
Credit: Sneha Vakharia


Panaji: With the needle of forensic findings now pointing to
a clear link between the killers of journalist Gauri Lankesh,
Kannada scholar M.M. Kalburgi and communist leader Govind
Pansare of Kolhapur, the spotlight is once again on the
shadowy Goa-based Sanatan Sanstha.

Almost two decades after the hardline Hindutva organisation
parked itself in Goa -- it was registered by a trust deed in
the state in March 1999 (a copy of the deed is with The Wire)
-- very little is known of what goes on inside the Sanatan
Sanstha's 'ashram' in Ramnathi, Ponda, or who actually calls
the shots there, as its reclusive founder, Jayant Balaji
Athavale, a Mumbai based hypnotherapist who turned 75 this
year, stopped making public appearances at the ashram since 2004.

  It isn't clear if it was Athavale's wife's Goa
  links, or the fact that he received a warm embrace
  from saffron-leaning politicians in Goa, that
  prompted the shift of the Sanatan headquarters from
  Panvel in Maharashtra, to Ponda in Goa.

But Ramnathi, in Bandora village, Ponda taluka, would have
seemed the natural choice. As home to a cluster of some of
the biggest and best known temples in Goa, Ponda is both a
religious and cultural hub.

The taluka is also the political base of the controversial
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) politicians Sudin and
Deepak Dhavlikar, who are the Sanatan's biggest benefactors
and supporters in Goa. Both the Dhavlikar brothers' wives,
Jyoti and Lata, are sadhaks at the Sanatan, something they
propagate quite openly. The Dhavlikars have said their wives
are Sanatan members to "help promote our Hindu dharma and culture".

Lata Dhavlikar, whose husband was a minister in the Goa
government till he lost the election earlier this year, waded
into a controversy two years ago when she publicly asked
parents to stop sending their children to convent schools,
and pronounced rape was on the rise in the country because
Indian women were becoming more and more westernised.

A politician with the ability to cling to power even though
the MGP has not won more than three seats in each of the last
four elections in Goa, Sudin Dhavlikar is currently a
minister in the BJP-led coalition government and holds the
lucrative portfolios of PWD and transport, among others.

  Why did they support an organisation suspected in
  the killings of three rationalists, I asked Deepak
  Dhavlikar before the election in February this
  year. He was enraged by the question. "Why are you
  studying this so deeply? If some members are
  involved, does it mean all Hindus are guilty?" was
  his reply, before he slammed the phone down.

But shouldn't the presence of two Goa ministers -- both
Dhavlikar brothers and their families attended prayer
functions in the Sanatan ashram last year -- in the premises
of an organisation linked to the murders of at least three
people who were outspoken in their criticism of intolerance
in the country, raise questions in Goa?

  The Sanatan's move to Goa and its furtive
  functioning was viewed with both suspicion and open
  hostility in Bandora village, long before its
  violent intent came out into the open in the Margao
  bomb blast that killed two of its sadhaks, Malgonda
  Patil and Yogesh Naik in October 2009. There were
  complaints and cross-complaints in local police
  stations, and the right-wing group even moved the
  courts in 2004, claiming it was being defamed by
  some locals. The defamation case was dismissed by
  the high court in 2007.

But it was in 2012, after the BJP won a majority on its own
in Goa in the election that year -- propelling Manohar
Parrikar to the chief minister's post again -- that the
Sanatan Sanstha and its offshoot, the Hindu Janajagruti
Samiti (HJS), became all the more publicly and visually
assertive. The Sanatan and HJS went into overdrive to put
together the first All Indian Hindu Convention "for
establishment of Hindu Rashtra". The convention took place at
Ramnathi in June of that year, and the right-wing
organisation crowed that not for 125 years had such a large
gathering of pro-Hindu groups taken place.

The second Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Adhiveshan in June 2013 saw
Narendra Modi, who was then still Gujarat's chief minister,
sending a message of greetings to the organisers. The event
is still held every year. In March 2017, a reporter reported
about the convention for The Wire.

  PHOTO: Narendra Modi’s message to the Second All
  India Hindu Convention, 29013.

How much 

[Goanet-News] Panjim Bye Election Will Decide the Future of Indian Democracy (Dr. F.E. Noronha)

[Goanet Reader]

Panjim Bye Election Will Decide the Future of Indian Democracy

This article was published in
Renewal/Novsornni/Renovacao,
the fortnightly pastoral
bulletin of the Archdiocese of
Goa and Daman, in Vol. LV, No
16, of August 16-31, 2017. Its
author is part of the editorial
board, and the article has
drawn attention in the
mainstream media and social
media. Renewal notes: "The
opinions expressed in this
bulletin are not necessarily
the opinions of the editor."

Dr FE Noronha

The issue in India today is no longer Corruption. Not even
Secularism. It is Freedom, pure and simple.

There are rare occasions when a single by-election can have
ntionwide repercussion: such is the one on 23rd August 2017.
If the present Goa Government formed by dubious methods goes,
it will be a watershed in the downslide of our country's
democracy. It is the moral responsibility of Panjimites to
stem the tidy.

  Different elections call for different attitudes.
  There are times when we have to look at the
  candidates, their character and capacity; there are
  times when we have to look at the parties; there
  are times when we have to look at the development
  of the constitutency; and there are times indeed
  when people merely look at their immediate issues
  like local leaders who tell us for whom to vote and
  worse still when petty social considerations prompt
  the voting. But there are rare occasions -- and
  23rd August is one -- when the future of a State
  and the whole nation depends on a single election.

In 2012, everyone thought in terms of having a
corruption-free Goa; this thinking continued till 2014 but
from then and increasingly everyday what we are witnessing
in India is nothing but a constitutional holocaust.

Corruption is very bad, communalism is worse, but Nazism is
worse than both. Anybody who reads William Shirer's *The Rise
and Fall of the Third Reich* or Allan Bullocks *A Study in
Tyranny* or Hitler's own *Mein Kampf* will find an
extraordinary identity between the growth and rampage of
Nazism in Germany in 1933 onwards and India in 2014 onwards.

You talk or take a stand against the Government and you have
the Income Tax, CBI, ACB, ED knocking on your door at
midnight. You are also likely to have a big mob of people
claiming to be honest patriots and tender lovers of animals
and knives and sticks in their hands. TV anchors disappear
from the screens. TV owners themselves or very vocal
political opponents are found to be corrupt and events are
dug out which took place 10 or 20 years back. Editors are
sacked.

On the other hand, lest anybody things that the other side is
honest: no, of course it is not. But nobody touches them. A
person is lynched and the case if filed against the surviving
family members not against the murderers. The extent of abuse
and oppression is matter for full books. Strangely,
documentaries are made of events of 42 years back when much
worse horrors are going on right in your face. The country is
being ruled by one or two men, and the rest are mere henchmen
and running dogs. Please don't vote for a person who is a
mere subaltern of such individuals. We should not vote for
people who show no sign of a distinct backbone or character
and evidently agree with the nationwide fascism.

Freedom, democracy and secularism are more important than
corruption. Corruption was better. Let the corrupt rule if
they allow us to talk, to eat and to be politically free.
India is nobody's backyard; it is one of the greatest nations
in the world. freedom is our birthright and we shall preserve it.

Let us not vote for persons who hurriedly make dozens of
promises everyday with dates and deadlines and violate them
at leisure. This seems to be the speciaity of some people.
Also, people with innumerable u-turns do not carry any
credit. The Navy could have moved out of Daboim. At least the
disgusting Military garages and workshops unnecessarily
occupying the central places of Panjim could have been moved
out. I see nothing patriotic in abusing civilian public places.

If Goa falls, it will be a turnaround in the entire course of
current Indian politics.

###

Send feedback to goa...@goanet.org and descm...@gmail.com /
renovacao.rene...@gmail.com

[Goanet] Panjim Bye Election Will Decide the Future of Indian Democracy (Dr. F.E. Noronha)

[Goanet Reader]

Panjim Bye Election Will Decide the Future of Indian Democracy

This article was published in
Renewal/Novsornni/Renovacao,
the fortnightly pastoral
bulletin of the Archdiocese of
Goa and Daman, in Vol. LV, No
16, of August 16-31, 2017. Its
author is part of the editorial
board, and the article has
drawn attention in the
mainstream media and social
media. Renewal notes: "The
opinions expressed in this
bulletin are not necessarily
the opinions of the editor."

Dr FE Noronha

The issue in India today is no longer Corruption. Not even
Secularism. It is Freedom, pure and simple.

There are rare occasions when a single by-election can have
ntionwide repercussion: such is the one on 23rd August 2017.
If the present Goa Government formed by dubious methods goes,
it will be a watershed in the downslide of our country's
democracy. It is the moral responsibility of Panjimites to
stem the tidy.

  Different elections call for different attitudes.
  There are times when we have to look at the
  candidates, their character and capacity; there are
  times when we have to look at the parties; there
  are times when we have to look at the development
  of the constitutency; and there are times indeed
  when people merely look at their immediate issues
  like local leaders who tell us for whom to vote and
  worse still when petty social considerations prompt
  the voting. But there are rare occasions -- and
  23rd August is one -- when the future of a State
  and the whole nation depends on a single election.

In 2012, everyone thought in terms of having a
corruption-free Goa; this thinking continued till 2014 but
from then and increasingly everyday what we are witnessing
in India is nothing but a constitutional holocaust.

Corruption is very bad, communalism is worse, but Nazism is
worse than both. Anybody who reads William Shirer's *The Rise
and Fall of the Third Reich* or Allan Bullocks *A Study in
Tyranny* or Hitler's own *Mein Kampf* will find an
extraordinary identity between the growth and rampage of
Nazism in Germany in 1933 onwards and India in 2014 onwards.

You talk or take a stand against the Government and you have
the Income Tax, CBI, ACB, ED knocking on your door at
midnight. You are also likely to have a big mob of people
claiming to be honest patriots and tender lovers of animals
and knives and sticks in their hands. TV anchors disappear
from the screens. TV owners themselves or very vocal
political opponents are found to be corrupt and events are
dug out which took place 10 or 20 years back. Editors are
sacked.

On the other hand, lest anybody things that the other side is
honest: no, of course it is not. But nobody touches them. A
person is lynched and the case if filed against the surviving
family members not against the murderers. The extent of abuse
and oppression is matter for full books. Strangely,
documentaries are made of events of 42 years back when much
worse horrors are going on right in your face. The country is
being ruled by one or two men, and the rest are mere henchmen
and running dogs. Please don't vote for a person who is a
mere subaltern of such individuals. We should not vote for
people who show no sign of a distinct backbone or character
and evidently agree with the nationwide fascism.

Freedom, democracy and secularism are more important than
corruption. Corruption was better. Let the corrupt rule if
they allow us to talk, to eat and to be politically free.
India is nobody's backyard; it is one of the greatest nations
in the world. freedom is our birthright and we shall preserve it.

Let us not vote for persons who hurriedly make dozens of
promises everyday with dates and deadlines and violate them
at leisure. This seems to be the speciaity of some people.
Also, people with innumerable u-turns do not carry any
credit. The Navy could have moved out of Daboim. At least the
disgusting Military garages and workshops unnecessarily
occupying the central places of Panjim could have been moved
out. I see nothing patriotic in abusing civilian public places.

If Goa falls, it will be a turnaround in the entire course of
current Indian politics.

###

Send feedback to goa...@goanet.org and descm...@gmail.com /
renovacao.rene...@gmail.com

[Goanet-News] Here's What Shattering of Menstrual Taboos and Access to Hygiene Did to an Ordinary Village Girl (Manabi Katoch, betterindia.com)

[Goanet Reader]

Here's What Shattering of Menstrual Taboos and Access to
Hygiene Did to an Ordinary Village Girl

A lot of the girls could not
even afford fresh cloth every
month, and had to use the same
piece of cloth for months on
end.

by Manabi Katoch

Sulochana Pednekar is an award winning social worker,  who
has changed the lives of more than 2000 school girls.

Born in a remote village called Siolim in Goa, she was raised
by a single mother, who worked in a bakery to take care of
the small family. She tried to help her mother in every way
possible. While finances were met by her mom, she lived in a
joint family.

The hardships she faced made her self-reliant. However, that
sense of freedom was lost once she hit puberty.

PHOTO: Sulochana Pednekar when she was in class 10

"I was not allowed to touch any utensils, and hence was
always dependant on someone even for a drink of water. If I
was thirsty in the middle of the night, I had to wake someone
up to get me water," says Sulochana.

Sulochana explains how she felt like an untouchable,
especially when she was asked to sit and sleep separately.

"It was terrible. Though my mother would allow me to bathe
secretly, my grandmother always kept an eye on us to ensure
we follow traditions," she says.

[In collaboration with Aakar Innovations, The Better India is
setting up a sanitary pad manufacturing unit in Ajmer,
Rajasthan, that will not only produce eco-friendly or
biodegradable sanitary pads, but will also employ women from
rural communities around the area. Contribute for the
campaign here.]

Slowly, Sulochana found out that this was the story of every
girl in the village.

PHOTO: Sulochana during a menstrual awareness session

  In fact , she considers  herself  lucky enough to
  get a space where she could dry her cloth pads in
  the open, because there were many who had to dry it
  in the dark, which meant that the cloth did not dry
  sufficiently, inviting infections and diseases. A
  lot of the girls could not even afford fresh cloth
  every month, and had to use the same piece of cloth
  for months on end.

"Even though everyone was going through the same ordeal,
nobody would speak about it openly. We were not even allowed
to say we had our periods. Girls would use code words like,
'It's my happy birthday' or 'A crow has touched me'," she laughs.

Times were tough. Her school fees, which was just Rs 60,  was
unaffordable for her mother. Sulochana would walk 3-4 km to
attend the village school. She was a brilliant student, who
wanted to get a higher education. But mounting expenses made
Sulochana lose hope of studying any further. But luck
favoured her when a few foreign delegates came to visit her
family, they were so impressed with Sulochana's English that
they offered her a scholarship.

Sulochana studied economics with the help of this
scholarship, and in college was introduced to sanitary
napkins, which felt like a life-saver during long journeys
and field visits.

PHOTO: Sulochana (Now)

But she was not happy with the way the napkins were disposed,
which prompted her to research organic sanitary napkins, and
this lead her to an NGO that was working on a similar
project. Once she got involved, and better informed about the
subject, she took it upon herself to spread awareness on
menstrual hygiene.

After her graduation, she started working with an NGO called
Sangath in Goa, which dealt with women's issues, especially
around the mental health of rural women. Sulochana has
travelled around Goa, conducting surveys about the mental
health of rural women. This also helped her get a Masters in
Population studies from the International Institute of
Population Sciences, Mumbai.

"Our curriculum has just one chapter on reproductive organs
which is taught in class 9, whereas these days girls hit
puberty much earlier. It is very important for them to know
about their own body to take care of it. In fact it is their
right to have this information," says Sulochana.

Sulochana has started a drive called 'paid for period' where
she goes to schools in remote areas of Goa and holds
menstrual awareness campaigns.

After the campaign, most of the girls know about the benefits
of using eco-friendly sanitary napkins. Those who want to use
them, are given the napkins free of cost.

Due to her work, Sulochana was one among the four girls to be
selected for a video project working around women's issues.

"I had not held a camera before this project. But they
trained me so well, and thats how learned film making," she
laughs.

Today Sulochana is a community correspondent at Video
Volunteers, which equips marginalized Indian people with
skills in video journalism and advocacy, helping them expose
under-reported stories from their communities, and take
action to right the wrongs of poverty, injustice and
inequality.

She uses her role as a Community Correspondent to bridge the
gap between the grassroots and civil 

[Goanet] Here's What Shattering of Menstrual Taboos and Access to Hygiene Did to an Ordinary Village Girl (Manabi Katoch, betterindia.com)

[Goanet Reader]

Here's What Shattering of Menstrual Taboos and Access to
Hygiene Did to an Ordinary Village Girl

A lot of the girls could not
even afford fresh cloth every
month, and had to use the same
piece of cloth for months on
end.

by Manabi Katoch

Sulochana Pednekar is an award winning social worker,  who
has changed the lives of more than 2000 school girls.

Born in a remote village called Siolim in Goa, she was raised
by a single mother, who worked in a bakery to take care of
the small family. She tried to help her mother in every way
possible. While finances were met by her mom, she lived in a
joint family.

The hardships she faced made her self-reliant. However, that
sense of freedom was lost once she hit puberty.

PHOTO: Sulochana Pednekar when she was in class 10

"I was not allowed to touch any utensils, and hence was
always dependant on someone even for a drink of water. If I
was thirsty in the middle of the night, I had to wake someone
up to get me water," says Sulochana.

Sulochana explains how she felt like an untouchable,
especially when she was asked to sit and sleep separately.

"It was terrible. Though my mother would allow me to bathe
secretly, my grandmother always kept an eye on us to ensure
we follow traditions," she says.

[In collaboration with Aakar Innovations, The Better India is
setting up a sanitary pad manufacturing unit in Ajmer,
Rajasthan, that will not only produce eco-friendly or
biodegradable sanitary pads, but will also employ women from
rural communities around the area. Contribute for the
campaign here.]

Slowly, Sulochana found out that this was the story of every
girl in the village.

PHOTO: Sulochana during a menstrual awareness session

  In fact , she considers  herself  lucky enough to
  get a space where she could dry her cloth pads in
  the open, because there were many who had to dry it
  in the dark, which meant that the cloth did not dry
  sufficiently, inviting infections and diseases. A
  lot of the girls could not even afford fresh cloth
  every month, and had to use the same piece of cloth
  for months on end.

"Even though everyone was going through the same ordeal,
nobody would speak about it openly. We were not even allowed
to say we had our periods. Girls would use code words like,
'It's my happy birthday' or 'A crow has touched me'," she laughs.

Times were tough. Her school fees, which was just Rs 60,  was
unaffordable for her mother. Sulochana would walk 3-4 km to
attend the village school. She was a brilliant student, who
wanted to get a higher education. But mounting expenses made
Sulochana lose hope of studying any further. But luck
favoured her when a few foreign delegates came to visit her
family, they were so impressed with Sulochana's English that
they offered her a scholarship.

Sulochana studied economics with the help of this
scholarship, and in college was introduced to sanitary
napkins, which felt like a life-saver during long journeys
and field visits.

PHOTO: Sulochana (Now)

But she was not happy with the way the napkins were disposed,
which prompted her to research organic sanitary napkins, and
this lead her to an NGO that was working on a similar
project. Once she got involved, and better informed about the
subject, she took it upon herself to spread awareness on
menstrual hygiene.

After her graduation, she started working with an NGO called
Sangath in Goa, which dealt with women's issues, especially
around the mental health of rural women. Sulochana has
travelled around Goa, conducting surveys about the mental
health of rural women. This also helped her get a Masters in
Population studies from the International Institute of
Population Sciences, Mumbai.

"Our curriculum has just one chapter on reproductive organs
which is taught in class 9, whereas these days girls hit
puberty much earlier. It is very important for them to know
about their own body to take care of it. In fact it is their
right to have this information," says Sulochana.

Sulochana has started a drive called 'paid for period' where
she goes to schools in remote areas of Goa and holds
menstrual awareness campaigns.

After the campaign, most of the girls know about the benefits
of using eco-friendly sanitary napkins. Those who want to use
them, are given the napkins free of cost.

Due to her work, Sulochana was one among the four girls to be
selected for a video project working around women's issues.

"I had not held a camera before this project. But they
trained me so well, and thats how learned film making," she
laughs.

Today Sulochana is a community correspondent at Video
Volunteers, which equips marginalized Indian people with
skills in video journalism and advocacy, helping them expose
under-reported stories from their communities, and take
action to right the wrongs of poverty, injustice and
inequality.

She uses her role as a Community Correspondent to bridge the
gap between the grassroots and civil 

[Goanet-News] IV Goa Short Stories Competition currently underway (Fundacao Oriente)

[Goanet Reader]

IV GOAN SHORT STORIES COMPETITION 2017

Fundação Oriente - Delegation in India whose aim is to contribute towards
promoting Indo-Portuguese cultural exchanges and to encourage Goan cultural
production has announced the IVth Edition of its Short Story Competition.
The intention is to revive the old tradition of short stories that in the
past were transmitted orally, published in newspapers or broadcast.

Eligibility: The Competition is open to any person 18 years and above and
customarily residing in Goa. Both amateur and professional writers
(including previous winners) are eligible. Parents, siblings, children,
spouses of Members of the Jury of the GSSC 2017 are not eligible for this
competition.

Language: Works for the Competition can be written in Konkani
(Devnagiri/Romi), Marathi, Portuguese or English.

Theme: The story submitted for the Competition should feature contemporary
Goa or Goans through Place or People or Predicament.
Check the website: http://www.storyinsight.com/techniques/story/two.html
for clarification regarding the 3 'P's.

Organizer / Collaborators: The Competition is organized by Fundação Oriente
– Delegation in India with the collaboration of Goa Writers Group.

Jury Selection: The Jury will comprise five members selected by Fundação
Oriente taking into consideration their language expertise and experience
in the field of writing.

Selection Procedure:

1. Each of the members of the jury will select the 10 stories s/he
considers the best.
2. In the first round, from the individual jury members' selections, the
jury will make a shortlist of the 25 best stories. Each of these 25 stories
must have the approval of at least two members of the jury. These stories
will be eligible for publication by Fundação Oriente.
3. From the 25 shortlisted stories, the prize winners will be selected by
the jury members through consensus.
4. The decisions of the Jury will be final.

Jury: The 2017 Jury will be Chaired by Dr. Savia Viegas and Dr. Prakash
Parienkar will be Deputy Chairman.
The Members of the Jury: Jessica Faleiro, Óscar de Noronha, Xavier Cotta

Time-frame:

1. The Competition will be announced in June at a press conference
organized by Fundação Oriente.
2. Submissions will be accepted between 1st August and 3rd October 2017.
These can be sent by email, courier or even hand delivered.
3. The Winners will be announced not later than 4th December 2017.
4. Three prizes will be awarded -- 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
5. The winning stories and the short listed 25 stories will be published in
English as an  Anthology in 2019. Fundação Oriente will be free to publish
the selected stories without  further authorization of the author.
6. Selected stories other than those in English will be translated for
publication in the Anthology.

Submissions for the Competition: 1. All works, whether in Konkani, Marathi,
Portuguese or English, must be original and unpublished, and shall consist
of a maximum of 3000 Words. 2. Computerized texts must be typed in Times
New Roman, font size 12 and double spaced. If hand written, it should be on
one side of the paper only and double spaced. 3. Participants can submit
their entries either by email to 2017g...@gmail.com or by post or hand
delivered as hard copy at the address given below. 4. Name, address, e-mail
and telephone number of the participant must be submitted on a separate
page and should not appear anywhere on the submitted story. This is
important because stories are distributed among the jury members with a
code number, without any
identification of the participant. 5. Entries with any identification
(name/address) written on submitted copy will be disqualified. All entries
must be sent :
By email to : 2017g...@gmail.com By post/courier to: Fundação Oriente
Delegation in India 175 Filipe Neri Xavier Road Fontainhas, Behind People’s
High School Panjim Goa 403 001. If posted, the entry must be sent by
courier to reach no later than the closing date.

Prizes: The winning story as well as the second and third best will
eventually be published in the local press -- English, Konkani or Marathi
newspapers.
Prizes for winners are as follows: 1st : Rs.20,000/- (Late Alban Couto
Prize) 2nd: Rs.15,000/- (Semana da Cultura Indo Portuguesa Prize) 3rd:
Rs.10,000/- (Fundação Oriente Prize) A special prize of Rs.5,000/-
sponsored by Goa Association of Portuguese Teachers, might be awarded to
the best Portuguese Short Story, if deserving. The Jury will decide whether
or not to award a part or all the prizes. Prize winners’ names will be
announced in the local press.

[Goanet] IV Goa Short Stories Competition currently underway (Fundacao Oriente)

[Goanet Reader]

IV GOAN SHORT STORIES COMPETITION 2017

Fundação Oriente - Delegation in India whose aim is to contribute towards
promoting Indo-Portuguese cultural exchanges and to encourage Goan cultural
production has announced the IVth Edition of its Short Story Competition.
The intention is to revive the old tradition of short stories that in the
past were transmitted orally, published in newspapers or broadcast.

Eligibility: The Competition is open to any person 18 years and above and
customarily residing in Goa. Both amateur and professional writers
(including previous winners) are eligible. Parents, siblings, children,
spouses of Members of the Jury of the GSSC 2017 are not eligible for this
competition.

Language: Works for the Competition can be written in Konkani
(Devnagiri/Romi), Marathi, Portuguese or English.

Theme: The story submitted for the Competition should feature contemporary
Goa or Goans through Place or People or Predicament.
Check the website: http://www.storyinsight.com/techniques/story/two.html
for clarification regarding the 3 'P's.

Organizer / Collaborators: The Competition is organized by Fundação Oriente
– Delegation in India with the collaboration of Goa Writers Group.

Jury Selection: The Jury will comprise five members selected by Fundação
Oriente taking into consideration their language expertise and experience
in the field of writing.

Selection Procedure:

1. Each of the members of the jury will select the 10 stories s/he
considers the best.
2. In the first round, from the individual jury members' selections, the
jury will make a shortlist of the 25 best stories. Each of these 25 stories
must have the approval of at least two members of the jury. These stories
will be eligible for publication by Fundação Oriente.
3. From the 25 shortlisted stories, the prize winners will be selected by
the jury members through consensus.
4. The decisions of the Jury will be final.

Jury: The 2017 Jury will be Chaired by Dr. Savia Viegas and Dr. Prakash
Parienkar will be Deputy Chairman.
The Members of the Jury: Jessica Faleiro, Óscar de Noronha, Xavier Cotta

Time-frame:

1. The Competition will be announced in June at a press conference
organized by Fundação Oriente.
2. Submissions will be accepted between 1st August and 3rd October 2017.
These can be sent by email, courier or even hand delivered.
3. The Winners will be announced not later than 4th December 2017.
4. Three prizes will be awarded -- 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
5. The winning stories and the short listed 25 stories will be published in
English as an  Anthology in 2019. Fundação Oriente will be free to publish
the selected stories without  further authorization of the author.
6. Selected stories other than those in English will be translated for
publication in the Anthology.

Submissions for the Competition: 1. All works, whether in Konkani, Marathi,
Portuguese or English, must be original and unpublished, and shall consist
of a maximum of 3000 Words. 2. Computerized texts must be typed in Times
New Roman, font size 12 and double spaced. If hand written, it should be on
one side of the paper only and double spaced. 3. Participants can submit
their entries either by email to 2017g...@gmail.com or by post or hand
delivered as hard copy at the address given below. 4. Name, address, e-mail
and telephone number of the participant must be submitted on a separate
page and should not appear anywhere on the submitted story. This is
important because stories are distributed among the jury members with a
code number, without any
identification of the participant. 5. Entries with any identification
(name/address) written on submitted copy will be disqualified. All entries
must be sent :
By email to : 2017g...@gmail.com By post/courier to: Fundação Oriente
Delegation in India 175 Filipe Neri Xavier Road Fontainhas, Behind People’s
High School Panjim Goa 403 001. If posted, the entry must be sent by
courier to reach no later than the closing date.

Prizes: The winning story as well as the second and third best will
eventually be published in the local press -- English, Konkani or Marathi
newspapers.
Prizes for winners are as follows: 1st : Rs.20,000/- (Late Alban Couto
Prize) 2nd: Rs.15,000/- (Semana da Cultura Indo Portuguesa Prize) 3rd:
Rs.10,000/- (Fundação Oriente Prize) A special prize of Rs.5,000/-
sponsored by Goa Association of Portuguese Teachers, might be awarded to
the best Portuguese Short Story, if deserving. The Jury will decide whether
or not to award a part or all the prizes. Prize winners’ names will be
announced in the local press.

[Goanet] After Fighting Against Goa's Casinos, Parrikar Gives Them What They Want (Devika Sequeira, thewire.in)

[Goanet Reader]

After Fighting Against Goa's Casinos, Parrikar Gives Them
What They Want
BY DEVIKA SEQUIERA ON 07/08/2017

The floating casinos are
expected to be relocated to
Mopa and will help BJP sell its
controversial new airport
project.

A floating casino off Panaji in Goa. Credit: Devika Sequeira

Panaji: Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar recently made an
announcement in the state's legislative assembly: all
offshore casinos would have to shift to land-based operations
within three years if they wanted to continue doing business
in Goa. The decision, long expected despite the stock
denials, is what the big players in the casino industry had
been betting on all along, and it exposes the BJP's
doublespeak on the gambling business in Goa.

  There are currently six offshore and ten land-based
  casinos in play here, but live gaming (with dealers
  opposed to slot machines), where the stakes can go
  really high, is permitted only on the floating
  casinos, which makes the transfer and renewal of
  their licences such a lucrative business.

Jaydev Mody's Delta Corp Ltd is the biggest player in the Goa
casino business. It runs three offshore casinos, Deltin
Royale, Deltin Jaqk and Deltin Caravela as well as the
onshore Deltin Suites Casino Hotel at Nerul. The Ashok
Khetrapal fronted group is the next big casino operator with
Casino Pride and Casino Pride 2 anchored in the Mandovi.
Pride also runs the land-based Casino Paradise at Porvorim
and Casino Palms at Baga.

Faced with mounting protests over the BJP government granting
permission for a sixth offshore casino in the River Mandovi
after the party had earlier campaigned against them, a
providential occurrence spared Parrikar's blushes in the
monsoon session of the Goa assembly. On July 15, a new casino
vessel M. V. Lucky Seven, fully outfitted to commence
business as the Big Daddy Casino, drifted off course in
stormy weather and ran aground at Miramar beach (near Panaji)
where it is currently stuck, turning into a photo-op for
tourists. Operations to refloat and tow it away are currently
underway.

  Lucky Seven is promoted by the controversial former
  Haryana minister Gopal Kanda. The Tanzanian flag
  passenger vessel was brought to Goa by Golden Globe
  Hotels Pvt Ltd (GGHPL), a company started as a
  subsidiary of Kanda's defunct MDLR airline. There's
  very little information to be found on GGHPL or its
  businesses, but sources in the company said that
  Kanda, his son and son-in-law hold a majority stake
  in it and in their current interest in the casino
  business in Goa.

Kanda's foray into casinos here goes back to 2009 when he
bought the Leela group's Casino Rio for a reported amount of
Rs 30 crore. Leela had managed an offshore gaming licence in
2006 but the business never set sail. Neither did it under
Kanda, and in 2013 the government towed away the abandoned
vessel for owing the authorities Rs 12 crore in casino
licence fees. The fee with fines had mounted to Rs 50 crore
by 2017.

  This in itself should have been grounds enough to
  not renew Kanda's licence. But the Parrikar
  government renewed it all the same, using the ruse
  of a court order to justify the decision. In
  reality, however, it was the state's advocate
  general who told the high court of Bombay at Goa
  that the government would "favourably consider" the
  Kanda company's application for renewal.

All the casino licences in Goa -- both off-shore and land
based ones -- were dished out by gung-ho Congress
governments, with former chief minister Pratapsingh Rane and
former home minister Ravi Naik being the key players in this
high stakes game of licence roulette. This uncomfortable
fact, as much as the Congress' role in the mining scam,
provided the BJP its biggest ammunition for the 2012 state
assembly election which it won with a clear majority.
Parrikar would turn up at anti-casino protests with RSS
supporters, and doing away with casinos went to the top of
his party's 2012 manifesto, even as behind the scenes
assurances were reportedly given that they would be allowed
to carry on with business as usual.

Once in government though, the commitment by the BJP to move
the casinos out of the Mandovi and regulate the trade was
never seen through. The promise to set up a gaming commission
has not seen the light of day even five years later. What the
government did in effect, is facilitate more opaque
operations, allowing the state's Captain of Ports, rather
than the Centre's Director of Shipping -- as was the case
previously -- to licence the casino vessels, most of which are
not even seaworthy.

  In 2014, the BJP also reversed the law it had
  brought in to ban the transfer of casino licences
  when it allowed the Pride group to take over the V.
  M. Salgaocar & 

[Goanet-News] After Fighting Against Goa's Casinos, Parrikar Gives Them What They Want (Devika Sequeira, thewire.in)

[Goanet Reader]

After Fighting Against Goa's Casinos, Parrikar Gives Them
What They Want
BY DEVIKA SEQUIERA ON 07/08/2017

The floating casinos are
expected to be relocated to
Mopa and will help BJP sell its
controversial new airport
project.

A floating casino off Panaji in Goa. Credit: Devika Sequeira

Panaji: Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar recently made an
announcement in the state's legislative assembly: all
offshore casinos would have to shift to land-based operations
within three years if they wanted to continue doing business
in Goa. The decision, long expected despite the stock
denials, is what the big players in the casino industry had
been betting on all along, and it exposes the BJP's
doublespeak on the gambling business in Goa.

  There are currently six offshore and ten land-based
  casinos in play here, but live gaming (with dealers
  opposed to slot machines), where the stakes can go
  really high, is permitted only on the floating
  casinos, which makes the transfer and renewal of
  their licences such a lucrative business.

Jaydev Mody's Delta Corp Ltd is the biggest player in the Goa
casino business. It runs three offshore casinos, Deltin
Royale, Deltin Jaqk and Deltin Caravela as well as the
onshore Deltin Suites Casino Hotel at Nerul. The Ashok
Khetrapal fronted group is the next big casino operator with
Casino Pride and Casino Pride 2 anchored in the Mandovi.
Pride also runs the land-based Casino Paradise at Porvorim
and Casino Palms at Baga.

Faced with mounting protests over the BJP government granting
permission for a sixth offshore casino in the River Mandovi
after the party had earlier campaigned against them, a
providential occurrence spared Parrikar's blushes in the
monsoon session of the Goa assembly. On July 15, a new casino
vessel M. V. Lucky Seven, fully outfitted to commence
business as the Big Daddy Casino, drifted off course in
stormy weather and ran aground at Miramar beach (near Panaji)
where it is currently stuck, turning into a photo-op for
tourists. Operations to refloat and tow it away are currently
underway.

  Lucky Seven is promoted by the controversial former
  Haryana minister Gopal Kanda. The Tanzanian flag
  passenger vessel was brought to Goa by Golden Globe
  Hotels Pvt Ltd (GGHPL), a company started as a
  subsidiary of Kanda's defunct MDLR airline. There's
  very little information to be found on GGHPL or its
  businesses, but sources in the company said that
  Kanda, his son and son-in-law hold a majority stake
  in it and in their current interest in the casino
  business in Goa.

Kanda's foray into casinos here goes back to 2009 when he
bought the Leela group's Casino Rio for a reported amount of
Rs 30 crore. Leela had managed an offshore gaming licence in
2006 but the business never set sail. Neither did it under
Kanda, and in 2013 the government towed away the abandoned
vessel for owing the authorities Rs 12 crore in casino
licence fees. The fee with fines had mounted to Rs 50 crore
by 2017.

  This in itself should have been grounds enough to
  not renew Kanda's licence. But the Parrikar
  government renewed it all the same, using the ruse
  of a court order to justify the decision. In
  reality, however, it was the state's advocate
  general who told the high court of Bombay at Goa
  that the government would "favourably consider" the
  Kanda company's application for renewal.

All the casino licences in Goa -- both off-shore and land
based ones -- were dished out by gung-ho Congress
governments, with former chief minister Pratapsingh Rane and
former home minister Ravi Naik being the key players in this
high stakes game of licence roulette. This uncomfortable
fact, as much as the Congress' role in the mining scam,
provided the BJP its biggest ammunition for the 2012 state
assembly election which it won with a clear majority.
Parrikar would turn up at anti-casino protests with RSS
supporters, and doing away with casinos went to the top of
his party's 2012 manifesto, even as behind the scenes
assurances were reportedly given that they would be allowed
to carry on with business as usual.

Once in government though, the commitment by the BJP to move
the casinos out of the Mandovi and regulate the trade was
never seen through. The promise to set up a gaming commission
has not seen the light of day even five years later. What the
government did in effect, is facilitate more opaque
operations, allowing the state's Captain of Ports, rather
than the Centre's Director of Shipping -- as was the case
previously -- to licence the casino vessels, most of which are
not even seaworthy.

  In 2014, the BJP also reversed the law it had
  brought in to ban the transfer of casino licences
  when it allowed the Pride group to take over the V.
  M. Salgaocar & 

[Goanet-News] Break Your Silence: 101 Christian Intellectuals to the Church in India

[Goanet Reader]

Break Your Silence: 101 Christian Intellectuals to the Church in India
THE CITIZEN BUREAU
Break Your Silence: 101 Christian Intellectuals to the Church

Saturday, August 05,2017

NEW DELHI: A 101 Christian intellectuals from all walks of
life have written an Open Letter to the silent---and as some
would say---the rather timid leadership of the Church in
India to come out in support of civil society in its struggle
to "safeguard India's cultural and religious plurality and
diversity, and the republics Constitutional values of
secularism, and socialism."

The signatories include Jesuit theologians T K John and
Francis Gonsalves, academicians Sr. Nirmalini, AC, Dr.
Michael Williams, and St Stephen's college dean Fr Monodeep
Daniel, All India Catholic Union president Lancy D Cuna, EFI
general secretary Rev Vijayesh Lal, New Delhi YMCA president
Vijay Russel, Former Member of Delhi Minorities Commission AC
Michael, activists Cedric Prakash, Ajay Kumar Singh, Dominic
Emmanuel, Virginia Saldanha, lawyers Jenis Francis, Tehmina
Arora, Pramod Singh, PI Jose, and journalists Suresh Mathew,
Jacob Kani, KM Selvaraj, and John Dayal.

  The Open Letter states: "The number of violent acts
  against Christians alone during the last three
  years (2014-2016) are over 600, including an
  increasing trend at social boycott that impinges on
  the right to life, food and livelihood. This
  includes physical violence, stopping of worship in
  churches, attacks on churches, arrests of pastors
  and their companions, and rapes of Nuns. The
  National Crime Records Bureau documented 47,064
  acts of violence against Dalits in 2014, up from
  32,643 in 2010. The violence against Muslims is
  reaching an alarming peak. The hate spewed not just
  by non-state actors and political functionaries,
  but even by Members of Parliament and sometimes by
  ministers forms the backdrop of this violence, as
  it also smothers voices seeking justice."

The Christian community, despite its laudable heritage of the
prophetic tradition of defending justice, human rights and
freedom, especially of the oppressed and the marginalized,
has not come out openly in support of the truth and its
upholders. Many had looked upon the Church and expected it to
protest these infringements, whoever be the victim of the
moment.

"The Church, guided by you, needs to act before it is too
late. This is the lesson we learn from history. It is time to
stand with the victims to be the voice of poor and
marginalised; time to collaborate and partner with the civil
society to spread the truth; and time to take bold
initiatives and action to prevent further erosion of our
humane and constitutional values," the Open letter said.

The following is the text of the letter and the names, in
alphabetical order, of the signatories:

"We, as Indian Christians, are concerned at the steady shift
we see in our country from a pluralist, secular, democracy to
a Hindu Rashtra. What used to be fringe, has now become
mainstream. There is a systematic design to undermine the
Constitution. Official machinery often seems working in
tandem with the 'vigilantes'. Street lynching, victims
charged as accused, stage-managed trials; all on the basis of
one's religious and caste identities. Media seems mute,
silent in self-censorship, coerced by the state, or leashed
by its corporate ownership. Fake News is the final straw.

What is at stake? The country risks a hierarchical order and
an ideology eroding, containing and overwhelming the liberty,
equality and fraternity bequeathed us by the Freedom Struggle
as an 'idea of India' for the modern age. A new coercive
culture, steered mob-inspired killers, is destroying lives
and families amongst us. Fear stalks the land.

  The spontaneous multi-city #NotInMyName upsurge of
  public revulsion was the ordinary Indian's cry
  against this hate and blood-letting.

The anger is as much over the killings as it is over our
collective silence.

The government's double talk is apparent. It is right in its
solidarity with the global challenge to international
terrorism, but has minimized and dismissed the terror wreaked
on the weak and the marginalized by the violent nationalism
of the mob. Victims have been Dalits, specially their youth
and their women, Tribals and religious minorities.

The number of violent acts against Christians alone during
the last three years (2014-2016) are over 600, including an
increasing trend at social boycott that impinges on the right
to life, food and livelihood. This includes physical
violence, stopping of worship in churches, attacks on
churches, arrests of pastors and their companions, and rapes
of Nuns. The National Crime Records Bureau documented 47,064
acts of violence against Dalits in 2014, up from 32,643 in
2010. The violence against Muslims is reaching an alarming
peak.

[Goanet] Break Your Silence: 101 Christian Intellectuals to the Church in India

[Goanet Reader]

Break Your Silence: 101 Christian Intellectuals to the Church in India
THE CITIZEN BUREAU
Break Your Silence: 101 Christian Intellectuals to the Church

Saturday, August 05,2017

NEW DELHI: A 101 Christian intellectuals from all walks of
life have written an Open Letter to the silent---and as some
would say---the rather timid leadership of the Church in
India to come out in support of civil society in its struggle
to "safeguard India's cultural and religious plurality and
diversity, and the republics Constitutional values of
secularism, and socialism."

The signatories include Jesuit theologians T K John and
Francis Gonsalves, academicians Sr. Nirmalini, AC, Dr.
Michael Williams, and St Stephen's college dean Fr Monodeep
Daniel, All India Catholic Union president Lancy D Cuna, EFI
general secretary Rev Vijayesh Lal, New Delhi YMCA president
Vijay Russel, Former Member of Delhi Minorities Commission AC
Michael, activists Cedric Prakash, Ajay Kumar Singh, Dominic
Emmanuel, Virginia Saldanha, lawyers Jenis Francis, Tehmina
Arora, Pramod Singh, PI Jose, and journalists Suresh Mathew,
Jacob Kani, KM Selvaraj, and John Dayal.

  The Open Letter states: "The number of violent acts
  against Christians alone during the last three
  years (2014-2016) are over 600, including an
  increasing trend at social boycott that impinges on
  the right to life, food and livelihood. This
  includes physical violence, stopping of worship in
  churches, attacks on churches, arrests of pastors
  and their companions, and rapes of Nuns. The
  National Crime Records Bureau documented 47,064
  acts of violence against Dalits in 2014, up from
  32,643 in 2010. The violence against Muslims is
  reaching an alarming peak. The hate spewed not just
  by non-state actors and political functionaries,
  but even by Members of Parliament and sometimes by
  ministers forms the backdrop of this violence, as
  it also smothers voices seeking justice."

The Christian community, despite its laudable heritage of the
prophetic tradition of defending justice, human rights and
freedom, especially of the oppressed and the marginalized,
has not come out openly in support of the truth and its
upholders. Many had looked upon the Church and expected it to
protest these infringements, whoever be the victim of the
moment.

"The Church, guided by you, needs to act before it is too
late. This is the lesson we learn from history. It is time to
stand with the victims to be the voice of poor and
marginalised; time to collaborate and partner with the civil
society to spread the truth; and time to take bold
initiatives and action to prevent further erosion of our
humane and constitutional values," the Open letter said.

The following is the text of the letter and the names, in
alphabetical order, of the signatories:

"We, as Indian Christians, are concerned at the steady shift
we see in our country from a pluralist, secular, democracy to
a Hindu Rashtra. What used to be fringe, has now become
mainstream. There is a systematic design to undermine the
Constitution. Official machinery often seems working in
tandem with the 'vigilantes'. Street lynching, victims
charged as accused, stage-managed trials; all on the basis of
one's religious and caste identities. Media seems mute,
silent in self-censorship, coerced by the state, or leashed
by its corporate ownership. Fake News is the final straw.

What is at stake? The country risks a hierarchical order and
an ideology eroding, containing and overwhelming the liberty,
equality and fraternity bequeathed us by the Freedom Struggle
as an 'idea of India' for the modern age. A new coercive
culture, steered mob-inspired killers, is destroying lives
and families amongst us. Fear stalks the land.

  The spontaneous multi-city #NotInMyName upsurge of
  public revulsion was the ordinary Indian's cry
  against this hate and blood-letting.

The anger is as much over the killings as it is over our
collective silence.

The government's double talk is apparent. It is right in its
solidarity with the global challenge to international
terrorism, but has minimized and dismissed the terror wreaked
on the weak and the marginalized by the violent nationalism
of the mob. Victims have been Dalits, specially their youth
and their women, Tribals and religious minorities.

The number of violent acts against Christians alone during
the last three years (2014-2016) are over 600, including an
increasing trend at social boycott that impinges on the right
to life, food and livelihood. This includes physical
violence, stopping of worship in churches, attacks on
churches, arrests of pastors and their companions, and rapes
of Nuns. The National Crime Records Bureau documented 47,064
acts of violence against Dalits in 2014, up from 32,643 in
2010. The violence against Muslims is reaching an alarming
peak.

[Goanet-News] Ex-cop John Lobo, to whom Nanavati surrendered, dies at 96

[Goanet Reader]

Ex-cop to whom Nanavati surrendered dies at 96

TNN | Updated: Aug 2, 2017, 06:56 AM IST

MUMBAI: John Lobo, former deputy commissioner of Mumbai
police who naval officer Kawas Manekshaw Nanavati had
famously surrendered to in 1959 after pumping bullets into
his wife's lover, died at his Bandra home on July 31. He was
96.

"He passed away peacefully," said his daughter, Amelia
Correa [https://standrewscollege.ac.in/faculty-staff/dr-amelia-correa/],
a professor at St Andrew's College, who used to visit
him daily. "He was watching TV and talking to his brother.
After his brother left, he complained of indigestion and
uneasiness," she said, describing the last few moments of the
nonagenarian. Lobo, whose wife died in 1997, is survived by
three sons and two daughters.

In an interview to TOI last year, Lobo had described the
Nanavati case--which had a heady cocktail of love, betrayal
and murder--as "the eternal triangle." It had on one side
Nanavati, scion of a Parsi family, and on the other, his
British wife Sylvia, duped by promises by the casanova Prem
Ahuja, a Sindhi businessman.

"He was a fine tall specimen of an officer with a resounding
voice. He walked in and told me, 'I've shot a man'," Lobo had
told TOI about Nanavati who walked into his office at
Crawford Market on April 27, 1959. After the case ended in
1961, Lobo -- born and bred in Mumbai -- moved to Delhi where
he served as chief security liaison officer for Indira Gandhi
and became CBI director.

He retired in 1979 and settled in Bandra.

* * *

Lobo is one of 3 most-remembered CBI officers: Julio Ribeiro

TNN | Aug 3, 2017, 02:53 AM IST

It was a rainy Wednesday afternoon in August last year. John
Lobo, former deputy commissioner of Bombay police, who naval
officer Kawas Manekshaw Nanavati had walked up to and
surrendered in 1959 just after pumping bullets into his
wife's lover, was lounging on a wooden chair with a book, at
his home in Bandra Bandstand.

His hearing was a tad impaired, but Lobo was remarkably fit
for a nonagenarian as he held out his hand for a firm
handshake, welcoming TOI into his favourite corner -- a
balcony overlooking the quiet expanse of the sea. In his
final days, this was where he spent most of his time,
listening to the wind and watching waves crash onto the shore.

A year later, on Wednesday this week, Lobo's mortal remains
were laid to rest at the nearby St Andrew's Church, a
Portuguese-era structure, at which his friend, fellow-top cop
and fellow-Goan, Julio Ribeiro, delivered a eulogy.

  Lobo, though born in Bombay, was ancestrally from
  Gaunsavaddo in Siolim, which he visited regularly,
  even during the height of his career. Elderly
  neighbours recall a peculiar detail about the
  former CBI boss -- there were never constables, or
  any kind of security, outside his house. His was a
  particularly distinguished family -- one brother,
  Ignatius, was bishop of Belgaum, while another,
  Cyriaco, was head of education at the Indian Navy.
  His other siblings are Olive, Anthony and Theresa.

Lobo was humility personified. As he and his wife embarked on
long, impossibly brisk walks through the village, he greeted
everyone, from bhatkar to farmer, with equal respect.

But the serene bylanes of Siolim, where the Lobo family spent
many a Goan summer, were a stark contrast to John's frenetic
life in police duty, particularly when the sensational
Nanavati case consumed Mumbai with its heady cocktail of
love, betrayal and murder.

Lobo, who was 95 when TOI last met him, was a patient
raconteur. His memory hadn't dimmed, his voice without a
tremor and vignettes of his past tripping off his tongue with
considerable ease.

"He was a fine tall specimen of an officer with a resounding
voice," he said, recounting his first impression of Nanavati
who spoke "in a tone given to command" when he walked into
his office in Crawford Market on that sweltering afternoon of
April 27, 1959. Lobo was planning a family holiday in the
Nilgiris when Nanavati came calling.

"He did not appear very ruffled. He walked in tall and told
me, 'I've shot a man'. It was a short conversation and he
seemed to be in a hurry, as if trying to clear himself of a
weight," recalls Lobo, who helped Nanavati to a glass of
water before summoning his colleagues to arrest him. Unlike
undertrials lodged in police lockups, Nanavati was
accommodated in one of their office rooms.

"He was a high ranking naval officer who surrendered after
committing a crime. He was quite straightforward and we
showed him courtesy," explained Lobo, who had to testify in
court once. "I remember how lots of people, particularly
young ones enamoured by Nanavati, lined up from Flora
Fountain to the high court with flowers to throw at him."

  Two decades later, in 1979, Lobo retired to life in
  Bandra, at 58. "A retreat I took to like a duck
  takes to water," he said. As he 

[Goanet] Ex-cop John Lobo, to whom Nanavati surrendered, dies at 96

[Goanet Reader]

Ex-cop to whom Nanavati surrendered dies at 96

TNN | Updated: Aug 2, 2017, 06:56 AM IST

MUMBAI: John Lobo, former deputy commissioner of Mumbai
police who naval officer Kawas Manekshaw Nanavati had
famously surrendered to in 1959 after pumping bullets into
his wife's lover, died at his Bandra home on July 31. He was
96.

"He passed away peacefully," said his daughter, Amelia
Correa [https://standrewscollege.ac.in/faculty-staff/dr-amelia-correa/],
a professor at St Andrew's College, who used to visit
him daily. "He was watching TV and talking to his brother.
After his brother left, he complained of indigestion and
uneasiness," she said, describing the last few moments of the
nonagenarian. Lobo, whose wife died in 1997, is survived by
three sons and two daughters.

In an interview to TOI last year, Lobo had described the
Nanavati case--which had a heady cocktail of love, betrayal
and murder--as "the eternal triangle." It had on one side
Nanavati, scion of a Parsi family, and on the other, his
British wife Sylvia, duped by promises by the casanova Prem
Ahuja, a Sindhi businessman.

"He was a fine tall specimen of an officer with a resounding
voice. He walked in and told me, 'I've shot a man'," Lobo had
told TOI about Nanavati who walked into his office at
Crawford Market on April 27, 1959. After the case ended in
1961, Lobo -- born and bred in Mumbai -- moved to Delhi where
he served as chief security liaison officer for Indira Gandhi
and became CBI director.

He retired in 1979 and settled in Bandra.

* * *

Lobo is one of 3 most-remembered CBI officers: Julio Ribeiro

TNN | Aug 3, 2017, 02:53 AM IST

It was a rainy Wednesday afternoon in August last year. John
Lobo, former deputy commissioner of Bombay police, who naval
officer Kawas Manekshaw Nanavati had walked up to and
surrendered in 1959 just after pumping bullets into his
wife's lover, was lounging on a wooden chair with a book, at
his home in Bandra Bandstand.

His hearing was a tad impaired, but Lobo was remarkably fit
for a nonagenarian as he held out his hand for a firm
handshake, welcoming TOI into his favourite corner -- a
balcony overlooking the quiet expanse of the sea. In his
final days, this was where he spent most of his time,
listening to the wind and watching waves crash onto the shore.

A year later, on Wednesday this week, Lobo's mortal remains
were laid to rest at the nearby St Andrew's Church, a
Portuguese-era structure, at which his friend, fellow-top cop
and fellow-Goan, Julio Ribeiro, delivered a eulogy.

  Lobo, though born in Bombay, was ancestrally from
  Gaunsavaddo in Siolim, which he visited regularly,
  even during the height of his career. Elderly
  neighbours recall a peculiar detail about the
  former CBI boss -- there were never constables, or
  any kind of security, outside his house. His was a
  particularly distinguished family -- one brother,
  Ignatius, was bishop of Belgaum, while another,
  Cyriaco, was head of education at the Indian Navy.
  His other siblings are Olive, Anthony and Theresa.

Lobo was humility personified. As he and his wife embarked on
long, impossibly brisk walks through the village, he greeted
everyone, from bhatkar to farmer, with equal respect.

But the serene bylanes of Siolim, where the Lobo family spent
many a Goan summer, were a stark contrast to John's frenetic
life in police duty, particularly when the sensational
Nanavati case consumed Mumbai with its heady cocktail of
love, betrayal and murder.

Lobo, who was 95 when TOI last met him, was a patient
raconteur. His memory hadn't dimmed, his voice without a
tremor and vignettes of his past tripping off his tongue with
considerable ease.

"He was a fine tall specimen of an officer with a resounding
voice," he said, recounting his first impression of Nanavati
who spoke "in a tone given to command" when he walked into
his office in Crawford Market on that sweltering afternoon of
April 27, 1959. Lobo was planning a family holiday in the
Nilgiris when Nanavati came calling.

"He did not appear very ruffled. He walked in tall and told
me, 'I've shot a man'. It was a short conversation and he
seemed to be in a hurry, as if trying to clear himself of a
weight," recalls Lobo, who helped Nanavati to a glass of
water before summoning his colleagues to arrest him. Unlike
undertrials lodged in police lockups, Nanavati was
accommodated in one of their office rooms.

"He was a high ranking naval officer who surrendered after
committing a crime. He was quite straightforward and we
showed him courtesy," explained Lobo, who had to testify in
court once. "I remember how lots of people, particularly
young ones enamoured by Nanavati, lined up from Flora
Fountain to the high court with flowers to throw at him."

  Two decades later, in 1979, Lobo retired to life in
  Bandra, at 58. "A retreat I took to like a duck
  takes to water," he said. As he 

[Goanet] Catholic Union seeks action against hate mongers

[Goanet Reader]

Catholic Union seeks action against hate mongers

Since 2015, several people
across India have fallen victim
to incidents of mob lynching
related to religious
intolerance. Posted on August
2, 2017, 9:47 PM

Panaji: India's largest and oldest forum of lay Catholics,
the All India Catholic Union (AICU), has urged president Ram
Chandra Kovind and federal government to initiate action
against "hate mongers" who continue to polarize society
against religious minorities.

The Union in a statement denounced the "hate speeches that
emanated from the recent" Hindu conclave in Goa and said such
talks have further vitiated the already "surcharged
atmosphere, and aggravated the communal polarization in the
country."

They were referring to a June 15-17 conclave of some 130
pro-Hindu organizations in Goa, where several speakers spoke
in support of violence to establish a Hindu-alone nation.
Hindu nun Sadhvi Saraswati, who addressed the conclave,
sought death penalty for those slaughtering cows.

"The politics of the cow has targeted Muslims and other
communities whose food habits and economy depended on the
trade in bovines. Its ramifications have not been fully
understood, and AICU fears they will irretrievably damage the
economic health of the farmers and the poor," said the
statement, issued after a special July 28 AICU gathering in
Goa.

Since 2015, several people across India have fallen victim to
incidents of mob lynching related to religious intolerance.
In the first six months of 2017, media reported 20 cases of
violence related to cow protection, much more than any time
in the past decade. At least 28 people were killed in
cow-related violence between 2010 and 2017, of which 97
percent were Muslims, according to media reports.

The Union's special gathering was convened in connection with
its centenary in 2019, which is also the year of next general
elections. It aimed to discuss the existing social situation
in the nation and register Church's response, said its
spokesperson John Dayal.

The Union also expressed its alarm over the attempts by the
Central and State governments to "saffronise" education in
the country by changes to curricula, text books and teaching.
If left unchecked, the move will make coming generations
"unfit for scientific reasoning" and "misfits in a modern
world," it warned.

  While reviewing of the situation in Goa, the
  meeting expressed solidarity with the demand of the
  Catholic Association of Goa for the setting up of a
  Minority Commission in the state, where it said
  "bodies meant to safeguard constitutional rights
  were dysfunctional."

"A major fear of the people is of moves to nationalize rivers
of Goa to open them to the corporate sector as transport
routes for coal. Any proposal to make a coal transport hub
poses serious threat to the health of the rivers and its
ecology," the statement said.

The Union also backed the Catholic Community of Mumbai, the
capital of neighboring Maharashtra, which has been fighting
the desecration of crosses, and their arbitrary demolition
despite authentic documentation of their antiquity.

It noticed that the people had often "voluntary shifted
crosses if they felt it was in the national cause. It was in
line with the Christian community giving up a church so that
India's rocket and space sciences could have their first base
in Kerala," said the statement.

It also noted the "mischief inherent in efforts by the Mumbai
authorities in evolving development plans for the city
without acknowledging the presence of churches and other
Christian institutions. This makes them venerable to
demolition in the future. The government must take remedial
action immediately," the Union said.

* * *
http://www.ucanindia.in/news/catholic-union-seeks-action-against-hate-mongers/35274/daily

[Goanet-News] The Viva Goa Impressions (Roland Francis, via Goanet)

[Goanet Reader]

The Viva Goa Impressions

Roland Francis 
It was a good day, with mild, sunny weather, considering this summer has
had more sporadic rains and chilly (not cold) temps than usual.

The execution of the event was flawless. That speaks well of the
organizers, their experience, the untiring dedication of the volunteers
(and there were many) and the countless factors that mesh to make an event
as large as this, a success.

The crowd seemed less numerous than previous years but that only benefitted
the available space and gave people a better chance to meet and greet
instead of just managing to exchange cursory hellos when jostling by.
Parking was well arranged and washrooms were clean.

There were good programs on stage and several bands and soloists played
music popular with the crowds. Food was offered in concrete pavilions and
snacks, in the stalls put up on the ground. The Chourico-Pao from a single
vendor is usually the favourite, well filled with meat in a Portuguese
bakery bun.

Other than offering a giant picnic for the Goan community of Toronto (and
surrounding areas) and a chance to interact with other Goans some of whom
you rarely get to meet, this is not an outstanding event. Beyond the hype,
it is what it is, a decent summer community gathering.

Goans rarely patronize small business commercial sponsors who spend time
and money making it to such invitations. I think most businesses have
realized this a long time ago and hence the organizers have had to lure new
stall-holders every year. This year even the big guns like the banks have
kept off. Perhaps an indication of recent lower profits and expense-cutting.

The exception is customers for the food stalls. Goans seem to like their
food seriously and caterers who have been around the Goan function circuit,
find it profitable to come.

In the end, though on an individual level, Viva Goa would probably get six
on a scale of ten, the objectives of the organizers are met i.e. a) get the
community together and b) put some money in the association kitty.

[Goanet-News] From Karachi to Canada: The Goans who went west and further west

[Goanet Reader]

By Menin Rodrigues
meni...@gmail.com

Within a few years of the founding of a new nation in 1947,
Pakistan, there were reasons for a handful of Goans to move
on to new territory; and by 1957, the first of a handful of
families had pioneered the undertaking.

Their first stop was Pierrefonds, off the island of Montreal,
Quebec, a predominantly French-speaking city -- Goans and
French, quais, parle m'en!

  Today, about 60 years later, Goans from Pakistan,
  like diamonds in the rough, look back with gleaming
  pride and are grateful to a country that welcomed
  them with open arms. All have settled well, having
  got the opportunity to assimilate and succeed, and
  having gained in confidence over the years. Two
  generations of their Canada-born children and
  grandchildren, are now steering for a new role!

The nomadic undertakings of this Diaspora are as fascinating
as Alexander the Great or St. Francis Xavier, the saint of
popular devotion to Goans, popularly referred as Goencho
Saheb (Goa's Master) in the Konkani language. 'Amchem Bhas'
(our language) is a tongue of the Konkan Coast of
south-western India, comprising parts of Karnataka and Goa,
including Kerala and Maharashtra.

Language apart, even St. Francis Xavier is not from Goa (he
was a Jesuit missionary born in the Basque region of what is
today Spain) but played an influential part in the
evangelization of the Portuguese Empire, mainly India's Goa,
a Portuguese colony until 1961. Intriguingly, Goa's very own
Padre Joseph Vaz (1651-1711) who did most of his missionary
work in Sri Lanka is known as the 'Apostle of Ceylon'!

He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 21 January 1995 in
Colombo; and canonized by Pope Francis on 14 January 2015 in
Colombo. Canada is celebrating 150 years -- a sort of
birthday but Canada I am sure is many more hundred years old!

Being a very large expanse of land but proportionately with a
few people, Canada opened its beautiful country to people
from all over the world, immigrants who brought with them a
myriad of cultures, giving them an opportunity to seek
skilled jobs, acquire homes, improve their standard of living
and opt for citizenship. It was a great package of
benevolence which is now a prized possession for the large
number of multi-cultural communities that are settled here.

According to Prof. Oswin Mascarenhas, a former principal of
St. Patrick’s College, Karachi, the first migrant from
Pakistan to land in Canada in 1953, was a Michael Braganza
who lived in GRE-317 Cincinnatus Town (Garden East/Soldier
Bazaar, Karachi).

The trickling continued at a steady pace but a larger number
of families, in droves, moved here in the 1970s and later
again in the 1990s. Canada still remains a 'hope' for many
others who wish to come here. The Goans from India probably
arrived here in the 1950s as well.

One of Canada's well known developers Fred D'Silva (Bramalea)
says: "Among the pioneers, Ozzie Todd, Philip D’Silva and
Michael Barretto arrived in 1954; I came a few years later in
1958. It so happened that Ozzie, Philip and Michael chanced
upon a signage in the Canadian Immigration office in
Metropole Hotel, Karachi which simply said, 'Welcome to
Canada', they took up that invitation, applied for and the
next day got their visas! With no more than $20 in their
pockets, they sailed to England and then to the port city of
Montreal; the rest is history of how Goans from Pakistan
found a new home in Canada."

  Known then as 'Portuguese Subjects', Goans first
  moved territory from Goa somewhere in the 1830s in
  search of economic sustenance, their destination
  being Africa. On the way they stopped upon Karachi,
  and explored the deserted and upcoming port-city
  (then known as Kolachi, a fisherman's village)
  being developed by the British.

Many found administrative, teaching and domestic employment
here and stayed on. Their magnanimous contributions to this
city, and later to Pakistan (1947), are listed in chronology
at www.goansofpakistan.org

Why Canada? I put this question to some senior Goans from
Pakistan who were among the first to come to Canada. Patrick
and Ann D'Cruz also came here in the late 1950s and have
lived a life of valuable contribution and contentment; Pat
says of their early days here, "My wife and I came to Canada
in 1957 with our two children to seek a better life, there
were numerous challenges but the Canadians were kind, so
while maintaining our heritage we integrated well. We became
a part of several activities, music, dance and song; Ann
founded the Girl Guides of Canada in Pincourt, Quebec. She
was the District Commissioner. Looking back, we have no
regrets."

Today, there are roughly about 15,000 Goans from Pakistan in
Canada, those who arrived from Karachi; this figure does not
include the two generations who were born later in Canada.
That in itself is another 

[Goanet] From Karachi to Canada: The Goans who went west and further west

[Goanet Reader]

By Menin Rodrigues
meni...@gmail.com

Within a few years of the founding of a new nation in 1947,
Pakistan, there were reasons for a handful of Goans to move
on to new territory; and by 1957, the first of a handful of
families had pioneered the undertaking.

Their first stop was Pierrefonds, off the island of Montreal,
Quebec, a predominantly French-speaking city -- Goans and
French, quais, parle m'en!

  Today, about 60 years later, Goans from Pakistan,
  like diamonds in the rough, look back with gleaming
  pride and are grateful to a country that welcomed
  them with open arms. All have settled well, having
  got the opportunity to assimilate and succeed, and
  having gained in confidence over the years. Two
  generations of their Canada-born children and
  grandchildren, are now steering for a new role!

The nomadic undertakings of this Diaspora are as fascinating
as Alexander the Great or St. Francis Xavier, the saint of
popular devotion to Goans, popularly referred as Goencho
Saheb (Goa's Master) in the Konkani language. 'Amchem Bhas'
(our language) is a tongue of the Konkan Coast of
south-western India, comprising parts of Karnataka and Goa,
including Kerala and Maharashtra.

Language apart, even St. Francis Xavier is not from Goa (he
was a Jesuit missionary born in the Basque region of what is
today Spain) but played an influential part in the
evangelization of the Portuguese Empire, mainly India's Goa,
a Portuguese colony until 1961. Intriguingly, Goa's very own
Padre Joseph Vaz (1651-1711) who did most of his missionary
work in Sri Lanka is known as the 'Apostle of Ceylon'!

He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 21 January 1995 in
Colombo; and canonized by Pope Francis on 14 January 2015 in
Colombo. Canada is celebrating 150 years -- a sort of
birthday but Canada I am sure is many more hundred years old!

Being a very large expanse of land but proportionately with a
few people, Canada opened its beautiful country to people
from all over the world, immigrants who brought with them a
myriad of cultures, giving them an opportunity to seek
skilled jobs, acquire homes, improve their standard of living
and opt for citizenship. It was a great package of
benevolence which is now a prized possession for the large
number of multi-cultural communities that are settled here.

According to Prof. Oswin Mascarenhas, a former principal of
St. Patrick’s College, Karachi, the first migrant from
Pakistan to land in Canada in 1953, was a Michael Braganza
who lived in GRE-317 Cincinnatus Town (Garden East/Soldier
Bazaar, Karachi).

The trickling continued at a steady pace but a larger number
of families, in droves, moved here in the 1970s and later
again in the 1990s. Canada still remains a 'hope' for many
others who wish to come here. The Goans from India probably
arrived here in the 1950s as well.

One of Canada's well known developers Fred D'Silva (Bramalea)
says: "Among the pioneers, Ozzie Todd, Philip D’Silva and
Michael Barretto arrived in 1954; I came a few years later in
1958. It so happened that Ozzie, Philip and Michael chanced
upon a signage in the Canadian Immigration office in
Metropole Hotel, Karachi which simply said, 'Welcome to
Canada', they took up that invitation, applied for and the
next day got their visas! With no more than $20 in their
pockets, they sailed to England and then to the port city of
Montreal; the rest is history of how Goans from Pakistan
found a new home in Canada."

  Known then as 'Portuguese Subjects', Goans first
  moved territory from Goa somewhere in the 1830s in
  search of economic sustenance, their destination
  being Africa. On the way they stopped upon Karachi,
  and explored the deserted and upcoming port-city
  (then known as Kolachi, a fisherman's village)
  being developed by the British.

Many found administrative, teaching and domestic employment
here and stayed on. Their magnanimous contributions to this
city, and later to Pakistan (1947), are listed in chronology
at www.goansofpakistan.org

Why Canada? I put this question to some senior Goans from
Pakistan who were among the first to come to Canada. Patrick
and Ann D'Cruz also came here in the late 1950s and have
lived a life of valuable contribution and contentment; Pat
says of their early days here, "My wife and I came to Canada
in 1957 with our two children to seek a better life, there
were numerous challenges but the Canadians were kind, so
while maintaining our heritage we integrated well. We became
a part of several activities, music, dance and song; Ann
founded the Girl Guides of Canada in Pincourt, Quebec. She
was the District Commissioner. Looking back, we have no
regrets."

Today, there are roughly about 15,000 Goans from Pakistan in
Canada, those who arrived from Karachi; this figure does not
include the two generations who were born later in Canada.
That in itself is another 

[Goanet-News] Remembering Eunice De Souza (Five poems from the 1983 anthology edited by Peter Nazareth)

[Goanet Reader]

You Left Mid-Sentence: Eunice De Souza, 1940-2017 (TheWire.in Shefali
Balsari Shah)
https://thewire.in/162839/poet-writer-eunice-de-souza-passes-away-obituary/

Eunice de Souza was a legend who notoriously “terrorised (successfully) the
bank manager” as well as her contemporaries, colleagues and generations of
students (even college principals have been known to quake before her). Her
weapons: an acerbic tongue and devastating wit bolstered by impeccable
logic. She was a true savant whose departure leaves a gaping hole in our
intellectual sphere.

Eunice has been widely acclaimed as a poet, novelist and anthologist of
19th and 20th century Indian writing. She was also a critic, columnist and
writer for children. Her first book of poetry Fix (1979) was hailed as “…a
practically perfect book, and one of the most brilliant first books I have
encountered” (K.D. Katrak, The Sunday Observer). Most of the poems seem at
first to be caricatures of the Goan community, but are in fact
minutely-observed revelations, occasionally indulgent but more often
critical. There are also several wrenching poems about the poet’s own
fraught and unresolved relationships. Her mix of trenchant observation and
the confessional with more than a touch of self-deprecation and black
humour became her distinctive style, reappearing in later collections,
Women in Dutch Painting (1988), Ways of Belonging (1990), Selected and New
Poems (1994), and A Necklace of Skulls (2009), unabashed even in her last
volume Learn from the Almond Leaf (2016)

Noted poet Eunice De Souza passes away: The Hindu (Kenneth Rosario)
http://www.thehindu.com/books/noted-poet-eunice-de-souza-passes-away/article19385390.ece

Eunice de Souza (1940-2017): Poet and inspirational teacher who lived with
enjoyment and defiance (Scroll.in Rochelle Pinto)
https://scroll.in/article/845438/eunice-de-souza-1940-2017-poet-and-inspirational-teacher-who-lived-with-enjoyment-and-defiance

Noted poet Eunice de Souza passes away: Indian Express
http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/books/noted-poet-eunice-de-souza-passes-away-in-mumbai-4772767/

Eunice de Souza, poet and professor of literature, passes away in Mumbai
(FirstPost.com)
http://www.firstpost.com/living/eunice-de-souza-poet-and-professor-of-literature-passes-away-in-mumbai-3870175.html

Eunice de Souza speaks about her edited anthology of Indian poetry
(Scroll.in)
https://video.scroll.in/845412/watch-eunice-de-souza-1940-2017-speaks-about-her-edited-anthology-of-indian-poetry

Mumbai: Eunice de Souza, poet and literature professor, passes away (FPJ)
http://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/mumbai-eunice-de-souza-poet-and-literature-professor-passes-away/1112425

Renowned poet Eucine de Souza passes away (AsianAge)
http://www.asianage.com/metros/mumbai/300717/renowned-poet-eunice-de-souza-passes-away.html

Five Poems: Eunice De Souza

ONE MAN’S POETRY

Irony as an attitude to life
is passé! you said
So be it, friend.
Let me be passé and survive.
Leave me the cutting edge of words
to clear a world for
my ego.
The rage is almost done.
My soul’s almost my own.
Chances are
my father himself
didn’t wish to die.
My mother watched by his bedside
and never forgave herself
for being asleep
the night he died.
He left a desk, a chair,
a typewriter, and a notebook.
At family gatherings
my mother smiled
in her best faded chiffon
and travelled third
with her in-laws travelling first
in the same train.
As I grew up
I longed only
to laugh easily,
all that emerged
was a nervous whinny.
My limbs began to scatter
my face dissolve
my love would hold me close
for hours when I could
neither speak nor weep,
bring me food and feed me.
>From him I am learning to love.

HE SPEAKS

Well, now tell me
what would you do to a
woman who wrote to you
saying: You haven’t written
for three weeks. You’re the
meanest man alive. Not even
an exclamation mark at the end
and she sends telegrams and
express letters saying it was
a joke, love, it was a joke.
I did what any self-respecting
man would. I ignored her for
a week. Her pleadings wore
me down. She was an affectionate
creature and tried hard, poor dear,
but never quite made the grade.
She would walk too close to me
and then protest naively: How
should lovers walk? Show me:
Ridiculous, too, her unseemly
mirth when I said confidently:
I have such an hypnotic effect
on women. Everywhere I go
they fall into my arms.
Jamie Bond! she cried
My man is India’s answer to
Jamie Bond!
After that pathological display
I decided there was only one
thing to do: fix her.
The next time we were making love
I said quite casually:
I hope you realize I do this
with other women.

FOR A
CATHOLIC
FRIEND

You madden me
with your enthusiasm
for everybody and everything.
One day it’s peace meetings
in Cyprus that will save the world
another day it’s Pentecostal feats
in Ohio the banging of cymbals
and oh-but-it’s true
the Holy Spirit appears.
I cut in, dyspeptic.
You stop, startled into tears.
I’m chastened. You’re not Catholics
I 

[Goanet] Remembering Eunice De Souza (Five poems from the 1983 anthology edited by Peter Nazareth)

[Goanet Reader]

You Left Mid-Sentence: Eunice De Souza, 1940-2017 (TheWire.in Shefali
Balsari Shah)
https://thewire.in/162839/poet-writer-eunice-de-souza-passes-away-obituary/

Eunice de Souza was a legend who notoriously “terrorised (successfully) the
bank manager” as well as her contemporaries, colleagues and generations of
students (even college principals have been known to quake before her). Her
weapons: an acerbic tongue and devastating wit bolstered by impeccable
logic. She was a true savant whose departure leaves a gaping hole in our
intellectual sphere.

Eunice has been widely acclaimed as a poet, novelist and anthologist of
19th and 20th century Indian writing. She was also a critic, columnist and
writer for children. Her first book of poetry Fix (1979) was hailed as “…a
practically perfect book, and one of the most brilliant first books I have
encountered” (K.D. Katrak, The Sunday Observer). Most of the poems seem at
first to be caricatures of the Goan community, but are in fact
minutely-observed revelations, occasionally indulgent but more often
critical. There are also several wrenching poems about the poet’s own
fraught and unresolved relationships. Her mix of trenchant observation and
the confessional with more than a touch of self-deprecation and black
humour became her distinctive style, reappearing in later collections,
Women in Dutch Painting (1988), Ways of Belonging (1990), Selected and New
Poems (1994), and A Necklace of Skulls (2009), unabashed even in her last
volume Learn from the Almond Leaf (2016)

Noted poet Eunice De Souza passes away: The Hindu (Kenneth Rosario)
http://www.thehindu.com/books/noted-poet-eunice-de-souza-passes-away/article19385390.ece

Eunice de Souza (1940-2017): Poet and inspirational teacher who lived with
enjoyment and defiance (Scroll.in Rochelle Pinto)
https://scroll.in/article/845438/eunice-de-souza-1940-2017-poet-and-inspirational-teacher-who-lived-with-enjoyment-and-defiance

Noted poet Eunice de Souza passes away: Indian Express
http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/books/noted-poet-eunice-de-souza-passes-away-in-mumbai-4772767/

Eunice de Souza, poet and professor of literature, passes away in Mumbai
(FirstPost.com)
http://www.firstpost.com/living/eunice-de-souza-poet-and-professor-of-literature-passes-away-in-mumbai-3870175.html

Eunice de Souza speaks about her edited anthology of Indian poetry
(Scroll.in)
https://video.scroll.in/845412/watch-eunice-de-souza-1940-2017-speaks-about-her-edited-anthology-of-indian-poetry

Mumbai: Eunice de Souza, poet and literature professor, passes away (FPJ)
http://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/mumbai-eunice-de-souza-poet-and-literature-professor-passes-away/1112425

Renowned poet Eucine de Souza passes away (AsianAge)
http://www.asianage.com/metros/mumbai/300717/renowned-poet-eunice-de-souza-passes-away.html

Five Poems: Eunice De Souza

ONE MAN’S POETRY

Irony as an attitude to life
is passé! you said
So be it, friend.
Let me be passé and survive.
Leave me the cutting edge of words
to clear a world for
my ego.
The rage is almost done.
My soul’s almost my own.
Chances are
my father himself
didn’t wish to die.
My mother watched by his bedside
and never forgave herself
for being asleep
the night he died.
He left a desk, a chair,
a typewriter, and a notebook.
At family gatherings
my mother smiled
in her best faded chiffon
and travelled third
with her in-laws travelling first
in the same train.
As I grew up
I longed only
to laugh easily,
all that emerged
was a nervous whinny.
My limbs began to scatter
my face dissolve
my love would hold me close
for hours when I could
neither speak nor weep,
bring me food and feed me.
>From him I am learning to love.

HE SPEAKS

Well, now tell me
what would you do to a
woman who wrote to you
saying: You haven’t written
for three weeks. You’re the
meanest man alive. Not even
an exclamation mark at the end
and she sends telegrams and
express letters saying it was
a joke, love, it was a joke.
I did what any self-respecting
man would. I ignored her for
a week. Her pleadings wore
me down. She was an affectionate
creature and tried hard, poor dear,
but never quite made the grade.
She would walk too close to me
and then protest naively: How
should lovers walk? Show me:
Ridiculous, too, her unseemly
mirth when I said confidently:
I have such an hypnotic effect
on women. Everywhere I go
they fall into my arms.
Jamie Bond! she cried
My man is India’s answer to
Jamie Bond!
After that pathological display
I decided there was only one
thing to do: fix her.
The next time we were making love
I said quite casually:
I hope you realize I do this
with other women.

FOR A
CATHOLIC
FRIEND

You madden me
with your enthusiasm
for everybody and everything.
One day it’s peace meetings
in Cyprus that will save the world
another day it’s Pentecostal feats
in Ohio the banging of cymbals
and oh-but-it’s true
the Holy Spirit appears.
I cut in, dyspeptic.
You stop, startled into tears.
I’m chastened. You’re not Catholics
I 

[Goanet-News] Cuncolim was not Goa’s First Rebellion against the Portuguese (Amita Kanekar)

[Goanet Reader]

Cuncolim was not Goa’s First Rebellion against the Portuguese

By AMITA KANEKAR
amitakane...@gmail.com

It's that time of year again. The anniversary of the Cuncolim
incident of 15 July 1583, with its regular demands to
commemorate the gauncars who were put to death by the Estado
da Índia for lynching five Jesuit missionaries and several
native Christians, provides a great example of the prevailing
amnesia about Goa's past.

  The amnesia is at least partly deliberate, as can
  be seen from how the popular Cuncolim narrative has
  been woven to satisfy all the nationalist tropes
  possible. The Portuguese as relentless oppressors,
  Goa as a Hindu land, religious conversion as forced
  and violent, natives as Hindus alone who were
  united against the foreign Christians, elite Goans
  as martyrs for Hinduism, and no mention of caste or
  land relations at all. All of which makes this
  incident the first 'War of Independence' not only
  in Goa but also India. What better history can any
  nationalist ask for?

Alas! The facts of the incident, as examined by various
scholars, read somewhat differently. For example, although
the nationalists insist that Goa was Hindu before the
Portuguese arrived, many Goans of the time were actually
Muslim, while many others belonged to indigenous communities
with their own unique beliefs and practices. If anything
related to today's Hinduism existed then, it was the belief
system of only some of the dominant non-Muslim castes.

Further, the village of Cuncolim was not united against the
missionaries. For, not only were the elites divided among
themselves, but a Christian villager is reported to have
rescued one of the Portuguese missionaries attacked on that
fateful day (Angela Barreto Xavier, Power, Religion and
Violence in Sixteenth-Century Goa, 2010). Perhaps one of the
clearest proofs of the divisions within the village was the
case of one of those killed, Domingos da Costa: he was a
Brahmin youth from Cuncolim studying at Rachol, who had
accompanied and guided the soldiers who had destroyed the
local temples earlier (Rowena Robinson, Cuncolim: Weaving a
Tale of Resistance, 1997).

  But the biggest casualty in the Cuncolim narrative
  is the complete absence of Bijapur, even though the
  region in which Cuncolim was situated was
  administered by governors appointed by the
  Adilshahi administration of Bijapur, and was
  notable for providing soldiers for the Adilshahi
  army (Xavier, 2010).

Goa of course did not even exist at that time, before the
Portuguese welded it together out of many territories,
kingdoms and chiefdoms, some of which stretched into today's
Konkan and Canara coasts, and also the Deccan. In fact, this
incident of 1583, in which a number of gauncars, who had led
a group of villagers in murdering the Jesuit priests and the
Christians accompanying them, were in turn executed by the
Portuguese administration, took place against a backdrop of
strife between the Portuguese and Bijapur over territories
formerly ruled by the latter.

  That's another reason why the demand that the 1583
  event in Cuncolim be titled as India's first 'war
  of independence' and mentioned so in school
  textbooks, is so ridiculous. It's not just the
  issue of forgetting history by claiming that India
  existed in 1583, when it was really born in 1947.
  It's not just the strange notion that opposition to
  European colonial rule was automatically a fight
  for 'independence'. It's also the very simple fact
  that, if you want to look for the first rebellion
  against the Portuguese, you should obviously look
  towards Bijapur.

Because the Bijapur administration rose against the
Portuguese much before Cuncolim did, and not just once but
many times over an entire century, even succeeded in driving
them out of Goa for a while, and finally lost many hundreds
of lives in this cause.

Afonso de Albuquerque was welcomed by some Goans when he
first conquered Goa in February 1510, but opposed by others.
The latter, led by the Sultan of Bijapur, succeeded in
driving the Portuguese out at the end of May. It was in
November that Albuquerque conquered Goa for the second and
more permanent time. Thousands of soldiers and civilians
perished in the battle and the vengeance that followed.
Shouldn't these soldiers and civilians -- many of whom were
Goans or residents of Goa -- be considered as martyrs for the
cause of so-called 'independence'?

And the Bijapuri rebellions did not stop here. They and the
Portuguese fought numerous battles, small and large, between
1520 and 1583, with some pockets of land -- like the Cabo de
Rama fort -- shifting back and forth between the contending sides.

The Bijapur revolts were of course not a 

[Goanet] Cuncolim was not Goa’s First Rebellion against the Portuguese (Amita Kanekar)

[Goanet Reader]

Cuncolim was not Goa’s First Rebellion against the Portuguese

By AMITA KANEKAR
amitakane...@gmail.com

It's that time of year again. The anniversary of the Cuncolim
incident of 15 July 1583, with its regular demands to
commemorate the gauncars who were put to death by the Estado
da Índia for lynching five Jesuit missionaries and several
native Christians, provides a great example of the prevailing
amnesia about Goa's past.

  The amnesia is at least partly deliberate, as can
  be seen from how the popular Cuncolim narrative has
  been woven to satisfy all the nationalist tropes
  possible. The Portuguese as relentless oppressors,
  Goa as a Hindu land, religious conversion as forced
  and violent, natives as Hindus alone who were
  united against the foreign Christians, elite Goans
  as martyrs for Hinduism, and no mention of caste or
  land relations at all. All of which makes this
  incident the first 'War of Independence' not only
  in Goa but also India. What better history can any
  nationalist ask for?

Alas! The facts of the incident, as examined by various
scholars, read somewhat differently. For example, although
the nationalists insist that Goa was Hindu before the
Portuguese arrived, many Goans of the time were actually
Muslim, while many others belonged to indigenous communities
with their own unique beliefs and practices. If anything
related to today's Hinduism existed then, it was the belief
system of only some of the dominant non-Muslim castes.

Further, the village of Cuncolim was not united against the
missionaries. For, not only were the elites divided among
themselves, but a Christian villager is reported to have
rescued one of the Portuguese missionaries attacked on that
fateful day (Angela Barreto Xavier, Power, Religion and
Violence in Sixteenth-Century Goa, 2010). Perhaps one of the
clearest proofs of the divisions within the village was the
case of one of those killed, Domingos da Costa: he was a
Brahmin youth from Cuncolim studying at Rachol, who had
accompanied and guided the soldiers who had destroyed the
local temples earlier (Rowena Robinson, Cuncolim: Weaving a
Tale of Resistance, 1997).

  But the biggest casualty in the Cuncolim narrative
  is the complete absence of Bijapur, even though the
  region in which Cuncolim was situated was
  administered by governors appointed by the
  Adilshahi administration of Bijapur, and was
  notable for providing soldiers for the Adilshahi
  army (Xavier, 2010).

Goa of course did not even exist at that time, before the
Portuguese welded it together out of many territories,
kingdoms and chiefdoms, some of which stretched into today's
Konkan and Canara coasts, and also the Deccan. In fact, this
incident of 1583, in which a number of gauncars, who had led
a group of villagers in murdering the Jesuit priests and the
Christians accompanying them, were in turn executed by the
Portuguese administration, took place against a backdrop of
strife between the Portuguese and Bijapur over territories
formerly ruled by the latter.

  That's another reason why the demand that the 1583
  event in Cuncolim be titled as India's first 'war
  of independence' and mentioned so in school
  textbooks, is so ridiculous. It's not just the
  issue of forgetting history by claiming that India
  existed in 1583, when it was really born in 1947.
  It's not just the strange notion that opposition to
  European colonial rule was automatically a fight
  for 'independence'. It's also the very simple fact
  that, if you want to look for the first rebellion
  against the Portuguese, you should obviously look
  towards Bijapur.

Because the Bijapur administration rose against the
Portuguese much before Cuncolim did, and not just once but
many times over an entire century, even succeeded in driving
them out of Goa for a while, and finally lost many hundreds
of lives in this cause.

Afonso de Albuquerque was welcomed by some Goans when he
first conquered Goa in February 1510, but opposed by others.
The latter, led by the Sultan of Bijapur, succeeded in
driving the Portuguese out at the end of May. It was in
November that Albuquerque conquered Goa for the second and
more permanent time. Thousands of soldiers and civilians
perished in the battle and the vengeance that followed.
Shouldn't these soldiers and civilians -- many of whom were
Goans or residents of Goa -- be considered as martyrs for the
cause of so-called 'independence'?

And the Bijapuri rebellions did not stop here. They and the
Portuguese fought numerous battles, small and large, between
1520 and 1583, with some pockets of land -- like the Cabo de
Rama fort -- shifting back and forth between the contending sides.

The Bijapur revolts were of course not a 

[Goanet] Market Rules: Goa, cattle slaughter prohibitions, and gau rakshaks (Pamela D'Mello, Caravan)

[Goanet Reader]

REPORTAGE: Market Rules

In Goa, Cattle Slaughter Prohibitions And Gau Rakshaks Have
Been Present For Years Before The Centre's New Livestock

By PAMELA D'MELLO | 7 July 2017
dmello.pam...@gmail.com

[PHOTO: RICK FRIEDMAN/CORBIS/GETTY IMAGES: With approximately
25 percent of the state's population being Christian and
eight percent Muslim, Goa's food politics has provided
adequate opportunity for saffron groups to test their
mettle.]

In May 2017, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central
government introduced regulations preventing the sale of any
cattle for slaughter at animal markets across the country.
The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock
Markets) Rules received criticism and open defiance from
several governments of states with a beef-consuming populace.
In the days following the notification, the governments of
Kerala and Meghalaya passed resolutions in their respective
state assemblies opposing the centre's notification, while
those of Nagaland and West Bengal stated that the
notification would not be implemented in their states. Among
India's beef-consuming states, however, the BJP-led Goa
government, which appeared to be searching for a solution to
the effect of the regulations on the state's beef supply, was
conspicuous for its relative silence.

  Goa's tryst with gau rakshak -- cow-protection --
  groups began at least half a decade before they
  became active on the national landscape. With
  Christians comprising 25 percent of the state's
  population and Muslims about eight percent, Goa's
  food politics have provided adequate opportunity
  for saffron groups to test their mettle. For
  instance, at the sixth edition of the All India
  Hindu Convention that was held in the state in June
  2017, the groups present passed resolutions seeking
  the establishment of a Hindu nation and a
  nationwide ban on cow slaughter. Sadhvi Saraswati,
  one of the speakers at the event, likened the
  consumption of beef to "eating one's own mother,"
  and called for public hangings of those who eat
  beef.

According to Albertina Almeida, a Goa-based advocate and
human-rights activist, "Goa has always been a laboratory for
saffron politics." The politics over the state's beef supply
and production has been a long simmering one, which started
off innocuously as campaigns by animal welfare
non-governmental organisations. Several meat traders I spoke
to recalled that trouble first began for them more than a
decade ago when these NGOs began to file cases under the
Transport of Animals Rules, 1978, to shut down
slaughterhouses and highlight conditions of spacing within
the bovine transport facilities. According to Angela Kazi,
the secretary of the Panjim Animal Welfare Society -- an NGO
that runs animal shelters in the state -- the groups took up
cases where traders would force 16 bovines in a vehicle that
was supposed to carry only eight.

Animal welfare NGOs began active rescue work in the state
with stray dogs and snakes around 1994. "My first raid
against an illegal slaughterhouse was in 2001 at the prodding
of cow lovers," Kazi told me. "We rescued 40 animals and sent
them to a gaushala [cow shelter]. Today, if there is no
illegal slaughter house in Goa, we can take the credit for
that." She said that the organisation had "registered around
14-15 cases over the years against illegal slaughterhouses,"
before adding that "the need for more gaushalas has
increased." Amrutlal Singh, the president of the Animal
Rescue Squad -- another animal welfare organisation in the
state -- has also expressed the need for more gaushalas in
the state.

Anwar Bepari, the general secretary of the Qureshi Meat
Traders' Association in the state, told me that after the
animal welfare groups, gau rakshaks began impeding the beef
trade in 2010. The five subsequent years were marked by raids
and confiscation of the cattle. "First the NGO wallahs were
there, then the rakshaks," Anwar recalled. He added that
"many traders lost money and their cattle was confiscated."

  Over time, the Muslim community's practices of
  qurbani -- an animal sacrifice as part of the
  Eid-al-Adha celebrations -- were curtailed. In 2013
  and 2014, the Goa bench of Bombay High Court
  directed that the practice could only be conducted
  at the slaughterhouse of the state-run Goa Meat
  Complex. Gau-rakshak groups even met the state's
  governor in 2014 to seek prevention of cow
  slaughter during the Muslim festival of
  Eid-al-Adha.

Hanuman Parab, the president of the gau-rakshak group
Gouvansha Raksha Abhiyan, told me that the group began its
activities in 2008. "We want a ban on beef because the cow
and the family of cow has other positive uses that people are
not aware of," he said. Animal welfare NGOs have collaborated
with 

[Goanet-News] BOOK EXCERPT: Goa -- a Shangri-La or a Timbuctoo? (Ganesh Daivajna)

[Goanet Reader]

o
fall in line.

It was necessary to maintain the proper books of account
which needed to be audited by a chartered accountant. Based
on the audited statements in the recognised format, the
grants were sanctioned to the schools. Hence a floodgate of
opportunities opened up for the chartered accountants.

Many schools did not know about these changes, and therefore
we undertook an awareness drive by visiting all the schools
and educating them of the need for maintaining books of
account and forming trusts and societies to manage the
schools. We covered nearly 120 schools and many of them
requested us to help them. They entrusted the assignment of
putting things in order and getting the accounts audited to
claim the much needed government grant. This greatly helped
improve the financial health of schools. SMI was happy that
we got many assignments, but the task of carrying out the
assignment fell on my young shoulders.

Contact the author
Email   : daiva...@gmail.com
Phone  : 0832-2730728 or 2736139, or (via Naveen) 72760 29981

[Book extracts of newly released Goa-related books are welcome,
and Goanet Reader looks forward to sharing the same online.]

[Goanet] BOOK EXCERPT: Goa -- a Shangri-La or a Timbuctoo? (Ganesh Daivajna)

[Goanet Reader]

o
fall in line.

It was necessary to maintain the proper books of account
which needed to be audited by a chartered accountant. Based
on the audited statements in the recognised format, the
grants were sanctioned to the schools. Hence a floodgate of
opportunities opened up for the chartered accountants.

Many schools did not know about these changes, and therefore
we undertook an awareness drive by visiting all the schools
and educating them of the need for maintaining books of
account and forming trusts and societies to manage the
schools. We covered nearly 120 schools and many of them
requested us to help them. They entrusted the assignment of
putting things in order and getting the accounts audited to
claim the much needed government grant. This greatly helped
improve the financial health of schools. SMI was happy that
we got many assignments, but the task of carrying out the
assignment fell on my young shoulders.

Contact the author
Email   : daiva...@gmail.com
Phone  : 0832-2730728 or 2736139, or (via Naveen) 72760 29981

[Book extracts of newly released Goa-related books are welcome,
and Goanet Reader looks forward to sharing the same online.]

[Goanet-News] DIASPORA: A love affair with Goa, despite a gap of 8300 kms (Edgar Valles, interview with FN)

[Goanet Reader]

  Edgar Valles [diasval...@gmail.com] (63) is the
  president of Casa de Goa
  [http://www.casadegoa.org/], a three-decade old of
  Goans, 'friends of Goa', and a centre to promote
  the cultural values of Goa, Daman and Diu in
  Lisbon.

  He has authored 13 books, and is a member of the
  Socialist Party ("the party of Antonio Costa", the
  Portuguese prime minister of Goan origin, as he
  points out).

  An e-interview with him, in which he talks about an
  ambitious upcoming event that happens this weekend
  with Frederick Noronha (FN):

---
FN: Please tell us a little about this weekend's plans?
---

our international conference which will take place in Lisbon
on May 6 [2017 and will have Goans from diferente countries
who love Goa but are also interested in knowing the problems
that exist in Goa and the ways to improve Goa situation.

It will not be a conference of Goans of diaspora, as we will
have Goans coming from Goa, just to participate at the
conference.

We will have the official opening of the conference by the
Goan-origin Prime Minister of Portugal, Antonio Costa, and by
a representant of Indiam Embassy. The Ambassador, Ms Nandini
Singla, will not be able to be present, as she will be in New
Delhi to participate in a meeting of all Indian ambassadors
with the Indian Prime Minister.

Then there will be there workshops; on culture, economy and
environment and education. At the end of the day, the
conclusions will be approved in a plenary session.

--
FN: What is its goal of an event of this kind?
--

We know we will not solve the problems of Goa. But we love
Goa and we want to be aware of the economic, environment and
other problems afecting Goa. As citizens of the world, and
although we have no political rights in India, we feel it is
our duty to think about Goa not just when it comes to having
nice holidays or a good fish-curry.

--
FN: What has the response been like?
--

The response has been entusiastic.

Although there are people who say, "Why are you discussing
sustainable development in Goa, when you yourself do not live
in Goa?" most of our members look forward for the conference.
We have also received participation form Goa, Great Britain,
and other countries. The Goan governtment was also invited
for the conference.

--
FN: What is the history of Casa de Goa itself? We keep
hearing about it
--

Casa de Goa was founded thirty years ago. It is a association
formed in public interest. It is a association which
congregates not only Goans, but also people from Damao and
Diu, the former Portuguese colonies in India. This year, we
comemorate our 30th aniversary, with many events

--
FN: What are the future plans for the Casa de Goa?
--

We want to preserve Goan culture and links to Goa, to promote
a love for Goa among our comunity. We also want the
Portuguese people to know more about Goa and India.

--
FN: How big is the Goan community in Lisbon and Portugal?
--

We are about 20,000 strong. Of course, there is no census.

--
FN: What are the biggest challenges before the Goan community
there?
--

To retain ties with Goa. We are 8,300 km away from Goa, very
well integrated in Portuguese society and we cannot forget
Goa and India.

--
FN:  What do you see as its main achievements of the
community?
--

Our main achivement is indeed to have a Portuguse Prime
Minister of Goan origin. In fact, our general assembly
decided to confer on Antonio Costa the title of honorory
member of Casa de Goa.

--
FN: How do the operations of the Casa de Goa compare with Goan
communities elsewhere?
--

We have ties with other Goan associations around the world.
We have a strong cooperation with Indo-Portuguese Friendship
Society, with its headquartes in Panjim.

--
FN: If you had three wishes for the Casa de Goa, what would these be?

[Goanet] DIASPORA: A love affair with Goa, despite a gap of 8300 kms (Edgar Valles, interview with FN)

[Goanet Reader]

  Edgar Valles [diasval...@gmail.com] (63) is the
  president of Casa de Goa
  [http://www.casadegoa.org/], a three-decade old of
  Goans, 'friends of Goa', and a centre to promote
  the cultural values of Goa, Daman and Diu in
  Lisbon.

  He has authored 13 books, and is a member of the
  Socialist Party ("the party of Antonio Costa", the
  Portuguese prime minister of Goan origin, as he
  points out).

  An e-interview with him, in which he talks about an
  ambitious upcoming event that happens this weekend
  with Frederick Noronha (FN):

---
FN: Please tell us a little about this weekend's plans?
---

our international conference which will take place in Lisbon
on May 6 [2017 and will have Goans from diferente countries
who love Goa but are also interested in knowing the problems
that exist in Goa and the ways to improve Goa situation.

It will not be a conference of Goans of diaspora, as we will
have Goans coming from Goa, just to participate at the
conference.

We will have the official opening of the conference by the
Goan-origin Prime Minister of Portugal, Antonio Costa, and by
a representant of Indiam Embassy. The Ambassador, Ms Nandini
Singla, will not be able to be present, as she will be in New
Delhi to participate in a meeting of all Indian ambassadors
with the Indian Prime Minister.

Then there will be there workshops; on culture, economy and
environment and education. At the end of the day, the
conclusions will be approved in a plenary session.

--
FN: What is its goal of an event of this kind?
--

We know we will not solve the problems of Goa. But we love
Goa and we want to be aware of the economic, environment and
other problems afecting Goa. As citizens of the world, and
although we have no political rights in India, we feel it is
our duty to think about Goa not just when it comes to having
nice holidays or a good fish-curry.

--
FN: What has the response been like?
--

The response has been entusiastic.

Although there are people who say, "Why are you discussing
sustainable development in Goa, when you yourself do not live
in Goa?" most of our members look forward for the conference.
We have also received participation form Goa, Great Britain,
and other countries. The Goan governtment was also invited
for the conference.

--
FN: What is the history of Casa de Goa itself? We keep
hearing about it
--

Casa de Goa was founded thirty years ago. It is a association
formed in public interest. It is a association which
congregates not only Goans, but also people from Damao and
Diu, the former Portuguese colonies in India. This year, we
comemorate our 30th aniversary, with many events

--
FN: What are the future plans for the Casa de Goa?
--

We want to preserve Goan culture and links to Goa, to promote
a love for Goa among our comunity. We also want the
Portuguese people to know more about Goa and India.

--
FN: How big is the Goan community in Lisbon and Portugal?
--

We are about 20,000 strong. Of course, there is no census.

--
FN: What are the biggest challenges before the Goan community
there?
--

To retain ties with Goa. We are 8,300 km away from Goa, very
well integrated in Portuguese society and we cannot forget
Goa and India.

--
FN:  What do you see as its main achievements of the
community?
--

Our main achivement is indeed to have a Portuguse Prime
Minister of Goan origin. In fact, our general assembly
decided to confer on Antonio Costa the title of honorory
member of Casa de Goa.

--
FN: How do the operations of the Casa de Goa compare with Goan
communities elsewhere?
--

We have ties with other Goan associations around the world.
We have a strong cooperation with Indo-Portuguese Friendship
Society, with its headquartes in Panjim.

--
FN: If you had three wishes for the Casa de Goa, what would these be?

[Goanet] The art of making the voter powerless (Devika Sequeira, ToI)

[Goanet Reader]

The art of making the voter powerless
May 1, 2017

Devika Sequeira
devikaseque...@gmail.com

  The speculation over where chief minister Manohar
  Parrikar is likely to contest from -- Panaji,
  Mapusa, Curchorem, Mayem, Calangute -- says a lot
  about the BJP's and Parrikar's level of confidence
  after the March 11 result stinger. The derisive
  bravado at the April 9 Amit Shah felicitation is
  far from reflective of the anxiety in the BJP camp
  to find a 'safe' seat for the chief minister.
  Vishwajit Rane at least has no such problem.
  There's no knowing of course that Babush Monserrate
  will not throw in his lot with the BJP. A September
  bypoll is still a long way off and it gives the CM
  time to exercise his celebrated persuasive skills.

The move to reschedule the panchayat elections is just as
telling. Goa could do with a breather to recover from the
recent election, Parrikar told journalists. Indeed, it is the
BJP that has to recover from a defeat of its own making. Were
it to put its ear to the ground -- its intelligence gatherers
are probably already on stealth mode -- it would pick up the
pulse of seething resentment against the current arrangement
that has rendered the voter inconsequential.

The Chief Justice of India J S Khehar recently brought up the
matter of the absence of political accountability in the
country. "Even our legal system provides no consequences be
suffered by political parties if promises made in the
manifesto are not fulfilled," he said.

The manner in which the BJP manipulated the Goa and Manipur
results went beyond even dishonouring electoral promises. It
contravened the very idea of democracy: the right of the
voter to have his say, and the duty of the constitutional
authority like governor Mridula Sinha to uphold it.

In an interview to a TV channel soon after he won the trust
vote, Parrikar made some very telling points. He'd have to
"compromise on the BJP agenda" for now, he said, insisting
there had been no "financial deals" in government formation.

But the icing on the spin was the justification that what was
done was done "for the betterment of Goa". The arrogance of
the presumption that he and the BJP alone know what's best
for the rest of us, even at the cost of turning the voter
powerless, signals the direction in which the country is
currently headed.

Whatever Vijai Sardesai, who's positioned himself as the
saviour of Goan culture, may claim, the regional identity
issue will be mere sloganeering till the BJP finds a way to
move in for the kill. Shah recently asked the party's
national executive members to work for the "golden age of the
BJP", with a BJP chief minister installed in every state and
in positions of power at every level from panchayats to
parliament. How it gets there will be of little consequence.

Minister Francis D'Souza concedes it won't be easy to manage
a coalition of 13+8. But Parrikar, he says, "is the ideal
person to hold such a coalition". So far the chief minister
has doled out the heftiest enticements to those with the
potential to cause most heartburn.

  Sudin Dhavalikar and Sardesai have the biggest
  money spinners, PWD, transport (both with
  Dhavalikar) and TCP. Sardesai also hopes to carve
  his pound of flesh from the PDAs. All three Goa
  Forward MLAs are ministers. Leaving even one out
  could have risked his resignation.

No doubt the BJP in Goa is different from the Congress. Its
biggest plus is its dominance by a single personality. Even
the eight Catholic BJP MLAs who one assumes haven't been
drilled in the RSS line of discipline, have learnt
subservience on the BJP side. Intemperate in criticism when
in the Congress, Mauvin Godinho has been relatively quiet and
submissive on the saffron side. He was among the last to be
accommodated in the ministry and given the innocuous
panchayat ministry.

  While Parrikar's dominance is perhaps good for
  cohesive, political action, personality cult
  politics precludes the rise of second-rung leaders,
  which explains the utter failure of the Laxmikant
  Parsekar government. So who would the BJP turn to
  after Parrikar? Certainly not Michael Lobo or
  Nilesh Cabral, who as "minorities" cannot aspire to
  go beyond the cabinet. After his sellout, Vijai
  Sardesai may well fit the bill. Sardesai's
  political future does lie perhaps on Modi's side.
--
The writer is a senior journalist. The views expressed are
her own.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/the-art-of-making-the-voter-powerless/articleshow/58451077.cms

[Goanet-News] The art of making the voter powerless (Devika Sequeira, ToI)

[Goanet Reader]

The art of making the voter powerless
May 1, 2017

Devika Sequeira
devikaseque...@gmail.com

  The speculation over where chief minister Manohar
  Parrikar is likely to contest from -- Panaji,
  Mapusa, Curchorem, Mayem, Calangute -- says a lot
  about the BJP's and Parrikar's level of confidence
  after the March 11 result stinger. The derisive
  bravado at the April 9 Amit Shah felicitation is
  far from reflective of the anxiety in the BJP camp
  to find a 'safe' seat for the chief minister.
  Vishwajit Rane at least has no such problem.
  There's no knowing of course that Babush Monserrate
  will not throw in his lot with the BJP. A September
  bypoll is still a long way off and it gives the CM
  time to exercise his celebrated persuasive skills.

The move to reschedule the panchayat elections is just as
telling. Goa could do with a breather to recover from the
recent election, Parrikar told journalists. Indeed, it is the
BJP that has to recover from a defeat of its own making. Were
it to put its ear to the ground -- its intelligence gatherers
are probably already on stealth mode -- it would pick up the
pulse of seething resentment against the current arrangement
that has rendered the voter inconsequential.

The Chief Justice of India J S Khehar recently brought up the
matter of the absence of political accountability in the
country. "Even our legal system provides no consequences be
suffered by political parties if promises made in the
manifesto are not fulfilled," he said.

The manner in which the BJP manipulated the Goa and Manipur
results went beyond even dishonouring electoral promises. It
contravened the very idea of democracy: the right of the
voter to have his say, and the duty of the constitutional
authority like governor Mridula Sinha to uphold it.

In an interview to a TV channel soon after he won the trust
vote, Parrikar made some very telling points. He'd have to
"compromise on the BJP agenda" for now, he said, insisting
there had been no "financial deals" in government formation.

But the icing on the spin was the justification that what was
done was done "for the betterment of Goa". The arrogance of
the presumption that he and the BJP alone know what's best
for the rest of us, even at the cost of turning the voter
powerless, signals the direction in which the country is
currently headed.

Whatever Vijai Sardesai, who's positioned himself as the
saviour of Goan culture, may claim, the regional identity
issue will be mere sloganeering till the BJP finds a way to
move in for the kill. Shah recently asked the party's
national executive members to work for the "golden age of the
BJP", with a BJP chief minister installed in every state and
in positions of power at every level from panchayats to
parliament. How it gets there will be of little consequence.

Minister Francis D'Souza concedes it won't be easy to manage
a coalition of 13+8. But Parrikar, he says, "is the ideal
person to hold such a coalition". So far the chief minister
has doled out the heftiest enticements to those with the
potential to cause most heartburn.

  Sudin Dhavalikar and Sardesai have the biggest
  money spinners, PWD, transport (both with
  Dhavalikar) and TCP. Sardesai also hopes to carve
  his pound of flesh from the PDAs. All three Goa
  Forward MLAs are ministers. Leaving even one out
  could have risked his resignation.

No doubt the BJP in Goa is different from the Congress. Its
biggest plus is its dominance by a single personality. Even
the eight Catholic BJP MLAs who one assumes haven't been
drilled in the RSS line of discipline, have learnt
subservience on the BJP side. Intemperate in criticism when
in the Congress, Mauvin Godinho has been relatively quiet and
submissive on the saffron side. He was among the last to be
accommodated in the ministry and given the innocuous
panchayat ministry.

  While Parrikar's dominance is perhaps good for
  cohesive, political action, personality cult
  politics precludes the rise of second-rung leaders,
  which explains the utter failure of the Laxmikant
  Parsekar government. So who would the BJP turn to
  after Parrikar? Certainly not Michael Lobo or
  Nilesh Cabral, who as "minorities" cannot aspire to
  go beyond the cabinet. After his sellout, Vijai
  Sardesai may well fit the bill. Sardesai's
  political future does lie perhaps on Modi's side.
--
The writer is a senior journalist. The views expressed are
her own.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/the-art-of-making-the-voter-powerless/articleshow/58451077.cms

[Goanet-News] Celsa Pinto Rediscovers Colonial Panjim (Nandkumar Kamat, NT)

[Goanet Reader]

Nandkumar M Kamat
nandka...@gmail.com

On April 26th two immensely important, extremely well
researched and lucidly written books by local resident and
Indo-Portuguese historian Celsa Pinto on Panaji will be
released by local BJP MLA and chairman of EDC Siddharth
Kunkolienkar. The beautiful, picturesque and romantic capital
of Goa, Panjim or Panaji, entered the 175th year of its
official recognition as a "cidade" or city on March 22.
Historian A K Priolkar called British Bombay and Portuguese
Goa the two "gateways of India".

Panaji is gateway of Goa into which Portuguese lovingly
poured all their ideas to create a fine aesthetic tropical
urban monument for posterity. For them, Panjim was a piece of
Indo-Mediterranean art to be enjoyed from the Alto de
Conception, Guimares hill, the Mandovi waterfront or Miramar.

Panaji is poetry, poets B B Borkar, R V Pandit and Shankar
Ramani had declared to me. With dedicated writings on Panaji
coming before us, it becomes clear that Portuguese invested
their heart and soul in an urban idea called Panjim to make
the city a nursery of sustainable ideas.

Vasco Pinho provided a chronological and factual history of
Panaji through the ages in his first volume *Snapshots of
Indo-Portuguese History* (2007). Engineer Vitorino Pinto from
Altinho who settled in Geneva had revealed to me what
ambitious modernisation plans he had made in 1959 for Panaji.

  In the 21st century, misguided politicians,
  ill-informed planners, culturally alienated
  architects and engineers and expensive foreign
  consultants ignorant of ecological, hydrological
  setting of this fragile island city and its
  colonial microhistory are busy in distorting,
  damaging and dismantling the original city.
  Therefore, factual, authentic documentation becomes
  essential to thwart these new alien business models
  of urbanism.

Celsa Pinto has produced two volumes, more than 550 pages, on
microhistorical aspects of colonial Panaji. After her
original highly readable contribution *A revolt of the
natives of Goa -- the forgotten martyrs* (2013) to the
history of anti-colonization struggle in Asia, the former
director of Education turned her attention to archival
material on colonial Panjim. She has painted more details
into the pictures offered by Vasco Pinho.

Her first volume *Anatomy of a colonial capital* has 14
chapters, among which the last seven chapters could serve as
eye opener to City Survey, Town and Country Planning Board,
the North Goa Planning and Development Authority (NGPDA), the
City Corporation of Panaji (CCP), PWD and GSIDC, because all
these agencies have immensely hurt the city due to their
ignorance about land acquisition, land use and public works
in the capital.

All the facts and figures revealed by historian Pinto are
novel and show the importance of objective use of original
archival material in writing microhistorical development of a
city. Can we believe this -- what the Portuguese did in 1879
to protect trees in Panaji -- the 'postura' of April 25, 1879
prohibited people from attaching and tying anything to the
trees and climbing on pain of penalty of one Reis. The
throwing of stones or any such materials that would break the
twigs and branches of trees or cause damage to the trees was
also banned on pain of penalty of two Reis. If anyone plucked
fruits, leaves and flowers, they faced a fine too.

As a post-graduate teacher in urban ecology I found this
volume outstanding in providing glimpses of holistic and
integrated planning for a small urban area with examples from
an era which had not heard of the environmental movement. It
needs to be noted that Panaji has already lost more than 50
per cent of colonial tree cover not due to ageing or diseases
but removal for 'development'.

Pinto's second volume Colonial Panaji* comes as a culture
shock. Universities in Europe and in the rest of the
Anglo-Lusophilic world would instantly understand that Pinto
has gently dropped a bombshell in form of this book which
offers "the other side of Asian Colonialism".

  The pain she has taken to make all the 14 chapters
  readable and easy for teachers, students and common
  readers is visible. Anyone born and brought up in
  Panaji would be pleasantly shocked to read the
  details she provides at micro level with
  interesting tabulated data on such surreal aspects
  like statistics on rats caught in Panjim to marital
  composition of 45 years. With this single volume
  Celsa Pinto has elevated the entire discourse on
  urbanism in Colonial Asia to a new intellectual and
  objective level. It would be difficult to negate
  her hypothesis because she has picked up the facts
  from original documents.

After reading this volume we may ask ourselves: what more has
Panaji achieved after Liberation? Why couldn't 

[Goanet] Celsa Pinto Rediscovers Colonial Panjim (Nandkumar Kamat, NT)

[Goanet Reader]

Nandkumar M Kamat
nandka...@gmail.com

On April 26th two immensely important, extremely well
researched and lucidly written books by local resident and
Indo-Portuguese historian Celsa Pinto on Panaji will be
released by local BJP MLA and chairman of EDC Siddharth
Kunkolienkar. The beautiful, picturesque and romantic capital
of Goa, Panjim or Panaji, entered the 175th year of its
official recognition as a "cidade" or city on March 22.
Historian A K Priolkar called British Bombay and Portuguese
Goa the two "gateways of India".

Panaji is gateway of Goa into which Portuguese lovingly
poured all their ideas to create a fine aesthetic tropical
urban monument for posterity. For them, Panjim was a piece of
Indo-Mediterranean art to be enjoyed from the Alto de
Conception, Guimares hill, the Mandovi waterfront or Miramar.

Panaji is poetry, poets B B Borkar, R V Pandit and Shankar
Ramani had declared to me. With dedicated writings on Panaji
coming before us, it becomes clear that Portuguese invested
their heart and soul in an urban idea called Panjim to make
the city a nursery of sustainable ideas.

Vasco Pinho provided a chronological and factual history of
Panaji through the ages in his first volume *Snapshots of
Indo-Portuguese History* (2007). Engineer Vitorino Pinto from
Altinho who settled in Geneva had revealed to me what
ambitious modernisation plans he had made in 1959 for Panaji.

  In the 21st century, misguided politicians,
  ill-informed planners, culturally alienated
  architects and engineers and expensive foreign
  consultants ignorant of ecological, hydrological
  setting of this fragile island city and its
  colonial microhistory are busy in distorting,
  damaging and dismantling the original city.
  Therefore, factual, authentic documentation becomes
  essential to thwart these new alien business models
  of urbanism.

Celsa Pinto has produced two volumes, more than 550 pages, on
microhistorical aspects of colonial Panaji. After her
original highly readable contribution *A revolt of the
natives of Goa -- the forgotten martyrs* (2013) to the
history of anti-colonization struggle in Asia, the former
director of Education turned her attention to archival
material on colonial Panjim. She has painted more details
into the pictures offered by Vasco Pinho.

Her first volume *Anatomy of a colonial capital* has 14
chapters, among which the last seven chapters could serve as
eye opener to City Survey, Town and Country Planning Board,
the North Goa Planning and Development Authority (NGPDA), the
City Corporation of Panaji (CCP), PWD and GSIDC, because all
these agencies have immensely hurt the city due to their
ignorance about land acquisition, land use and public works
in the capital.

All the facts and figures revealed by historian Pinto are
novel and show the importance of objective use of original
archival material in writing microhistorical development of a
city. Can we believe this -- what the Portuguese did in 1879
to protect trees in Panaji -- the 'postura' of April 25, 1879
prohibited people from attaching and tying anything to the
trees and climbing on pain of penalty of one Reis. The
throwing of stones or any such materials that would break the
twigs and branches of trees or cause damage to the trees was
also banned on pain of penalty of two Reis. If anyone plucked
fruits, leaves and flowers, they faced a fine too.

As a post-graduate teacher in urban ecology I found this
volume outstanding in providing glimpses of holistic and
integrated planning for a small urban area with examples from
an era which had not heard of the environmental movement. It
needs to be noted that Panaji has already lost more than 50
per cent of colonial tree cover not due to ageing or diseases
but removal for 'development'.

Pinto's second volume Colonial Panaji* comes as a culture
shock. Universities in Europe and in the rest of the
Anglo-Lusophilic world would instantly understand that Pinto
has gently dropped a bombshell in form of this book which
offers "the other side of Asian Colonialism".

  The pain she has taken to make all the 14 chapters
  readable and easy for teachers, students and common
  readers is visible. Anyone born and brought up in
  Panaji would be pleasantly shocked to read the
  details she provides at micro level with
  interesting tabulated data on such surreal aspects
  like statistics on rats caught in Panjim to marital
  composition of 45 years. With this single volume
  Celsa Pinto has elevated the entire discourse on
  urbanism in Colonial Asia to a new intellectual and
  objective level. It would be difficult to negate
  her hypothesis because she has picked up the facts
  from original documents.

After reading this volume we may ask ourselves: what more has
Panaji achieved after Liberation? Why couldn't 

[Goanet-News] Farewell, to a friend of five decades in the West (by Michael Pinto)

[Goanet Reader]

Adeus, Adeus Josebab
Doyal Korniani, Hassop vantun,
Tuvem Mogal Potin ani Bhurghim zodlim
8 natram gopant tujea boslim
Zaite Ashirwaad tuka favo zalle
Pun tum amkam adhim sodun gelo
Adeus, Adeus  Adeus  Josebab
Tuzo 50 vorsancho Aamig

Adieu, Adieu Josebab
With kind deeds, spread laughter,
Loving wife and children were blessed
Embraced 8 grand children
Deservedly gained lots of love and memories
Yet you left us early
Adieu, Adieu, Adieu Josebab
Lasting 50 years of friendship

   Michael (Mingel) Pinto
   pan...@hotmail.com

Medicos and engineering students had, for long, held out
healthy competition to one another. This was also true in
Panjim, and was something that was also felt during our
student days in 1967, where we both studied in these fields.

Jose Colaco believed that we should address each other Jose
and Mingel, the Goan way. When I spoke of my two trips to Goa
in the last four years, he lamented the present day status of
the land we all call home.

  Both of us grew up outside Goa (he in Poona, and me
  in Belgaum). But we very fervently declared our
  love for Goa, her culture, customs, simplicity,
  cleanliness, unpolluted and serene beauty. Jose
  Colaco, who passed away while on a family holiday
  in the Dominican Republic last week and whose
  funeral takes place around now, held fast to this
  love affair till the very end.

I met Jose first via the CSU (the Catholic Students Union, an
organisation of the times which aimed to build a youth
leadership and organised frequent study circles or study
camps and sought to inculcate a religious spirit as well as
patriotism among the younger generation). It was a meeting
held at Don Bosco's.

Jose, I still recall, did create a ruckus on a point of order
and got the proceedings into a disarray. That is Jose for
you, and it was a role he indeed relished.

Observing the sane people and sorting them out from the rest
of the chaos, he decide who would form his close-knit group.
Luis Barreto, Yvette Silveira and me were part of this close
group whom I can recollect.

During many inter-collegiate elocution and extempore
competitions, we were participants. I would win. But Jose
would always come off from the leftfield, pose intricate
thoughts and shake-up the judges and the audience. Hence he
gained a following which filled the seats.

  Most importantly, debates were the held at the
  Clube Nacional between the students and the elders.
  (The latter included Carmo Noronha, Dr. Barbosa,
  John Chagas Pereira, journalist-editor Dr. Carmo
  Azavedo and Adv. Jorge Athaide Lobo). This time,
  Joe and myself were on the same side. We got the
  audience in fits of laughter; when the final voting
  results showed we had 95% approval.

There were many others occasions and speech competitions
which we participated at the Lions Club, Rotary Club and
Clube Vasco da Gama.

Jose always enjoyed playing pranks and spared none, more so
with his wife-to-be Emma. This continued later too. Various
accents of the Caribbean was his forte. He would call me and
pretend to be somebody or the other, and keep my wife engaged
in conversation for at least for five minutes. At the end she
would call on me to take over and we would both have a hearty
laugh.

At one point of time, the CSU was helping the Panjim church
by way conducting bingo (housie) during its feastday fairs. I
was in charge of the bingo and the funds collected. Suddenly,
the cash box went missing, throwing me into a state of panic.
It was only later on that I discovered prankster Jose had
hidden the missing stash at the famed landmark in the
locality, the Singbal's book store.

Jose loved to argue and always eager to start an
argument, even if it meant loading up some folks
with feni. Capuccina was our normal hang-out. It
was thrilling to watch Jose arguing with Alfred
Tavares, both not wanting to give up. Alfred, as
those active in cyberspace would know, went on to
become an active journalist in Sweden, who also
passed away in 2014 [http://bit.ly/alfred-obit].

As far as the youth then went, there were two major groups at
the time, the Campal and the Altinho boys, who had their own
cars and Vespas. We had none. Hence we walked everywhere.

When we had the time, we visited the Navhind Times editorial
section, to get advance information on the next day's news.
Balan, Vernon D'Souza and [the still active in journalism]
Cyril D'Cunha would always welcome us. Jose would take us on
his medical rounds at times.

Most of the time I would eat at George Bar
[https://www.zomato.com/goa/george-restaurant-bar-panaji],
situated alongside the foot of the steps of Panjim church, as
it was closer to me as I lived in Altinho. Jose himself was
very fond of Marietta 

[Goanet] Farewell, to a friend of five decades in the West (by Michael Pinto)

[Goanet Reader]

Adeus, Adeus Josebab
Doyal Korniani, Hassop vantun,
Tuvem Mogal Potin ani Bhurghim zodlim
8 natram gopant tujea boslim
Zaite Ashirwaad tuka favo zalle
Pun tum amkam adhim sodun gelo
Adeus, Adeus  Adeus  Josebab
Tuzo 50 vorsancho Aamig

Adieu, Adieu Josebab
With kind deeds, spread laughter,
Loving wife and children were blessed
Embraced 8 grand children
Deservedly gained lots of love and memories
Yet you left us early
Adieu, Adieu, Adieu Josebab
Lasting 50 years of friendship

   Michael (Mingel) Pinto
   pan...@hotmail.com

Medicos and engineering students had, for long, held out
healthy competition to one another. This was also true in
Panjim, and was something that was also felt during our
student days in 1967, where we both studied in these fields.

Jose Colaco believed that we should address each other Jose
and Mingel, the Goan way. When I spoke of my two trips to Goa
in the last four years, he lamented the present day status of
the land we all call home.

  Both of us grew up outside Goa (he in Poona, and me
  in Belgaum). But we very fervently declared our
  love for Goa, her culture, customs, simplicity,
  cleanliness, unpolluted and serene beauty. Jose
  Colaco, who passed away while on a family holiday
  in the Dominican Republic last week and whose
  funeral takes place around now, held fast to this
  love affair till the very end.

I met Jose first via the CSU (the Catholic Students Union, an
organisation of the times which aimed to build a youth
leadership and organised frequent study circles or study
camps and sought to inculcate a religious spirit as well as
patriotism among the younger generation). It was a meeting
held at Don Bosco's.

Jose, I still recall, did create a ruckus on a point of order
and got the proceedings into a disarray. That is Jose for
you, and it was a role he indeed relished.

Observing the sane people and sorting them out from the rest
of the chaos, he decide who would form his close-knit group.
Luis Barreto, Yvette Silveira and me were part of this close
group whom I can recollect.

During many inter-collegiate elocution and extempore
competitions, we were participants. I would win. But Jose
would always come off from the leftfield, pose intricate
thoughts and shake-up the judges and the audience. Hence he
gained a following which filled the seats.

  Most importantly, debates were the held at the
  Clube Nacional between the students and the elders.
  (The latter included Carmo Noronha, Dr. Barbosa,
  John Chagas Pereira, journalist-editor Dr. Carmo
  Azavedo and Adv. Jorge Athaide Lobo). This time,
  Joe and myself were on the same side. We got the
  audience in fits of laughter; when the final voting
  results showed we had 95% approval.

There were many others occasions and speech competitions
which we participated at the Lions Club, Rotary Club and
Clube Vasco da Gama.

Jose always enjoyed playing pranks and spared none, more so
with his wife-to-be Emma. This continued later too. Various
accents of the Caribbean was his forte. He would call me and
pretend to be somebody or the other, and keep my wife engaged
in conversation for at least for five minutes. At the end she
would call on me to take over and we would both have a hearty
laugh.

At one point of time, the CSU was helping the Panjim church
by way conducting bingo (housie) during its feastday fairs. I
was in charge of the bingo and the funds collected. Suddenly,
the cash box went missing, throwing me into a state of panic.
It was only later on that I discovered prankster Jose had
hidden the missing stash at the famed landmark in the
locality, the Singbal's book store.

Jose loved to argue and always eager to start an
argument, even if it meant loading up some folks
with feni. Capuccina was our normal hang-out. It
was thrilling to watch Jose arguing with Alfred
Tavares, both not wanting to give up. Alfred, as
those active in cyberspace would know, went on to
become an active journalist in Sweden, who also
passed away in 2014 [http://bit.ly/alfred-obit].

As far as the youth then went, there were two major groups at
the time, the Campal and the Altinho boys, who had their own
cars and Vespas. We had none. Hence we walked everywhere.

When we had the time, we visited the Navhind Times editorial
section, to get advance information on the next day's news.
Balan, Vernon D'Souza and [the still active in journalism]
Cyril D'Cunha would always welcome us. Jose would take us on
his medical rounds at times.

Most of the time I would eat at George Bar
[https://www.zomato.com/goa/george-restaurant-bar-panaji],
situated alongside the foot of the steps of Panjim church, as
it was closer to me as I lived in Altinho. Jose himself was
very fond of Marietta 

[Goanet-News] What is Goenkarponn? Another view from Goa....

[Goanet Reader]

Datta Naik
kdn...@cdhomes.com

The political party Goa Forward has brought forward this word
of Goenkarponn and Manohar Parrikar, whom I would call the
Chief Minister of North Goa since most ministers in his
cabinet are from North Goa, has borrowed this word from Vijay
Sardessai, the leader of Goa Forward. However the exact
meaning of the word Goenkarponn is not clear. Politicians
in fact have vested interests of keeping it ambiguous.

The citizens of Goa should however know what is Goeankarponn,
what are its undercurrents and nuances.

  I would divide Goenkarponn into two parts. The
  iceberg has only one-eighth of its surface visible
  above the sea and the remaining seven-eighth of it
  is submerged under water. Similarly Goenkarpon has
  its visible and invisible dimensions. One can also
  term it, using computer technology, as the hardware
  and software of Goenkarponn.

Goenkarponn manifests itself visibly through our mother
tongue Konkani, our flora and fauna, our traditional
architecture, our religious traditions, communal harmony,
Goan festivals, folklore, literature, art and culture. But
the invisible aspect of Goenkarponn is very important and
crucial. It is manifested through various qualities of head
and heart of the Goan community.

A Goenkar, or Goan, is essentially a jovial, happy go lucky,
susegad person who sees the world from a positive
perspective. She likes to work hard and enjoys her leisure
time. The Goenkar is loyal and committed to her work. She is
hardworking and can take up any challenges in her
professional life.

  The Goenkar is highly hospitable and enjoys
  treating her guests with warmth and affection.
  Christian values such as love, kindness, compassion
  are an essential part of Goan nature irrespective
  of her religion. Every Goenkar has a great sense of
  humour. It is manifested through folklore, tiatrs
  and cartoons. Compared to the size of the
  population of Goenkars, the creative Goenkars in
  the field of literature, art, science and sport are
  very high. The average Goan is very frank and
  outspoken. Her mind is as transparent as the fresh
  flowing spring water.

A Goenkar thinks collectively and also acts collectively.
Therefore there are words in Konkani such as 'Dha Zanachi
Budh' which literary means 'Let ten people meet and decide.'

'Gaonkari' which later developed into the Communidades is a
conspicuous example of the collective farming of Goans. Some
of the creative inventions such as Khazan farming, sluice
gates (manos), hurrak, feni, puran farming, fishing by way of
khutavani, dipakavani, the team-spirit that makes the rapon
work effectively, and hunting by bhovandi (a collective hunt)
are perfect examples of collective actions.

Simplicity is another great virtue of Goans. A Goenkar is not
greedy. Respect to elders and women is a family value which
has been engraved in every Goan for centuries. A Goenkar is
not quarrelsome and violent. Therefore there were hardly any
cases of murder, divorce and rape prior to the Liberation of Goa.

A Goenkar is highly religious. She believes that God will
stand by her at all times. Many Goenkars especially from the
Hindu Bahujan Samaj have become teetotalers due to their
religious convictions. A Goenkar does not mind undertaking
any sacrifice for the sake of the members of her family. A
Goenkar is highly mobile and she migrates for the sake of a
job to distant foreign countries.

A Goenkar has learnt the importance of education a few
centuries back. Even parents facing abstract poverty have
made great sacrifices to educate their children so that they
can come up in life.

If one asks me which is the most important aspect of a
Goenkar, I would unequivocally point out that it is the
honesty and integrity of an average Goenkar. A Goenkar will
not compromise her honesty for the sake of money, fame or
power and will never dishonour her commitments.

  However I will have to segregate things here and
  point out that there are two aspects to
  Goenkarponn. One is the Bahujan Goenkarponn (the
  Goanity of the masses) and the other is Brahminical
  Goenkarpon. The Bahujan Goenkarpon has simplicity
  and a lack of greed but the same cannot be said
  about Brahminical Goenkarponn. A Bahujan Goenkar is
  honest and is a women of her words but history has
  proved that the other Goenkar is not. Brahminical
  Goenkarponn from that of Mhal Poi, who connived
  with Afonso de Albuquerque to defeat Adil Shah at
  the start of the sixteenth century, to Manohar
  Parrikar and Vijay Sardessai in our times, have
  proved that Brahminical Goenkarponn can dishonor
  commitments and can betray at any given point of time.

When I think of this concept, I ask myself 

[Goanet] What is Goenkarponn? Another view from Goa....

[Goanet Reader]

Datta Naik
kdn...@cdhomes.com

The political party Goa Forward has brought forward this word
of Goenkarponn and Manohar Parrikar, whom I would call the
Chief Minister of North Goa since most ministers in his
cabinet are from North Goa, has borrowed this word from Vijay
Sardessai, the leader of Goa Forward. However the exact
meaning of the word Goenkarponn is not clear. Politicians
in fact have vested interests of keeping it ambiguous.

The citizens of Goa should however know what is Goeankarponn,
what are its undercurrents and nuances.

  I would divide Goenkarponn into two parts. The
  iceberg has only one-eighth of its surface visible
  above the sea and the remaining seven-eighth of it
  is submerged under water. Similarly Goenkarpon has
  its visible and invisible dimensions. One can also
  term it, using computer technology, as the hardware
  and software of Goenkarponn.

Goenkarponn manifests itself visibly through our mother
tongue Konkani, our flora and fauna, our traditional
architecture, our religious traditions, communal harmony,
Goan festivals, folklore, literature, art and culture. But
the invisible aspect of Goenkarponn is very important and
crucial. It is manifested through various qualities of head
and heart of the Goan community.

A Goenkar, or Goan, is essentially a jovial, happy go lucky,
susegad person who sees the world from a positive
perspective. She likes to work hard and enjoys her leisure
time. The Goenkar is loyal and committed to her work. She is
hardworking and can take up any challenges in her
professional life.

  The Goenkar is highly hospitable and enjoys
  treating her guests with warmth and affection.
  Christian values such as love, kindness, compassion
  are an essential part of Goan nature irrespective
  of her religion. Every Goenkar has a great sense of
  humour. It is manifested through folklore, tiatrs
  and cartoons. Compared to the size of the
  population of Goenkars, the creative Goenkars in
  the field of literature, art, science and sport are
  very high. The average Goan is very frank and
  outspoken. Her mind is as transparent as the fresh
  flowing spring water.

A Goenkar thinks collectively and also acts collectively.
Therefore there are words in Konkani such as 'Dha Zanachi
Budh' which literary means 'Let ten people meet and decide.'

'Gaonkari' which later developed into the Communidades is a
conspicuous example of the collective farming of Goans. Some
of the creative inventions such as Khazan farming, sluice
gates (manos), hurrak, feni, puran farming, fishing by way of
khutavani, dipakavani, the team-spirit that makes the rapon
work effectively, and hunting by bhovandi (a collective hunt)
are perfect examples of collective actions.

Simplicity is another great virtue of Goans. A Goenkar is not
greedy. Respect to elders and women is a family value which
has been engraved in every Goan for centuries. A Goenkar is
not quarrelsome and violent. Therefore there were hardly any
cases of murder, divorce and rape prior to the Liberation of Goa.

A Goenkar is highly religious. She believes that God will
stand by her at all times. Many Goenkars especially from the
Hindu Bahujan Samaj have become teetotalers due to their
religious convictions. A Goenkar does not mind undertaking
any sacrifice for the sake of the members of her family. A
Goenkar is highly mobile and she migrates for the sake of a
job to distant foreign countries.

A Goenkar has learnt the importance of education a few
centuries back. Even parents facing abstract poverty have
made great sacrifices to educate their children so that they
can come up in life.

If one asks me which is the most important aspect of a
Goenkar, I would unequivocally point out that it is the
honesty and integrity of an average Goenkar. A Goenkar will
not compromise her honesty for the sake of money, fame or
power and will never dishonour her commitments.

  However I will have to segregate things here and
  point out that there are two aspects to
  Goenkarponn. One is the Bahujan Goenkarponn (the
  Goanity of the masses) and the other is Brahminical
  Goenkarpon. The Bahujan Goenkarpon has simplicity
  and a lack of greed but the same cannot be said
  about Brahminical Goenkarponn. A Bahujan Goenkar is
  honest and is a women of her words but history has
  proved that the other Goenkar is not. Brahminical
  Goenkarponn from that of Mhal Poi, who connived
  with Afonso de Albuquerque to defeat Adil Shah at
  the start of the sixteenth century, to Manohar
  Parrikar and Vijay Sardessai in our times, have
  proved that Brahminical Goenkarponn can dishonor
  commitments and can betray at any given point of time.

When I think of this concept, I ask myself 

[Goanet-News] Goa's guardian angel from Germany (TNN)

[Goanet Reader]

Goa's guardian angel from Germany
TNN | Updated: Mar 26, 2017

  GOA: Rudolf Schwartz fell in love with Goa on his
  first visit to India in 1990, when he spent five
  weeks in the coastal state with his wife, Elfie.
  Despite being hooked on to the pristine beaches and
  local delicacies, the sight of homeless people
  sleeping on the streets caught his attention. A
  normal tourist would buy the destitute some food or
  lend some money, but this German guardian angel
  took it upon himself to provide them with
  opportunities for growth and development, that they
  may have a better life.

"Some families had a dozen-odd children, not educated and
loitering around the streets. They had no opportunities, no
schooling, but had to still support their parents," says the
70-year-old, who has since made around 40 trips to Goa and
stays in the same hotel, in the same room, every single time.

After discussing this through with his wife, he decided to
invest in their education. "As we began scouting for someone
who could implement our ideas in Goa while we were back in
Europe, we met this server at a popular pub, who was strict,
yet kind. His name was Vincent D'Souza, and we thought he was
the right man for the job. We began with four students from
St Francis Xavier High School, Siolim. We would write to them
from Germany, the letter would take two weeks to get here and
then the response would reach us in another fortnight, yet
this communication was essential," he says, reminiscing about
the small beginnings in 1992.

Schwartz's friends in Germany were impressed by his work and
began approaching him to offer support to more students. On
his next trip to Goa, he had collected enough money to fund
education for around 15-20 students.

"Then, as divine providence would have it, we were introduced
to Stella Varghese, the headmistress of Our Lady of Mount
Carmel School, Arambol. Stella helped us identify deserving
students in the school who needed funding. We visited their
homes and met their parents to understand their background,"
says Schwartz, adding that the turning point was when he was
introduced to Stella's husband, Jacob, an educationist in Pernem.

  Together, the Schwartz and Varghese families began
  a vocational training institute in Paliem in 1995.
  In its first year, the Bhumika Technical Institute
  started with two trades -- turner and electrician.
  Today, the institute offers training courses in
  plumbing, welding, tailoring, automobile mechanics,
  home nursing, etc.

This spurred them onto providing scholarships for
intellectual but poor students. In 1997, Schwartz helped
launch Keerti Vidyalaya Technical Institute, which offers six
job-oriented vocational courses. As the demands kept
increasing, more infrastructure was a necessity. In 2013,
they established the Holy Cross Indo-German Techno Centre in
Siolim.

Set up by Schwartz, the Indian Students Educational Aid
Foundation has sponsored the education of nearly 3,100
students over the last 25 years. Schwartz was 44 when he set
on his mission and, most of the time, paid from his own
pocket to travel to India and sponsor the unprivileged
children. "As a bank manager, I had a stable job with a
decent pay, but it wasn't really interesting," says the
former employee of a German bank.

The philanthropist draws his inspiration from his humble
upbringing as a village boy who helped his mother in the
family garden, growing potatoes, beans, carrots and other
vegetables. When not gardening, he spent time in helping out
at the family-owned bakery.

"I was the eldest of five siblings and we learnt to be
independent from a very young age. I got my first bicycle at
14 and rode it around the countryside of Borssum, in Emden. I
preferred playing football instead of doing my homework, like
every other boy, and even got myself enrolled in a rowing
club," says Schwartz.

  The Home Nursing Bureau, established in 2005, was
  another huge milestone in Schwartz's efforts to
  train locals to their strengths and not force upon
  them something beyond their capacity. There are 300
  registered home nurses as part of the bureau that
  serve in different parts of the state. Many orphan
  children and school dropouts have also benefited
  from the family assistance and scholarships
  provided by the foundation.

For someone who loves his dal, aloo gobi, fish, and chicken
in cafreal and xacuti gravy, Schwartz couldn't wait until his
next trip to Goa to indulge in his favourite dishes, so he
carried the recipes home.

"I think the strategy of cooking an Indian meal when I meet
potential sponsors, who are mostly friends and sometimes
acquaintances, has really worked," says Schwartz. Today, he
has the support of around 460 active sponsors from Germany,
who are 

[Goanet] Goa's guardian angel from Germany (TNN)

[Goanet Reader]

Goa's guardian angel from Germany
TNN | Updated: Mar 26, 2017

  GOA: Rudolf Schwartz fell in love with Goa on his
  first visit to India in 1990, when he spent five
  weeks in the coastal state with his wife, Elfie.
  Despite being hooked on to the pristine beaches and
  local delicacies, the sight of homeless people
  sleeping on the streets caught his attention. A
  normal tourist would buy the destitute some food or
  lend some money, but this German guardian angel
  took it upon himself to provide them with
  opportunities for growth and development, that they
  may have a better life.

"Some families had a dozen-odd children, not educated and
loitering around the streets. They had no opportunities, no
schooling, but had to still support their parents," says the
70-year-old, who has since made around 40 trips to Goa and
stays in the same hotel, in the same room, every single time.

After discussing this through with his wife, he decided to
invest in their education. "As we began scouting for someone
who could implement our ideas in Goa while we were back in
Europe, we met this server at a popular pub, who was strict,
yet kind. His name was Vincent D'Souza, and we thought he was
the right man for the job. We began with four students from
St Francis Xavier High School, Siolim. We would write to them
from Germany, the letter would take two weeks to get here and
then the response would reach us in another fortnight, yet
this communication was essential," he says, reminiscing about
the small beginnings in 1992.

Schwartz's friends in Germany were impressed by his work and
began approaching him to offer support to more students. On
his next trip to Goa, he had collected enough money to fund
education for around 15-20 students.

"Then, as divine providence would have it, we were introduced
to Stella Varghese, the headmistress of Our Lady of Mount
Carmel School, Arambol. Stella helped us identify deserving
students in the school who needed funding. We visited their
homes and met their parents to understand their background,"
says Schwartz, adding that the turning point was when he was
introduced to Stella's husband, Jacob, an educationist in Pernem.

  Together, the Schwartz and Varghese families began
  a vocational training institute in Paliem in 1995.
  In its first year, the Bhumika Technical Institute
  started with two trades -- turner and electrician.
  Today, the institute offers training courses in
  plumbing, welding, tailoring, automobile mechanics,
  home nursing, etc.

This spurred them onto providing scholarships for
intellectual but poor students. In 1997, Schwartz helped
launch Keerti Vidyalaya Technical Institute, which offers six
job-oriented vocational courses. As the demands kept
increasing, more infrastructure was a necessity. In 2013,
they established the Holy Cross Indo-German Techno Centre in
Siolim.

Set up by Schwartz, the Indian Students Educational Aid
Foundation has sponsored the education of nearly 3,100
students over the last 25 years. Schwartz was 44 when he set
on his mission and, most of the time, paid from his own
pocket to travel to India and sponsor the unprivileged
children. "As a bank manager, I had a stable job with a
decent pay, but it wasn't really interesting," says the
former employee of a German bank.

The philanthropist draws his inspiration from his humble
upbringing as a village boy who helped his mother in the
family garden, growing potatoes, beans, carrots and other
vegetables. When not gardening, he spent time in helping out
at the family-owned bakery.

"I was the eldest of five siblings and we learnt to be
independent from a very young age. I got my first bicycle at
14 and rode it around the countryside of Borssum, in Emden. I
preferred playing football instead of doing my homework, like
every other boy, and even got myself enrolled in a rowing
club," says Schwartz.

  The Home Nursing Bureau, established in 2005, was
  another huge milestone in Schwartz's efforts to
  train locals to their strengths and not force upon
  them something beyond their capacity. There are 300
  registered home nurses as part of the bureau that
  serve in different parts of the state. Many orphan
  children and school dropouts have also benefited
  from the family assistance and scholarships
  provided by the foundation.

For someone who loves his dal, aloo gobi, fish, and chicken
in cafreal and xacuti gravy, Schwartz couldn't wait until his
next trip to Goa to indulge in his favourite dishes, so he
carried the recipes home.

"I think the strategy of cooking an Indian meal when I meet
potential sponsors, who are mostly friends and sometimes
acquaintances, has really worked," says Schwartz. Today, he
has the support of around 460 active sponsors from Germany,
who are 

[Goanet] Manohar Parrikar as Defence Minister ... two views (Scroll.in, TheWire.in)

[Goanet Reader]

OPINION

Cutting the hype: There wasn't really much to Manohar
Parrikar's stint as defence minister

With the Prime Minister's
Office holding much of the
reins, there wasn't much the
Goa chief minister could do.

After 28 months as the Union Minister of Defence, Manohar
Parrikar returned to Goa as its chief minister last week, a
post he had reluctantly vacated in 2014 when he was shifted
to Delhi after the Bharatiya Janata Party won the national
elections. Parrikar's departure from the Cabinet, after the
BJP staked claim over the government in Goa that saw a hung
Assembly, generated a flurry of fawning articles that almost
described him as the greatest defence minister ever.

But lost in the din of the largely positive coverage was a
dichotomy: if he was such a great defence minister, why was
Prime Minister Narendra Modi allowing him to leave for a
state that has only two seats in the Lok Sabha and barely
makes a blimp on national politics? Wasn't national security
much bigger than state politics, especially for a party that
has made nationalism its key calling card?

  There is little doubt that Parrikar brought fresh
  energy and a lot of integrity to the ministry that
  has usually been the hub of scandals for decades.
  But his purported achievements make for a rather
  boring, if not depressing picture. In short, there
  were a bunch of committees, some purchases, two key
  foreign policy agreements and some controversial
  statements.

Looking West

If there is any key achievement during his 28-month-stint at
the helm, it was the signing of the Logistics Exchange
Memorandum of Agreement, or LEMOA -- an agreement for close
military cooperation -- with the US in August. In many ways,
this was a major departure from India's foreign policy
objective to avoid any military pact with a foreign power.

The move was almost as much of a divergence as the decision
to invite the Japanese Navy to participate in the Malabar
naval exercises, that have been conducted with the US every
year since 1992. The fact that the Japanese and US share
India's concerns on China’s maritime ambitions was not lost.
Not only did this see naval ships from the three nations
exercise jointly but also its Naval Special Forces coming
together, setting a new bar to the annual effort.

But can Parrikar be credited with a foreign policy initiative
that, under the current regime, has largely been the preserve
of the Prime Minister's Office? Clearly, this was Parrikar
going along with a major policy shift towards increased
cooperation that has been crafted by Modi.

  This was also seen in the mysterious move to cancel
  the order for a 126 Rafale fighter aircraft from
  France and instead buy 36 at almost the same cost.
  This inexplicable move was announced when Prime
  Minister Modi was on a trip to France in 2015 and
  it is safe to assume that Parrikar was not in the
  loop when the announcement came.

There were a flurry of articles justifying this piecemeal
purchase of 36 aircraft when the Indian Air Force clearly
needed much more. In some ways, the Prime Minister's Office
had subsumed the defence and external affairs ministries, the
two departments it shares space with in South Block.

  This, to a degree, also explains the nature of the
  relationship Parrikar shared with Modi. The Goa
  chief minister was one of the first BJP leaders to
  openly support Modi as the party's prime
  ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls,
  long before others ditched veteran leader LK
  Advani. Parrikar did it with conviction because he
  believed that Modi was the future. A senior BJP
  leader explained their relationship as follows:
  "There is a mutual respect shared by the two, and
  Parrikar accepts Modi as the clear leader, and was
  always happy to play a second or even a fourth
  fiddle to him, depending on what the circumstances
  were. This also worked well for the prime
  minister".

Technocrat in office

The fact that Parrikar was from the Indian Institute of
Technology, Bombay had added to his mystique even when he
took over the reins as the Chief Minister of Goa for the
first time in 2002. He was the quintessential technocrat who
would suddenly leave office in his Hyundai Santro to inspect
government works in different parts of the state. Parrikar
brought the same attitude to the defence ministry, which came
to be appreciated and resented at the same time. A number of
officials spoke about how Parrikar would often remind them
about his IIT heritage, especially when contentious issues
were under discussion.

  But a seasoned politician would have been able to
  navigate the defence ministry maze better. Instead,
  Parrikar remained angular on contentious issues. He
 

[Goanet-News] Manohar Parrikar as Defence Minister ... two views (Scroll.in, TheWire.in)

[Goanet Reader]

OPINION

Cutting the hype: There wasn't really much to Manohar
Parrikar's stint as defence minister

With the Prime Minister's
Office holding much of the
reins, there wasn't much the
Goa chief minister could do.

After 28 months as the Union Minister of Defence, Manohar
Parrikar returned to Goa as its chief minister last week, a
post he had reluctantly vacated in 2014 when he was shifted
to Delhi after the Bharatiya Janata Party won the national
elections. Parrikar's departure from the Cabinet, after the
BJP staked claim over the government in Goa that saw a hung
Assembly, generated a flurry of fawning articles that almost
described him as the greatest defence minister ever.

But lost in the din of the largely positive coverage was a
dichotomy: if he was such a great defence minister, why was
Prime Minister Narendra Modi allowing him to leave for a
state that has only two seats in the Lok Sabha and barely
makes a blimp on national politics? Wasn't national security
much bigger than state politics, especially for a party that
has made nationalism its key calling card?

  There is little doubt that Parrikar brought fresh
  energy and a lot of integrity to the ministry that
  has usually been the hub of scandals for decades.
  But his purported achievements make for a rather
  boring, if not depressing picture. In short, there
  were a bunch of committees, some purchases, two key
  foreign policy agreements and some controversial
  statements.

Looking West

If there is any key achievement during his 28-month-stint at
the helm, it was the signing of the Logistics Exchange
Memorandum of Agreement, or LEMOA -- an agreement for close
military cooperation -- with the US in August. In many ways,
this was a major departure from India's foreign policy
objective to avoid any military pact with a foreign power.

The move was almost as much of a divergence as the decision
to invite the Japanese Navy to participate in the Malabar
naval exercises, that have been conducted with the US every
year since 1992. The fact that the Japanese and US share
India's concerns on China’s maritime ambitions was not lost.
Not only did this see naval ships from the three nations
exercise jointly but also its Naval Special Forces coming
together, setting a new bar to the annual effort.

But can Parrikar be credited with a foreign policy initiative
that, under the current regime, has largely been the preserve
of the Prime Minister's Office? Clearly, this was Parrikar
going along with a major policy shift towards increased
cooperation that has been crafted by Modi.

  This was also seen in the mysterious move to cancel
  the order for a 126 Rafale fighter aircraft from
  France and instead buy 36 at almost the same cost.
  This inexplicable move was announced when Prime
  Minister Modi was on a trip to France in 2015 and
  it is safe to assume that Parrikar was not in the
  loop when the announcement came.

There were a flurry of articles justifying this piecemeal
purchase of 36 aircraft when the Indian Air Force clearly
needed much more. In some ways, the Prime Minister's Office
had subsumed the defence and external affairs ministries, the
two departments it shares space with in South Block.

  This, to a degree, also explains the nature of the
  relationship Parrikar shared with Modi. The Goa
  chief minister was one of the first BJP leaders to
  openly support Modi as the party's prime
  ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls,
  long before others ditched veteran leader LK
  Advani. Parrikar did it with conviction because he
  believed that Modi was the future. A senior BJP
  leader explained their relationship as follows:
  "There is a mutual respect shared by the two, and
  Parrikar accepts Modi as the clear leader, and was
  always happy to play a second or even a fourth
  fiddle to him, depending on what the circumstances
  were. This also worked well for the prime
  minister".

Technocrat in office

The fact that Parrikar was from the Indian Institute of
Technology, Bombay had added to his mystique even when he
took over the reins as the Chief Minister of Goa for the
first time in 2002. He was the quintessential technocrat who
would suddenly leave office in his Hyundai Santro to inspect
government works in different parts of the state. Parrikar
brought the same attitude to the defence ministry, which came
to be appreciated and resented at the same time. A number of
officials spoke about how Parrikar would often remind them
about his IIT heritage, especially when contentious issues
were under discussion.

  But a seasoned politician would have been able to
  navigate the defence ministry maze better. Instead,
  Parrikar remained angular on contentious issues. He
 

[Goanet-News] Why the Goa vote should worry the BJP (Devika Sequeira)

[Goanet Reader]

Why the Goa vote should worry the BJP

Goa Forward has squandered a
political future to become
BJP's C team

Devika Sequeira
devikaseque...@gmail.com

One of the factors Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has
persistently harped on to justify his party's wizardry in
conjuring the numbers and rejigging a verdict, is that the
BJP got a higher vote share than the Congress in this
election.

"While we did not get the numbers, we got 34.5% of the vote
share, whereas the Congress got 28%," he stressed again in an
interview in this newspaper (TOI March 20, 2017). The actual
statistics are 32.5% and 28.4%. But never mind the minutiae.

When it had made an aggressive bid for power on its own in
2002, the BJP had managed 17 seats and 35.5% of the vote.
With just one seat less at 16, and 38.4% of the vote, the
Congress had a higher vote share in that election. But it was
the BJP that went on to form the government with the UGDP at
the time, and no one even glanced at the vote share.

  Politicians often contort themselves into knots to
  defend the indefensible, on the arrogant assumption
  that with the muscle of central power to back them,
  they are answerable to no one -- till the next
  election. But behind the BJP's compulsion to grab
  power in Goa at all costs lurks a story no one's
  talking about, certainly not those twisting the
  verdict of defeat to make the vanquished somehow
  appear victorious.

Seven of the 13 BJP's elected MLAs are Catholics. As one
local newspaper put it, the Catholics saved the BJP the
ignominy of a single-digit defeat like the Congress in 2012.
Yet the party has remained resolutely silent on this
unexpected majority of 'minorities', though it went to town
about six 'Catholic MLAs' in its kitty in 2012 .

The result probably astonished Modi's lieutenants more than
anyone and explains the alacrity with which Parrikar agreed
to give up one of the highest positions in the country (he
becomes the first defence minister ever to give up the post
to return to state politics) to return to Goa.

The move also saved the BJP the embarrassment of confronting
the obvious: would it ever allow a Catholic to head a BJP
government in Goa? The thought becomes relevant in the light
of the BJP elevating the party's most polarising figure, Yogi
Adithyanath, as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

I put the question to Michael Lobo, credited with playing a
key role in roping in Vijai Sardessai and Co. "If I was
responsible for bringing Vijai, why am I not a minister in
the government?" he asks. Is there a hint of resentment in
his cryptic reply? "Ask Francis D’Souza," Lobo went on to
add, highlighting the fact that the BJP's longest-serving and
most loyal 'Catholic MLA' had not even attempted to "stake
his claim" to the top post.

Far more worrying for the BJP no doubt, is its rejection in
2017 by a huge segment of the Hindus. Whatever spin Parrikar
and his media cronies are attempting post government
formation, there's no denying the Congress won 17 seats and
BJP just 13. Both were contesting without alliances. These
are their intrinsic strengths.

Where the BJP has been worst stung is in the OBC (other
backward classes) vote. The Bhandaris, who comprise the
majority of the 27% OBC vote, deserted the BJP and MGP and
turned back to the Congress. A political observer said the
election proved Ravi Naik and Subhash Shirodkar "are the real
leaders of the Bhandari samaj".

The government is currently upper caste top heavy --
Parrikar, Sardessai, Dhavlikar, Khaunte, Pauskar -- and
Parrikar's desperation to recover his party's footing among
the Hindu majority is reflected in his opportunistic move to
try and lay siege to the Congress stronghold of Sattari
working on the bloated ambitions of the immature Vishwajeet
Rane and throwing baits at whoever else in the Congress will
take it. Just as it did with Mauvin Godinho and Pandurang
Madkaikar, Parrikar is now willing to make compromises with
any "winnable candidates" the BJP wouldn't have touched with
a barge pole a few years ago.

In their attempt to spite the Congress, more particularly
Luizinho Faleiro, what the Goa Forward's cocktail club boys
have achieved by their self-serving ploy is to reduce the
local party to the same level of the numerous untrustworthy
cut-throats that have preceded them, the Save Goa Front,
UGDP, GVP to name some.

The GF has squandered a political future to become the C team
of the BJP. It cannot even aspire to the 'B' position long
occupied by the MGP. Sardessai himself will probably need the
BJP's help to get elected in Fatorda in the future. So will
Rohan Khaunte in Porvorim. One doubts their voters are going
to be as forgiving as they have of their brazen betrayal.

Margao businessman Datta Naik who acted as the go-between
between the Congress and Goa Forward said though he initially
believed the tie-up between the two parties would have helped
them get a clear 

[Goanet] Why the Goa vote should worry the BJP (Devika Sequeira)

[Goanet Reader]

Why the Goa vote should worry the BJP

Goa Forward has squandered a
political future to become
BJP's C team

Devika Sequeira
devikaseque...@gmail.com

One of the factors Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has
persistently harped on to justify his party's wizardry in
conjuring the numbers and rejigging a verdict, is that the
BJP got a higher vote share than the Congress in this
election.

"While we did not get the numbers, we got 34.5% of the vote
share, whereas the Congress got 28%," he stressed again in an
interview in this newspaper (TOI March 20, 2017). The actual
statistics are 32.5% and 28.4%. But never mind the minutiae.

When it had made an aggressive bid for power on its own in
2002, the BJP had managed 17 seats and 35.5% of the vote.
With just one seat less at 16, and 38.4% of the vote, the
Congress had a higher vote share in that election. But it was
the BJP that went on to form the government with the UGDP at
the time, and no one even glanced at the vote share.

  Politicians often contort themselves into knots to
  defend the indefensible, on the arrogant assumption
  that with the muscle of central power to back them,
  they are answerable to no one -- till the next
  election. But behind the BJP's compulsion to grab
  power in Goa at all costs lurks a story no one's
  talking about, certainly not those twisting the
  verdict of defeat to make the vanquished somehow
  appear victorious.

Seven of the 13 BJP's elected MLAs are Catholics. As one
local newspaper put it, the Catholics saved the BJP the
ignominy of a single-digit defeat like the Congress in 2012.
Yet the party has remained resolutely silent on this
unexpected majority of 'minorities', though it went to town
about six 'Catholic MLAs' in its kitty in 2012 .

The result probably astonished Modi's lieutenants more than
anyone and explains the alacrity with which Parrikar agreed
to give up one of the highest positions in the country (he
becomes the first defence minister ever to give up the post
to return to state politics) to return to Goa.

The move also saved the BJP the embarrassment of confronting
the obvious: would it ever allow a Catholic to head a BJP
government in Goa? The thought becomes relevant in the light
of the BJP elevating the party's most polarising figure, Yogi
Adithyanath, as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

I put the question to Michael Lobo, credited with playing a
key role in roping in Vijai Sardessai and Co. "If I was
responsible for bringing Vijai, why am I not a minister in
the government?" he asks. Is there a hint of resentment in
his cryptic reply? "Ask Francis D’Souza," Lobo went on to
add, highlighting the fact that the BJP's longest-serving and
most loyal 'Catholic MLA' had not even attempted to "stake
his claim" to the top post.

Far more worrying for the BJP no doubt, is its rejection in
2017 by a huge segment of the Hindus. Whatever spin Parrikar
and his media cronies are attempting post government
formation, there's no denying the Congress won 17 seats and
BJP just 13. Both were contesting without alliances. These
are their intrinsic strengths.

Where the BJP has been worst stung is in the OBC (other
backward classes) vote. The Bhandaris, who comprise the
majority of the 27% OBC vote, deserted the BJP and MGP and
turned back to the Congress. A political observer said the
election proved Ravi Naik and Subhash Shirodkar "are the real
leaders of the Bhandari samaj".

The government is currently upper caste top heavy --
Parrikar, Sardessai, Dhavlikar, Khaunte, Pauskar -- and
Parrikar's desperation to recover his party's footing among
the Hindu majority is reflected in his opportunistic move to
try and lay siege to the Congress stronghold of Sattari
working on the bloated ambitions of the immature Vishwajeet
Rane and throwing baits at whoever else in the Congress will
take it. Just as it did with Mauvin Godinho and Pandurang
Madkaikar, Parrikar is now willing to make compromises with
any "winnable candidates" the BJP wouldn't have touched with
a barge pole a few years ago.

In their attempt to spite the Congress, more particularly
Luizinho Faleiro, what the Goa Forward's cocktail club boys
have achieved by their self-serving ploy is to reduce the
local party to the same level of the numerous untrustworthy
cut-throats that have preceded them, the Save Goa Front,
UGDP, GVP to name some.

The GF has squandered a political future to become the C team
of the BJP. It cannot even aspire to the 'B' position long
occupied by the MGP. Sardessai himself will probably need the
BJP's help to get elected in Fatorda in the future. So will
Rohan Khaunte in Porvorim. One doubts their voters are going
to be as forgiving as they have of their brazen betrayal.

Margao businessman Datta Naik who acted as the go-between
between the Congress and Goa Forward said though he initially
believed the tie-up between the two parties would have helped
them get a clear 

[Goanet-News] 'This is the BJP's political mafia raj at work' -- Prabhakar Timble (Prasanna D Zore / Rediff.com)

[Goanet Reader]

'This is the BJP's political mafia raj at work'
March 15, 2017 08:54 IST

'What I mean by the BJP's
political mafia raj is they
descend in such a way that they
want to form the government
anyhow and murder democracy, no
matter what.'

'Knowing Amit Shah, knowing
Parrikar, knowing their style
of working, they will engineer
a split in the Congress.'

Professor Prabhakar Timble is the president of the Goa
Forward Party whose three MLAs went against his advice to
support the Bharatiya Janata Party's coalition government in
Goa.

In a no-holds-barred interview with Rediff.com's Prasanna D
Zore, Professor Timble questions Goa Governor Mridula Sinha's
decision to invite the BJP to form a government, exposes the
Congress' role in ditching his party before the polls, and
justifies why he resigned as president of a party whose
primary reason for existence was defeating the BJP.

Q: Why did you resign as president of the Goa Forward Party
when all your party MLAs decided to support Manohar
Parrikar's coalition government?
--

I resigned because I found the decision to go with the BJP
abrupt and abrasive.

I also found it unprofessional because the mandate of the
people is against the BJP.

  Our campaign, from the day we formed the Goa
  Forward Party, was fought with the sole purpose of
  ousting the BJP from power.

So, our first choice should not be embracing the BJP or
allowing it to come to power.

They (the BJP) have actually lost power in the state.

  Finally, the BJP could cobble up the numbers -- and
  I didn't say it for the last two days and I am
  saying it now because I didn't want to thrash my
  colleagues with harsh words before their swearing
  in took place -- because this is the BJP's
  political mafia raj at work.

They descend upon you, they pressurise you so much, and the
GFP, which fought the elections on the plank of Goenkarpon
(Goan-ness), finally succumbed to it.

Q: When your sole objective was to defeat the BJP, how can
one justify the GFP's support to the same people who they
wanted out of power in the state?
--

  The fact is the Congress party ditched the GFP
  right from the beginning.

The day we formed the GFP, we staunchly said we wanted to
dislodge the BJP from power and for that we wanted to have an
alliance with the Congress.

Knowing that we were a new party, we knew we won't be able to
reach out in all the constituencies.

Q: What changed so much after the elections that all your
party MLAs have gone with the BJP?
--

  The Dhavalikar brothers -- Sudin and Dipak (of the
  Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party) -- have always been
  with the party in power. They have been doing it
  since the last 20 years.

Q: What happened to your party MLAs? Were there promises of
cabinet berths by the BJP?
--

  To be very frank, I don't know.

We (the GFP and its MLAs) discussed the matter; the Congress
had also engaged us in discussions, but the only thing that
weighed against the Congress was they had ditched us before
the elections.

They refused to ally with us although we begged with them for
an alliance.

Then they put up a candidate against Vijai Sardesai in
Fatorda violating all etiquette and understanding.

They put up a candidate against us in Saligaon and almost put
up a candidate in Sivolim.

This proved they (the Congress) wanted us to fail because we
were fighting against two BJP ministers and wanted to
dislodge them.

First, you want us defeated and after the elections you come
to seek our help.

Q: Isn't it ironic that a party which wanted to defeat the
BJP in 2017 before the elections is now allying with them in
a coalition?
--

I found it totally unprofessional and so I resigned.

My argument was the BJP cannot be our first choice.

Finally, a government had to be formed and the Congress
should have been our natural choice.

The GFP MLAs were also in two minds, but Vijai Sardesai took
the lead and clinched the deal with the BJP.

I knew I should not lead and defend such decisions. I wanted
to be out of this muck.

Goenkarpon is not just taking oath in Konkani. Goenkarpon is
something more bigger than such symbolism.

Q: What do you mean by the BJP's political mafia raj?
--

  Whatever the BJP might say, the fact is they are
  gobbling up the MLAs. According to me, once you got
  just 13 seats, you should have stayed out of power
  and allowed the other party to move first.

You (the BJP) should have staked a claim to form a government
only after the Congress failure to do so.

Q: Did the BJP 

[Goanet] 'This is the BJP's political mafia raj at work' -- Prabhakar Timble (Prasanna D Zore / Rediff.com)

[Goanet Reader]

'This is the BJP's political mafia raj at work'
March 15, 2017 08:54 IST

'What I mean by the BJP's
political mafia raj is they
descend in such a way that they
want to form the government
anyhow and murder democracy, no
matter what.'

'Knowing Amit Shah, knowing
Parrikar, knowing their style
of working, they will engineer
a split in the Congress.'

Professor Prabhakar Timble is the president of the Goa
Forward Party whose three MLAs went against his advice to
support the Bharatiya Janata Party's coalition government in
Goa.

In a no-holds-barred interview with Rediff.com's Prasanna D
Zore, Professor Timble questions Goa Governor Mridula Sinha's
decision to invite the BJP to form a government, exposes the
Congress' role in ditching his party before the polls, and
justifies why he resigned as president of a party whose
primary reason for existence was defeating the BJP.

Q: Why did you resign as president of the Goa Forward Party
when all your party MLAs decided to support Manohar
Parrikar's coalition government?
--

I resigned because I found the decision to go with the BJP
abrupt and abrasive.

I also found it unprofessional because the mandate of the
people is against the BJP.

  Our campaign, from the day we formed the Goa
  Forward Party, was fought with the sole purpose of
  ousting the BJP from power.

So, our first choice should not be embracing the BJP or
allowing it to come to power.

They (the BJP) have actually lost power in the state.

  Finally, the BJP could cobble up the numbers -- and
  I didn't say it for the last two days and I am
  saying it now because I didn't want to thrash my
  colleagues with harsh words before their swearing
  in took place -- because this is the BJP's
  political mafia raj at work.

They descend upon you, they pressurise you so much, and the
GFP, which fought the elections on the plank of Goenkarpon
(Goan-ness), finally succumbed to it.

Q: When your sole objective was to defeat the BJP, how can
one justify the GFP's support to the same people who they
wanted out of power in the state?
--

  The fact is the Congress party ditched the GFP
  right from the beginning.

The day we formed the GFP, we staunchly said we wanted to
dislodge the BJP from power and for that we wanted to have an
alliance with the Congress.

Knowing that we were a new party, we knew we won't be able to
reach out in all the constituencies.

Q: What changed so much after the elections that all your
party MLAs have gone with the BJP?
--

  The Dhavalikar brothers -- Sudin and Dipak (of the
  Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party) -- have always been
  with the party in power. They have been doing it
  since the last 20 years.

Q: What happened to your party MLAs? Were there promises of
cabinet berths by the BJP?
--

  To be very frank, I don't know.

We (the GFP and its MLAs) discussed the matter; the Congress
had also engaged us in discussions, but the only thing that
weighed against the Congress was they had ditched us before
the elections.

They refused to ally with us although we begged with them for
an alliance.

Then they put up a candidate against Vijai Sardesai in
Fatorda violating all etiquette and understanding.

They put up a candidate against us in Saligaon and almost put
up a candidate in Sivolim.

This proved they (the Congress) wanted us to fail because we
were fighting against two BJP ministers and wanted to
dislodge them.

First, you want us defeated and after the elections you come
to seek our help.

Q: Isn't it ironic that a party which wanted to defeat the
BJP in 2017 before the elections is now allying with them in
a coalition?
--

I found it totally unprofessional and so I resigned.

My argument was the BJP cannot be our first choice.

Finally, a government had to be formed and the Congress
should have been our natural choice.

The GFP MLAs were also in two minds, but Vijai Sardesai took
the lead and clinched the deal with the BJP.

I knew I should not lead and defend such decisions. I wanted
to be out of this muck.

Goenkarpon is not just taking oath in Konkani. Goenkarpon is
something more bigger than such symbolism.

Q: What do you mean by the BJP's political mafia raj?
--

  Whatever the BJP might say, the fact is they are
  gobbling up the MLAs. According to me, once you got
  just 13 seats, you should have stayed out of power
  and allowed the other party to move first.

You (the BJP) should have staked a claim to form a government
only after the Congress failure to do so.

Q: Did the BJP 

[Goanet-News] Goa Forward Fast-Forwards BJP Move to Upend State Verdict as Parrikar Reclaims Power (Devika Sequeira, TheWire.in

[Goanet Reader]

Goa Forward Fast-Forwards BJP Move to Upend State Verdict as
Parrikar Reclaims Power

BY DEVIKA SEQUEIRA
devikaseque...@gmail.com

Party with three MLAs that campaigned on anti-saffron
platform will now join hands to bring the BJP back to power.

PHOTO: 'Look, they are calling
me back home!' Defence minister
Manohar Parrikar outside
parliament. On Sunday night, he
was appointed chief minister of
Goa for the third time. Credit: PTI

Panaji: A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party was
convincingly shown the door in Goa, the party has managed to
subvert the electoral verdict and return to power again with
the support of the Goa Forward (GF) party, the
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and some independents.
Late on Sunday night, according to PTI, Goa governor Mridula
Sinha appointed Manohar Parrikar -- currently defence
minister of India -- as chief minister of the state and gave
him 15 days to prove his majority in the assembly.

  Working overtime to muscle his way to power and
  undo a humiliating result for which he was mostly
  responsible as the chief campaigner and strategist,
  defence minister Manohar Parrikar managed to move
  the last hurdle in his way by capturing the support
  of the ambitious Goa Forward MLA Vijai Sardessai
  and two other members who held the key to
  government formation.

Parrikar is expected to resign as raksha mantri and return to
Goa -- which he once ran for seven years -- as head of the
motley new grouping which could be sworn in as early as
Tuesday. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, who camped out in Goa
from Saturday night to facilitate negotiations with the MGP
given his good relations with party leader Sudin Dhavlikar,
was among those who went to Raj Bhavan late Sunday to stake a
claim on behalf of the BJP to government formation.

Goa Forward, whose leaders had claimed the Congress would be
their "natural choice" to ally with in government, has
virtually split over the decision. The party's president,
Prabhakar Timble, resigned on Sunday night over the
development. One member told this correspondent that
Sardessai walked off with the other two MLAs, even as
discussions were in progress on the terms being sought from
both the Congress and BJP. The party had several informal
meetings with both national parties through Sunday, they said.

The BJP's decision to lay claim to power and the GF's move to
align with the saffron group has caused disbelief among
voters who feel short-changed after the rejection of the
saffron party in the assembly election.

What rankled most with Goa Forward members too is that the
nascent local party formed only recently drew its sustenance
from its strong anti-BJP stand. Sardessai in fact often
claimed he had been a far stronger single-handed opposition
to the BJP government than the whole of the Congress
legislature wing put together.

  A former Congressman, the 47-year-old politician
  fell out with the Congress, more particularly Goa
  PCC chief Luizinho Faleiro, after being denied a
  party ticket in the 2012 election. That move,
  ironically, helped him win from Fatorda
  constituency for the first time as an independent
  in the last election. But the enmity between the
  two continued and even caused the pre-poll alliance
  between the Congress and GF to fall apart after
  Faleiro's backhand move to field a Congress
  candidate against Sardessai.

Late on Saturday night, it emerged that Parrikar was making a
concerted move to grab power. By Sunday morning, the BJP had
floated the buzz that the party's newly elected MLAs, now
down to a mere 13 to the Congress' 17 in a 40-member House,
were in favour of the defence minister's return to Goa to
take over the reins of power.

Parrikar himself lost no time in making contact with all the
non-Congress MLAs to try and shore up support. With its
numbers as low as 13 -- a loss of 8 seats from its 2012 tally
-- the BJP needs the backing of almost all the rest of the
non-Congress MLAs, which means Goa Forward, MGP, NCP and
independents who collectively hold 10 seats.

Parrikar's intentions were clear soon after the verdict
itself, when he went into a verbal contortion trying to
explain to the media why he felt the mandate was not against
the government but "individual MLAs" -- a rather curious
explanation, given that the outgoing chief minister,
Laxmikant Parsekar was himself trounced in this election.

Though Parrikar said he "accepted the verdict of the people",
he also put out the theory that the fractured mandate and the
BJP's high vote share -- with 32.5%, it polled 4% more than
the Congress -- somehow gave it a right to make a bid for
power by "working something out" with the two local parties
and the independents.

"If the party president (Amit Shah) has said that the BJP is
forming the government in the state, then definitely we are
going 

[Goanet] Goa Forward Fast-Forwards BJP Move to Upend State Verdict as Parrikar Reclaims Power (Devika Sequeira, TheWire.in

[Goanet Reader]

Goa Forward Fast-Forwards BJP Move to Upend State Verdict as
Parrikar Reclaims Power

BY DEVIKA SEQUEIRA
devikaseque...@gmail.com

Party with three MLAs that campaigned on anti-saffron
platform will now join hands to bring the BJP back to power.

PHOTO: 'Look, they are calling
me back home!' Defence minister
Manohar Parrikar outside
parliament. On Sunday night, he
was appointed chief minister of
Goa for the third time. Credit: PTI

Panaji: A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party was
convincingly shown the door in Goa, the party has managed to
subvert the electoral verdict and return to power again with
the support of the Goa Forward (GF) party, the
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and some independents.
Late on Sunday night, according to PTI, Goa governor Mridula
Sinha appointed Manohar Parrikar -- currently defence
minister of India -- as chief minister of the state and gave
him 15 days to prove his majority in the assembly.

  Working overtime to muscle his way to power and
  undo a humiliating result for which he was mostly
  responsible as the chief campaigner and strategist,
  defence minister Manohar Parrikar managed to move
  the last hurdle in his way by capturing the support
  of the ambitious Goa Forward MLA Vijai Sardessai
  and two other members who held the key to
  government formation.

Parrikar is expected to resign as raksha mantri and return to
Goa -- which he once ran for seven years -- as head of the
motley new grouping which could be sworn in as early as
Tuesday. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, who camped out in Goa
from Saturday night to facilitate negotiations with the MGP
given his good relations with party leader Sudin Dhavlikar,
was among those who went to Raj Bhavan late Sunday to stake a
claim on behalf of the BJP to government formation.

Goa Forward, whose leaders had claimed the Congress would be
their "natural choice" to ally with in government, has
virtually split over the decision. The party's president,
Prabhakar Timble, resigned on Sunday night over the
development. One member told this correspondent that
Sardessai walked off with the other two MLAs, even as
discussions were in progress on the terms being sought from
both the Congress and BJP. The party had several informal
meetings with both national parties through Sunday, they said.

The BJP's decision to lay claim to power and the GF's move to
align with the saffron group has caused disbelief among
voters who feel short-changed after the rejection of the
saffron party in the assembly election.

What rankled most with Goa Forward members too is that the
nascent local party formed only recently drew its sustenance
from its strong anti-BJP stand. Sardessai in fact often
claimed he had been a far stronger single-handed opposition
to the BJP government than the whole of the Congress
legislature wing put together.

  A former Congressman, the 47-year-old politician
  fell out with the Congress, more particularly Goa
  PCC chief Luizinho Faleiro, after being denied a
  party ticket in the 2012 election. That move,
  ironically, helped him win from Fatorda
  constituency for the first time as an independent
  in the last election. But the enmity between the
  two continued and even caused the pre-poll alliance
  between the Congress and GF to fall apart after
  Faleiro's backhand move to field a Congress
  candidate against Sardessai.

Late on Saturday night, it emerged that Parrikar was making a
concerted move to grab power. By Sunday morning, the BJP had
floated the buzz that the party's newly elected MLAs, now
down to a mere 13 to the Congress' 17 in a 40-member House,
were in favour of the defence minister's return to Goa to
take over the reins of power.

Parrikar himself lost no time in making contact with all the
non-Congress MLAs to try and shore up support. With its
numbers as low as 13 -- a loss of 8 seats from its 2012 tally
-- the BJP needs the backing of almost all the rest of the
non-Congress MLAs, which means Goa Forward, MGP, NCP and
independents who collectively hold 10 seats.

Parrikar's intentions were clear soon after the verdict
itself, when he went into a verbal contortion trying to
explain to the media why he felt the mandate was not against
the government but "individual MLAs" -- a rather curious
explanation, given that the outgoing chief minister,
Laxmikant Parsekar was himself trounced in this election.

Though Parrikar said he "accepted the verdict of the people",
he also put out the theory that the fractured mandate and the
BJP's high vote share -- with 32.5%, it polled 4% more than
the Congress -- somehow gave it a right to make a bid for
power by "working something out" with the two local parties
and the independents.

"If the party president (Amit Shah) has said that the BJP is
forming the government in the state, then definitely we are
going 

[Goanet-News] The Home Staging of Goa (Christine Russon, Chasingxine)

[Goanet Reader]

The Home Staging of Goa

By Christine Russon
christine.rus...@gmail.com

http://chasingxine.blogspot.in/2017/03/home-staging-of-goa.html

My last essay [1] hit a nerve with a Scottish reader, who argued
that after living in Goa for five years, he should be
considered a Goan. This is despite the fact that he doesn’t
socialize with Goans; he claimed that this is irrelevant.

  I responded that being viewed as a Goan is not a
  question of time spent in Goa but of engagement
  with the place. Engagement is a critical topic, as
  Goa is treated like a reward for those with money,
  who have fuelled the demand for investment property
  or who have chosen to abandon the rat race for a
  quiet life here. Add to this the numerous domestic
  and international tourists, who occupy different
  spaces that tend not to include Goans. As I have
  already argued (see above-cited essay), this is how
  hospitable Goa is -- you can pretend there are no
  Goans here.

A travel blog called Inditales.com [2] is an example of both
the lack of engagement with Goa and the erasure of Goans that
I observe whenever I'm here. The author of the blog, Anuradha
Goyal, has written pieces on the North Goan villages of
Aldona [3] and Assagao [4] that read less like the insights
of a traveller and more like advertorials -- that is, paid
ads masquerading as opinion pieces (sticking with the theme
of selling off Goa, here [5] is an example from 2007).

Goyal states on her blog that she has lived in Goa for more
than three years, and yet she writes about Goa as if she has
just visited for the first time, with no prior knowledge of
it. The descriptions portray a surface-level interaction,
with no probing to learn about these villages or the people
who inhabit them. Even more striking are the photographs. The
only people in the few images that contain human figures are
far in the distance, faceless and nameless. And yet in this
absence of signs of life are photographs of well-preserved
churches and homes. So, while their existence might be
overlooked, these villages evidently have inhabitants.

(House in Aldona; Source: realestateIndia.com)

This reminds me of a day last fall, when I was taking a walk
around downtown Hamilton. As I made my way through the MacNab
Street bus terminal, I passed by a large tour group whose
professionally dressed participants were sporting name tags
and holding clipboards. Not wanting to stare, I glanced
briefly and made out the word "Toronto." Interesting, I
thought. I heard the tour guide inform them about the history
of the buildings towering over them.

Later on, I ran into this same group again on James Street
North. Now more curious about what they were up to, I slowed
my pace and detected a turn in the tour guide's script.
Instead of highlighting the history of the neighbourhood, the
subject was the neighbourhood's potential.

  It hit me: this was a group of developers looking
  to acquire property in this already gentrified
  neighbourhood. The gentrification [6] of my
  hometown is a topic on which I've written before.
  This particular street was already reinvented as an
  artists' hub, and now it is undergoing a
  transformation into a downtown-Torontoesque
  neighbourhood of restaurants and condominiums. The
  advertorials selling Hamilton to investors have
  been churning out of Toronto's newspapers for
  years. A city that was once known for its
  affordable detached homes and green spaces is being
  increasingly concretized to allow developers to
  make money. As I eavesdropped on this tour guide's
  sales pitch, I wondered if these people noticed or
  cared that the space they were coveting is already
  inhabited.

This brings me back to Inditales. The images of the houses in
the blog posts remind me of real estate advertisements.
Realtors in Canada advocate home staging [7] to enhance the
likelihood of selling one's house. The basic rules of home
staging are that the premises must be pristine and lacking in
personal touches, to make it easier for potential buyers to
envision themselves filling that space. Thus, instead of
providing information to would-be vacationers, these posts on
Inditales exhibit the home staging of Goa. The blog is guilty
of subtly conveying the idea of Goa as a vacant plot through
its envisioning of the state as a land of quaint, almost
empty villages.

(Like Inditales, selling an empty Assagao on a real estate
website)

  Of course, the erasure of Goans from the Goan
  landscape is nothing new. I remarked once in a
  comment on a Facebook post (Sept. 7, 2016) about
  the habit of referring to houses of a particular
  style as Portuguese, as if they were never -- and
  are still not -- inhabited by 

[Goanet] The Home Staging of Goa (Christine Russon, Chasingxine)

[Goanet Reader]

The Home Staging of Goa

By Christine Russon
christine.rus...@gmail.com

http://chasingxine.blogspot.in/2017/03/home-staging-of-goa.html

My last essay [1] hit a nerve with a Scottish reader, who argued
that after living in Goa for five years, he should be
considered a Goan. This is despite the fact that he doesn’t
socialize with Goans; he claimed that this is irrelevant.

  I responded that being viewed as a Goan is not a
  question of time spent in Goa but of engagement
  with the place. Engagement is a critical topic, as
  Goa is treated like a reward for those with money,
  who have fuelled the demand for investment property
  or who have chosen to abandon the rat race for a
  quiet life here. Add to this the numerous domestic
  and international tourists, who occupy different
  spaces that tend not to include Goans. As I have
  already argued (see above-cited essay), this is how
  hospitable Goa is -- you can pretend there are no
  Goans here.

A travel blog called Inditales.com [2] is an example of both
the lack of engagement with Goa and the erasure of Goans that
I observe whenever I'm here. The author of the blog, Anuradha
Goyal, has written pieces on the North Goan villages of
Aldona [3] and Assagao [4] that read less like the insights
of a traveller and more like advertorials -- that is, paid
ads masquerading as opinion pieces (sticking with the theme
of selling off Goa, here [5] is an example from 2007).

Goyal states on her blog that she has lived in Goa for more
than three years, and yet she writes about Goa as if she has
just visited for the first time, with no prior knowledge of
it. The descriptions portray a surface-level interaction,
with no probing to learn about these villages or the people
who inhabit them. Even more striking are the photographs. The
only people in the few images that contain human figures are
far in the distance, faceless and nameless. And yet in this
absence of signs of life are photographs of well-preserved
churches and homes. So, while their existence might be
overlooked, these villages evidently have inhabitants.

(House in Aldona; Source: realestateIndia.com)

This reminds me of a day last fall, when I was taking a walk
around downtown Hamilton. As I made my way through the MacNab
Street bus terminal, I passed by a large tour group whose
professionally dressed participants were sporting name tags
and holding clipboards. Not wanting to stare, I glanced
briefly and made out the word "Toronto." Interesting, I
thought. I heard the tour guide inform them about the history
of the buildings towering over them.

Later on, I ran into this same group again on James Street
North. Now more curious about what they were up to, I slowed
my pace and detected a turn in the tour guide's script.
Instead of highlighting the history of the neighbourhood, the
subject was the neighbourhood's potential.

  It hit me: this was a group of developers looking
  to acquire property in this already gentrified
  neighbourhood. The gentrification [6] of my
  hometown is a topic on which I've written before.
  This particular street was already reinvented as an
  artists' hub, and now it is undergoing a
  transformation into a downtown-Torontoesque
  neighbourhood of restaurants and condominiums. The
  advertorials selling Hamilton to investors have
  been churning out of Toronto's newspapers for
  years. A city that was once known for its
  affordable detached homes and green spaces is being
  increasingly concretized to allow developers to
  make money. As I eavesdropped on this tour guide's
  sales pitch, I wondered if these people noticed or
  cared that the space they were coveting is already
  inhabited.

This brings me back to Inditales. The images of the houses in
the blog posts remind me of real estate advertisements.
Realtors in Canada advocate home staging [7] to enhance the
likelihood of selling one's house. The basic rules of home
staging are that the premises must be pristine and lacking in
personal touches, to make it easier for potential buyers to
envision themselves filling that space. Thus, instead of
providing information to would-be vacationers, these posts on
Inditales exhibit the home staging of Goa. The blog is guilty
of subtly conveying the idea of Goa as a vacant plot through
its envisioning of the state as a land of quaint, almost
empty villages.

(Like Inditales, selling an empty Assagao on a real estate
website)

  Of course, the erasure of Goans from the Goan
  landscape is nothing new. I remarked once in a
  comment on a Facebook post (Sept. 7, 2016) about
  the habit of referring to houses of a particular
  style as Portuguese, as if they were never -- and
  are still not -- inhabited by 

[Goanet] A Column That Didn't Make It To The Local Press (Eugene Correia)

[Goanet Reader]

Journalist Eugene Correia (eugene.corr...@gmail.com) writes:
"Here's my column, Expect a Mixed Bag of Surprises, which the
Herald didn't run on Monday. The editor of the paper said I
am commenting on elections "by sitting in Portugal." The
editor. Sujay Gupta, doesn't even know where I am located.
And I have been writing my column for more than three years.
My previous column was also on the elections and he carried
it. He didn't like my comments on Panaji and Taleigao
constituencies, as his angry note to me said.

Expect a mixed bag of surprises
---
Eugene Correia

  No matter which political party comes to power,
  Goans must hope that the winning party will serve
  the goal in giving good governance to the people.
  If the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bounces back to
  rule Goa, it will not necessarily mean that the
  people have reposed their faith in the party. It
  could be that BJP squeezed through because the
  non-BJP votes were divided among the other parties
  and independents. Overall, the BJP has failed on
  its promise of good governance. It’s unlikely any
  party will get the required two-third majority and,
  perceptively, will have to seek alliances.

Prior to the elections, there was a mad rush to form a
mahagathbandhan [grand alliance] between some parties,
particularly a tie-up between the Indian National Congress
(INC) and the Goa Forward Party (GFP), the latter which came
about due to a Congress dissenter, Vijai Sardesai. It never
happened because of several barriers, and the Congress went
ahead and fielded a candidate in Fatorda. In this fracas, the
BJP candidate, Damodar (Damu) Naik, could come up trumps.

The GFP was born out of "revenge politics". In avenging the
denial of ticket by the Congress in the 2012 elections,
Sardesai rode the sympathy wave to defeat Damu. Though he
performed well in the assembly, Sardesai's harping on the
vague concept of Goenkarponn may not solely win him votes,
though it may have won him accolades. This time should be a
close-call for either one, as Damu has been Fatorda's
representative for three times.

  One may never know what provoked Congress to take
  on the two warhorses. It's hard to believe that BJP
  and Congress stuck a deal to derail Sardesai's
  chances. Did Parrikar and Faleiro sit in each
  other's laps? Maybe there were wheels within
  wheels. As everyone knows, politics makes strange
  bedfellows.

Think of what has happened in Panaji, where Congress has not
fielded a candidate but supports Atanasio J. Monserrate, who
was expelled from the Congress, and formed United Goans Party
(UGP) when his overtures to the United Goans Democratic Party
(UDGP) weren't entertained. Shockingly, his wife, Jennifer
Monserrate, is seeking re-election from Taleigoa on the same
Congress ticket. It throws up the question: will Atanasio
(Babush) be re-admitted into the Congress if he wins the
coveted Panaji seat, which is counted as a formidable BJP
stronghold.

The BJP incumbent in Panaji, Sidharth Sripad Kuncalienker, is
in the fray. But what about his prospects of pulling off a
victory over both Monserrate and Ketan Kirtikumar Prabhu
Bhatlikar, the latter fielded by Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM), a
party floated by expelled RSS boss, Prof. Subhash Velingkar?

Kuncaliker won the bye-poll as he was Parrikar's staffer
before Parrrikar was summoned to Delhi. Isn't there a special
friendship between Babush and Parrikar? What seems to be the
gameplan here? BJP boss, Amit Shah, has hinted that Parrikar
will manage Goa, and this either could be by remote-control
or physically moving to take up charge of government if the
BJP captures Goa again.

The Monserrates are straddling two stools, and it seems
Atanasio has also kept his previous constituency, Santa Cruz,
safe by getting his friend, Antonio (Tony) Caetano Fernandes,
to run on the Congress ticket. There's no doubt that Atanasio
is a king-maker and his writ runs in the triangle of these
three constituencies because of of muscle and money power.

  More than any diligent work for the people,
  Atanasio has a track record for amassing ill-gotten
  wealth and a long list of police records for
  nefarious activities. Atanasio's rise in politics
  runs parallel to another strongman, Churchill
  Alemao who, however, has longer years in the
  corridors of power. Now trying his luck in
  Benaulim, where his daughter, Valanka, was beaten
  by Caetano (Caitu) Rosario Silva, Churchill is a
  never-say-die fighter in Goan politics. Denied a
  Congress ticket for serving jail in the Louis
  Berger bribery case, Churchill is trying his luck
  on a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ticket.

Remember, Churchill embraced the Tirnamool Congress (TMC)

[Goanet-News] Finding history in translation ... DA Smith on his work on two new Goa books (Arti Das, Navhind Times0

[Goanet Reader]

FINDING HISTORY IN TRANSLATION

http://www.navhindtimes.in/finding-history-in-translation/

Writer, translator D A Smith
from Houston, Texas, was in Goa
to host a lecture on the
Portuguese poetry of Goan poet
Laxmanrao Sardessai. Smith
holds BAs in Creative Writing
(Sam Houston State University)
and Chinese Studies (University
of Houston), and writer of the
novel 'Axis Mundi Sum', has
also recently translated
Orlando da Costa's novel
'O Signo da Ira' (The Sign of
Wrath). In conversation with NT
BUZZ Smith speaks about the
poetry of Laxmanrao Sardessai,
Orlando da Costa's contribution
in Goa's literature scenario
and the scope of Goan
literature in Portuguese

ARTI DAS | NT BUZZ

Q. Can you elaborate upon the topic of the talk, 'Avante,
Goeses, Avante!: The Portuguese Poetry of Laxmanrao
Sardessai', which you delivered at Xavier Centre for
Historical Research, Porvorim?

After a 30-plus year career of writing short stories in
Marathi, Laxmanrao Sardessai switched to writing poetry in
Portuguese for a period of about two years, between 1964 and
1966. These poems were published in the Portuguese language
newspapers like A Vida and O Heraldo. About half of his poems
dealt with political issues, such as merger with Maharashtra
and the state of affairs in Goa after 1961, while the rest of
his poems addressed a variety of themes, from growing old
(Sardessai turned 60 in 1964), to the life of a poet, to
appreciation of Goa's natural beauty.

Q. Laxmanrao Sardessai wrote this poem during the Opinion
Poll (1964) as he was against the merger of Goa with
Maharashtra. How would you look at this work? Is it only
about Opinion Poll or is it making a deeper comment about
democracy?

You're right. The period in which Sardessai wrote poetry,
1964-1966, preceded the Opinion Poll, and he wrote a number
of poems in favour of remaining separate from Maharashtra. He
doesn't discuss the Opinion Poll specifically -- I imagine
there was no need, for his readers would’ve known exactly
what he was talking about in his poems.

Sardessai makes some comments about democracy that display
certain ambivalence, in the sense that post-1961 events left
him concerned about Goa;s future, though on the whole I'd say
he was certainly more fond of democracy than colonial rule.
After all, he'd been imprisoned twice by the Portuguese for
anti-colonial agitation.

Q. What inspired you to translate the works of Laxmanrao
Sardessai?

  At first I read and translated a few of his poems
  purely for pleasure, but as I read more I realised
  that he'd published enough to constitute a real
  body of work. More importantly, Sardessai addressed
  a wide range of subjects beyond politics, and
  thereby gave us a good look at what the
  Portuguese-speaking literary scene in Goa was like
  after 1961, when the language was already waning.

What's more, the fact that Sardessai was a Hindu writing in
Portuguese, rather than a Catholic, was unusual. All of these
elements, taken together, brought me to the conclusion that
the entirety of Sardessai's poetic work was worthy of
translation.

Q. You have also recently translated works of Orlando da
Costa’s novel 'O Signo da Ira' ('The Sign of Wrath'). How was
this creative process? Also how would you look at his
contribution to Goa's literature?

Translating a novel was quite different from translating
poetry, and I intend to make additional revisions to 'O Signo
da Ira'/'The Sign of Wrath', so it’s really an ongoing
process. I found it deeply interesting and very rewarding to
read Orlando da Costa's book and render it into a story that
made sense in English and maintained not just the plot, but
the Portuguese and Konkani elements that give the book its
unique flavour. Regular consultation with Portuguese and
Konkani speakers, and those familiar with Goan history, was
crucial.

  As for Orlando da Costa’s contributions to Goan
  literature, I think it’d be safe to say that 'O
  Signo da Ira' cements his place as one of Goa’s
  foremost novelists, even though he spent much of
  his life in Portugal. The wide array of critical
  responses to the book indicate that he really
  struck upon something essential to Goan life, and
  the continued interest in his work is evidence of
  its ability to speak to people more than fifty
  years after the publication of 'O Signo da Ira'.

Q. How do you look at the role of translators who in many
ways bring out the hidden literary gems to wider audience?

Translation is always going to be important if there's to be
any hope of sharing a culture’s literature with those who may
not speak its language. Sometimes it's easy to find the major
works of a language translated into other tongues, but in the
case of lesser-known works, or languages with smaller numbers
of speakers, the translator's work is all the more important.
Translation can save 

[Goanet] Finding history in translation: DA Smith on two recent Goa-related books books (Arti Das, Navhind Times)

[Goanet Reader]

FINDING HISTORY IN TRANSLATION

http://www.navhindtimes.in/finding-history-in-translation/

Writer, translator D A Smith
from Houston, Texas, was in Goa
to host a lecture on the
Portuguese poetry of Goan poet
Laxmanrao Sardessai. Smith
holds BAs in Creative Writing
(Sam Houston State University)
and Chinese Studies (University
of Houston), and writer of the
novel 'Axis Mundi Sum', has
also recently translated
Orlando da Costa's novel
'O Signo da Ira' (The Sign of
Wrath). In conversation with NT
BUZZ Smith speaks about the
poetry of Laxmanrao Sardessai,
Orlando da Costa's contribution
in Goa's literature scenario
and the scope of Goan
literature in Portuguese

ARTI DAS | NT BUZZ

Q. Can you elaborate upon the topic of the talk, 'Avante,
Goeses, Avante!: The Portuguese Poetry of Laxmanrao
Sardessai', which you delivered at Xavier Centre for
Historical Research, Porvorim?

After a 30-plus year career of writing short stories in
Marathi, Laxmanrao Sardessai switched to writing poetry in
Portuguese for a period of about two years, between 1964 and
1966. These poems were published in the Portuguese language
newspapers like A Vida and O Heraldo. About half of his poems
dealt with political issues, such as merger with Maharashtra
and the state of affairs in Goa after 1961, while the rest of
his poems addressed a variety of themes, from growing old
(Sardessai turned 60 in 1964), to the life of a poet, to
appreciation of Goa's natural beauty.

Q. Laxmanrao Sardessai wrote this poem during the Opinion
Poll (1964) as he was against the merger of Goa with
Maharashtra. How would you look at this work? Is it only
about Opinion Poll or is it making a deeper comment about
democracy?

You're right. The period in which Sardessai wrote poetry,
1964-1966, preceded the Opinion Poll, and he wrote a number
of poems in favour of remaining separate from Maharashtra. He
doesn't discuss the Opinion Poll specifically -- I imagine
there was no need, for his readers would’ve known exactly
what he was talking about in his poems.

Sardessai makes some comments about democracy that display
certain ambivalence, in the sense that post-1961 events left
him concerned about Goa;s future, though on the whole I'd say
he was certainly more fond of democracy than colonial rule.
After all, he'd been imprisoned twice by the Portuguese for
anti-colonial agitation.

Q. What inspired you to translate the works of Laxmanrao
Sardessai?

  At first I read and translated a few of his poems
  purely for pleasure, but as I read more I realised
  that he'd published enough to constitute a real
  body of work. More importantly, Sardessai addressed
  a wide range of subjects beyond politics, and
  thereby gave us a good look at what the
  Portuguese-speaking literary scene in Goa was like
  after 1961, when the language was already waning.

What's more, the fact that Sardessai was a Hindu writing in
Portuguese, rather than a Catholic, was unusual. All of these
elements, taken together, brought me to the conclusion that
the entirety of Sardessai's poetic work was worthy of
translation.

Q. You have also recently translated works of Orlando da
Costa’s novel 'O Signo da Ira' ('The Sign of Wrath'). How was
this creative process? Also how would you look at his
contribution to Goa's literature?

Translating a novel was quite different from translating
poetry, and I intend to make additional revisions to 'O Signo
da Ira'/'The Sign of Wrath', so it’s really an ongoing
process. I found it deeply interesting and very rewarding to
read Orlando da Costa's book and render it into a story that
made sense in English and maintained not just the plot, but
the Portuguese and Konkani elements that give the book its
unique flavour. Regular consultation with Portuguese and
Konkani speakers, and those familiar with Goan history, was
crucial.

  As for Orlando da Costa’s contributions to Goan
  literature, I think it’d be safe to say that 'O
  Signo da Ira' cements his place as one of Goa’s
  foremost novelists, even though he spent much of
  his life in Portugal. The wide array of critical
  responses to the book indicate that he really
  struck upon something essential to Goan life, and
  the continued interest in his work is evidence of
  its ability to speak to people more than fifty
  years after the publication of 'O Signo da Ira'.

Q. How do you look at the role of translators who in many
ways bring out the hidden literary gems to wider audience?

Translation is always going to be important if there's to be
any hope of sharing a culture’s literature with those who may
not speak its language. Sometimes it's easy to find the major
works of a language translated into other tongues, but in the
case of lesser-known works, or languages with smaller numbers
of speakers, the translator's work is all the more important.
Translation can save 

[Goanet-News] How a Goan startup founder created a hostel chain and then did something unexpected (Radhika P Nair, YourStory.com)

[Goanet Reader]

How a Goan startup founder created a hostel chain and then
did something unexpected

RADHIKA P NAIR

The Hostel Crowd gives the
picky backpacker a feature-rich
hostel experience

Jason Noronha's path to starting up almost entirely follows
the hero's journey template. Jason had a great job, but felt
something was missing. So, he went travelling, found his
calling, and came back home to start up. But the story
doesn't end there and it even has a twist. To find out, read on.

>From the sun, sand, and sea state of Goa, Jason completed his
Bachelor's in Engineering from Nanyang Technological
University in Singapore. He joined Accenture as a financial
consultant in the island country and worked there for three
years.

  In mid-2010, Jason volunteered in Kenya for six
  months and in March the next year, he decided to
  quit his job to figure out what he really wanted
  from life. He went to the South American country of
  Guyana with the international non-profit VSO and
  travelled across the continent, through Brazil,
  Venezuela, and Suriname. By late 2011, Jason was
  back in Goa, where he spent a few months enjoying a
  mini-retirement of sorts. Three months into the
  mini-retirement, Jason realised he needed to work.
  Then came the question of what to do.

PHOTO: The Hostel Crowd Team (L-R): Jason Noronha, Joshua
Noronha, Laura Anna Pawliczek, Joel Noronha and Raunaq Kapoor

>From susegad to starting up

  Jason had spent many a lazy day during his
  mini-retirement on the sunny beaches of Goa and had
  noticed the extremely bad state of the cheap
  beachside guesthouses that budget travellers stayed
  in. This was not the experience he had when he
  travelled in South America and other countries and
  stayed in hostels. The 31-year-old says: "Having
  travelled to over 40 countries, the fact that there
  were no (real) hostels in India was always at the
  back of my mind."

In February 2012, Jason and a junior from Nanyang, Amber
Jalan, launched Asterix Hostel in Vagator in North Goa with a
seed investment of Rs 7 lakh. The hostel was a success,
making its way to the top of listings on booking sites like
Hostelworld and finding a place in Lonely Planet.

However, success did not mean the two founders were on the
same page as to scale up plans. So a little over a year after
launching Asterix, the duo parted ways and shut down Asterix.

A hostel chain

Laura Anna Pawliczek was one of the first guests at Asterix.
She was working with an NGO in Delhi and then moved to Goa to
launch a German beer garden. When Jason was moving on from
Asterix, he and Laura decided to launch a hostel chain and
thus The Hostel Crowd was born in 2013. Hostels Jungle in
Vagator and Prison in Anjuna were launched the same year.

Incidentally, Jason's Asterix partner Amber moved to Delhi to
launch Moustache Hostel. In 2014, Old Quarter was started in
Panjim and in 2015 Summer was started in Palolem. The chain
also launched their first hostel outside Goa, in Kerala's
Fort Kochi, called Maritime. In between, Jason’s brother
Joshua Noronha and their cousin Joel Noronha joined The
Hostel Crowd. A little over a year ago, Joshua's college
friend Raunaq Kapoor also got on board.

PHOTO: Four of the five The Hostel Crowd hostels (clockwise
from top left): Maritime in Fort Kochi, Old Quarter in
Panjim, Prison in Anjuna and Jungle in Vagator

Standing apart from the crowd

The hostels are primarily located in properties that are
unique. The Vagator property has forests for neighbours, so
it is called Jungle. The Old Quarter, as the name suggests,
is located in two over 100-year-old buildings in Panjim's Old
Quarter. Maritime is also located in a heritage building in
Fort Kochi.

  The team, right from the start, used design to
  create a distinct character for each of the
  hostels. Says 26-year-old Joshua: "The world isn't
  going the McDonald's way, where everything looks
  the same. When a traveller goes from one place to
  the other, the hostel should do justice to the
  location and be a reflection of the destination.
  Palolem is very different in its vibe from Panjim,
  even though they are in the same state. That is why
  we have given each hostel a different name and not
  called them just The Hostel Crowd."

So the Old Quarter's exterior has been painted to resemble
Goa's famed azueljos, colourful ceramic tiles. Prison, the
chain's party hostel a stone's throw from Anjuna flea market,
has design elements of prisons like metal doors with slots
for food trays and black and white colour scheme. Maritime
has nautical themes, with paintings of ships and white and
blue stripes covering room walls. The interiors are uniformly
bright and cheerful, with large and comfortable common areas

[Goanet] How a Goan startup founder created a hostel chain and then did something unexpected (Radhika P Nair, YourStory.com)

[Goanet Reader]

How a Goan startup founder created a hostel chain and then
did something unexpected

RADHIKA P NAIR

The Hostel Crowd gives the
picky backpacker a feature-rich
hostel experience

Jason Noronha's path to starting up almost entirely follows
the hero's journey template. Jason had a great job, but felt
something was missing. So, he went travelling, found his
calling, and came back home to start up. But the story
doesn't end there and it even has a twist. To find out, read on.

>From the sun, sand, and sea state of Goa, Jason completed his
Bachelor's in Engineering from Nanyang Technological
University in Singapore. He joined Accenture as a financial
consultant in the island country and worked there for three
years.

  In mid-2010, Jason volunteered in Kenya for six
  months and in March the next year, he decided to
  quit his job to figure out what he really wanted
  from life. He went to the South American country of
  Guyana with the international non-profit VSO and
  travelled across the continent, through Brazil,
  Venezuela, and Suriname. By late 2011, Jason was
  back in Goa, where he spent a few months enjoying a
  mini-retirement of sorts. Three months into the
  mini-retirement, Jason realised he needed to work.
  Then came the question of what to do.

PHOTO: The Hostel Crowd Team (L-R): Jason Noronha, Joshua
Noronha, Laura Anna Pawliczek, Joel Noronha and Raunaq Kapoor

>From susegad to starting up

  Jason had spent many a lazy day during his
  mini-retirement on the sunny beaches of Goa and had
  noticed the extremely bad state of the cheap
  beachside guesthouses that budget travellers stayed
  in. This was not the experience he had when he
  travelled in South America and other countries and
  stayed in hostels. The 31-year-old says: "Having
  travelled to over 40 countries, the fact that there
  were no (real) hostels in India was always at the
  back of my mind."

In February 2012, Jason and a junior from Nanyang, Amber
Jalan, launched Asterix Hostel in Vagator in North Goa with a
seed investment of Rs 7 lakh. The hostel was a success,
making its way to the top of listings on booking sites like
Hostelworld and finding a place in Lonely Planet.

However, success did not mean the two founders were on the
same page as to scale up plans. So a little over a year after
launching Asterix, the duo parted ways and shut down Asterix.

A hostel chain

Laura Anna Pawliczek was one of the first guests at Asterix.
She was working with an NGO in Delhi and then moved to Goa to
launch a German beer garden. When Jason was moving on from
Asterix, he and Laura decided to launch a hostel chain and
thus The Hostel Crowd was born in 2013. Hostels Jungle in
Vagator and Prison in Anjuna were launched the same year.

Incidentally, Jason's Asterix partner Amber moved to Delhi to
launch Moustache Hostel. In 2014, Old Quarter was started in
Panjim and in 2015 Summer was started in Palolem. The chain
also launched their first hostel outside Goa, in Kerala's
Fort Kochi, called Maritime. In between, Jason’s brother
Joshua Noronha and their cousin Joel Noronha joined The
Hostel Crowd. A little over a year ago, Joshua's college
friend Raunaq Kapoor also got on board.

PHOTO: Four of the five The Hostel Crowd hostels (clockwise
from top left): Maritime in Fort Kochi, Old Quarter in
Panjim, Prison in Anjuna and Jungle in Vagator

Standing apart from the crowd

The hostels are primarily located in properties that are
unique. The Vagator property has forests for neighbours, so
it is called Jungle. The Old Quarter, as the name suggests,
is located in two over 100-year-old buildings in Panjim's Old
Quarter. Maritime is also located in a heritage building in
Fort Kochi.

  The team, right from the start, used design to
  create a distinct character for each of the
  hostels. Says 26-year-old Joshua: "The world isn't
  going the McDonald's way, where everything looks
  the same. When a traveller goes from one place to
  the other, the hostel should do justice to the
  location and be a reflection of the destination.
  Palolem is very different in its vibe from Panjim,
  even though they are in the same state. That is why
  we have given each hostel a different name and not
  called them just The Hostel Crowd."

So the Old Quarter's exterior has been painted to resemble
Goa's famed azueljos, colourful ceramic tiles. Prison, the
chain's party hostel a stone's throw from Anjuna flea market,
has design elements of prisons like metal doors with slots
for food trays and black and white colour scheme. Maritime
has nautical themes, with paintings of ships and white and
blue stripes covering room walls. The interiors are uniformly
bright and cheerful, with large and comfortable common areas

[Goanet] Silence, pain, observing sensations, spasming and meditating (Bina Nayak, Goanet)

[Goanet Reader]

SILENCE, PAIN, OBSERVING SENSATIONS, SPASMING AND MEDITATING
My Vipashyana Experience

By Bina Nayak
binana...@gmail.com

For the last four years, my husband Jagdish and me, have been
going to Dharamsala in winter. He does either Vipashyana or
the Tushita Meditation retreat (both places are
side-by-side). I join him 10 or 12 days later, after he's had
his fill of spirituality and asceticism.

Bringing him down to earth, to the pleasures of flesh and
food (there's deprivation of both in Vipashyana). We attend
the Dharamsala International Film Festival (DIFF) held in the
first week of November, and return home to Pune, refreshed
and rested. Jagdish is an experienced meditator, having done
six Vipashyana courses of 10 days each (plus one Satipatthana
nine-day meditation) and several three-day weekend sessions.

This year, I decided to give it a try. I did my first
Vipashyana Meditation course late last year, 2016, at the
Sayagi U Ba Khin Centre for Vipassana Meditation, by SN
Goenka, in Dharamkot, Dharamsala.

Jagdish suggested the Borivali Centre (in Bombay). It's a
fancy one with a massive Burmese style pagoda. Being new, and
a favourite of the Page 3 and Bollywood types, it has clean
toilets, mostly aircon single occupancy rooms and a buffet
food service comprising Continental, Vegan and Sattvic
vegetarian fare.

[For the curious, Sattvic diet is based on foods in Ayurveda
and Yoga literature that contain a sattva quality. In this
system of dietary classification, foods that harm the mind or
body are considered Tamasic, while those that are neither
positive or negative are considered Rajasic. Sattvic diet is
meant to include food and eating habit that is "pure,
essential, natural, vital, energy-containing, clean,
conscious, true, honest, wise". It places emphasis on
seasonal foods, fruits, dairy products, nuts, seeds, oils,
ripe vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and non-meat based
proteins.]

But I was afraid I would sneak into EsselWorld and Water
Kingdom -- Asia's largest theme water park -- which are
adjacent. In fact, one takes the same BEST ferry service to
go to the island. Now, in retrospect, it seems like two roads
diverge; one leads you inwards, cruising on the roller
coasters of your mind. The other takes you outwards, spending
and gorging mindlessly.

Vipashyana is a 10 day course, free of any charges, you may
make a donation if you wish. By contrast, Esselworld and
Water Kingdom's combined day entry fee is Rs 1300 per person.
Plus you will pay another 1500 per person for food and
refreshments.

  Before I tell you about my experience, a little
  background on Vipashyana and some myths regarding
  it (that the practitioners themselves propagate) is
  necessary. Do note that this understanding on my
  part is thanks largely to my husband, who is a
  Buddhist scholar and shares his learning on his
  blog http://gurusoul.org My description is peppered
  generously with my own prejudices and name calling
  - but the historical facts are true

BIGGEST MYTH

It is a technique used by Buddha to attain enlightenment. It
was unfortunately lost to India -- where he
developed/discovered it. But a few monks in Burma saved it by
passing it on secretly from teacher to student.

REALITY

There is no mention of a technique of meditation called
Vipassana or Vipashyana; instead the word Vipassana is used
to mean insight either into yourself or on the object of
meditation.

Buddhism in India was wiped out by Hinduism. As it does not
believe in god, rites, rituals, superstition, miracles, it
threatened the caste system, the priests' livelihood and
everything Hinduism stood for. The rest was taken care of by
the Mughal invaders.

Emperor Asoka was responsible for spreading it. He used the
precepts and codes of Buddhism in his rule (post Kalinga).
His surviving pillars, inscribed stones and edicts gave us
the symbols of the Wheel of Dhamma (on our tricolour), the
four Lions (our national emblem) etc. Buddhism spread to Sri
Lanka, the South East, as well as Pakistan and Afghanistan.

  Sri Lanka still practises an orthodox form of
  Buddhism (Theravada) as do some parts of Burma and
  Thailand. Tibetan Buddhism is influenced by Bon --
  an older religion which was replete with demons and
  goddesses. Compared to Theravada, which is drab and
  threadbare, with no rituals, Tibetan Buddhism is
  vibrant and colourful, with fantastic symbolic
  ceremonies, the Kala Chakra for instance. It has
  exquisitely painted, oriental style imagery of the
  various avatars of Buddha. Tibetan monks play
  instruments, dance, twirl prayer wheels, count
  prayer beads and chant. Not to mention they look
  really cute in their maroon and yellow outfits.
  This explains Tibetan Buddhism's popularity with
  Hollywood and the Western media. And the 

[Goanet-News] Silence, pain, observing sensations, spasming and meditating (Bina Nayak, Goanet)

[Goanet Reader]

SILENCE, PAIN, OBSERVING SENSATIONS, SPASMING AND MEDITATING
My Vipashyana Experience

By Bina Nayak
binana...@gmail.com

For the last four years, my husband Jagdish and me, have been
going to Dharamsala in winter. He does either Vipashyana or
the Tushita Meditation retreat (both places are
side-by-side). I join him 10 or 12 days later, after he's had
his fill of spirituality and asceticism.

Bringing him down to earth, to the pleasures of flesh and
food (there's deprivation of both in Vipashyana). We attend
the Dharamsala International Film Festival (DIFF) held in the
first week of November, and return home to Pune, refreshed
and rested. Jagdish is an experienced meditator, having done
six Vipashyana courses of 10 days each (plus one Satipatthana
nine-day meditation) and several three-day weekend sessions.

This year, I decided to give it a try. I did my first
Vipashyana Meditation course late last year, 2016, at the
Sayagi U Ba Khin Centre for Vipassana Meditation, by SN
Goenka, in Dharamkot, Dharamsala.

Jagdish suggested the Borivali Centre (in Bombay). It's a
fancy one with a massive Burmese style pagoda. Being new, and
a favourite of the Page 3 and Bollywood types, it has clean
toilets, mostly aircon single occupancy rooms and a buffet
food service comprising Continental, Vegan and Sattvic
vegetarian fare.

[For the curious, Sattvic diet is based on foods in Ayurveda
and Yoga literature that contain a sattva quality. In this
system of dietary classification, foods that harm the mind or
body are considered Tamasic, while those that are neither
positive or negative are considered Rajasic. Sattvic diet is
meant to include food and eating habit that is "pure,
essential, natural, vital, energy-containing, clean,
conscious, true, honest, wise". It places emphasis on
seasonal foods, fruits, dairy products, nuts, seeds, oils,
ripe vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and non-meat based
proteins.]

But I was afraid I would sneak into EsselWorld and Water
Kingdom -- Asia's largest theme water park -- which are
adjacent. In fact, one takes the same BEST ferry service to
go to the island. Now, in retrospect, it seems like two roads
diverge; one leads you inwards, cruising on the roller
coasters of your mind. The other takes you outwards, spending
and gorging mindlessly.

Vipashyana is a 10 day course, free of any charges, you may
make a donation if you wish. By contrast, Esselworld and
Water Kingdom's combined day entry fee is Rs 1300 per person.
Plus you will pay another 1500 per person for food and
refreshments.

  Before I tell you about my experience, a little
  background on Vipashyana and some myths regarding
  it (that the practitioners themselves propagate) is
  necessary. Do note that this understanding on my
  part is thanks largely to my husband, who is a
  Buddhist scholar and shares his learning on his
  blog http://gurusoul.org My description is peppered
  generously with my own prejudices and name calling
  - but the historical facts are true

BIGGEST MYTH

It is a technique used by Buddha to attain enlightenment. It
was unfortunately lost to India -- where he
developed/discovered it. But a few monks in Burma saved it by
passing it on secretly from teacher to student.

REALITY

There is no mention of a technique of meditation called
Vipassana or Vipashyana; instead the word Vipassana is used
to mean insight either into yourself or on the object of
meditation.

Buddhism in India was wiped out by Hinduism. As it does not
believe in god, rites, rituals, superstition, miracles, it
threatened the caste system, the priests' livelihood and
everything Hinduism stood for. The rest was taken care of by
the Mughal invaders.

Emperor Asoka was responsible for spreading it. He used the
precepts and codes of Buddhism in his rule (post Kalinga).
His surviving pillars, inscribed stones and edicts gave us
the symbols of the Wheel of Dhamma (on our tricolour), the
four Lions (our national emblem) etc. Buddhism spread to Sri
Lanka, the South East, as well as Pakistan and Afghanistan.

  Sri Lanka still practises an orthodox form of
  Buddhism (Theravada) as do some parts of Burma and
  Thailand. Tibetan Buddhism is influenced by Bon --
  an older religion which was replete with demons and
  goddesses. Compared to Theravada, which is drab and
  threadbare, with no rituals, Tibetan Buddhism is
  vibrant and colourful, with fantastic symbolic
  ceremonies, the Kala Chakra for instance. It has
  exquisitely painted, oriental style imagery of the
  various avatars of Buddha. Tibetan monks play
  instruments, dance, twirl prayer wheels, count
  prayer beads and chant. Not to mention they look
  really cute in their maroon and yellow outfits.
  This explains Tibetan Buddhism's popularity with
  Hollywood and the Western media. And the 

[Goanet] Guided by trained doctors, BJP and Congress diagnose Goa: Go micro, win macro (Smita Nair, Indian Express)

[Goanet Reader]

http://indianexpress.com/elections/goa-assembly-elections-2017/guided-by-trained-doctors-bjp-and-cong-diagnose-goa-go-micro-win-macro-4495222/

Guided by trained doctors, BJP and Congress diagnose Goa: Go
micro, win macro

The BJP is contesting
36 seats, but the
booth management
covers entire Goa.

Written by Smita Nair | Panjim | Updated: January 28, 2017

Dr Rajendra Phadke (third from left), leads BJP's campaign in
Goa. (Source: Express Photo by Smita Nair)

'Booth jeeto, desh jeeto'

AT Pernem, right before she took the microphone on Thursday,
a clove-flavoured ayurvedic throat cleanser was slipped into
Union minister Smriti Irani's hands. Campaign management can
be a lot of things, and if one were to sit with Dr Rajendra
Phadke, he will tell you that sometimes it can be as crucial
as a "timely clove".

  A 'Pramod Mahajan alumnus', Phadke, a trained
  doctor, is the man the BJP and Manohar Parrikar has
  chosen to win Goa. Having conducted several state
  elections in north and west India, Phadke is a
  member of the party's campaign core committee along
  with several others from Maharashtra, Karnataka and
  other BJP states to help shape the Goa campaign.

Inside the BJP election office, Phadke is busy overseeing a
team of six BJP workers from Aurangabad, Maharashtra. The
team is setting up a call centre with multiple phone lines.
In two days, they would have made multiple calls (at least
2,000 in a single shift) to booth in-charges of the state's
40 constituencies as they mobilise crowd for Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's rally on Saturday.

They are following the BJP style of functioning -- "booth
jeeto, desh jeeto", Phadke explains.

The BJP is contesting 36 seats, but the booth management
covers the entire state. The average voter turnout per booth
is 650, and the state has 1,642 voting booths. "We are first
calling the booth nodals to get crowd for the rally," Phadke
says. Every shift, the figures will be updated and follow-ups
taken.

The party expects a turnout of 50,000.

Overseeing elections since the 1990s, Phadke, who carries all
sorts of medicines for BJP workers, says the mood remains the
same but the functioning is "very fast phased" now. He has
just figured six WhatsApp groups, percolating to the lowest
party worker -- where in the next five days voice messages of
Narendra Modi, Manohar Parrikar and other party leaders will
be broadcast. "Elections are about motivation, constant
support," he says.

  Party office in-charge Ravindra Sathe, a Mumbaikar,
  has the logistics and plans for various departments
  that will work until the last vote is cast --
  social media cell, logistics, women's cell, etc. In
  the room are people mapping mood of the voters,
  starting with the "interest shown to come for Modi
  rally".

Sadanand Tanavde, secretary of Goa's BJP wing, says,
"Everything is checked and cross-checked. There is no room
for errors."

Sathe is a top office-bearer of the Rambhau Mhalgi
Prabodhini, an institute that prepares legislators with their
responsibilities. Most BJP candidates in Maharashtra were
said to be trained by him, since three months Sathe has
finished teaching legislator duties to all 36 Goa candidates.

  Having arrived in October 2016, Phadke says his
  early "patrolling days" were spent with locals
  gauging the "BJP mood". His diaries, listing
  demographics, can put a statistician to shame.
  Flagged across each constituencies are voter
  profiles, their communities, and identity details.
  "If I am told that the locals in one constituency
  are Kannada speakers, I have the detail of which
  region of Karnataka they come from. No election
  planning can be done without getting these details
  right," he says.

The team says even the star campaigners have been picked and
put in constituencies matching their language and background.
Smriti Irani, for instance, was allocated Calangute as she is
familiar with work there, while Ananth Kumar went to a belt
with Karnataka demographics.

Preparing for the election meetings has been a major task for
BJP. The party, which works on absolute briefings, found no
one attending more than two meetings. "It took us two weeks
only to get that corrected. I told them that a person can
have more than five meetings a day -- I have spoilt the
Goans," Phadke says.

Every detail in the office is in writing "There is no way you
will say you were not told. If I need crowd on the ground,
voters in the booth, I need everything marked and written,"
says Phadke as he scolds a worker who delayed on a work
promise. His diaries, similarly, have minute detailing until
February 4. "Parrikar saw the diary I had kept in 2012
election and said I am being dispatched to Goa since I have a
work-diary like this," he laughs.

The 2012 notes have the voting 

[Goanet-News] Guided by trained doctors, BJP and Congress diagnose Goa: Go micro, win macro (Smita Nair, Indian Express)

[Goanet Reader]

http://indianexpress.com/elections/goa-assembly-elections-2017/guided-by-trained-doctors-bjp-and-cong-diagnose-goa-go-micro-win-macro-4495222/

Guided by trained doctors, BJP and Congress diagnose Goa: Go
micro, win macro

The BJP is contesting
36 seats, but the
booth management
covers entire Goa.

Written by Smita Nair | Panjim | Updated: January 28, 2017

Dr Rajendra Phadke (third from left), leads BJP's campaign in
Goa. (Source: Express Photo by Smita Nair)

'Booth jeeto, desh jeeto'

AT Pernem, right before she took the microphone on Thursday,
a clove-flavoured ayurvedic throat cleanser was slipped into
Union minister Smriti Irani's hands. Campaign management can
be a lot of things, and if one were to sit with Dr Rajendra
Phadke, he will tell you that sometimes it can be as crucial
as a "timely clove".

  A 'Pramod Mahajan alumnus', Phadke, a trained
  doctor, is the man the BJP and Manohar Parrikar has
  chosen to win Goa. Having conducted several state
  elections in north and west India, Phadke is a
  member of the party's campaign core committee along
  with several others from Maharashtra, Karnataka and
  other BJP states to help shape the Goa campaign.

Inside the BJP election office, Phadke is busy overseeing a
team of six BJP workers from Aurangabad, Maharashtra. The
team is setting up a call centre with multiple phone lines.
In two days, they would have made multiple calls (at least
2,000 in a single shift) to booth in-charges of the state's
40 constituencies as they mobilise crowd for Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's rally on Saturday.

They are following the BJP style of functioning -- "booth
jeeto, desh jeeto", Phadke explains.

The BJP is contesting 36 seats, but the booth management
covers the entire state. The average voter turnout per booth
is 650, and the state has 1,642 voting booths. "We are first
calling the booth nodals to get crowd for the rally," Phadke
says. Every shift, the figures will be updated and follow-ups
taken.

The party expects a turnout of 50,000.

Overseeing elections since the 1990s, Phadke, who carries all
sorts of medicines for BJP workers, says the mood remains the
same but the functioning is "very fast phased" now. He has
just figured six WhatsApp groups, percolating to the lowest
party worker -- where in the next five days voice messages of
Narendra Modi, Manohar Parrikar and other party leaders will
be broadcast. "Elections are about motivation, constant
support," he says.

  Party office in-charge Ravindra Sathe, a Mumbaikar,
  has the logistics and plans for various departments
  that will work until the last vote is cast --
  social media cell, logistics, women's cell, etc. In
  the room are people mapping mood of the voters,
  starting with the "interest shown to come for Modi
  rally".

Sadanand Tanavde, secretary of Goa's BJP wing, says,
"Everything is checked and cross-checked. There is no room
for errors."

Sathe is a top office-bearer of the Rambhau Mhalgi
Prabodhini, an institute that prepares legislators with their
responsibilities. Most BJP candidates in Maharashtra were
said to be trained by him, since three months Sathe has
finished teaching legislator duties to all 36 Goa candidates.

  Having arrived in October 2016, Phadke says his
  early "patrolling days" were spent with locals
  gauging the "BJP mood". His diaries, listing
  demographics, can put a statistician to shame.
  Flagged across each constituencies are voter
  profiles, their communities, and identity details.
  "If I am told that the locals in one constituency
  are Kannada speakers, I have the detail of which
  region of Karnataka they come from. No election
  planning can be done without getting these details
  right," he says.

The team says even the star campaigners have been picked and
put in constituencies matching their language and background.
Smriti Irani, for instance, was allocated Calangute as she is
familiar with work there, while Ananth Kumar went to a belt
with Karnataka demographics.

Preparing for the election meetings has been a major task for
BJP. The party, which works on absolute briefings, found no
one attending more than two meetings. "It took us two weeks
only to get that corrected. I told them that a person can
have more than five meetings a day -- I have spoilt the
Goans," Phadke says.

Every detail in the office is in writing "There is no way you
will say you were not told. If I need crowd on the ground,
voters in the booth, I need everything marked and written,"
says Phadke as he scolds a worker who delayed on a work
promise. His diaries, similarly, have minute detailing until
February 4. "Parrikar saw the diary I had kept in 2012
election and said I am being dispatched to Goa since I have a
work-diary like this," he laughs.

The 2012 notes have the voting 

[Goanet-News] As BJP Fights Another Saffron Alliance, AAP Could Play Spoiler for Congress in Goa (Devika Sequeira, TheWire.in)

[Goanet Reader]

As BJP Fights Another Saffron Alliance, AAP Could Play Spoiler for Congress
in Goa

BY DEVIKA SEQUEIRA
devikaseque...@gmail.com
24/01/2017

Manohar Parrikar has roped two
Congressmen into the BJP whom
he had accused of being corrupt
in the past.

PHOTO: Defence minister Manohar
Parrikar, union Ayush minister
Sripad Naik and Goa chief
minister Laxmikant Parsekar.
Credit: PTI

Panaji: The word 'U-turn' has turned into a rallying call for
almost all those targeting the BJP in the Goa election. Elvis
Gomes, the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) chief ministerial
candidate, uses it as the punch line in his frenzied
campaign. "This government has done so many U-turns, the word
will soon become part of school textbooks in Goa," he said.
In the Congress manifesto, U-turn finds mention in the very
first para: "The current government has emerged as the
epitome of U-turns, reneging on all its promises."

Travelling around Goa trying to pick up the pulse of this
election, an anti-incumbency undercurrent is clearly evident.

What do you hope will come from this election, this
correspondent asked two well-educated and articulate
middle-aged men who were listening to Delhi chief minister
Arvind Kejriwal's address late evening in the heart of Margao
on Sunday. Kejriwal has campaigned intensely here for three
days over the weekend hoping to catch undecided voters like
these two.

Change, one of them, Jason Cardozo and his friend tell me, is
what Goa needs. "The BJP promised us a lot, but it proved no
better than the Congress. Now there has to be a change."

  Though the opposition in Goa -- principally the
  Congress which had been practically comatose since
  its stinging defeat in 2012 -- was all at sea, the
  first signs that an undercurrent for change was
  picking up came from an intelligence report
  commissioned by the BJP some three months ago. The
  internal survey predicted a hung assembly for Goa,
  giving the BJP a maximum of 16 seats, with the
  Congress not far behind with 12-15 seats in a house
  of 40 members.

The rumble started in August when the Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS) sacked its Goa chief Subhash Velingkar for his
very strident attack of defence minister Manohar Parrikar.

  Velingkar, a strong votary of teaching in the
  mother tongue in primary schools, did not go
  quietly. Credited with setting up the RSS in Goa,
  the former school principal did the unthinkable --
  he defied Nagpur and formed a breakaway Goa RSS
  prant. Within months, the BJP which had seemed to
  be cruising along comfortably to a second term in
  Goa with the opposition in shambles, has been
  confronted with what would have seemed implausible
  till then -- a political cleave in its ideological
  core group.

Vowing to bring down the BJP (identified completely with
Parrikar in Goa) for its slight to him and for reneging on
its promise to change the government's medium of instruction
policy that extends grants to English primary schools run by
the church, Velingkar floated a political wing of the
Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch -- the group lobbying to
change the government's school grants policy. Set up in
October, Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM) has taken a plunge in the
election.

Sensing opportunity in the shifting political winds, the
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) too split from the BJP
earlier this month. The MGP's dominant face Sudin Dhavalikar
made no secret of the fact he is in the race for the Goa
chief minister post.

  In 2012, the BJP had contested 35 seats in an
  alliance with the MGP (BJP 28, MGP 7) and won a
  simple majority of 21 on its own (plus the MGP's
  three seats), this largely because of the
  anti-Congress wave and the Church throwing its
  weight behind the anti-corruption campaign in that
  election.

In election 2017, the MGP is heading an alliance of counter
saffron groups ranged against big brother BJP, which is no
doubt worrying for Modi's party and Parrikar in particular,
in whose hands the party's strategy is vested.

The MGP has tied up with the GSM and Shiv Sena and will
contest in 30 of the 40 seats (MGP 22, GSM 5, SS 3) and
support independents in a few others. The saffron alliance is
giving the BJP heartburn in at least eight constituencies.

Among the more notable ones is Pernem in North Goa where the
MGP has craftily fielded the former Congress minister Babu
Ajgaonkar to take on the BJP speaker Rajendra Arlekar. Ground
surveys indicate that the scales here are tilting toward the
MGP man.

Chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar too has been compelled to
trudge through the heat and dust to retain his seat in
Mandrem where a split in the saffron vote could favour the
Congress candidate Dayanand Sopte. Parsekar is relying
heavily on his daughter Shambhavi's door to door 

[Goanet] As BJP Fights Another Saffron Alliance, AAP Could Play Spoiler for Congress in Goa (Devika Sequeira, TheWire.in)

[Goanet Reader]

As BJP Fights Another Saffron Alliance, AAP Could Play Spoiler for Congress
in Goa

BY DEVIKA SEQUEIRA
devikaseque...@gmail.com
24/01/2017

Manohar Parrikar has roped two
Congressmen into the BJP whom
he had accused of being corrupt
in the past.

PHOTO: Defence minister Manohar
Parrikar, union Ayush minister
Sripad Naik and Goa chief
minister Laxmikant Parsekar.
Credit: PTI

Panaji: The word 'U-turn' has turned into a rallying call for
almost all those targeting the BJP in the Goa election. Elvis
Gomes, the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) chief ministerial
candidate, uses it as the punch line in his frenzied
campaign. "This government has done so many U-turns, the word
will soon become part of school textbooks in Goa," he said.
In the Congress manifesto, U-turn finds mention in the very
first para: "The current government has emerged as the
epitome of U-turns, reneging on all its promises."

Travelling around Goa trying to pick up the pulse of this
election, an anti-incumbency undercurrent is clearly evident.

What do you hope will come from this election, this
correspondent asked two well-educated and articulate
middle-aged men who were listening to Delhi chief minister
Arvind Kejriwal's address late evening in the heart of Margao
on Sunday. Kejriwal has campaigned intensely here for three
days over the weekend hoping to catch undecided voters like
these two.

Change, one of them, Jason Cardozo and his friend tell me, is
what Goa needs. "The BJP promised us a lot, but it proved no
better than the Congress. Now there has to be a change."

  Though the opposition in Goa -- principally the
  Congress which had been practically comatose since
  its stinging defeat in 2012 -- was all at sea, the
  first signs that an undercurrent for change was
  picking up came from an intelligence report
  commissioned by the BJP some three months ago. The
  internal survey predicted a hung assembly for Goa,
  giving the BJP a maximum of 16 seats, with the
  Congress not far behind with 12-15 seats in a house
  of 40 members.

The rumble started in August when the Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS) sacked its Goa chief Subhash Velingkar for his
very strident attack of defence minister Manohar Parrikar.

  Velingkar, a strong votary of teaching in the
  mother tongue in primary schools, did not go
  quietly. Credited with setting up the RSS in Goa,
  the former school principal did the unthinkable --
  he defied Nagpur and formed a breakaway Goa RSS
  prant. Within months, the BJP which had seemed to
  be cruising along comfortably to a second term in
  Goa with the opposition in shambles, has been
  confronted with what would have seemed implausible
  till then -- a political cleave in its ideological
  core group.

Vowing to bring down the BJP (identified completely with
Parrikar in Goa) for its slight to him and for reneging on
its promise to change the government's medium of instruction
policy that extends grants to English primary schools run by
the church, Velingkar floated a political wing of the
Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch -- the group lobbying to
change the government's school grants policy. Set up in
October, Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM) has taken a plunge in the
election.

Sensing opportunity in the shifting political winds, the
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) too split from the BJP
earlier this month. The MGP's dominant face Sudin Dhavalikar
made no secret of the fact he is in the race for the Goa
chief minister post.

  In 2012, the BJP had contested 35 seats in an
  alliance with the MGP (BJP 28, MGP 7) and won a
  simple majority of 21 on its own (plus the MGP's
  three seats), this largely because of the
  anti-Congress wave and the Church throwing its
  weight behind the anti-corruption campaign in that
  election.

In election 2017, the MGP is heading an alliance of counter
saffron groups ranged against big brother BJP, which is no
doubt worrying for Modi's party and Parrikar in particular,
in whose hands the party's strategy is vested.

The MGP has tied up with the GSM and Shiv Sena and will
contest in 30 of the 40 seats (MGP 22, GSM 5, SS 3) and
support independents in a few others. The saffron alliance is
giving the BJP heartburn in at least eight constituencies.

Among the more notable ones is Pernem in North Goa where the
MGP has craftily fielded the former Congress minister Babu
Ajgaonkar to take on the BJP speaker Rajendra Arlekar. Ground
surveys indicate that the scales here are tilting toward the
MGP man.

Chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar too has been compelled to
trudge through the heat and dust to retain his seat in
Mandrem where a split in the saffron vote could favour the
Congress candidate Dayanand Sopte. Parsekar is relying
heavily on his daughter Shambhavi's door to door 

[Goanet-News] Hindu nationalism is more Italian and Christian than Sonia Gandhi (Pankaj Mishra, ToI)

[Goanet Reader]

Gandhi asked the Indian
students in Europe what type of
India they wanted after
British's departure. They said:
"Like Mazzini's Italy. Strong
military. Building war ships
and aero-planes. Big
factories". Akin to today's
super power wish. Gandhi said,
"So you want a British India
without Britishers."

Hindu nationalism is more Italian and Christian than Sonia Gandhi
Jan 22, 2017 Pankaj Mishra

Hindu nationalists have always made large claims about their
exemplary and inimitable Hindu-ness. In *Essentials of
Hindutva*, the book that comes closest to defining the
ideology of modern Hindu nationalism, V D Savarkar claimed
that the Hindus are a people who possess a common
*pitrubhumi* or fatherland, common blood, "common Sanskriti
(civilisation)" and a common *punyabhumi* or holy land.

A range of figures -- from Narendra Modi alleging that Sonia
Gandhi with her Christian ancestry represents 'Rome Raj' and
V S Naipaul raging about the Muslim invasions of India to
today's trolls attacking Western scholars and journalists --
have offered a distinctive version of Indian history: one in
which a glorious Hindu past is violated by various foreigners.

This history calls for an acute consciousness of the defeat
and humiliation of ancestors, an awakening to historical
pain, and a resolve to rectify the wrongs of the past with
superhuman efforts at power and glory in the present and
future. The latter include self-sacrifice for the greater
cause of the nation, as Modi has repeatedly exhorted after
unleashing demonetisation. An intellectual genealogy of Hindu
nationalism, however, reveals that there is nothing uniquely
'Hindu' about it.

  Much has been written about the RSS modelling
  itself on the Nazis and the Fascists of the 1930s.
  But the origins of Hindu nationalism are more
  accurately located in the emotional and
  psychological matrix of exiled 19th-century
  Europeans. Savarkar and many other upper-caste
  Hindus derived from these Europeans their obsession
  with identifying a common fatherland or motherland,
  blood, civilisation and holy land.

Many educated Europeans in the 19th century, who were
entering or being coerced into the modern world of industry
and commerce, tried to construct an awesome past, often with
the help of outright forgeries (such as the poems of Ossian,
which inspired Napoleon as well as German Romantics).

Ransacking the debris of the past for signs to their glorious
future (as distinct from Gandhi alighting on the humble
charkha), they endowed ruins that had been ignored for
centuries with profound meaning. Ancient Greece suddenly
became for many the symbol of a lost unity and harmony
(budding Italian nationalists, however, succumbed to grand
visions of ancient Rome).

This new historical consciousness was a particularly soothing
balm to people uprooted and bewildered by the revolutionary
processes of industrialisation, urbanisation and
secularisation. Those traumatised by a profoundly disruptive
modern world developed a strategic -- and selective -- memory
of the past in order to reorient themselves in the present
and define the possibilities for a better future. History
itself began to seem, as in the Muslim-invasion version of
Indian history, like a series of abrupt breaks -- one that
also held out the promise of radical new beginnings.

  The most seductive of these fables of tragic
  collapse and imminent rebirth were told by people
  from fragmented countries who found themselves
  ranged against vast empires, such as the Germans,
  the Scots and the Italians. And the most fervent
  among those dreaming of a common holy land were
  exiles and expatriates.

Like the Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) of today, expatriate
Europeans were also the most zealous nationalists, longing
desperately for identity and belonging in their alien
settings. The most famous and internationally influential
among them was the Italian activist and thinker Giuseppe
Mazzini, whose organisation Young Italy found imitators as
far as Japan.

  It would be an understatement to say that Savarkar
  was obsessed with Mazzini. Living in London in the
  first decade of the 20th century, this Chitpavan
  Brahmin in his restless exile published a volume of
  Mazzini's writings with a breathless introductory
  essay. He modelled his organisation Abhinava Bharat
  on Young Italy and he continued to immerse himself
  in Mazzini's writings during his long imprisonment
  in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Militantly irreligious, like Savarkar, Mazzini spoke of
regeneration of the Italian nation rather than of traditional
religion. In his view, Italians had a sacred mission -- the
establishment of the 'Third Rome' following the First and
second Romes of the Caesars and the Church. He wanted the
Italian people, whom he only 

[Goanet] Hindu nationalism is more Italian and Christian than Sonia Gandhi (Pankaj Mishra, ToI)

[Goanet Reader]

Gandhi asked the Indian
students in Europe what type of
India they wanted after
British's departure. They said:
"Like Mazzini's Italy. Strong
military. Building war ships
and aero-planes. Big
factories". Akin to today's
super power wish. Gandhi said,
"So you want a British India
without Britishers."

Hindu nationalism is more Italian and Christian than Sonia Gandhi
Jan 22, 2017 Pankaj Mishra

Hindu nationalists have always made large claims about their
exemplary and inimitable Hindu-ness. In *Essentials of
Hindutva*, the book that comes closest to defining the
ideology of modern Hindu nationalism, V D Savarkar claimed
that the Hindus are a people who possess a common
*pitrubhumi* or fatherland, common blood, "common Sanskriti
(civilisation)" and a common *punyabhumi* or holy land.

A range of figures -- from Narendra Modi alleging that Sonia
Gandhi with her Christian ancestry represents 'Rome Raj' and
V S Naipaul raging about the Muslim invasions of India to
today's trolls attacking Western scholars and journalists --
have offered a distinctive version of Indian history: one in
which a glorious Hindu past is violated by various foreigners.

This history calls for an acute consciousness of the defeat
and humiliation of ancestors, an awakening to historical
pain, and a resolve to rectify the wrongs of the past with
superhuman efforts at power and glory in the present and
future. The latter include self-sacrifice for the greater
cause of the nation, as Modi has repeatedly exhorted after
unleashing demonetisation. An intellectual genealogy of Hindu
nationalism, however, reveals that there is nothing uniquely
'Hindu' about it.

  Much has been written about the RSS modelling
  itself on the Nazis and the Fascists of the 1930s.
  But the origins of Hindu nationalism are more
  accurately located in the emotional and
  psychological matrix of exiled 19th-century
  Europeans. Savarkar and many other upper-caste
  Hindus derived from these Europeans their obsession
  with identifying a common fatherland or motherland,
  blood, civilisation and holy land.

Many educated Europeans in the 19th century, who were
entering or being coerced into the modern world of industry
and commerce, tried to construct an awesome past, often with
the help of outright forgeries (such as the poems of Ossian,
which inspired Napoleon as well as German Romantics).

Ransacking the debris of the past for signs to their glorious
future (as distinct from Gandhi alighting on the humble
charkha), they endowed ruins that had been ignored for
centuries with profound meaning. Ancient Greece suddenly
became for many the symbol of a lost unity and harmony
(budding Italian nationalists, however, succumbed to grand
visions of ancient Rome).

This new historical consciousness was a particularly soothing
balm to people uprooted and bewildered by the revolutionary
processes of industrialisation, urbanisation and
secularisation. Those traumatised by a profoundly disruptive
modern world developed a strategic -- and selective -- memory
of the past in order to reorient themselves in the present
and define the possibilities for a better future. History
itself began to seem, as in the Muslim-invasion version of
Indian history, like a series of abrupt breaks -- one that
also held out the promise of radical new beginnings.

  The most seductive of these fables of tragic
  collapse and imminent rebirth were told by people
  from fragmented countries who found themselves
  ranged against vast empires, such as the Germans,
  the Scots and the Italians. And the most fervent
  among those dreaming of a common holy land were
  exiles and expatriates.

Like the Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) of today, expatriate
Europeans were also the most zealous nationalists, longing
desperately for identity and belonging in their alien
settings. The most famous and internationally influential
among them was the Italian activist and thinker Giuseppe
Mazzini, whose organisation Young Italy found imitators as
far as Japan.

  It would be an understatement to say that Savarkar
  was obsessed with Mazzini. Living in London in the
  first decade of the 20th century, this Chitpavan
  Brahmin in his restless exile published a volume of
  Mazzini's writings with a breathless introductory
  essay. He modelled his organisation Abhinava Bharat
  on Young Italy and he continued to immerse himself
  in Mazzini's writings during his long imprisonment
  in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Militantly irreligious, like Savarkar, Mazzini spoke of
regeneration of the Italian nation rather than of traditional
religion. In his view, Italians had a sacred mission -- the
establishment of the 'Third Rome' following the First and
second Romes of the Caesars and the Church. He wanted the
Italian people, whom he only 

[Goanet-News] Poetry, Politics, and Newspapers in Portuguese: Laxmanrao Sardessai and Goa in the 1960s

[Goanet Reader]

BOOK EXTRACT

Poetry, Politics, and Newspapers in Portuguese: Laxmanrao
Sardessai and Goa in the 1960s

D.A. Smith

In 1964, after more than 30 years of writing short stories in
Marathi, Laxmanrao Sardessai did something that, on the face
of it, was quite unexpected. The 60-year-old Goan writer and
teacher, imprisoned twice by the Portuguese colonial
authorities for his efforts to end colonial rule -- achieved
in December 1961 when the Indian army swept into Goa and
evicted its long-standing Lusitanian rulers -- started
publishing poems in Portuguese.

  Sardessai's familiarity with the Portuguese
  language is not the unusual part of this story. As
  the official language of the Estado da Índia,
  Portuguese was used by administrators and Goa's
  Catholic elite, and was studied by upper-caste
  Hindus, such as the family into which Sardessai was
  born. After 1961, however, Portuguese lost its
  official status and its social cachet: of the two
  Portuguese-language newspapers in which Sardessai's
  poetry appeared, A Vida and O Heraldo, only one
  would still exist twenty-two years later, when it
  would be known as the Herald and would publish
  entirely in English.

Whereas Portuguese was the language of government and
colonial rule, Konkani was the language of the masses,
despite not being recognized as an independent language by
the Indian state until 1975. It took another 12 years for it
to be declared Goa's official language, and even then, debate
continued over Konkani's relationship to Marathi, which was
the language of education and literature for much of Goa's
Hindu population. Konkani's use as a literary language grew
throughout the 20th century, and in his later years Laxmanrao
Sardessai wrote in Konkani, but Marathi remained his primary
linguistic vehicle.

Why, then, did Sardessai switch from writing short stories in
Marathi to writing poetry in Portuguese, the rapidly
disappearing language of his former jailers? The most obvious
answer is politics. Although not all of Sardessai's poems in
Portuguese deal with political issues, those that do make it
clear that he held strong opinions about Goa's relationship
with India, primarily a vehement opposition to Goa's
incorporation into Maharashtra -- the sole question that
would constitute the Goa Opinion Poll of 1967. Sardessai's
opposition to merger was shared by his Lusophone Catholic
neighbors, and so his writings in Portuguese found a ready audience.

  Thankfully, Sardessai did not write exclusively
  about politics, for two years' worth of free-verse
  political screeds would have tried the patience of
  even the most die-hard anti-merger partisan. He
  also wrote about Goa and its people, metaphysical
  and philosophical concerns, the role of the poet,
  and whatever else he saw fit, and this wide range
  of topics indicates that Sardessai saw Portuguese
  as a literary tool as well as a political one. The
  result is a collection of poems that serve as
  literary and historical snapshots of Goa facing its
  first major post-Liberation political crisis, and
  of the Portuguese language on the eve of its
  virtual disappearance from the territory.

THOSE who had supported, or at least prospered under, the
Portuguese regime were not the only ones concerned about
their future in the years following Operation Vijay, as the
Indian military's swift intervention in Goa was known. Goa's
political status remained up in the air: although it had been
declared a union territory, there were those who wished to
see it integrated into the neighboring state of Maharashtra,
as well as a strong contingent that favored maintaining a
separate Goa, either as a union territory or a full state.

Laxmanrao Sardessai was firmly in the second camp. Vimala
Devi and Manuel de Seabra note that in 1964, after returning
to Goa from Delhi -- where he had worked in the Portuguese
and Konkani section of All India Radio -- Sardessai founded
the Anti-Integrationist Front (Frente Anti-Integracionista),
the very name of which makes his position on the matter
abundantly clear. That same year he published his first
Portuguese poems in A Vida and O Heraldo, though none of them
dealt explicitly with the merger issue.

The battle lines over integration with Maharashtra were
roughly drawn between Catholics (the bulk of Goa's
Lusophones) and upper-caste Hindus on the anti-integration
side, and lower-caste Hindus and Marathi speakers on the
other. In the union territory's Legislative Assembly, which
included seats for the former Portuguese enclaves of Damão
(Daman) and Diu, the United Goans Party and the
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party represented the anti- and
pro-integration camps. Although there were other political
parties in Goa, the UGP and the MGP were the only ones 

[Goanet] Poetry, Politics, and Newspapers in Portuguese: Laxmanrao Sardessai and Goa in the 1960s

[Goanet Reader]

BOOK EXTRACT

Poetry, Politics, and Newspapers in Portuguese: Laxmanrao
Sardessai and Goa in the 1960s

D.A. Smith

In 1964, after more than 30 years of writing short stories in
Marathi, Laxmanrao Sardessai did something that, on the face
of it, was quite unexpected. The 60-year-old Goan writer and
teacher, imprisoned twice by the Portuguese colonial
authorities for his efforts to end colonial rule -- achieved
in December 1961 when the Indian army swept into Goa and
evicted its long-standing Lusitanian rulers -- started
publishing poems in Portuguese.

  Sardessai's familiarity with the Portuguese
  language is not the unusual part of this story. As
  the official language of the Estado da Índia,
  Portuguese was used by administrators and Goa's
  Catholic elite, and was studied by upper-caste
  Hindus, such as the family into which Sardessai was
  born. After 1961, however, Portuguese lost its
  official status and its social cachet: of the two
  Portuguese-language newspapers in which Sardessai's
  poetry appeared, A Vida and O Heraldo, only one
  would still exist twenty-two years later, when it
  would be known as the Herald and would publish
  entirely in English.

Whereas Portuguese was the language of government and
colonial rule, Konkani was the language of the masses,
despite not being recognized as an independent language by
the Indian state until 1975. It took another 12 years for it
to be declared Goa's official language, and even then, debate
continued over Konkani's relationship to Marathi, which was
the language of education and literature for much of Goa's
Hindu population. Konkani's use as a literary language grew
throughout the 20th century, and in his later years Laxmanrao
Sardessai wrote in Konkani, but Marathi remained his primary
linguistic vehicle.

Why, then, did Sardessai switch from writing short stories in
Marathi to writing poetry in Portuguese, the rapidly
disappearing language of his former jailers? The most obvious
answer is politics. Although not all of Sardessai's poems in
Portuguese deal with political issues, those that do make it
clear that he held strong opinions about Goa's relationship
with India, primarily a vehement opposition to Goa's
incorporation into Maharashtra -- the sole question that
would constitute the Goa Opinion Poll of 1967. Sardessai's
opposition to merger was shared by his Lusophone Catholic
neighbors, and so his writings in Portuguese found a ready audience.

  Thankfully, Sardessai did not write exclusively
  about politics, for two years' worth of free-verse
  political screeds would have tried the patience of
  even the most die-hard anti-merger partisan. He
  also wrote about Goa and its people, metaphysical
  and philosophical concerns, the role of the poet,
  and whatever else he saw fit, and this wide range
  of topics indicates that Sardessai saw Portuguese
  as a literary tool as well as a political one. The
  result is a collection of poems that serve as
  literary and historical snapshots of Goa facing its
  first major post-Liberation political crisis, and
  of the Portuguese language on the eve of its
  virtual disappearance from the territory.

THOSE who had supported, or at least prospered under, the
Portuguese regime were not the only ones concerned about
their future in the years following Operation Vijay, as the
Indian military's swift intervention in Goa was known. Goa's
political status remained up in the air: although it had been
declared a union territory, there were those who wished to
see it integrated into the neighboring state of Maharashtra,
as well as a strong contingent that favored maintaining a
separate Goa, either as a union territory or a full state.

Laxmanrao Sardessai was firmly in the second camp. Vimala
Devi and Manuel de Seabra note that in 1964, after returning
to Goa from Delhi -- where he had worked in the Portuguese
and Konkani section of All India Radio -- Sardessai founded
the Anti-Integrationist Front (Frente Anti-Integracionista),
the very name of which makes his position on the matter
abundantly clear. That same year he published his first
Portuguese poems in A Vida and O Heraldo, though none of them
dealt explicitly with the merger issue.

The battle lines over integration with Maharashtra were
roughly drawn between Catholics (the bulk of Goa's
Lusophones) and upper-caste Hindus on the anti-integration
side, and lower-caste Hindus and Marathi speakers on the
other. In the union territory's Legislative Assembly, which
included seats for the former Portuguese enclaves of Damão
(Daman) and Diu, the United Goans Party and the
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party represented the anti- and
pro-integration camps. Although there were other political
parties in Goa, the UGP and the MGP were the only ones 

[Goanet-News] Avante, goeses, avante! (Laxmanrao Sardessai, translated by DA Smith)

[Goanet Reader]

[Attend a talk on the subject on Jan 19, 2017 (Thursday) at 5.30 pm at the
XCHR-Alto Porvorim by DA Smith]
---
Avante, goeses, avante!
A Vida, 19 de junho 1966

Avante, goeses, avante!
Que está próxima a batalha
Que decidirá a vossa sorte.
Estão do vosso lado
A Verdade e a Justiça,
A Honra e a Dignidade
E, doutro lado,
A ambição do mando,
A cupidez nojenta,
Indignidades sem conta,
A mentira e a doblez,
A traição e a maquinação.
É a luta entre dois princípios,
O princípio do bem
E o princípio do mal.
Depende de vós a vitória
Dessa batalha imposta
Ao vosso povo pacato
Em nome da Democracia
Que entre nós está moribunda.
Na sua nudez a pergunta é esta:
Que quereis?
Viver na vossa terra
Ou lançar-vos ao mar?
A que miséria a Democracia
Vos lançou, santo Deus!?
Viver ou morrer?
Morrer é, de certo, diluir-se
Um povo na mole heterogénia doutro.
Vós, através da longa história,
Prezastes a honra e a dignidade.
Proclama o mundo
Que sois um povo distinto.
A vossa língua e os vossos costumes
O vosso temperamento
E a vossa cultura,
A vossa humanidade,
E o vosso intelecto
Não são para serem
Apagados ou suprimidos
Da face da terra.
Não! Não!
Cabe-vos, goeses,
Repelir a afronta,
Esquecer, por amor
Dos vossos avoengos,
Vossas rixas e ódios
E as vaidades que vos minam,
Provar que os goeses têm um único partido,
Partido duma Goa una e livre,
Arrojai aos ventos
As diferenças que vos dividem,
Que mesquinhas ambições alimentais
Quando o povo é arrastado para o abismo!
Em que miseráveis partidos
Vos entretendes
Quando o inimigo procura
Calcar-vos, reduzir-vos à poeira,
Que criminosa negligência a vossa,
Quando as fileiras do inimigo
Se cerram
Para os fins da peleja.
Amigos! Sacudi, sem demora,
A letargia e a modorra!
Abraçai os ignorantes e os pobres.
Preparai-os com sacrifícios
Para a luta.
Levei a cada casa
A mensagem da guerra –
Guerra contra as ambições do mando – !
Sacrificai tudo!
Para salvar a terra,
Terra de vossos pais
E de vossos filhos.
Terra que está
Em iminente perigo
Por culpa dos vossos.
Avante, goeses, avante
E a vitória será vossa!

* * *
Onward, Goans, Onward!
A Vida, 19 June 1966

Onward, Goans, onward!
For the battle that will
Decide your fate is near.
On your side are
Truth and Justice,
Honor and Dignity
And, on the other side,
The ambition of power,
Vile cupidity,
Countless indignities,
Lies and duplicity,
Treachery and machination.
It is the fight between two principles,
The principle of good
And the principle of evil.
Victory depends upon you
In that battle, forced
Upon your peaceful people
In the name of Democracy
Which is dying among us.
Put nakedly, the question is this:
What do you want?
To live on your own land
Or be cast into the sea?
Dear God, into what misery
Has Democracy cast you!?
To live or die?
To dissolve one people into the
Heterogeneous mass of the other is certain death.
Throughout your long history, you
Have valued honor and dignity.
The world proclaims
That you are a distinct people.
Your language and your customs
Your temperament
And your culture,
Your humanity,
And your intellect
Will not be
Erased or removed
>From the face of the earth.
No! No!
It is up to you, Goans,
To repel the threat,
To forget, for the love
Of your forefathers,
Your quarrels and hatreds
And the vanities that undermine you,
To prove that Goans have a single party,
The party of a Goa unified and free,
Throw to the wind
The differences that divide you,
The petty ambitions you feed
As the people are dragged toward the abyss!
You entertain yourselves
With miserable parties
As the enemy seeks
To trample you, to reduce you to dust,
Such criminal neglect on your part
As the enemy's ranks
Close in
To make battle.
Friends! Shake off, without delay,
Your lethargy and drowsiness!
Embrace the unlearned and the poor.
Prepare them with sacrifices
For the fight.
Take to every home
The message of war –
War against the ambitions of power!
Sacrifice everything
To save the land,
The land of your fathers
and of your children!
Land that is
In imminent danger
Through your own fault.
Onward, Goans, onward
And victory will be yours!

[Illustration: Bina Nayak]
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/32198772792/in/dateposted/

[Goanet] Avante, goeses, avante! (Laxmanrao Sardessai, translated by DA Smith)

[Goanet Reader]

[Attend a talk on the subject on Jan 19, 2017 (Thursday) at 5.30 pm at the
XCHR-Alto Porvorim by DA Smith]
---
Avante, goeses, avante!
A Vida, 19 de junho 1966

Avante, goeses, avante!
Que está próxima a batalha
Que decidirá a vossa sorte.
Estão do vosso lado
A Verdade e a Justiça,
A Honra e a Dignidade
E, doutro lado,
A ambição do mando,
A cupidez nojenta,
Indignidades sem conta,
A mentira e a doblez,
A traição e a maquinação.
É a luta entre dois princípios,
O princípio do bem
E o princípio do mal.
Depende de vós a vitória
Dessa batalha imposta
Ao vosso povo pacato
Em nome da Democracia
Que entre nós está moribunda.
Na sua nudez a pergunta é esta:
Que quereis?
Viver na vossa terra
Ou lançar-vos ao mar?
A que miséria a Democracia
Vos lançou, santo Deus!?
Viver ou morrer?
Morrer é, de certo, diluir-se
Um povo na mole heterogénia doutro.
Vós, através da longa história,
Prezastes a honra e a dignidade.
Proclama o mundo
Que sois um povo distinto.
A vossa língua e os vossos costumes
O vosso temperamento
E a vossa cultura,
A vossa humanidade,
E o vosso intelecto
Não são para serem
Apagados ou suprimidos
Da face da terra.
Não! Não!
Cabe-vos, goeses,
Repelir a afronta,
Esquecer, por amor
Dos vossos avoengos,
Vossas rixas e ódios
E as vaidades que vos minam,
Provar que os goeses têm um único partido,
Partido duma Goa una e livre,
Arrojai aos ventos
As diferenças que vos dividem,
Que mesquinhas ambições alimentais
Quando o povo é arrastado para o abismo!
Em que miseráveis partidos
Vos entretendes
Quando o inimigo procura
Calcar-vos, reduzir-vos à poeira,
Que criminosa negligência a vossa,
Quando as fileiras do inimigo
Se cerram
Para os fins da peleja.
Amigos! Sacudi, sem demora,
A letargia e a modorra!
Abraçai os ignorantes e os pobres.
Preparai-os com sacrifícios
Para a luta.
Levei a cada casa
A mensagem da guerra –
Guerra contra as ambições do mando – !
Sacrificai tudo!
Para salvar a terra,
Terra de vossos pais
E de vossos filhos.
Terra que está
Em iminente perigo
Por culpa dos vossos.
Avante, goeses, avante
E a vitória será vossa!

* * *
Onward, Goans, Onward!
A Vida, 19 June 1966

Onward, Goans, onward!
For the battle that will
Decide your fate is near.
On your side are
Truth and Justice,
Honor and Dignity
And, on the other side,
The ambition of power,
Vile cupidity,
Countless indignities,
Lies and duplicity,
Treachery and machination.
It is the fight between two principles,
The principle of good
And the principle of evil.
Victory depends upon you
In that battle, forced
Upon your peaceful people
In the name of Democracy
Which is dying among us.
Put nakedly, the question is this:
What do you want?
To live on your own land
Or be cast into the sea?
Dear God, into what misery
Has Democracy cast you!?
To live or die?
To dissolve one people into the
Heterogeneous mass of the other is certain death.
Throughout your long history, you
Have valued honor and dignity.
The world proclaims
That you are a distinct people.
Your language and your customs
Your temperament
And your culture,
Your humanity,
And your intellect
Will not be
Erased or removed
>From the face of the earth.
No! No!
It is up to you, Goans,
To repel the threat,
To forget, for the love
Of your forefathers,
Your quarrels and hatreds
And the vanities that undermine you,
To prove that Goans have a single party,
The party of a Goa unified and free,
Throw to the wind
The differences that divide you,
The petty ambitions you feed
As the people are dragged toward the abyss!
You entertain yourselves
With miserable parties
As the enemy seeks
To trample you, to reduce you to dust,
Such criminal neglect on your part
As the enemy's ranks
Close in
To make battle.
Friends! Shake off, without delay,
Your lethargy and drowsiness!
Embrace the unlearned and the poor.
Prepare them with sacrifices
For the fight.
Take to every home
The message of war –
War against the ambitions of power!
Sacrifice everything
To save the land,
The land of your fathers
and of your children!
Land that is
In imminent danger
Through your own fault.
Onward, Goans, onward
And victory will be yours!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/32198772792/in/dateposted/

[Goanet] Garbage and more... and Moidekars (Nazar da Silva)

[Goanet Reader]

My Village is My Home!

H-E-L-L-L-L-L-P!!!

Whoever is listening: Please help save my village!

I once called the Village of Moira, home. It was clean; it
was green; it was airy -- like most homes are; and it was
healthy to live in. It had playgrounds, grazing grounds,
little groves of forest, orchards, open pastures,
water-bodies and rivulets. And yes -- Moira bananas! People
actually went bananas over Moira bananas. That's how the
legend grew! We've become the Gotham of Goa and proud of it
too! Benaulim is a distant second.

  But seriously: We are in a crisis situation:
  Cultivated lands lie fallow. Many homes are empty
  and even abandoned. Squatters have merrily moved
  into some. Monstrous structures and high-density
  homes are randomly constructed in fields and
  meadows.

Demographics have changed. Few newcomers know the customs,
the flavours and the unwritten code of the village. They even
choose not to know their neighbours! It is sad. The most
visible (and odious!) sign of degradation of normal life is
the garbage. It is brazenly scattered all over in the open
and even dumped into the rivers. Unless we hold ourselves in
check, the scene can become very ugly.

Ten years ago the Communidade of Moira took heed of the
problem of garbage disposal and set aside a plot of land to
deal with it. A vigilant Sarpanch, of-and-for the people,
submitted a viable project for the approval of the Goa
Pollution Control Board.

The project was approved but politics intervened. Ground has
yet to be broken for the project to move ahead. As a
stop-gap, really mad-cap measure, a new plan has been
adopted: 'Community garbage bins' have been located at some
'strategic' points of the village; one of them is right next
to my home.

  The instinct is to fling the garbage in the general
  direction of the garbage bin. This exercise becomes
  a bit more difficult when one hand is engaged in
  holding one's nose and the other is on the steering
  wheel, or the handle-bar of a two wheeler. But you
  cannot blame anyone for not trying! At 88, I am
  passed the age of protest, but I can wield a garden
  rake. So I muster the courage to get off my rocking
  chair, don a pair of disposable gloves and get on
  with it.

Though I am not regular, I've seen a couple of positives: A
young man stopped his two-wheeler, put it on stand and took
the rake from my hands. I thanked him profusely. A young lady
wearing a face-mask, stopped her scooter but politely refused
my offer to dispose of her gift-bag in the bin. She said what
sounded like 'thank you' through her mask. The worker on the
garbage van expressed his gratitude when I warned him of the
danger of picking up a broken tube light.

People generally are good hearted; but garbage in Goa can
make anybody mad. Not just Moidecars.

Nazar da Silva
709 Sataporio,
Moira Goa 403507
Phone: +91-832-2470290
nazardasi...@gmail.com

[Goanet-News] Pope Francis: Christmas has been ‘taken hostage’ by materialism (The Guardian.com)

[Goanet Reader]

Pope Francis: Christmas has been ‘taken hostage’ by materialism

Birth of Jesus should remind
world of the suffering of
children today, pontiff says in
Christmas Eve address at
Vatican

Pope Francis said Christmas has been "taken hostage" by
dazzling materialism that puts God in the shadows and blinds
many to the needs of the hungry, the migrants and the
war-weary.

  Francis, leading the world's 1.2 billion Roman
  Catholics into Christmas for the fourth time since
  his election in 2013, said in his Christmas Eve
  homily in Vatican City that a world often obsessed
  with gifts, feasting and self-centredness needed
  more humility.

"If we want to celebrate Christmas authentically, we need to
contemplate this sign: the fragile simplicity of a small
newborn, the meekness of where he lies, the tender affection
of the swaddling clothes. God is there," the Pope said at St
Peter's Basilica.

At the solemn but joyous service, attended by about 10,000
people as well as dozens of cardinals and bishops, Pope
Francis said the many in the wealthy world had to be reminded
that the message of Christmas was humility, simplicity and
mystery.

"Jesus was born rejected by some and regarded by many others
with indifference," he said. "Today also the same
indifference can exist, when Christmas becomes a feast where
the protagonists are ourselves, rather than Jesus; when the
lights of commerce cast the light of God into the shadows;
when we are concerned for gifts, but cold toward those who
are marginalised."

  He then added in unscripted remarks: "This
  worldliness has taken Christmas hostage. It needs
  to be freed."

Security was heightened for the Christmas weekend in Italy
and at the Vatican after Italian police killed the man
believed to be responsible for the Berlin market truck
attack, while other European cities kept forces on high
alert.

St Peter's Square was cleared out six hours before the mass
began so that security procedures could be put in place for
those entering the church later.

Francis, who has made defence of the poor a trademark of his
papacy, said the infant Jesus should remind everyone of those
suffering today -- particularly children.

"Let us also allow ourselves to be challenged by the children
of today's world, who are not lying in a cot caressed with
the affection of a mother and father, but rather suffer the
squalid mangers that devour dignity: hiding underground to
escape bombardment, on the pavements of a large city, at the
bottom of a boat over-laden with immigrants," he said.

Outside the basilica, thousands of people who could not get
inside watched on video screens.

  "Let us allow ourselves to be challenged by the
  children who are not allowed to be born, by those
  who cry because no one satiates their hunger, by
  those who do have not toys in their hands, but
  rather weapons," Francis said.

On Christmas Day, the pope will deliver his twice-yearly Urbi
et Orbi ("To the city and to the world") blessing and message
from the central balcony of St Peter's.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/24/pope-francis-christmas-eve-vatican

[Goanet] Atheist China could have largest number of Christians in the world by 2030 (Sutirtho Patranobis, HT)

[Goanet Reader]

Sutirtho Patranobis

Hindustan Times. Beijing

PHOTO: People attend a Christmas Eve Mass at a Catholic
church in Shanghai, China, on Saturday. (REUTERS)

The Amity Printing Company in Nanjing city in eastern China
is the world's largest producer of Bibles. Between 1987 and
July 18 this year, it produced 150 million copies in 90
languages and sold them in 70 countries.

  If that's surprising, here's the controversy:
  Officially atheist China, according to an estimate
  sharply criticised by Beijing, could have the
  largest number of Christians in the world by 2030.

Actual numbers are hard to come by. The Chinese government,
which differentiates between Catholics and Protestants,
pegged it at between 23 million and 40 million in 2014. It
counted those who take part in religious activities in
government-sanctioned churches.

Independent estimates vary. A 2011 Pew survey said around 5%
of China’s population in 2010 -- or around 67 million -- were
Christians. It took into account those who are part of
non-registered or "home" churches that function informally
out of sitting rooms, attics and garages.

Then there are experts who suggest the number of Christians
in China is easily more than the number of Communist Party of
China (CPC) members, currently 88 million.

Take the cases of young professional Ling and Lily, an
undergraduate student at a top university in Beijing. Neither
visit formal churches but are regulars at informal gatherings
where they read the Bible and sing hymns.

"The gathering spot varies. We used to go to a fellow
student's home or a coffee shop or restaurant. Because it's
not very convenient to sing hymns in public, we would pick a
comparatively private place," Lily said.

"My friends and I don't go to normal churches, most of the
church-style buildings in China are Three-Self Churches (run
by the CPC-approved Three-Self Patriotic Movement). We
generally go to family churches. Those churches are not
legally recognised, so they’re illegal in a way."

Then there is the phenomenon of large but unregistered
churches in big cities, said Carsten Vala, an associate
professor of political science at Loyola University,
Maryland, who studies Christianity in China.

"The most interesting development to me is that of large,
unregistered churches in cities like Beijing, Shanghai and
Chengdu, where hundreds of high-status, white collar Chinese
participate in churches not officially registered but which
nevertheless exist due to permissiveness of local officials,"
Vala said.

An example, he said, is Early Rain Church in Chengdu, which
neither fits into the typical, small-scale "house" churches
nor the large-scale, official churches of Protestant
associations.

The informal churches fill two requirements -- first, they
make up for formal churches, and, second, they keep things
private for those who want to keep their faith away from the
CPC's prying eyes.

Beijing has kept a wary eye on, and strictly regulated,
Christianity since the CPC adopted a conciliatory approach to
religion four decades ago. The growth of Christianity in
China began at the end of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76),
a period when all religions were suppressed, often brutally.

  This coincided with economic reforms. As the
  economy boomed, a gradually wealthier China needed
  a spiritual belief system to invest in; the purely
  political CPC wasn't able to provide succour for
  the soul.

Sociology professor Yang Fenggang, founding director of the
Centre on Religion and Chinese Society at Purdue University,
Indiana, explained the phenomenon in terms of economics and
globalization.

"Every convert has a uniquely personal story to tell about
their change of faith. However, so many Chinese have been
converting to Christianity in the last few decades, which
amounts to a social phenomenon that I would call 'mass
conversion' in modern times," he told Hindustan Times.

  "Sociological speaking, the social, political, and
  cultural changes in the process of modernisation
  are the contextual factors for this mass conversion."

Yang, author of *Religion in China: Survival and Revival
under Communist Rule*, explained it in his article Lost in
the Market, Saved at McDonald's: "The crucial contextual
factors are the increasingly globalised market economy under
political repression. Christianity provides peace and
certainty in facing wild market forces. The Christian faith
is liberating amid a stifling political atmosphere."

It hasn't been liberating all the time, with the CPC
launching intermittent heavy crackdowns on Christianity.

A high-profile crackdown in the past two-three years was
carried out in Zhejiang province, China's Christianity
heartland. Authorities took down crosses from nearly 2,000
churches, including government-registered ones.

Vala said: "In one province (Zhejiang), there has been a much
greater crackdown (with one church 

[Goanet] Pope Francis: Christmas has been ‘taken hostage’ by materialism (The Guardian.com)

[Goanet Reader]

Pope Francis: Christmas has been ‘taken hostage’ by materialism

Birth of Jesus should remind
world of the suffering of
children today, pontiff says in
Christmas Eve address at
Vatican

Pope Francis said Christmas has been "taken hostage" by
dazzling materialism that puts God in the shadows and blinds
many to the needs of the hungry, the migrants and the
war-weary.

  Francis, leading the world's 1.2 billion Roman
  Catholics into Christmas for the fourth time since
  his election in 2013, said in his Christmas Eve
  homily in Vatican City that a world often obsessed
  with gifts, feasting and self-centredness needed
  more humility.

"If we want to celebrate Christmas authentically, we need to
contemplate this sign: the fragile simplicity of a small
newborn, the meekness of where he lies, the tender affection
of the swaddling clothes. God is there," the Pope said at St
Peter's Basilica.

At the solemn but joyous service, attended by about 10,000
people as well as dozens of cardinals and bishops, Pope
Francis said the many in the wealthy world had to be reminded
that the message of Christmas was humility, simplicity and
mystery.

"Jesus was born rejected by some and regarded by many others
with indifference," he said. "Today also the same
indifference can exist, when Christmas becomes a feast where
the protagonists are ourselves, rather than Jesus; when the
lights of commerce cast the light of God into the shadows;
when we are concerned for gifts, but cold toward those who
are marginalised."

  He then added in unscripted remarks: "This
  worldliness has taken Christmas hostage. It needs
  to be freed."

Security was heightened for the Christmas weekend in Italy
and at the Vatican after Italian police killed the man
believed to be responsible for the Berlin market truck
attack, while other European cities kept forces on high
alert.

St Peter's Square was cleared out six hours before the mass
began so that security procedures could be put in place for
those entering the church later.

Francis, who has made defence of the poor a trademark of his
papacy, said the infant Jesus should remind everyone of those
suffering today -- particularly children.

"Let us also allow ourselves to be challenged by the children
of today's world, who are not lying in a cot caressed with
the affection of a mother and father, but rather suffer the
squalid mangers that devour dignity: hiding underground to
escape bombardment, on the pavements of a large city, at the
bottom of a boat over-laden with immigrants," he said.

Outside the basilica, thousands of people who could not get
inside watched on video screens.

  "Let us allow ourselves to be challenged by the
  children who are not allowed to be born, by those
  who cry because no one satiates their hunger, by
  those who do have not toys in their hands, but
  rather weapons," Francis said.

On Christmas Day, the pope will deliver his twice-yearly Urbi
et Orbi ("To the city and to the world") blessing and message
from the central balcony of St Peter's.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/24/pope-francis-christmas-eve-vatican

[Goanet-News] Who's history? Wendell Rodricks pulls out of Serendipity

[Goanet Reader]

  Fashion designer Wendell Rodricks
  (wendellrodricks at gmail.com) announced on his Facebook
  page that he was pulling out of Goa's
  currently-underway Serendipity. He wrote: "So
  someone raises a hue and cry with Serendipity Arts
  Festival Goa 2016 team and threatened them with bad
  behaviour. Then the text on my room walls are
  covered. Not on. We are pulling out of the festival
  as there is no dialogue and coercion by people who
  feel they want to control history. Free speech
  dead!" Below is the text.

TEN HISTORIES: GOAN COSTUME

Curated by Wendell Rodricks

The time is ripe for the recounting of Goan histories,
opening a dialogue in Goan heritage and commencing a
narrative about the rich legacy of Goa beyond the reputed
beaches and famed natural beauty of a splendid land. A
majority of visiting tourists that visit Goa are as astounded
to hear stories from the hinterland as some Goans who imagine
that Goan costume history begins and ends with the
Portuguese.

Padma Shree award winning Goan fashion designer Wendell
Rodricks, author of *Moda Goa: History and Style and The
Green Room*, is presently working on converting his heritage
home into The Moda Goa Museum in his native village of
Colvale. In a pioneering curatorial presentation, he brings
to the Serendipity Arts Festival 2016 ten objects related to
Goan costume that are not mere museum objects. Each has a
story worth recounting. A history about Goan mythology, Gods,
people, customs, traditions, festivals and folklore. In a
setting inspired from graffiti painted walls of religious
sanctums, palatial manors and humble homes, the lacy effect
of the Goan graffiti painting set the ambience of Ten
Histories: Goan Costume.

  Apart from the sole prehistoric photograph in the
  exhibition that has an engraved laterite rock to
  support it, the objects are part of a sixteen year
  collection that represent a minuscule part of what
  the Moda Goa Museum in Colvale will display when it
  opens in late 2018. This collection is an attempt
  to reveal Goan histories pertaining to costume. But
  it is also a door to open a dialogue with you the
  viewer. Suggestions are welcome and encouraged in
  our Vistors Comment book.

The Serendipty Arts Festival 2016 and Wendell Rodricks
welcome you to Ten Histories: Goan Costume.

Ten Objects: Goan Costume (Text on walls)

1. THE MOTHER GODDESS: Not many have seen the Usgalimal
petroglyphs (rock art) at Pansaimol in South Goa. Reputed to
be from the Upper Palaeolithic or Mesolithic period
20,00-30,00 years ago, discovered in 1993 near the Khushawati
river; among the labyrinth spirals and bulls is a figure of
what can be termed as a Mother Goddess with a swollen vaginal
area. The vaginal cavity was possibly used to place offerings
of flowers or sacred powders to evoke fertility. On the Verna
plateau, near Dabolim airport, is another colossal Mother
Goddess that some historians claim is ancient. It was moved
at great expense from a nearby village site. However the
authenticity of this Mother Goddess is in doubt as some
experts claim that the laterite is not old and was carved by
idle stone masons from Pernem while they were working on a
house in South Goa. Whatever the truth, the fact is the cult
of the Mother Goddess, common to many ancient cultures
worldwide, was prevalent in Goa. She is most often depicted
without clothing.

2. SHANTADURGA: While the Goddess ShantaDurga appears in most
parts of India as a warrior goddess riding a tiger, in Goa
she appears in a 'shanth', peaceful avtar. She sits on a lion
and has a wide appeal for Goans who believe that she appears
in dreams and asks for 'mangnechem' in the form of children,
houses and saris. A child or home is consecrated in Her name
by couples whose wishes are delivered. When a lady dreams
that the Goddess requests a sari, a precious sari is offered
to the temple. These are kept within the temple and
considered sacred. They are later sold to the faithful who
cherish these saris touched by the Goddess. Displayed here is
one such sari from the ShantaDurga Mandir. The story of the
ShantaDurga idol at Fatorpa and the celebration of the
*Sontrio* (umbrella) festival by both the twelve Kshatriya
converted Christian family clans and Hindus at Cuncolim is
worthy of a recounting for it's rare communal harmony between
two religions.

  3. BUDDHISM IN GOA: The Buddhist and Jain period in
  Goa is not spoken about for many reasons. Some
  blame the Muslims for destroying the Buddhists
  sites in Goa while others claim the destruction was
  by Brahmanical forces who were marginalised and
  later resumed power on the death of the Emperor Ashoka.

Whatever the reason, it is important to note that it was
during the Buddhist period of prosperity in India that 

[Goanet] Who's history? Wendell Rodricks pulls out of Serendipity

[Goanet Reader]

  Fashion designer Wendell Rodricks
  (wendellrodricks at gmail.com) announced on his Facebook
  page that he was pulling out of Goa's
  currently-underway Serendipity. He wrote: "So
  someone raises a hue and cry with Serendipity Arts
  Festival Goa 2016 team and threatened them with bad
  behaviour. Then the text on my room walls are
  covered. Not on. We are pulling out of the festival
  as there is no dialogue and coercion by people who
  feel they want to control history. Free speech
  dead!" Below is the text.

TEN HISTORIES: GOAN COSTUME

Curated by Wendell Rodricks

The time is ripe for the recounting of Goan histories,
opening a dialogue in Goan heritage and commencing a
narrative about the rich legacy of Goa beyond the reputed
beaches and famed natural beauty of a splendid land. A
majority of visiting tourists that visit Goa are as astounded
to hear stories from the hinterland as some Goans who imagine
that Goan costume history begins and ends with the
Portuguese.

Padma Shree award winning Goan fashion designer Wendell
Rodricks, author of *Moda Goa: History and Style and The
Green Room*, is presently working on converting his heritage
home into The Moda Goa Museum in his native village of
Colvale. In a pioneering curatorial presentation, he brings
to the Serendipity Arts Festival 2016 ten objects related to
Goan costume that are not mere museum objects. Each has a
story worth recounting. A history about Goan mythology, Gods,
people, customs, traditions, festivals and folklore. In a
setting inspired from graffiti painted walls of religious
sanctums, palatial manors and humble homes, the lacy effect
of the Goan graffiti painting set the ambience of Ten
Histories: Goan Costume.

  Apart from the sole prehistoric photograph in the
  exhibition that has an engraved laterite rock to
  support it, the objects are part of a sixteen year
  collection that represent a minuscule part of what
  the Moda Goa Museum in Colvale will display when it
  opens in late 2018. This collection is an attempt
  to reveal Goan histories pertaining to costume. But
  it is also a door to open a dialogue with you the
  viewer. Suggestions are welcome and encouraged in
  our Vistors Comment book.

The Serendipty Arts Festival 2016 and Wendell Rodricks
welcome you to Ten Histories: Goan Costume.

Ten Objects: Goan Costume (Text on walls)

1. THE MOTHER GODDESS: Not many have seen the Usgalimal
petroglyphs (rock art) at Pansaimol in South Goa. Reputed to
be from the Upper Palaeolithic or Mesolithic period
20,00-30,00 years ago, discovered in 1993 near the Khushawati
river; among the labyrinth spirals and bulls is a figure of
what can be termed as a Mother Goddess with a swollen vaginal
area. The vaginal cavity was possibly used to place offerings
of flowers or sacred powders to evoke fertility. On the Verna
plateau, near Dabolim airport, is another colossal Mother
Goddess that some historians claim is ancient. It was moved
at great expense from a nearby village site. However the
authenticity of this Mother Goddess is in doubt as some
experts claim that the laterite is not old and was carved by
idle stone masons from Pernem while they were working on a
house in South Goa. Whatever the truth, the fact is the cult
of the Mother Goddess, common to many ancient cultures
worldwide, was prevalent in Goa. She is most often depicted
without clothing.

2. SHANTADURGA: While the Goddess ShantaDurga appears in most
parts of India as a warrior goddess riding a tiger, in Goa
she appears in a 'shanth', peaceful avtar. She sits on a lion
and has a wide appeal for Goans who believe that she appears
in dreams and asks for 'mangnechem' in the form of children,
houses and saris. A child or home is consecrated in Her name
by couples whose wishes are delivered. When a lady dreams
that the Goddess requests a sari, a precious sari is offered
to the temple. These are kept within the temple and
considered sacred. They are later sold to the faithful who
cherish these saris touched by the Goddess. Displayed here is
one such sari from the ShantaDurga Mandir. The story of the
ShantaDurga idol at Fatorpa and the celebration of the
*Sontrio* (umbrella) festival by both the twelve Kshatriya
converted Christian family clans and Hindus at Cuncolim is
worthy of a recounting for it's rare communal harmony between
two religions.

  3. BUDDHISM IN GOA: The Buddhist and Jain period in
  Goa is not spoken about for many reasons. Some
  blame the Muslims for destroying the Buddhists
  sites in Goa while others claim the destruction was
  by Brahmanical forces who were marginalised and
  later resumed power on the death of the Emperor Ashoka.

Whatever the reason, it is important to note that it was
during the Buddhist period of prosperity in India that 

[Goanet] BOOK EXTRACT: December 18, 1961: A Message of *Paz e Calma* (Fernando Jorge Colaco)

[Goanet Reader]

December 18, 1961: A Message of *Paz e Calma*

Panjim-based veteran advocate
Fernando Jorge Colaco has a
different perspective from the
dominant narrative of what
happened in Goa on Dec 18-19, 1961.
Here is an excerpt from his
recently published book:
*December 18-19, 1961:
Before, During & After. Memoir
of a 20th Century Goan Voyager*.
His story here starts after his
return from a longish stint
studying law in Portugal and a
childhood partly spent in Mozambique.
Note: Some Portuguese spellings might
not render properly on some computers.
-

Fernando Jorge Colaco
Phone +91-832-2228104 or 2226372
tmcolac...@gmail.com

Spending almost two years back in Goa enabled me to make new
friends, to meet a few of the old ones (those from the Lyceum
were mostly scattered throughout the world), to find my roots
again and to retrieve my sense of belonging.

I was the notary public of the Ilhas Comarca at Panjim, the
legal substitute of the government advocate (Delegado do
Procurador da República or agent of the Ministério Público on
the Civil and Criminal sides) and an advocate at the Goa Bar.

  The premonition of things to come in the historic
  process was always there, even before I decided to
  return to India. The immediate signals had come
  during a marriage party at Panjim at the end of
  August 1961. This marriage was of a first cousin of
  mine to a Portuguese miliciano (on deputation)
  officer Ricardo Jorge Ribeiro Bravo, a doctor in
  the Portuguese Army, who also became a good friend.
  There were officers of both the sides, and our
  cousins from across the border told us in hush-hush
  tones that by Christmas they would be with us.

Some circles in Goa were aware that in October of that same
year there had been an anti-colonialist conference at Bombay,
where the problem of the Estado da Índia and its future was
one of the main subjects on the agenda.

On April 25, 1961, at dusk, there had been an armed attack on
the Police Outpost of Betim in the concelho of Bardez on the
other side of Mandovi River. This had happened just in front
of the capital, Panjim. The Government Advocate of Ilhas, my
colleague from Portugal, Dr. Ciro da Silva Pinto, had jumped
while in his shorts into the river Mandovi and had swum till
Betim to enquire first hand into the episode, as Betim fell
within the jurisdiction of Ilhas Comarca.

The Administrador do Concelho of Bardez, Advocate Joaquim
Filipe Collaço (another paternal uncle of mine), with
administrative jurisdiction in the area, who was also the
President of the Municipality under the law in force, was
travelling from Mapusa in his car with his daughter Dr. Wanda
Collaço. On reaching the spot, he stopped forthwith to assess
the damage and make his report to the government.

There had been two fatalities and one wounded, to whom Dr.
Wanda rendered immediate assistance. The dead were one police
corporal of the PEI (Polícia do Estado da Índia) and one
police guard. Both killed were Goans. The Portuguese flag of
the outpost had been seized by the attackers. This flag is
now preserved at the Goa freedom fighters' museum,
inaugurated in November 1997 at the Azad Bhavan (which could
be translated to House of Freedom) at Porvorim, Goa.

Incidentally, this venue also displays another Portuguese
flag that once fluttered at the Silvassa[1] Post and was
retrieved when Dadra and Nagar Haveli were taken over from
the Portuguese in 1954. It also contains a portrait gallery
of Goan martyrs -- almost all of them youth from the weaker
classes (a few of the fighters including the leaders were
from the affluent and middle classes or the so-called higher
castes). They got attracted to the movement for civil
liberties which began in 1946 under the leadership of Dr. Ram
Manohar Lohia, of the Praja Socialist Party (PSP) of India
and two Goans, Dr. Julião Menezes and Tristão Bragança e
Cunha (the latter an anti-colonialist intellectual from 1928).

There were demonstrations in Margão and Panjim, and the armed
outfit, the Azad Gomantak Dal (The Free Goa Party, advocating
a violent struggle for this purpose, in opposition to the
non-violent route adopted by the Indian National Congress at
the time), had been formed in 1947. The same year in which
India (and Pakistan) got its independence.

  But in 1961, the early morning hours of December 13
  saw hurried farewells and hours' long embarkation
  for the refugees, leaving with whatever little
  baggage they could carry. The Portuguese passenger
  ship Índia, that had been hurriedly converted into
  an evacuee ship, left post-haste back for Portugal
  via Karachi. On board were the wives and children
  of government servants and military officers and
  other female staff of government departments who
  wished to leave. Some 650 persons were on the

[Goanet-News] Modi is an unstoppable force -- and that’s India's great modern tragedy (Kapil Komireddi)

[Goanet Reader]

Modi is an unstoppable force -- and that’s India's great modern tragedy
Kapil Komireddi

Last month, Narendra Modi, the
prime minister of India,
declared that 500- and
1000-rupee notes would cease to
be legal tender within hours.
His announcement rendered
almost 17 trillion rupees worth
of cash -- in a country where
more than 90 per cent of all
transactions involve cash --
worthless.

The prime minister justified this drastic action as a bitter
but necessary remedy for the sweeping affliction of "black
money" -- wealth amassed through illegal means -- and, as if
to inoculate the measure from criticism, added a national
security codicil: it would also invalidate the vast amounts
of counterfeit currency allegedly channelled into the Indian
economy by sponsors of terrorism operating from Pakistan.

  Yet no Pakistani could have engineered the wave of
  misery that has washed over India in the month
  since Mr Modi's speech. Demonetisation, unlike any
  war or calamity in living memory, has exposed
  people in every corner of India to intense distress.

It presumes that every Indian in possession of the banned
notes is a criminal. The only precedent for such
all-encompassing agony in India's republican history is the
"mass sterilisation" drive pursued by Sanjay Gandhi, the son
of prime minister Indira Gandhi, as his mother declared a
state of internal emergency, suspended the constitution and
imposed a horrific spell of dictatorship between 1975 and
1977. Thousands of men were subjected to forced vasectomies
as part of Sanjay's fantastic bid to put an instant curb on
India's population growth; hundreds died in botched operations.

But even then, the terror was restricted to some parts of
India.

  Today, the pain is distributed evenly across the
  country's immense land mass. The tales of suffering
  are harrowing. Farmers in rural India can't sell
  their produce. Patients are unable to pay for
  medicine. People who moved from the decaying
  countryside to make a living in India's burgeoning
  cities -- as servants, cooks, cleaners, chauffeurs
  and construction workers -- cannot feed themselves
  or send money to the families they've left behind
  because they do not have bank accounts and cannot
  "whiten" their "black" earnings. Even the bank
  account-holding urban middle classes are desperate.
  The deadline for depositing the banned notes
  expires on December 30, and there is roughly one
  commercial bank branch for every 12,500 Indians.

The queues outside the banks evoke the lines outside the
supermarkets in Ceausescu's Romania. Dozens of people have
died in the long, tense wait to renew their money. Those who
make it to the end discover that the banks, like the stores
in communist-era Bucharest, are understocked. By some
estimates, it may take the presses of the Reserve Bank of
India, working non-stop and at full capacity, more than six
months to replace the abruptly withdrawn currency. The
original ambitions of the demonetisation scheme --
eliminating black money and combating terrorism -- have
fallen by the wayside. Indians in possession of illicit cash
clearly beat the chief aim of demonetisation by finding
ingenious ways to deposit their cash; those who could not
dumped their cash in landfills, denying the central bank the
colossal receipts that Mr Modi had promised it.

  Mr Modi, rather than accept the failure of his
  policy and reverse course, has shifted the
  goalposts. Demonetisation is no longer about
  eradicating black money; it is, says Mr Modi, about
  making India a "cashless" society. Emulating Mao
  Zedong's exhortation to the Chinese to make the
  Great Leap Forward, Mr Modi now urges his
  compatriots to "go digital". Without a hint of
  irony, a loyal member of Mr Modi's cabinet has
  called the entire exercise India's own "cultural
  revolution". It's as if the politician hailed only
  two years ago as the antithesis of out-of-touch
  elites has completely seceded from the real world
  and taken up residence in a virtual reality of his
  own making. This, lest we forget, is a man who
  continues, in defiance of incontrovertible
  evidence, to insist that demonetisation is a wild
  success because respondents to a survey held
  exclusively on his personal smart phone app said so.

The docility of Mr Modi's MPs, many of whom are said to be
livid in private, has profound implications for the health of
Indian democracy. Unlike most Indian political parties, Mr
Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party has traditionally been a
democratic institution. There is nepotism in the BJP, but the
party is not owned by a dynasty. In theory anyone, so long as
he or she subscribed to the sectarian 

[Goanet] Modi is an unstoppable force -- and that’s India's great modern tragedy (Kapil Komireddi)

[Goanet Reader]

Modi is an unstoppable force -- and that’s India's great modern tragedy
Kapil Komireddi

Last month, Narendra Modi, the
prime minister of India,
declared that 500- and
1000-rupee notes would cease to
be legal tender within hours.
His announcement rendered
almost 17 trillion rupees worth
of cash -- in a country where
more than 90 per cent of all
transactions involve cash --
worthless.

The prime minister justified this drastic action as a bitter
but necessary remedy for the sweeping affliction of "black
money" -- wealth amassed through illegal means -- and, as if
to inoculate the measure from criticism, added a national
security codicil: it would also invalidate the vast amounts
of counterfeit currency allegedly channelled into the Indian
economy by sponsors of terrorism operating from Pakistan.

  Yet no Pakistani could have engineered the wave of
  misery that has washed over India in the month
  since Mr Modi's speech. Demonetisation, unlike any
  war or calamity in living memory, has exposed
  people in every corner of India to intense distress.

It presumes that every Indian in possession of the banned
notes is a criminal. The only precedent for such
all-encompassing agony in India's republican history is the
"mass sterilisation" drive pursued by Sanjay Gandhi, the son
of prime minister Indira Gandhi, as his mother declared a
state of internal emergency, suspended the constitution and
imposed a horrific spell of dictatorship between 1975 and
1977. Thousands of men were subjected to forced vasectomies
as part of Sanjay's fantastic bid to put an instant curb on
India's population growth; hundreds died in botched operations.

But even then, the terror was restricted to some parts of
India.

  Today, the pain is distributed evenly across the
  country's immense land mass. The tales of suffering
  are harrowing. Farmers in rural India can't sell
  their produce. Patients are unable to pay for
  medicine. People who moved from the decaying
  countryside to make a living in India's burgeoning
  cities -- as servants, cooks, cleaners, chauffeurs
  and construction workers -- cannot feed themselves
  or send money to the families they've left behind
  because they do not have bank accounts and cannot
  "whiten" their "black" earnings. Even the bank
  account-holding urban middle classes are desperate.
  The deadline for depositing the banned notes
  expires on December 30, and there is roughly one
  commercial bank branch for every 12,500 Indians.

The queues outside the banks evoke the lines outside the
supermarkets in Ceausescu's Romania. Dozens of people have
died in the long, tense wait to renew their money. Those who
make it to the end discover that the banks, like the stores
in communist-era Bucharest, are understocked. By some
estimates, it may take the presses of the Reserve Bank of
India, working non-stop and at full capacity, more than six
months to replace the abruptly withdrawn currency. The
original ambitions of the demonetisation scheme --
eliminating black money and combating terrorism -- have
fallen by the wayside. Indians in possession of illicit cash
clearly beat the chief aim of demonetisation by finding
ingenious ways to deposit their cash; those who could not
dumped their cash in landfills, denying the central bank the
colossal receipts that Mr Modi had promised it.

  Mr Modi, rather than accept the failure of his
  policy and reverse course, has shifted the
  goalposts. Demonetisation is no longer about
  eradicating black money; it is, says Mr Modi, about
  making India a "cashless" society. Emulating Mao
  Zedong's exhortation to the Chinese to make the
  Great Leap Forward, Mr Modi now urges his
  compatriots to "go digital". Without a hint of
  irony, a loyal member of Mr Modi's cabinet has
  called the entire exercise India's own "cultural
  revolution". It's as if the politician hailed only
  two years ago as the antithesis of out-of-touch
  elites has completely seceded from the real world
  and taken up residence in a virtual reality of his
  own making. This, lest we forget, is a man who
  continues, in defiance of incontrovertible
  evidence, to insist that demonetisation is a wild
  success because respondents to a survey held
  exclusively on his personal smart phone app said so.

The docility of Mr Modi's MPs, many of whom are said to be
livid in private, has profound implications for the health of
Indian democracy. Unlike most Indian political parties, Mr
Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party has traditionally been a
democratic institution. There is nepotism in the BJP, but the
party is not owned by a dynasty. In theory anyone, so long as
he or she subscribed to the sectarian 

[Goanet-News] EXCERPT: What all grew in Granny Leopoldina's backyard (Aloysius D'Souza, Homeward Bound)

[Goanet Reader]

What all grew in Granny Leopoldina's backyard

Aloysius D'Souza, whose
book 'Homeward Bound' is
being released today 5pm
(Dec 16, 2016) at the
Sainik Gymkhana, Defence
Colony, Alto Porvorim, Goa,
talks about life in Goa
in the 1950s and thereabouts.
He can be contacted at
smhsda...@gmail.com or
+91-96-57-12-60-48.
This book focuses on life in
Goa about half a century ago,
migration and Goans in Burma.

Granny (Leopoldina Isabel Sequeira e Souza, 1883-1975) had a
sort of market garden in the *moiee* (plateau). To get to it,
we had to go down hill through the jungle behind our house
and then through the small narrow track that went towards
Moira. This *moiee* was a fairly large levelled agricultural
field with two wells and tamarind, coconut and bin'na (kokam,
or Garcinia indica) trees. In this field, Granny cultivated
paddy during the monsoon and vegetables from September to
May. On the upper portion of the moiee, which was a
relatively steep hillside, there were mango and caju trees
and a dense grove of bamboo.

  Paddy cultivation is laborious work. Manure (clay
  from the creek bed mixed with dried cow-dung and
  fish manure) would be deposited in little heaps
  evenly spaced in the whole field. In the first
  rains towards the end of May, when the soil became
  soft, the ground was ploughed using two bulls and a
  wooden plough. The soil was thus thoroughly turned
  over so that the manure and roots of previous crops
  got mixed into the soil.

The field was then divided into large squares with earthen
walls about six inches high (bundhs). During the monsoon
rains these squares filled with water. Paddy seeds (stored in
special straw bundles from the previous year's crop) was
sprinkled evenly in two of these small plots. Then, two bulls
dragged a plank behind them on which the ploughman stood.
This ensured that all the seeds went into the soil and did
not get washed away with the next rain or picked up by birds.

These two plots were carefully monitored to ensure that there
always was standing water about three inches deep. If there
was no rain for a couple of days, these squares were filled
by drawing water from the well. Paddy seedlings sprouted in
these plots and after about fourteen days they were
transplanted into the other small plots in neat rows with
about six inches between each seedling.

Transplantation was really back-breaking and was usually done
by women labourers. Water depth in all plots was maintained
at around three inches -- gifted by the rain, or drawn from
wells. By mid-September the crop started to ripen, the green
ears of paddy turning golden. This was a beautiful sight when
a light breeze blew these golden ears of paddy.

Since the rains stop about this time, the fields dry and the
ears of paddy fill. By September end or the first week of
October, the crop was harvested, tied into sheaves and left
to dry in the now dry fields.

Since our crop was relatively small, the grain is separated
from the stalks (threshing) by being trodden underfoot by
labourers. [As children, my sister] Iza and I helped. But at
the end of a couple of hours, our legs up to our knees became
red and itchy. In large fields, the paddy is threshed by
bullocks going around in a circle over the sheaves of paddy.

The stalks are then lifted off the ground after thorough
shaking and paddy grains mixed with chaff are left on the
ground. These grains are then filled into *sup* or *supra*
(baskets shaped like large dust pans). Each filled *sup* is
held up to the full height of a man's outstretched hands and
facing away from the wind he allows the grain to fall to the
ground. Full grains of paddy fall almost vertically, while
chaff and empty paddy husks are blown a little distance away,
in a process called winnowing.

This cleaned paddy is then filled into sacks and taken home,
where it is again dried in our angan (a small patch of beaten
earth plastered with wet cow dung and allowed to dry) during
the day time, and refilled into sacks at night. After about
four or five days this dried paddy is stored in our *bahn*.
The stalks of paddy (straw) were left to dry in the *moiee*
and then either sold or built into a haystack. In later years
when Granny kept buffaloes, the haystack would be erected
behind our house easily accessible for the buffaloes to feed
themselves.

After the paddy was harvested, the field would again be
watered. The same organic manure mix was added and then
completely ploughed up, destroying the small *bundhs* and
ploughing into the soil the roots and stalks of the recent
paddy crop. This field was then split into small sections
separated by low earth walls (about three inches high) with
water channels spreading through them. Granny grew a number
of vegetables like red and green baji, *vosunde* (black eyed
beans), chillies, onions, potatoes and sweet potatoes.

  Granny, or a workman, would draw water from the
  

[Goanet] EXCERPT: What all grew in Granny Leopoldina's backyard (Aloysius D'Souza, Homeward Bound)

[Goanet Reader]

What all grew in Granny Leopoldina's backyard

Aloysius D'Souza, whose
book 'Homeward Bound' is
being released today 5pm
(Dec 16, 2016) at the
Sainik Gymkhana, Defence
Colony, Alto Porvorim, Goa,
talks about life in Goa
in the 1950s and thereabouts.
He can be contacted at
smhsda...@gmail.com or
+91-96-57-12-60-48.
This book focuses on life in
Goa about half a century ago,
migration and Goans in Burma.

Granny (Leopoldina Isabel Sequeira e Souza, 1883-1975) had a
sort of market garden in the *moiee* (plateau). To get to it,
we had to go down hill through the jungle behind our house
and then through the small narrow track that went towards
Moira. This *moiee* was a fairly large levelled agricultural
field with two wells and tamarind, coconut and bin'na (kokam,
or Garcinia indica) trees. In this field, Granny cultivated
paddy during the monsoon and vegetables from September to
May. On the upper portion of the moiee, which was a
relatively steep hillside, there were mango and caju trees
and a dense grove of bamboo.

  Paddy cultivation is laborious work. Manure (clay
  from the creek bed mixed with dried cow-dung and
  fish manure) would be deposited in little heaps
  evenly spaced in the whole field. In the first
  rains towards the end of May, when the soil became
  soft, the ground was ploughed using two bulls and a
  wooden plough. The soil was thus thoroughly turned
  over so that the manure and roots of previous crops
  got mixed into the soil.

The field was then divided into large squares with earthen
walls about six inches high (bundhs). During the monsoon
rains these squares filled with water. Paddy seeds (stored in
special straw bundles from the previous year's crop) was
sprinkled evenly in two of these small plots. Then, two bulls
dragged a plank behind them on which the ploughman stood.
This ensured that all the seeds went into the soil and did
not get washed away with the next rain or picked up by birds.

These two plots were carefully monitored to ensure that there
always was standing water about three inches deep. If there
was no rain for a couple of days, these squares were filled
by drawing water from the well. Paddy seedlings sprouted in
these plots and after about fourteen days they were
transplanted into the other small plots in neat rows with
about six inches between each seedling.

Transplantation was really back-breaking and was usually done
by women labourers. Water depth in all plots was maintained
at around three inches -- gifted by the rain, or drawn from
wells. By mid-September the crop started to ripen, the green
ears of paddy turning golden. This was a beautiful sight when
a light breeze blew these golden ears of paddy.

Since the rains stop about this time, the fields dry and the
ears of paddy fill. By September end or the first week of
October, the crop was harvested, tied into sheaves and left
to dry in the now dry fields.

Since our crop was relatively small, the grain is separated
from the stalks (threshing) by being trodden underfoot by
labourers. [As children, my sister] Iza and I helped. But at
the end of a couple of hours, our legs up to our knees became
red and itchy. In large fields, the paddy is threshed by
bullocks going around in a circle over the sheaves of paddy.

The stalks are then lifted off the ground after thorough
shaking and paddy grains mixed with chaff are left on the
ground. These grains are then filled into *sup* or *supra*
(baskets shaped like large dust pans). Each filled *sup* is
held up to the full height of a man's outstretched hands and
facing away from the wind he allows the grain to fall to the
ground. Full grains of paddy fall almost vertically, while
chaff and empty paddy husks are blown a little distance away,
in a process called winnowing.

This cleaned paddy is then filled into sacks and taken home,
where it is again dried in our angan (a small patch of beaten
earth plastered with wet cow dung and allowed to dry) during
the day time, and refilled into sacks at night. After about
four or five days this dried paddy is stored in our *bahn*.
The stalks of paddy (straw) were left to dry in the *moiee*
and then either sold or built into a haystack. In later years
when Granny kept buffaloes, the haystack would be erected
behind our house easily accessible for the buffaloes to feed
themselves.

After the paddy was harvested, the field would again be
watered. The same organic manure mix was added and then
completely ploughed up, destroying the small *bundhs* and
ploughing into the soil the roots and stalks of the recent
paddy crop. This field was then split into small sections
separated by low earth walls (about three inches high) with
water channels spreading through them. Granny grew a number
of vegetables like red and green baji, *vosunde* (black eyed
beans), chillies, onions, potatoes and sweet potatoes.

  Granny, or a workman, would draw water from the
  

[Goanet] Baking up a legacy... the Saldanhas of Kolkata (Calcutta) (Santana Fell in The Beacon)

[Goanet Reader]

BAKING UP A LEGACY: THE STORY OF SALDANHA BAKERY AND WHY WE SHOULD ALL
VISIT IT!

By Santana Fell
Posted December 11, 2016

Its the best time of the year, the drop in temperature, the
boots and fancy coats, stockings, decorated streets,
carnivals, picnics, holidays, Christmas, Santa Claus. Oh!
Talking about Christmas, how can we forget the most relished
and anticipated Christmas cake? The air is filled with the
scent of them baking, the butter, the dry fruits, vanilla
essence, yummm! you start craving for it then and there.

Muslim bakers, Jewish bakery, Hindu owned confectionaries,
home-made bakers, all selling Christmas cake at this time of
the year. And you still wonder why ours is called the city of joy?

  Kolkata never fails to surprise us. In a city like
  ours, where we celebrate most festivals with equal
  enthusiasm, Christmas or 'Boro Din' (as it is
  fondly called) was never a festival celebrated only
  by the Christian community and the Christmas cake
  that was introduced by the Raj is relished and
  cherished by all even today. Here, during December,
  the local bakers, who sell bread and biscuits all
  year round, start baking cakes for people who bring
  their own ingredients and hire their oven for some time.

>From start-ups to high-end bakeries, many a fancy ones have
opened and shut but the name of Saldanha Bakery stands tall
and famous among their contemporaries for ages now. The
Saldanhas are a small Goan family who are legends in
themselves. They have been excelling in this field for about
a hundred years now with items to die for, like -- the
wedding cake slices, almond cake, chocolate walnut cake,
lemon drops, chicken envelpe, Christmas cake that sell like
hot cake throughout the year, quite literally.

Saldanha specializes in providing snacks and savouries for
various occasions like the 5 tier, 3 tier wedding dummy cake
with a satin finish which very few bakeries do and if done,
they charge a bomb. Their almond ice slices have almond icing
on three sides which provides a heavenly taste in every bite.

THE LEGACY

This bakery started off as 'I. Saldanha Bakery', named after
Ignatius Saldanha and his wife Ubeline Saldanha, who was a
very enterprising woman. In fact, she was the one who started
the business. Cooking and baking was her passion so she
turned her passion into her profession and saw it excel.

She would send out the relishing bakery goodies like patties,
cakes, different types of pastries (very different from what
you have now) in black boxes that had Saldanha written on
them. About 20-30 of their workers would take these boxes
around and sell it in almost the whole of Calcutta, they
would even cater to schools, thereby giving the city a taste
so divine, that they would be craving for a long time.

Presently, the business is in the name of Mrs. Mona Saldanha,
the proprietress, whereas the think tank behind this bakery
is Mr. Denzil Saldanha, who is fondly called 'uncle' by all
the customers. Most of his contemporaries still remember the
'black box men' and the mouth-watering delicacies that they
would deliver. Denzil, though in his 80s, is still an active
participant in the business. He is a total extrovert and
everyone who goes to Saldanha, looks for him.

THE SALDANHA WAY
See photos online at:
http://www.thebeaconkolkata.co.in/saldanha-bakery/

BAKING HER WAY TO GLORY

Currently, their daughter, Debra Saldanha is carrying on the
legacy. She now runs this place and has kept up to the high
standards maintained by her grandparents and parents. Though
Debra jokingly calls herself and the rest 'sidekicks' of the
business, yet it was remarkable on her part to quit a well
paid, secured, bank job that she was into for 16 years to
take over the family run bakery since the last 4 years.

Recalling those days of switching her profession, she says,
"it was literally baptism by fire because it was a totally
new line for me." Initially her father resisted her decision
of joining.

"I slogged and did everything by hand and learnt everything
on my own so that the workers don't take me for a ride. They
know that I can handle it and if they act tough, I can go
down to the bakery, roll up my sleeves and prepare anything.
I am not afraid," said a confident Debra.

Talking about herself settling into the business, she says
that It has been a pretty good time for her because when she
joined, she had a lot of friends who wanted many new things
introduced which was available at high end bakeries but at a
high cost. Her friends encouraged her to try these things so
she would keep experimenting to come up with her own recipes
to introduce certain new items. She would send it out to
friends to taste, get feedback and then launch it.

MARKET ANALYTICS

  Debra proudly says that a lot of bakery items that
  her grandmother had introduced then, is coming back
  now. For instance, cream rolls 

[Goanet-News] Baking up a legacy... the Saldanhas of Kolkata (Calcutta) (Santana Fell in The Beacon)

[Goanet Reader]

BAKING UP A LEGACY: THE STORY OF SALDANHA BAKERY AND WHY WE SHOULD ALL
VISIT IT!

By Santana Fell
Posted December 11, 2016

Its the best time of the year, the drop in temperature, the
boots and fancy coats, stockings, decorated streets,
carnivals, picnics, holidays, Christmas, Santa Claus. Oh!
Talking about Christmas, how can we forget the most relished
and anticipated Christmas cake? The air is filled with the
scent of them baking, the butter, the dry fruits, vanilla
essence, yummm! you start craving for it then and there.

Muslim bakers, Jewish bakery, Hindu owned confectionaries,
home-made bakers, all selling Christmas cake at this time of
the year. And you still wonder why ours is called the city of joy?

  Kolkata never fails to surprise us. In a city like
  ours, where we celebrate most festivals with equal
  enthusiasm, Christmas or 'Boro Din' (as it is
  fondly called) was never a festival celebrated only
  by the Christian community and the Christmas cake
  that was introduced by the Raj is relished and
  cherished by all even today. Here, during December,
  the local bakers, who sell bread and biscuits all
  year round, start baking cakes for people who bring
  their own ingredients and hire their oven for some time.

>From start-ups to high-end bakeries, many a fancy ones have
opened and shut but the name of Saldanha Bakery stands tall
and famous among their contemporaries for ages now. The
Saldanhas are a small Goan family who are legends in
themselves. They have been excelling in this field for about
a hundred years now with items to die for, like -- the
wedding cake slices, almond cake, chocolate walnut cake,
lemon drops, chicken envelpe, Christmas cake that sell like
hot cake throughout the year, quite literally.

Saldanha specializes in providing snacks and savouries for
various occasions like the 5 tier, 3 tier wedding dummy cake
with a satin finish which very few bakeries do and if done,
they charge a bomb. Their almond ice slices have almond icing
on three sides which provides a heavenly taste in every bite.

THE LEGACY

This bakery started off as 'I. Saldanha Bakery', named after
Ignatius Saldanha and his wife Ubeline Saldanha, who was a
very enterprising woman. In fact, she was the one who started
the business. Cooking and baking was her passion so she
turned her passion into her profession and saw it excel.

She would send out the relishing bakery goodies like patties,
cakes, different types of pastries (very different from what
you have now) in black boxes that had Saldanha written on
them. About 20-30 of their workers would take these boxes
around and sell it in almost the whole of Calcutta, they
would even cater to schools, thereby giving the city a taste
so divine, that they would be craving for a long time.

Presently, the business is in the name of Mrs. Mona Saldanha,
the proprietress, whereas the think tank behind this bakery
is Mr. Denzil Saldanha, who is fondly called 'uncle' by all
the customers. Most of his contemporaries still remember the
'black box men' and the mouth-watering delicacies that they
would deliver. Denzil, though in his 80s, is still an active
participant in the business. He is a total extrovert and
everyone who goes to Saldanha, looks for him.

THE SALDANHA WAY
See photos online at:
http://www.thebeaconkolkata.co.in/saldanha-bakery/

BAKING HER WAY TO GLORY

Currently, their daughter, Debra Saldanha is carrying on the
legacy. She now runs this place and has kept up to the high
standards maintained by her grandparents and parents. Though
Debra jokingly calls herself and the rest 'sidekicks' of the
business, yet it was remarkable on her part to quit a well
paid, secured, bank job that she was into for 16 years to
take over the family run bakery since the last 4 years.

Recalling those days of switching her profession, she says,
"it was literally baptism by fire because it was a totally
new line for me." Initially her father resisted her decision
of joining.

"I slogged and did everything by hand and learnt everything
on my own so that the workers don't take me for a ride. They
know that I can handle it and if they act tough, I can go
down to the bakery, roll up my sleeves and prepare anything.
I am not afraid," said a confident Debra.

Talking about herself settling into the business, she says
that It has been a pretty good time for her because when she
joined, she had a lot of friends who wanted many new things
introduced which was available at high end bakeries but at a
high cost. Her friends encouraged her to try these things so
she would keep experimenting to come up with her own recipes
to introduce certain new items. She would send it out to
friends to taste, get feedback and then launch it.

MARKET ANALYTICS

  Debra proudly says that a lot of bakery items that
  her grandmother had introduced then, is coming back
  now. For instance, cream rolls 

[Goanet] How Cyprian Fernandes set out on the road to be a man (Sultan Somjee, Daily Nation)

[Goanet Reader]

A file photo of former Nation investigative reporter Cyprian
Fernandes. He has released his memoirs titled 'Yesterday in
Paradise'. PHOTO| MIRIAM NAMUBIRU

In Summary

At 13, Cyprian left school
because his integrity was
questioned and he refused the
punishment for stealing altar
wine that he did not.

He had the stubbornness and
courage to defy Father Hannan,
the principal of St Teresa's
Boys.

It was that 13-year old boy
lying he was 22 who entered
adult life.

By Sultan Somjee

Yesterday in Paradise: 1950-1974 is a part memoir and a part
tribute to some admirable politicians, sportsmen and
journalists of Kenya's immediate post-independence history.

  At the tender age of 12, Cyprian Fernandes was
  arrested and held prisoner during a random scoop in
  Eastleigh that targeted the Mau Mau. That was the
  1950s, around the time that Cyprian's memoir begins
  with tragic poverty in the family. It was the
  tenacious strength of the mother, Rosa Maria
  Fernandes, that held the six siblings together.
  They survived in the poor Asian-Somali mixed
  neighbourhood of Eastleigh.

The memoir ends around 1974 when the author had to flee his
birth land because "there was a bullet to his name". It's a
hard story of a young *Nation* reporter chasing the truth in
the midst of the politicians' looting spree and several
assassinations of those who spoke against the regime's
misrule. It was the birth of Kenya as we know today -- third
on the Corruption Index, a clique of millionaires while the
majority live in abject poverty.

Cover of the book 'Yesterday in Paradise' by Cyprian Fernandes.

At 13, Cyprian left school because his integrity was
questioned and he refused the punishment for stealing altar
wine that he did not. He had the stubbornness and courage to
defy Father Hannan, the principal of St Teresa's Boys. It was
that 13-year old boy lying he was 22 who entered adult life.

He went on to become one of the best investigative
journalists in Kenya. His lived his formative years during
the one party democracy, when writers, artists, journalists
and intellectuals were detained or had to flee into exile. It
was a time of fear and silence as Ngugi wa Thiong'o puts it.

DISCUSSED IN PARLIAMENT

At one point Cyprian was even discussed in Parliament and was
nearly deported as was the rule then when Asian Africans
disagreed with politicians. But Cyprian would not be
corrupted by any of the big fish. At times he was called ‘an
imperialist stooge’ to his face. This was ironic for the
politicians were, in fact, the real stooges of the Western
imperialism. His interrogation by the minister for
Information, Zachary Onyoka, is revealing (Chapter 10,
Interrogation). "I can have you killed in five minutes! ...
you pundas, don't you know that I have the power to cancel
Fernandes' citizenship and deport him to Britain?"

There are some illuminating details about Pio Gama Pinto's
life in the book. How he worked underground supplying arms to
the Mau Mau, perhaps in cohort with the Indian High
Commissioner Apa Pant, whose residence in Muthaiga was raided
by the colonial police in spite of diplomatic immunity. One
critical question that the author asks that has been left
unsolved is: Where were the Mau Mau getting financial and
material help from? He suspected some Indians in Kenya and
the Indian government but he could not verify this.

The book fills in some details about Pio Gama Pinto and Joe
Rodrigues, the controversial editor of *The Nation*, that
even their spouses did not know. He shows admiration for the
two patriots not because they were Goans like he is, but
because as journalists, they had their hearts on their
profession, and for the country.

  The author accolades Joseph Murumbi, the one time
  vice-president of Kenya with 'socialist leanings'
  and Njioroge Mungai, the powerful Minister of
  Defence and a close ally of Kenyatta and his
  notorious Kiambu group. History, however, remembers
  the two parliamentarians who did not stand up
  against the assassinations, the massive land
  grabbing, corruption and greed of the Kenyatta
  family, and the brutality of the police state in
  the making.

There are insights that Cyprian gives about *The Nation* in
1960s and early 1970s. It was the newspaper that was
formative in guiding the mind of the nation as it came to
hold it's own reins. It was the time when the newspaper
wrenched the tightly held power of journalism from the hands
of the Europeans and put it into the hands of Kenyans.

In the process, as one reads between lines in Cyprian's book,
*The Nation* developed the Kenyan brand of journalism while
learning to negotiate with the state's meddling and getting
through what needs to be said to the wananchi [(in East
Africa) the ordinary people; the public]. In the youthful and
vivacious media house, there were also 

[Goanet-News] How Cyprian Fernandes set out on the road to be a man (Sultan Somjee, Daily Nation)

[Goanet Reader]

A file photo of former Nation investigative reporter Cyprian
Fernandes. He has released his memoirs titled 'Yesterday in
Paradise'. PHOTO| MIRIAM NAMUBIRU

In Summary

At 13, Cyprian left school
because his integrity was
questioned and he refused the
punishment for stealing altar
wine that he did not.

He had the stubbornness and
courage to defy Father Hannan,
the principal of St Teresa's
Boys.

It was that 13-year old boy
lying he was 22 who entered
adult life.

By Sultan Somjee

Yesterday in Paradise: 1950-1974 is a part memoir and a part
tribute to some admirable politicians, sportsmen and
journalists of Kenya's immediate post-independence history.

  At the tender age of 12, Cyprian Fernandes was
  arrested and held prisoner during a random scoop in
  Eastleigh that targeted the Mau Mau. That was the
  1950s, around the time that Cyprian's memoir begins
  with tragic poverty in the family. It was the
  tenacious strength of the mother, Rosa Maria
  Fernandes, that held the six siblings together.
  They survived in the poor Asian-Somali mixed
  neighbourhood of Eastleigh.

The memoir ends around 1974 when the author had to flee his
birth land because "there was a bullet to his name". It's a
hard story of a young *Nation* reporter chasing the truth in
the midst of the politicians' looting spree and several
assassinations of those who spoke against the regime's
misrule. It was the birth of Kenya as we know today -- third
on the Corruption Index, a clique of millionaires while the
majority live in abject poverty.

Cover of the book 'Yesterday in Paradise' by Cyprian Fernandes.

At 13, Cyprian left school because his integrity was
questioned and he refused the punishment for stealing altar
wine that he did not. He had the stubbornness and courage to
defy Father Hannan, the principal of St Teresa's Boys. It was
that 13-year old boy lying he was 22 who entered adult life.

He went on to become one of the best investigative
journalists in Kenya. His lived his formative years during
the one party democracy, when writers, artists, journalists
and intellectuals were detained or had to flee into exile. It
was a time of fear and silence as Ngugi wa Thiong'o puts it.

DISCUSSED IN PARLIAMENT

At one point Cyprian was even discussed in Parliament and was
nearly deported as was the rule then when Asian Africans
disagreed with politicians. But Cyprian would not be
corrupted by any of the big fish. At times he was called ‘an
imperialist stooge’ to his face. This was ironic for the
politicians were, in fact, the real stooges of the Western
imperialism. His interrogation by the minister for
Information, Zachary Onyoka, is revealing (Chapter 10,
Interrogation). "I can have you killed in five minutes! ...
you pundas, don't you know that I have the power to cancel
Fernandes' citizenship and deport him to Britain?"

There are some illuminating details about Pio Gama Pinto's
life in the book. How he worked underground supplying arms to
the Mau Mau, perhaps in cohort with the Indian High
Commissioner Apa Pant, whose residence in Muthaiga was raided
by the colonial police in spite of diplomatic immunity. One
critical question that the author asks that has been left
unsolved is: Where were the Mau Mau getting financial and
material help from? He suspected some Indians in Kenya and
the Indian government but he could not verify this.

The book fills in some details about Pio Gama Pinto and Joe
Rodrigues, the controversial editor of *The Nation*, that
even their spouses did not know. He shows admiration for the
two patriots not because they were Goans like he is, but
because as journalists, they had their hearts on their
profession, and for the country.

  The author accolades Joseph Murumbi, the one time
  vice-president of Kenya with 'socialist leanings'
  and Njioroge Mungai, the powerful Minister of
  Defence and a close ally of Kenyatta and his
  notorious Kiambu group. History, however, remembers
  the two parliamentarians who did not stand up
  against the assassinations, the massive land
  grabbing, corruption and greed of the Kenyatta
  family, and the brutality of the police state in
  the making.

There are insights that Cyprian gives about *The Nation* in
1960s and early 1970s. It was the newspaper that was
formative in guiding the mind of the nation as it came to
hold it's own reins. It was the time when the newspaper
wrenched the tightly held power of journalism from the hands
of the Europeans and put it into the hands of Kenyans.

In the process, as one reads between lines in Cyprian's book,
*The Nation* developed the Kenyan brand of journalism while
learning to negotiate with the state's meddling and getting
through what needs to be said to the wananchi [(in East
Africa) the ordinary people; the public]. In the youthful and
vivacious media house, there were also 

[Goanet] BOOK EXTRACT: Idi Amin, Milton Obote (Cyprian 'Skip' Fernandes, Yesterday in Paradise)

[Goanet Reader]

A book extract from the
recently-released
Yesterday in Paradise,
by ex-Kenya journalist
Cyprian 'Skip' Fernandes.
skip...@live.com.au
He can be contacted
in Goa currently via
+91-99-22-611-386

At the end of the Singapore summit conference, there were a
number of kerbside press conferences. I happened upon Milton
Obote and a group of other African leaders and asked the
first question: 'Dr Obote how could you and your fellow
African leaders allow yourselves to be bamboozled by a simple
procedural motion?'

Obote said, 'That is Cyprian Fernandes, a colonial stooge and
I will not answer such a stupid question.'

  Among the group of journalists were some of Fleet
  Street's best and a chorus went up, 'Answer the
  question! Answer the question!' Obote and the
  Ugandans turned and left in disgust. That was the
  last time I saw him as President of Uganda.

While I was walking with this group of journalists, deep in
conversation, we stopped at a traffic light. Instinctively we
all took a step forward when the pedestrian light turned
green. Unfortunately, my foot was the only one still on the
road when a car raced past, over my foot. I did not really
feel the impact and we walked across the road as if nothing
had happened. My foot only began to throb with pain when I
arrived in Hong Kong many hours later. I had dinner with Joe
Rodrigues' brother and his wife and later went to a casino in
Macau returning at around 4 am. The hotel I was staying in
had cubby-hole bars at every lift. The silly thing about it
was that there also was a mini-bar in every suite. As I
approached the lift, there was a fairly large Dutch type with
an even larger voice and there were four Chinese grinning and
nodding, not understanding a word he was saying.

'Come here you Black bastard. I want to buy you a drink. I am
celebrating, another Black gorilla has come to power in
Africa,' he said.

'No thanks, I buy my own drinks. By the way, who is the
gorilla?' I asked.

'Someone called Idi Amin,' he answered.

The Dutchman turned out to be a South African seaman and had
heard on the ship's radio that there had been a coup in
Uganda. I knocked back a double 18-year-old Glenmorangie and
hobbled to the lift and to my room. I rang the airport and
said that I held a first class open ticket and needed to
catch the first plane to Nairobi. I was told there were three
flights. 'Is any flight being diverted to Singapore?' I asked.

'Yes, East African Airways,' was the answer.

'Can I have a first class seat, please?'

'No, you cannot. First Class has been reserved for VIP guests.'

'Can I have the first seat, just behind the curtain
separating First from Economy?' I asked.

'Sir, you can have the rest of the aircraft, it is completely empty.'

I grabbed my stuff and headed for the airport. At the
check-in, the pain in my foot was excruciating and the
check-in lady noticed.

'Have you got a medical certificate allowing you to fly?' she
asked me.

'Why do I need one?'

'You might have a medical emergency on the aircraft,' she
explained.

'Where do I get a medical certificate?'

'The best place would be the new Princess Margaret Hospital.'

I hobbled into a cab and when I arrived at the hospital, I
flashed my press card and was seen immediately. They began by
taking my temperature, measuring my blood pressure, and going
through the motions of a full examination.

I said, 'Please stop. It is my foot.'

'It will need X-rays,' someone said.

'Just give me some pain killing injections and a large box of
painkillers to last me 17 hours of flying,' I pleaded. They
obliged, including the certificate that enabled me to fly. I
was on that East African Airways flight faster than anything
the world had seen.

  When we stopped off in Singapore, I was at the top
  of the stairway in First Class as Milton Obote and
  his entourage came aboard. We nodded in greeting.
  It was a very somber Obote, his face in grim
  concentration. Gone was the dismissive arrogance he
  had displayed the previous day at the press
  conference. It would be wrong to say he looked a
  broken man, but the spark of his previous life was
  missing. Where once there might have been cheery
  banter as the delegation seated itself, now there
  was nothing but an eerie silence.

I was not surprised by the coup d'état. Before I had left
Nairobi, Ugandan contacts had warned me that something was in
the wind. I had called Editor-in-Chief Boaz Omori in Nairobi
to find out if there was any news. There was none and,
according to him, [talk of] a coup was nothing more than
political mischief. As it turned out, Obote had made
arrangements to sack Idi Amin while Obote was in Singapore.
Such was the man's confidence. Idi Amin beat him to the draw.

The tears finally came streaming down Obote's face after he
listened to a BBC broadcast on the aircraft's radio. The BBC
report 

[Goanet] FICTION: Full face (Roanna Gonsalves)

[Goanet Reader]

FULL FACE: BY ROANNA GONSALVES roan...@gmail.com

Roanna Gonsalves came to
Australia as an international
student from India. Some years
on she became a citizen and a
recipient of the Prime
Minister;s Australia Asia
Endeavour Award. *The Permanent
Resident* is her first book and
is being released in Goa this week.

First published in 2016 by UWA Publishing Crawley, Western
Australia 6009. UWAP is an imprint of UWA Publishing, a
division of The University of Western Australia.

Reproduced on Goanet Reader with permission.
-

I broke up with my boyfriend because he was repeatedly
unfaithful to me. So I left Bombay and got myself a job as a
copywriter in Dubai. I was restless there, surrounded by real
gold, fake snow, and men who looked but would not leap.

One day, running late for a meeting with my uncle Joe, I
rushed into Cafe Eucalypt on Sheikh Zayed Road to get my
coffee. Before I knew it, I tripped over a man tying his
shoelaces, and heard the heave of his body insisting on an
explanation.

'I'm so sorry,' I said, in the scree of that afternoon. But
the second I looked at him, I was not sorry. I was light as
an epiphany. His eyes were open upon me and in his gaze I saw
a meadow of daffodils ofering respite from a blissless
solitude. Beside the lake, beneath the trees, the place it
seemed was open to consideration. Wordsworth would not have
approved, but I held my breath for the future.

'It's okay, don't worry. I'm Anil, by the way,' he said. Anil
was the Middle East sales rep for Juno Appliances, a company
making air conditioners and air purifiers in Bombay. It was
his first time in that cafe. Not being a coffee man, he had
ordered tea and was waiting for it to arrive when I set in
motion, inadvertently I must insist, events that would force
our hands.

  Anil and I met a few times for Mass, for tea and
  for dinner. In the air of permissiveness in Dubai,
  where trees could be uprooted from one end of the
  world and transplanted on its main roads like so
  many livers, where the laws of our homelands were
  loosened, and love and sex were twins mistaken for
  each other, we realised, separately, that we were
  weary of the chase. I was a woman who needed a bra.
  He was a man who put his mouth where his money was.
  It seemed logical to disarm and ride along
  together.

We got married in Bombay as befits tax-free Gulf money: our
wedding invitations came not from David & Company but were
designed by the art director in my agency, billed separately
to my personal account. We overlooked our parish choirs, who
suggested Ruth's Song, 'Wherever You Go I Shall Go' for the
nuptial hymn, and chose instead to hire a five-piece live
band to perform Joan Baez's 'Forever Young' in the crypt of
Don Bosco's Basilica in Matunga. A thousand guests came to
our reception at Willingdon Catholic Gymkhana in Santacruz
and showered us with biodegradable confetti, made from
recycled waxing strips discarded by the beauty parlours in
Bandra and sterilised by a charity working with street kids.
We paid for my uncle Joe and his wife Aunty Marilyn's
tickets, Dubai-Bombay return, because I really wanted him to
raise the toast. For our honeymoon we didn't even consider an
Indian destination, choosing Turkey instead. There, we
restlessly drank tea in a cafe overlooking the Bosphoros,
waiting to get back to the blue hotel and its sheets, the hum
of grasshoppers in our ears.

Soon we both felt we should move on from Dubai and its silos
and its visa expectations that must always be met. I wanted
to stand atop a wooden box in a park and make change happen.
I assumed Anil shared my zeal. After all, we had both been
set alight by the grassroots Obama campaign.

  Anil had often said at parties that Indians should
  stop having children and focus instead on bettering
  their own prospects, should live in the present
  rather than the future, should clean up their act.
  In general, I agreed. After all, I left Bombay to
  escape not only the mushroom cloud of a failed
  relationship, but also the swarming multitudes that
  had long outstripped the available loaves and
  fishes. I didn't think he meant that we ourselves
  shouldn't have children. It's not what I thought at
  all.

I had heard that Australia had the colour bar. However,
everyone spoke English and that itself was good enough. None
of this habibi habibi that goes on in Dubai, and none of the
Hindi-Marathi we were forced to learn in school in Bombay.
Once, at Cafe Eucalypt I heard one of the Indian customers
demanding a serviette with his Earl Grey. Cathy, busy
frothing milk behind the counter, said, 'Mate. Just help
yourself. There's some in that corner over there.' And I was