[Goanet-News] Remembering Antonio Mascarenhas... on his 100th birth anniversary (Wikipedia)
Antonio Mascarenhas (1916-1993) >From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Mascarenhas_(1916-1993) Antonio Mascarenhas was an Indian writer in English, who hailed from the region of Goa. He is best remembered as the author of the book Goa from Prehistoric Times (1987). Contents 1Life 2Works 2.1Poems 2.2Collected Radio Talks 2.3Travel Guides 2.4Biography 2.5Language 2.6History 3References Life Born at his mother's ancestral home in Divar, Goa, India, on 24 February 1916, Antonio Inacio Salvador Matias Mascarenhas, as he was baptised, spent his early childhood in Zanzibar and his school years at St Paul’s, Belgaum, after which he joined the Society of Jesus. He completed the Gregorian University Ph L summa cum laude. Although he remained a layman, later marrying and raising a family, he was a Jesuit at heart. His work life took him from India to Portugal and back again, and from teaching to real estate, radio, travel planning, and writing. He died in 1993 at home in Miraton Gardens, Chicalim, Goa, and was buried on the Jesuit feast day. Works Among his known works are the following. This list is incomplete. Poems * Poems (Tipografia Rangel, Bastora, Goa, c. 1984) Collected Radio Talks * Glimpses of the Goan Past (? c. 1958) * Essays for Diplomats on the Case of Goa (Edições Paulistas, Lumiar, Lisboa, c. 1958) * A Critique of Sir S Radhakrishnan’s ‘Basis for Human Fellowship’ (Edições Paulistas, Lumiar, Lisboa, 1959) * Goan Life and Outlook (? c. 1960) * An Introduction to Goan Folksongs, Volume 1 ([year unknown] Centro Cultural Goês, Lisboa) which also appeared in a translation by Maria Suzette Carvalho and Tony Mascarenhas (the author's nephew) under the title Dulpodam (c. 1960, Centro Cultural Goês, Lisboa). * Introduction to An Introduction to Goan Folksongs, Volume 2, Mande which appeared in Portuguese as Poesias do Povo Goês by Maria da Paz Cabrita de Barros Santos and Jesuino de Noronha (c. 1960, Centro Cultural Goês, Lisboa). Travel Guides * Open Sesame, Lisbon! (Edições Paulistas, Lumiar, Lisboa, no date printed) * Open Sesame, Fátima! (Edições Paulistas, Lumiar, Lisboa, no date printed) * To Fátima and There. Text and photography by the author (? self-published) * Fátima, A Shrine of Luminous Silence (Edições Francisco Mas, Lisboa, 1967) Biography * Father Joseph Vaz of Sancoale (Self-published, Goa, c. 1980) Language * A Concise Konkani Grammar (Tipografia Rangel, Bastora, Goa, 1984) History * A Tourist's History of Goa (Instituto Menezes Bragança, Panjim, Goa, 1981) * Goa from Prehistoric Times (Self-published, Goa, 1987) References 1. Universidade de Aveiro | Fundação Portugal-Africa [1997-2015] http://memoria-africa.ua.pt/Catalog.aspx?q=AU%20mascarenhas,%20antonio 2. Carlos A. Moreira Azevedo, ed., Bibliografia para a História da Igreja em Portugal (1961-2000), © Centro de Estudos de História Religiosa, Lisboa, 2013, ISBN: 978-972-8361-56-3 3. Thomas Paul Urumpackal, Organized Religion According to Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Università Gregoriana Editrice, Roma, 1972 4. Robert Neil Minor, Radhakrishnan: A Religious Biography, State University of New York Press, 1987. https://books.google.co.in/books?isbn=0887065546 5. Bibliography, Luso-Brazilian Review, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Winter, 1969), pp. 104-115, University of Wisconsin Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3512742 6. SP Agrawal, Rajeev Kumar Sharma, Government and Politics in India: A Bibliographical Study, Concept Publishing, New Delhi, 1993. https://books.google.co.in/books?isbn=8170224160 7. List: Poets in and from Goa, December 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poets_in_%28and_from%29_Goa
[Goanet] Remembering Antonio Mascarenhas... on his 100th birth anniversary (Wikipedia)
Antonio Mascarenhas (1916-1993) >From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Mascarenhas_(1916-1993) Antonio Mascarenhas was an Indian writer in English, who hailed from the region of Goa. He is best remembered as the author of the book Goa from Prehistoric Times (1987). Contents 1Life 2Works 2.1Poems 2.2Collected Radio Talks 2.3Travel Guides 2.4Biography 2.5Language 2.6History 3References Life Born at his mother's ancestral home in Divar, Goa, India, on 24 February 1916, Antonio Inacio Salvador Matias Mascarenhas, as he was baptised, spent his early childhood in Zanzibar and his school years at St Paul’s, Belgaum, after which he joined the Society of Jesus. He completed the Gregorian University Ph L summa cum laude. Although he remained a layman, later marrying and raising a family, he was a Jesuit at heart. His work life took him from India to Portugal and back again, and from teaching to real estate, radio, travel planning, and writing. He died in 1993 at home in Miraton Gardens, Chicalim, Goa, and was buried on the Jesuit feast day. Works Among his known works are the following. This list is incomplete. Poems * Poems (Tipografia Rangel, Bastora, Goa, c. 1984) Collected Radio Talks * Glimpses of the Goan Past (? c. 1958) * Essays for Diplomats on the Case of Goa (Edições Paulistas, Lumiar, Lisboa, c. 1958) * A Critique of Sir S Radhakrishnan’s ‘Basis for Human Fellowship’ (Edições Paulistas, Lumiar, Lisboa, 1959) * Goan Life and Outlook (? c. 1960) * An Introduction to Goan Folksongs, Volume 1 ([year unknown] Centro Cultural Goês, Lisboa) which also appeared in a translation by Maria Suzette Carvalho and Tony Mascarenhas (the author's nephew) under the title Dulpodam (c. 1960, Centro Cultural Goês, Lisboa). * Introduction to An Introduction to Goan Folksongs, Volume 2, Mande which appeared in Portuguese as Poesias do Povo Goês by Maria da Paz Cabrita de Barros Santos and Jesuino de Noronha (c. 1960, Centro Cultural Goês, Lisboa). Travel Guides * Open Sesame, Lisbon! (Edições Paulistas, Lumiar, Lisboa, no date printed) * Open Sesame, Fátima! (Edições Paulistas, Lumiar, Lisboa, no date printed) * To Fátima and There. Text and photography by the author (? self-published) * Fátima, A Shrine of Luminous Silence (Edições Francisco Mas, Lisboa, 1967) Biography * Father Joseph Vaz of Sancoale (Self-published, Goa, c. 1980) Language * A Concise Konkani Grammar (Tipografia Rangel, Bastora, Goa, 1984) History * A Tourist's History of Goa (Instituto Menezes Bragança, Panjim, Goa, 1981) * Goa from Prehistoric Times (Self-published, Goa, 1987) References 1. Universidade de Aveiro | Fundação Portugal-Africa [1997-2015] http://memoria-africa.ua.pt/Catalog.aspx?q=AU%20mascarenhas,%20antonio 2. Carlos A. Moreira Azevedo, ed., Bibliografia para a História da Igreja em Portugal (1961-2000), © Centro de Estudos de História Religiosa, Lisboa, 2013, ISBN: 978-972-8361-56-3 3. Thomas Paul Urumpackal, Organized Religion According to Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Università Gregoriana Editrice, Roma, 1972 4. Robert Neil Minor, Radhakrishnan: A Religious Biography, State University of New York Press, 1987. https://books.google.co.in/books?isbn=0887065546 5. Bibliography, Luso-Brazilian Review, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Winter, 1969), pp. 104-115, University of Wisconsin Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3512742 6. SP Agrawal, Rajeev Kumar Sharma, Government and Politics in India: A Bibliographical Study, Concept Publishing, New Delhi, 1993. https://books.google.co.in/books?isbn=8170224160 7. List: Poets in and from Goa, December 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poets_in_%28and_from%29_Goa
[Goanet] Demonising the Portuguese passport Goan (Devika Sequeira)
Almost a third of the Goan population lives outside the state; but this has nothing to do with the Portuguese passport Devika Sequeira devikaseque...@gmail.com In recent months, the Portuguese nationality issue has been spun into a perverse weapon to ensnare a political or professional adversary, or to expose a larger prey, sometimes just for the heck of it. In some cases, self-anointed moral vigilantes in Goa have gone about sadistically compiling names of people who have, or might have or are in the process of acquiring a Portuguese passport. The sordid game, triggered by the legal challenge to the election of two MLAs in 2012 -- Glen Ticlo of the BJP and Caitu Silva of the Goa Vikas Party which supports the BJP -- compelled the government to seek some clarifications from the Union Home Ministry. So far the Centre has chosen to cast a benign eye (one never knows when this view will change) on those who have merely 'registered' (Portuguese agencies prefer to use the term 'transcribed') their births in Portugal's Conservatória dos Registos Centrais. One can well imagine the political fallout (which one suspects was the reason the BJP tread ever so cautiously on the issue) on the ruling party itself, had the Government of India ruled that registration of birth in Lisbon was itself tantamount to securing Portuguese nationality. More recently, the Goa police decided to wind up the case against some 500 people -- a few of them MLAs, some cops, some lawyers -- alleged to have registered their births with the Conservatória in Lisbon, saying it had found no tangible evidence of them holding dual nationality. The case had been filed by a self-styled 'RTI activist' and a former employee of the state's electricity department who has assigned to himself the honourable duty of weeding out 'anti-nationals' from this state. None of this will however deter the hundreds of other hopefuls. Not because they are middle-class Catholics (the community believed to have sent out the most PPGs -- Portuguese passport Goans) and 'have no love for their homeland', as some self-righteous 'patriots' would have us believe; or because they're dying to swear allegiance to the Portuguese flag. But because in the current global economic climate, they are able to find work in the UK -- however tough it is to live there -- on salaries they could never earn in this country. Matters could change of course if the UK decides to change the rules, or even exit the EU. The campaign to vilify PPGs -- some 25,000 are currently estimated to be working in the UK -- conveniently skirts the bigger picture. Taken in the global and national context, the numbers of overseas Goans (Canadian, English, Australian, American, Portuguese, Pakistani, those in the Gulf and others) is really insignificant. According to United Nations data recently released, 16 million Indians live outside of their homeland making it the largest diaspora globally. Mexico, with 12 million living abroad, accounts for the second largest diasporic community. Government of India estimates though put the Indian diaspora at 25 million strong (more than twice the population of Portugal) and spread across 200 countries globally. The disparity in estimates has probably to do with the unavailability of statistics that differentiate between the non-resident Indian (NRI) and Indians who've acquired nationalities of other countries (some of whom have now taken the overseas citizen of India (OCI) card), putting both into the all-embracing framework of 'diaspora'. The Goa office for NRI affairs estimates that some half-a-million Goans -- equivalent to a third of the state's population -- live outside of this state, 200,000 of them within the country, and 300,000 abroad. These rough calculations --0 understandable, given the absence of more reliable data -- suggest that half of overseas Goans are NRIs, working in the Gulf mostly, the other half (150,000 roughly) have acquired foreign nationality. If one goes by UN estimates, Goans make for less than 2 per cent of overseas Indians (less even if one uses government data). So much for the notion that we, more than any other Indians, are foreign-bound. The Union ministry of overseas Indian affairs (MOIA) is more than generous with its praise for the country's millions of immigrants, describing their dispersal as "an engaging saga of trials, tribulations and the eventual triumph of determination and hard work This community having overcome considerable adversity represents an eminently successful Diaspora in the host countries with several of its representatives occupying leadership positions there. We could look at them as a significant strategic resource for India as they have considerably added to knowledge, innovation and development across the globe." In his address at last year's Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi who described himself as a 'Pravasi
[Goanet] Karachi's Catholic music scene loses its Freddie Mercury (Ali Raj, tribune.com.pk)
By Ali Raj February 10, 2016 KARACHI: If you were a frequent visitor of the many upscale, five-star hotels or a mere observer of the section of Karachi's underground music scene that derives from the church choir culture and parish bands, you must have come across this frail, cheerful vocalist called Melvin Clements. He was a rockstar of his community; many of his friends compared his stage presence to that of Freddie Mercury. He had been around for a while, playing for a band called Kashish. Classical rock and jazz was their thing. Church events, school bake sales and weddings were his arenas. He would leave the crowd in frenzy; many Christian musicians aspired to be like him. Few people knew that in opposition to his outer appearance, leukaemia was eating away at him on the inside. The 35-year-old was on a ventilator at the Aga Khan University Hospital and despite starting to recover, he lost the battle under the dreadful machine on Tuesday morning. His friends and family are finding a hard time to come to terms with the fact that their Freddie Mercury is no more. The baritone legend Melv, as he was lovingly called, did not hail from a prosperous family. Lately, sustenance had become a major concern for him and he would play at Karachi's Pearl Continental hotel and Marriott hotel frequently. The irony of times was such that Kashish itself began to lose what its name signifies, pull or attraction. Band members became associated with singer-songwriter Zoe Viccaji to keep the stove burning. Melv's friend, drummer Kurt Menezes says, "Melv’s charisma could rival that of Ali Azmat [the Pakistani rock icon] on stage." Sounds of Kolachi front man Ahsan Bari knew Melv for a good 12 years. "I used to sing for Gravity back then. He was the very animated sort. He would be literally jumping around all the time," he says. The singer-songwriter says he couldn't believe when he first found out about Melv's health. "Given his outlook, no one could tell what was going on inside him." An underground scene maven himself, Bari is of the view that he never saw a better crowd-puller than Melv. "I haven't in my life seen a better live performer. Already there are very few here who can sing in English with ease and even out of those, only a fraction of them really are good enough." Bari says it is a dilemma that the best musicians in the country are frustrated. "There are literally no platforms, no labels... what can one say?" This is a concern that resonates with almost every second musician you go to. Fuzon guitarist Shallum Xavier goes on to state that this dilemma is very Pakistani at its core. "It's not just in music. It's everywhere. When you're alive, nobody cares. When you die, they all lament," he says. Melv was like a younger brother to Xavier and the two have been spotted together on stage a number of times. "When I met him two weeks ago, he was in high spirits... Melv was always like that, you see," he pauses for a moment. "Being talented in Pakistan is not enough. You need a push. People like us are an exception ... our mainstream is quite complicated." Himself a product of the Karachi's Catholic music scene, Xavier says this is not just about the Melv who was consumed by leukaemia. "It is about all the Melvs and Veronicas and Jasons who are struggling ... playing for church bands, entertaining their own circles. Their talent too merits recognition like the talent of people from other communities." Another of Xavier's contemporary and brother-in-arm, drummer Gumby looks at it slightly differently. "Today, being good is not enough. One should know how to present oneself. Management, promotion, networking are all equally important," he maintains. He channelises the neglect that many of Melv's close friends pointed out by saying, "It is indeed unfortunate. He was a very sweet child and extremely passionate about what he did. I don't think anyone is to blame for a lack of recognition for him... things are like this only here." Published in The Express Tribune, February 11th, 2016. http://tribune.com.pk/story/1043964/karachis-catholic-music-scene-loses-its-freddie-mercury/ Hattip to Mike Ali for sharing this link! --FN
[Goanet-News] Karachi's Catholic music scene loses its Freddie Mercury (Ali Raj, tribune.com.pk)
By Ali Raj February 10, 2016 KARACHI: If you were a frequent visitor of the many upscale, five-star hotels or a mere observer of the section of Karachi's underground music scene that derives from the church choir culture and parish bands, you must have come across this frail, cheerful vocalist called Melvin Clements. He was a rockstar of his community; many of his friends compared his stage presence to that of Freddie Mercury. He had been around for a while, playing for a band called Kashish. Classical rock and jazz was their thing. Church events, school bake sales and weddings were his arenas. He would leave the crowd in frenzy; many Christian musicians aspired to be like him. Few people knew that in opposition to his outer appearance, leukaemia was eating away at him on the inside. The 35-year-old was on a ventilator at the Aga Khan University Hospital and despite starting to recover, he lost the battle under the dreadful machine on Tuesday morning. His friends and family are finding a hard time to come to terms with the fact that their Freddie Mercury is no more. The baritone legend Melv, as he was lovingly called, did not hail from a prosperous family. Lately, sustenance had become a major concern for him and he would play at Karachi's Pearl Continental hotel and Marriott hotel frequently. The irony of times was such that Kashish itself began to lose what its name signifies, pull or attraction. Band members became associated with singer-songwriter Zoe Viccaji to keep the stove burning. Melv's friend, drummer Kurt Menezes says, "Melv’s charisma could rival that of Ali Azmat [the Pakistani rock icon] on stage." Sounds of Kolachi front man Ahsan Bari knew Melv for a good 12 years. "I used to sing for Gravity back then. He was the very animated sort. He would be literally jumping around all the time," he says. The singer-songwriter says he couldn't believe when he first found out about Melv's health. "Given his outlook, no one could tell what was going on inside him." An underground scene maven himself, Bari is of the view that he never saw a better crowd-puller than Melv. "I haven't in my life seen a better live performer. Already there are very few here who can sing in English with ease and even out of those, only a fraction of them really are good enough." Bari says it is a dilemma that the best musicians in the country are frustrated. "There are literally no platforms, no labels... what can one say?" This is a concern that resonates with almost every second musician you go to. Fuzon guitarist Shallum Xavier goes on to state that this dilemma is very Pakistani at its core. "It's not just in music. It's everywhere. When you're alive, nobody cares. When you die, they all lament," he says. Melv was like a younger brother to Xavier and the two have been spotted together on stage a number of times. "When I met him two weeks ago, he was in high spirits... Melv was always like that, you see," he pauses for a moment. "Being talented in Pakistan is not enough. You need a push. People like us are an exception ... our mainstream is quite complicated." Himself a product of the Karachi's Catholic music scene, Xavier says this is not just about the Melv who was consumed by leukaemia. "It is about all the Melvs and Veronicas and Jasons who are struggling ... playing for church bands, entertaining their own circles. Their talent too merits recognition like the talent of people from other communities." Another of Xavier's contemporary and brother-in-arm, drummer Gumby looks at it slightly differently. "Today, being good is not enough. One should know how to present oneself. Management, promotion, networking are all equally important," he maintains. He channelises the neglect that many of Melv's close friends pointed out by saying, "It is indeed unfortunate. He was a very sweet child and extremely passionate about what he did. I don't think anyone is to blame for a lack of recognition for him... things are like this only here." Published in The Express Tribune, February 11th, 2016. http://tribune.com.pk/story/1043964/karachis-catholic-music-scene-loses-its-freddie-mercury/ Hattip to Mike Ali for sharing this link! --FN
[Goanet] 'Goan aunty' becomes a YouTube star (Nida Sayed, TNN)
'Goan aunty' becomes a YouTube star Nida Sayed | TNN | Feb 10, 2016, 10.36 AM IST 786nidasa...@gmail.com Panaji: We all have that one aunty who is quirky and encompasses just about everything Goan. And even though the relationship may be more of love-hate, her sussegad sassiness is what appeals the most. Portraying the idiosyncrasies of the quintessential Goan aunty through hilarious videos, Mumbai-based theatre artist Rozzlin Pereira, transforms herself into a senior citizen from Bandra's Goan community, launching one adventure after another on YouTube every Monday. Pereira worked on the character of Aunty Maggy when she performed in a play called 'He Says She Says' a few years ago, where the character had a minuscule role. She incorporated mannerisms from different aunties she has known over the years to build its personality. "The walk, talking with a slight tilt of her head as she looks at you from above the rim of her glasses, and hand gestures are things I found quirky and quite endearing in these aunties. It gave them their unique edge," said Pereira. After two years, Aunty Maggy finally took to social media and emerged as a popular household favourite as she began to give her take on social issues, deal with situations like a bad-ass senior citizen and even adapt to new ideas. In doing this, she broke two stereotypes: one, of not adhering to the saas-bahu norm to win the older audiences, and two, of portraying a middle-aged Goan character in a comedy scene usually dominated by males. "It's true that comedy in India is generally associated with men and there aren't nearly as many female comics. A video with a hot girl on the thumbnail is likely to get a lot of curious viewers than one with an old, fat, wrinkled, quirky aunty. So it is not going to grab attention from new viewers easily," Pereira said. But, in the six months that she has been around, Aunty Maggy's character has clicked with the Goan audience and beyond. Her fans from Goa and beyond always look forward to Mondays to see what the granny is up to next. Bandra-based, Chantelle Fernandes, said, "Aunty Maggy truly describes our little hometown, Bandra. She's one of the typical Bandra buggers and never fails to put a smile on our faces." Neville Rodrigues, a doctoral student at University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand told TOI, "There is not much of Goan influence where I live so the 'character' of the Goan catholic Aunty is slowly fading. I'm glad someone like Rozzlin has chosen to immortalise our Goan aunties on Youtube. She is brilliant at what she does." About her Goan roots, she says, "While I was born and brought up in Mumbai, my parents are Goan and in every way, from my taste buds to my Susegaad tendencies, I am Goan." Going on to define the unique qualities that define 'Goanness', she says Goans respect relationships over ambitious materialism. "If we feel loved, appreciated and respected, we go out of our way to help and form a bond for life. We're content with what we have and while sometimes that can be perceived as lack of ambition, we actually are happy with the things that matter most in life. Aunty Maggy is just like that. She speaks her mind, goes about her daily chores, doesn't desire the high life, loves her family much as she grumbles about them, makes friends with everyone and at the core of it all is a warm simple good human being." Since she represents the naivete of the older generation while also keeping up with the modern age, viewers of both generations have grown to like her. This is evident by the videos that are presently doing the rounds on Facebook and WhatsApp. Most of her videos have up to 5k views, some even going up to 10k views. "Keeping it topical and inclusive, and bringing in variety brings in a diverse audience," she adds. SEE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcAPKV8X6BKbRICiWpkjDsA
[Goanet-News] 'Goan aunty' becomes a YouTube star (Nida Sayed, TNN)
'Goan aunty' becomes a YouTube star Nida Sayed | TNN | Feb 10, 2016, 10.36 AM IST 786nidasa...@gmail.com Panaji: We all have that one aunty who is quirky and encompasses just about everything Goan. And even though the relationship may be more of love-hate, her sussegad sassiness is what appeals the most. Portraying the idiosyncrasies of the quintessential Goan aunty through hilarious videos, Mumbai-based theatre artist Rozzlin Pereira, transforms herself into a senior citizen from Bandra's Goan community, launching one adventure after another on YouTube every Monday. Pereira worked on the character of Aunty Maggy when she performed in a play called 'He Says She Says' a few years ago, where the character had a minuscule role. She incorporated mannerisms from different aunties she has known over the years to build its personality. "The walk, talking with a slight tilt of her head as she looks at you from above the rim of her glasses, and hand gestures are things I found quirky and quite endearing in these aunties. It gave them their unique edge," said Pereira. After two years, Aunty Maggy finally took to social media and emerged as a popular household favourite as she began to give her take on social issues, deal with situations like a bad-ass senior citizen and even adapt to new ideas. In doing this, she broke two stereotypes: one, of not adhering to the saas-bahu norm to win the older audiences, and two, of portraying a middle-aged Goan character in a comedy scene usually dominated by males. "It's true that comedy in India is generally associated with men and there aren't nearly as many female comics. A video with a hot girl on the thumbnail is likely to get a lot of curious viewers than one with an old, fat, wrinkled, quirky aunty. So it is not going to grab attention from new viewers easily," Pereira said. But, in the six months that she has been around, Aunty Maggy's character has clicked with the Goan audience and beyond. Her fans from Goa and beyond always look forward to Mondays to see what the granny is up to next. Bandra-based, Chantelle Fernandes, said, "Aunty Maggy truly describes our little hometown, Bandra. She's one of the typical Bandra buggers and never fails to put a smile on our faces." Neville Rodrigues, a doctoral student at University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand told TOI, "There is not much of Goan influence where I live so the 'character' of the Goan catholic Aunty is slowly fading. I'm glad someone like Rozzlin has chosen to immortalise our Goan aunties on Youtube. She is brilliant at what she does." About her Goan roots, she says, "While I was born and brought up in Mumbai, my parents are Goan and in every way, from my taste buds to my Susegaad tendencies, I am Goan." Going on to define the unique qualities that define 'Goanness', she says Goans respect relationships over ambitious materialism. "If we feel loved, appreciated and respected, we go out of our way to help and form a bond for life. We're content with what we have and while sometimes that can be perceived as lack of ambition, we actually are happy with the things that matter most in life. Aunty Maggy is just like that. She speaks her mind, goes about her daily chores, doesn't desire the high life, loves her family much as she grumbles about them, makes friends with everyone and at the core of it all is a warm simple good human being." Since she represents the naivete of the older generation while also keeping up with the modern age, viewers of both generations have grown to like her. This is evident by the videos that are presently doing the rounds on Facebook and WhatsApp. Most of her videos have up to 5k views, some even going up to 10k views. "Keeping it topical and inclusive, and bringing in variety brings in a diverse audience," she adds. SEE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcAPKV8X6BKbRICiWpkjDsA
[Goanet-News] CONTROVERSY: Should the coconut tree debate rage on? (David Lobo, Goanet)
David Lobo davidl...@deejayfarm.com Do let me know why this debate regarding the coconut tree rages on. I am an interested person, being involved with coconut farming and breeding. Perhaps I have missed something and need to be enlightened. I believe that the legislation to remove the coconut palm from the list of trees is needed. These are my reasons. The coconut palm, part of the very spirit of Goa, was classified as a tree some years ago, by the Forest Department, I believe. The millions of palms all over Goa, were and are grown for economic benefit, planted around the home, in fields, on bunds and so on, and a small percentage for aesthetic reasons. With the classification of the coconut palm as a Forest Tree, permission had to be taken to cut it down. This made life much harder for the house holder, the farmer and I believe the Agricultural Department, but was beneficial for the Forest Department, if fees are charged for giving permission to cut down the coconut palms. If the palm growing in one's garden was a danger to life and property, or was too tall to climb and harvest, or became senile and low in productivity, and needed a replacement, it could NOT be cut without permission, which does not always come promptly. If the farmer wants to replant his field and replace senile palms, he cannot do so, without permission, which does not always come promptly. If the government has many schemes to encourage the replacement of senile and dangerous palms with new and high producing ones, the scheme cannot work efficiently for permission has to be taken in every case. In terms of productivity with regard to the coconut palm, Goa is near the bottom of the list of States. Looking at the other side of the coin: will this freedom to "cut down palms" be abused and will Goa become a state with sunshine and sand but no palms? I am absolutely sure it will not happen. Will the whole sale slaughter of palms take place now that everyone has freedom to cut palms? Of course not. No one, but no one, cuts down the palm for no reason. Without doubt a palm that is a danger to life and home, must be cut down, and the previous red tape to get permission was a hindrance. If one has to build a home, or a factory or any structure, and the palm is in the way, yes, they will get cut down now easier than before. They certainly did get cut down before but with permission. What is the difference with or without permission -- the same number will be cut down, in one case easily and in the other, with fees being paid. If a building or a factory comes up, I see no harm if the coconut trees standing on the land and in the way, are cut down. Jobs are created, new products will reach the public, living standards are improved and wealth is created. Why not have all these benefits in place of some senile palms? I cannot see any other palm being cut down. This number however pales in comparison with the number of senile palms [more than 50%] that should be cut down, and replanted with young palms. All efforts by the Agriculture Department of the Government of Goa, to rejuvenate and replant, hits a serious road block with the earlier permission needed. On the one hand we blame Government for being slow and for poor governance, and on the other hand some are demanding legislation that results in exactly that! All the people I asked if they will now cut down their palms for they do not need permission, looked at me as if I was a mad man! "Why on earth should I cut it down?" was the most common retort. The coconut palm is not a rose wood or a sandal wood tree, that is more useful cut and dead than when standing and alive. On the contrary it is almost valueless when dead. Who then wants the legislation to come back, that the coconut palm is a forest tree? I think it is only those who see opportunity for themselves and those who have not thought this through properly. Please enlighten me if I have missed something. -- David Lobo has been called 'The Coconut Palm Man'. After deciding the priesthood was not for him, he committed himself to a range of businesses, and currently adds value to farmers' lives through his Bangalore-headquartered hybrid coconut palms and Deejay Farms. See deejayfarm.com and http://sustainabilitynext.in/special-interview/meet-david-lobo-the-coconut-palm-man/
[Goanet-News] Once upon a time, in Kuwait (Reena Martins, The Telegraph)
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160131/jsp/7days/story_66683.jsp Once upon a time, in Kuwait Airlift, the Bollywood movie, has stirred the memories of people affected by the invasion of Kuwait. Reena Martins [reenamart...@hotmail.com] talks to some of them RAVAGED: Chand Gidwani (top) and Alex Fernandes, who were among those who fled the war zone "Dad made me a flag of India, and we wrote 'Hindi, Indian' on the car windscreen. We played Hindi music and wore salwar kameezes, our heads covered." It was early August, 1990. Vilette Jennings, now a homemaker in Qatar, recalls travelling in a convoy of seven cars to Iraq after Saddam Hussain's invasion of Kuwait, where she lived with her family. The journey to Baghdad was arduous. They had to prove their nationality at gunpoint at checkposts, drink saline water in Basra and guard the cars and petrol at night. But the Iraqis were kind to the Indians and had even picked up some Hindi from Bollywood films, Jennings says. These long buried, bitter-sweet memories of people affected by the invasion of Kuwait now find themselves dug out by the Bollywood hit, Airlift, which tells the story of the attempts of one man -- played by Akshay Kumar -- to rescue people trapped in the West Asian country. But, as the makers of Airlift insist, the film doesn't just seek to tell the tale of Mathuny Mathews, nicknamed Toyota Sunny. Mathews, now 80, a then influential businessman from Kerala, has been credited with rescuing a large number of Indians stranded in Kuwait. It's the story of many others, too. Shiva Karayil, a badminton coach in Mumbai who was a part of Mathew's rescue team in Kuwait, remembers how they had to often break into shops to feed people in the relief camps they'd set up. With communications snapped, Mathews and his team radioed the government for help, which came as an individual allowance of 200 Iraqi dinars. "We then signed a contract with Iraqi bus owners and got 20-30 buses sent to UN camps in Jordan and Iraq, before people were airlifted by Air India," says Karayil. But while the tussle for credit rages between Mathews's supporters and the Indian government, focus shifts to regular folk in Kuwait, who went out of their way to save their stranded brethren. Carmo Santos, a Goan businessman in Kuwait, sheltered and fed families that, after having sold their household goods to fund their trip out of Kuwait, were stranded at the Iraqi border and had to return penniless. "I distributed hundreds of kilos of rice and wheat that were in my godown, and even gave money to those who had little or none," Santos says. "Many, including Kuwaiti locals, sought me out to return the money after the war had ended, and are still very grateful." For many Indians, it was an escape all right, but not always to victory. Santos, who stayed back in Kuwait, got advertisements placed in the Goa papers, asking those who had returned to Goa to send him copies of their passports, sponsorship and employment details, so he could help them get back their jobs. "Their families were in turmoil over loss of money, and marriages were breaking down," Santos says. Chand Gidwani, an amateur wildlife photographer in California, who was in Kuwait during the invasion, says her husband, who was in Mumbai then, was traumatised over news of rapes and paucity of food, water and medical care in Kuwait. A little over a month after the invasion, Gidwani left with family and friends by a caravan one night, each one carrying a suitcase. They could buy flight tickets only in American dollars which they got from an aunt in Dubai through a Palestinian relative. At a Red Cross camp in Jordan, Goa-based photographer Alex Fernandes's cab was stopped at the camp's main gate by Iraqi troops who, on finding Scotch whiskey in his possession, demanded a bribe in dollars or Kuwaiti dinars. And, as a parting shot, they told him he was crazy to get off at the main gate when there was an unmanned one. "That's when I realised that the cabbie who had dropped us there was hand in glove with the cops," says Fernandes. But truth, as they say, could be stranger than fiction. Dramatic, too. On August 2, 1990, Anthony Veronica Fernandes was on his way to the bakala (Arabic for grocery store), to get the morning papers, when he was held at gunpoint by Iraqi soldiers carrying "World War II style" battered helmets and wireless sets. Traffic had come to a standstill, so he assumed some senior sheikh was passing. "It was only when I heard engines running with no driver behind the wheel, that I sensed trouble," he says. "But as luck would have it, the
[Goanet] Once upon a time, in Kuwait (Reena Martins, The Telegraph)
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160131/jsp/7days/story_66683.jsp Once upon a time, in Kuwait Airlift, the Bollywood movie, has stirred the memories of people affected by the invasion of Kuwait. Reena Martins [reenamart...@hotmail.com] talks to some of them RAVAGED: Chand Gidwani (top) and Alex Fernandes, who were among those who fled the war zone "Dad made me a flag of India, and we wrote 'Hindi, Indian' on the car windscreen. We played Hindi music and wore salwar kameezes, our heads covered." It was early August, 1990. Vilette Jennings, now a homemaker in Qatar, recalls travelling in a convoy of seven cars to Iraq after Saddam Hussain's invasion of Kuwait, where she lived with her family. The journey to Baghdad was arduous. They had to prove their nationality at gunpoint at checkposts, drink saline water in Basra and guard the cars and petrol at night. But the Iraqis were kind to the Indians and had even picked up some Hindi from Bollywood films, Jennings says. These long buried, bitter-sweet memories of people affected by the invasion of Kuwait now find themselves dug out by the Bollywood hit, Airlift, which tells the story of the attempts of one man -- played by Akshay Kumar -- to rescue people trapped in the West Asian country. But, as the makers of Airlift insist, the film doesn't just seek to tell the tale of Mathuny Mathews, nicknamed Toyota Sunny. Mathews, now 80, a then influential businessman from Kerala, has been credited with rescuing a large number of Indians stranded in Kuwait. It's the story of many others, too. Shiva Karayil, a badminton coach in Mumbai who was a part of Mathew's rescue team in Kuwait, remembers how they had to often break into shops to feed people in the relief camps they'd set up. With communications snapped, Mathews and his team radioed the government for help, which came as an individual allowance of 200 Iraqi dinars. "We then signed a contract with Iraqi bus owners and got 20-30 buses sent to UN camps in Jordan and Iraq, before people were airlifted by Air India," says Karayil. But while the tussle for credit rages between Mathews's supporters and the Indian government, focus shifts to regular folk in Kuwait, who went out of their way to save their stranded brethren. Carmo Santos, a Goan businessman in Kuwait, sheltered and fed families that, after having sold their household goods to fund their trip out of Kuwait, were stranded at the Iraqi border and had to return penniless. "I distributed hundreds of kilos of rice and wheat that were in my godown, and even gave money to those who had little or none," Santos says. "Many, including Kuwaiti locals, sought me out to return the money after the war had ended, and are still very grateful." For many Indians, it was an escape all right, but not always to victory. Santos, who stayed back in Kuwait, got advertisements placed in the Goa papers, asking those who had returned to Goa to send him copies of their passports, sponsorship and employment details, so he could help them get back their jobs. "Their families were in turmoil over loss of money, and marriages were breaking down," Santos says. Chand Gidwani, an amateur wildlife photographer in California, who was in Kuwait during the invasion, says her husband, who was in Mumbai then, was traumatised over news of rapes and paucity of food, water and medical care in Kuwait. A little over a month after the invasion, Gidwani left with family and friends by a caravan one night, each one carrying a suitcase. They could buy flight tickets only in American dollars which they got from an aunt in Dubai through a Palestinian relative. At a Red Cross camp in Jordan, Goa-based photographer Alex Fernandes's cab was stopped at the camp's main gate by Iraqi troops who, on finding Scotch whiskey in his possession, demanded a bribe in dollars or Kuwaiti dinars. And, as a parting shot, they told him he was crazy to get off at the main gate when there was an unmanned one. "That's when I realised that the cabbie who had dropped us there was hand in glove with the cops," says Fernandes. But truth, as they say, could be stranger than fiction. Dramatic, too. On August 2, 1990, Anthony Veronica Fernandes was on his way to the bakala (Arabic for grocery store), to get the morning papers, when he was held at gunpoint by Iraqi soldiers carrying "World War II style" battered helmets and wireless sets. Traffic had come to a standstill, so he assumed some senior sheikh was passing. "It was only when I heard engines running with no driver behind the wheel, that I sensed trouble," he says. "But as luck would have it, the
[Goanet] CONTROVERSY: Should the coconut tree debate rage on? (David Lobo, Goanet)
David Lobo davidl...@deejayfarm.com Do let me know why this debate regarding the coconut tree rages on. I am an interested person, being involved with coconut farming and breeding. Perhaps I have missed something and need to be enlightened. I believe that the legislation to remove the coconut palm from the list of trees is needed. These are my reasons. The coconut palm, part of the very spirit of Goa, was classified as a tree some years ago, by the Forest Department, I believe. The millions of palms all over Goa, were and are grown for economic benefit, planted around the home, in fields, on bunds and so on, and a small percentage for aesthetic reasons. With the classification of the coconut palm as a Forest Tree, permission had to be taken to cut it down. This made life much harder for the house holder, the farmer and I believe the Agricultural Department, but was beneficial for the Forest Department, if fees are charged for giving permission to cut down the coconut palms. If the palm growing in one's garden was a danger to life and property, or was too tall to climb and harvest, or became senile and low in productivity, and needed a replacement, it could NOT be cut without permission, which does not always come promptly. If the farmer wants to replant his field and replace senile palms, he cannot do so, without permission, which does not always come promptly. If the government has many schemes to encourage the replacement of senile and dangerous palms with new and high producing ones, the scheme cannot work efficiently for permission has to be taken in every case. In terms of productivity with regard to the coconut palm, Goa is near the bottom of the list of States. Looking at the other side of the coin: will this freedom to "cut down palms" be abused and will Goa become a state with sunshine and sand but no palms? I am absolutely sure it will not happen. Will the whole sale slaughter of palms take place now that everyone has freedom to cut palms? Of course not. No one, but no one, cuts down the palm for no reason. Without doubt a palm that is a danger to life and home, must be cut down, and the previous red tape to get permission was a hindrance. If one has to build a home, or a factory or any structure, and the palm is in the way, yes, they will get cut down now easier than before. They certainly did get cut down before but with permission. What is the difference with or without permission -- the same number will be cut down, in one case easily and in the other, with fees being paid. If a building or a factory comes up, I see no harm if the coconut trees standing on the land and in the way, are cut down. Jobs are created, new products will reach the public, living standards are improved and wealth is created. Why not have all these benefits in place of some senile palms? I cannot see any other palm being cut down. This number however pales in comparison with the number of senile palms [more than 50%] that should be cut down, and replanted with young palms. All efforts by the Agriculture Department of the Government of Goa, to rejuvenate and replant, hits a serious road block with the earlier permission needed. On the one hand we blame Government for being slow and for poor governance, and on the other hand some are demanding legislation that results in exactly that! All the people I asked if they will now cut down their palms for they do not need permission, looked at me as if I was a mad man! "Why on earth should I cut it down?" was the most common retort. The coconut palm is not a rose wood or a sandal wood tree, that is more useful cut and dead than when standing and alive. On the contrary it is almost valueless when dead. Who then wants the legislation to come back, that the coconut palm is a forest tree? I think it is only those who see opportunity for themselves and those who have not thought this through properly. Please enlighten me if I have missed something. -- David Lobo has been called 'The Coconut Palm Man'. After deciding the priesthood was not for him, he committed himself to a range of businesses, and currently adds value to farmers' lives through his Bangalore-headquartered hybrid coconut palms and Deejay Farms. See deejayfarm.com and http://sustainabilitynext.in/special-interview/meet-david-lobo-the-coconut-palm-man/
[Goanet] The inspiring Goan priest from Karachi, aged 90, who died with his boots on ... (Menin Rodrigues, Goanet)
Fr Jimmy (James) of Karachi and Goa 1925-2016 https://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/24080782713/in/dateposted/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/24614105731/in/dateposted/ By Menin Rodrigues men...@gmail.com He was always on the go! The pilgrim priest, a Laurentian by birth, a Patrician through education, a Kandy graduate and a priest of the Catholic Archdiocese of the Karachi since 1951; Fr. Jimmy as he was known to all, went about doing extraordinary missionary work in the vineyard of the Lord, until his very last days on earth! I've known Fr. Jimmy since being an altar boy at St. Pat's, sometimes serving at Mass for the small Bengali-speaking community in the play-hall and chapel of St. Joseph's Convent in 1970-71; my latter two interactions with him was when he took up the renovation of the Cathedral in 1998 and then his last ten years 2006-2016. His Spirituality touched me. His Wisdom enriched me. His resolve for the poor undeterred. In recent years, Fr. Jimmy came over frequently to share some of the challenging work he undertook at the home of Baji Mirium Bugeja who runs the Divine Mercy Home for the Mentally Destitute (formerly, Convent of Notre Dame, Mehran Goth, Deh Thano, Malir Village, Karachi). Every weekend he would go there with Gabriel Dean, his companion on the road, to say Mass, spend the day sorting the dilemma through which Baji Mirium had to go through and check the continuing problem with electricity connections, billing issues, theft and other irregularities. He kept the Karachi Electric (KESC) officers, inspectors and meter-readers engaged with his many letters of complaints and with help from Roland de Souza got a number of long-standing PMT, meter-reading and billing issues solved. Fr. Jimmy wrote piercing words in his communication with the authorities. When KE asked for information for their Empowerment Program, he wrote, "The Home is run and maintained by trust in Divine Providence. It does not have a bank account and there are no appeals for funds. It does not have an administrative staff, a Board of Directors or publish an Annual Report. Baji Mirium is solely responsible for the operation of this Home. She shuns publicity and more importantly, she will not use those in the Home as instruments/tools for raising funds or for self-promotion. She wants the dignity of everyone in the Home to be respected." Unlike some of his contemporaries, Fr. Jimmy wrote what his mind spoke! Indeed, we made good music together. He would write frequently about so many good and indifferent things, all with the power of the Holy Spirit! He carried with him loads of information and wrote pages of invaluable history, about diocesan institutions and about God's people. Early December (somewhere close to his 90th birthday on Dec 11, 2015), Fr. Jimmy gave me a comprehensive article about the start of St. Patrick's Technical School, also sending a copy to the Christian Voice. It was to be, as Providence would have it, his last piece of precious diocesan history. It was published in three-parts in the Christian Voice; the last piece was printed on January 24, 2016. Four days later, Fr. Jimmy passed away. He writes in Part 2 of his article, Fifty Years of St. Patrick's Technical School 1966-2016, "At the end of 1963, Fr. Dalmatius Geurts and I made an analysis of the actual situation and a feasibility study and came to the conclusion: There is a big demand for skilled craftsmen in Pakistan. Our final planning was a school for the following occupations: Metal Works, Auto Mechanics, Electro-Technology, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration, and Carpentry." When Bro Norman Wray (1923-2014) died on December 23, 2014 in Karachi, a man who had dedicated more than 50 years of service in Pakistan, Fr. Jimmy wrote a detailed article on the life of Norman, as someone who gave his life for imparting technical education and later the rehabilitation of drug addicts in Pakistan. He wrote, "St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians expresses our sentiments perfectly with regard to Brother Norman: We remember how he has helped to spread the Good News that God is Love; that God does not punish, wants to save all those who have the humility to admit their sinfulness and powerlessness over addictions. We are weak but God is all-powerful." Another interesting response I once got from Fr. Jimmy for my article published in the Christian Voice on August 17, 2007 "Crucifying Jesus -- Some interesting feedback on 40 pieces of Silver" was truly an eye-opener, his argument was, "What image of Jesus have we given our people? Have we, made Jesus, Shylock? Without compassion? Is this not a serious betrayal of Jesus? Besides, is this charging of Rs. 40 for each intention not a sin of Simony?" This is how Fr. Jimmy
[Goanet-News] The inspiring Goan priest from Karachi, aged 90, who died with his boots on ... (Menin Rodrigues, Goanet)
Fr Jimmy (James) of Karachi and Goa 1925-2016 https://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/24080782713/in/dateposted/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/24614105731/in/dateposted/ By Menin Rodrigues men...@gmail.com He was always on the go! The pilgrim priest, a Laurentian by birth, a Patrician through education, a Kandy graduate and a priest of the Catholic Archdiocese of the Karachi since 1951; Fr. Jimmy as he was known to all, went about doing extraordinary missionary work in the vineyard of the Lord, until his very last days on earth! I've known Fr. Jimmy since being an altar boy at St. Pat's, sometimes serving at Mass for the small Bengali-speaking community in the play-hall and chapel of St. Joseph's Convent in 1970-71; my latter two interactions with him was when he took up the renovation of the Cathedral in 1998 and then his last ten years 2006-2016. His Spirituality touched me. His Wisdom enriched me. His resolve for the poor undeterred. In recent years, Fr. Jimmy came over frequently to share some of the challenging work he undertook at the home of Baji Mirium Bugeja who runs the Divine Mercy Home for the Mentally Destitute (formerly, Convent of Notre Dame, Mehran Goth, Deh Thano, Malir Village, Karachi). Every weekend he would go there with Gabriel Dean, his companion on the road, to say Mass, spend the day sorting the dilemma through which Baji Mirium had to go through and check the continuing problem with electricity connections, billing issues, theft and other irregularities. He kept the Karachi Electric (KESC) officers, inspectors and meter-readers engaged with his many letters of complaints and with help from Roland de Souza got a number of long-standing PMT, meter-reading and billing issues solved. Fr. Jimmy wrote piercing words in his communication with the authorities. When KE asked for information for their Empowerment Program, he wrote, "The Home is run and maintained by trust in Divine Providence. It does not have a bank account and there are no appeals for funds. It does not have an administrative staff, a Board of Directors or publish an Annual Report. Baji Mirium is solely responsible for the operation of this Home. She shuns publicity and more importantly, she will not use those in the Home as instruments/tools for raising funds or for self-promotion. She wants the dignity of everyone in the Home to be respected." Unlike some of his contemporaries, Fr. Jimmy wrote what his mind spoke! Indeed, we made good music together. He would write frequently about so many good and indifferent things, all with the power of the Holy Spirit! He carried with him loads of information and wrote pages of invaluable history, about diocesan institutions and about God's people. Early December (somewhere close to his 90th birthday on Dec 11, 2015), Fr. Jimmy gave me a comprehensive article about the start of St. Patrick's Technical School, also sending a copy to the Christian Voice. It was to be, as Providence would have it, his last piece of precious diocesan history. It was published in three-parts in the Christian Voice; the last piece was printed on January 24, 2016. Four days later, Fr. Jimmy passed away. He writes in Part 2 of his article, Fifty Years of St. Patrick's Technical School 1966-2016, "At the end of 1963, Fr. Dalmatius Geurts and I made an analysis of the actual situation and a feasibility study and came to the conclusion: There is a big demand for skilled craftsmen in Pakistan. Our final planning was a school for the following occupations: Metal Works, Auto Mechanics, Electro-Technology, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration, and Carpentry." When Bro Norman Wray (1923-2014) died on December 23, 2014 in Karachi, a man who had dedicated more than 50 years of service in Pakistan, Fr. Jimmy wrote a detailed article on the life of Norman, as someone who gave his life for imparting technical education and later the rehabilitation of drug addicts in Pakistan. He wrote, "St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians expresses our sentiments perfectly with regard to Brother Norman: We remember how he has helped to spread the Good News that God is Love; that God does not punish, wants to save all those who have the humility to admit their sinfulness and powerlessness over addictions. We are weak but God is all-powerful." Another interesting response I once got from Fr. Jimmy for my article published in the Christian Voice on August 17, 2007 "Crucifying Jesus -- Some interesting feedback on 40 pieces of Silver" was truly an eye-opener, his argument was, "What image of Jesus have we given our people? Have we, made Jesus, Shylock? Without compassion? Is this not a serious betrayal of Jesus? Besides, is this charging of Rs. 40 for each intention not a sin of Simony?" This is how Fr. Jimmy
[Goanet] The Long and Winding Road... : A brief history of the Dr. Ribeiro Goan School in Kenya
By the D.R.G.S. Alumni NIL DESPERANDUM, the motto of the Dr. Ribeiro Goan School, is also a fitting tribute to our forefathers, who had the foresight to establish such a noble institution in Nairobi, that was the breeding ground for brilliant professionals and outstanding sportsmen and women. Even though a formidable undertaking, against daunting odds within and without, they persevered, and for this at least thirty four hundred students and the community at large owe them a lifetime of gratitude... The Goan Overseas Association was founded in 1927, with the prime objective of promoting education. Dr.A.C. L. de Souza was the driving force of this organization, ably supported by B.A. Rodrigues, Dr. E. Dias, P.S. Fialho, L. da Cruz, Jos A. de Souza and fourteen other dedicated members. Dr. de Souza was an astute and appropriate leadership choice principally because he was a well placed politician who had the ear of a large segment of the establishment. The Goan School officially opened in 1928 on very modest premises loaned by Dr. Rosendo Ribeiro, which basically consisted of a one-room class hosting approximately 35 young children of Goan origin. The fledgling school had some initial teething problems, but survived all the missteps and upheavals. It is important to note that, at inception, the school's student body was co-ed, which was uncommon for the time. In 1931, the British Government, thanks in great part to Dr. A.C.L. de Souza, donated to the G.O.A. a plot of land on which to build a new school to accommodate the growing numbers of Goan migrant children in Nairobi. The foundation stone was laid by Gen. Sir Joseph Byrne, and the new building was opened on December 19, 1931, and in keeping with a commitment from the G.O.A., the school was named 'Dr. Ribeiro Goan School' in recognition of his philanthropic contribution of thirty thousand shillings. In 1939, an adjacent piece of land was purchased, which in 1955 became the Secondary School. Dr. A.C.L. de Souza laid the foundation stone, and thus came to fruition the long sought after institution of further learning. The building itself cost five hundred thousand shillings, the cost of which was shared by mainly the Portuguese government, and the British Kenya government extended a generous helping hand. Fittingly, The Portuguese Consul General performed the opening ceremony on May 25, 1956. In 1966, the school was renamed 'Parklands School' to keep pace with the political winds of change. For similar reasons, this hitherto almost exclusively 'Goan' school, was compelled to now accept students from different racial backgrounds. Interestingly, in tandem with the name change, the school motto was inexplicably changed to 'Educatio Omnia Vincit'. In the last year however, after much negotiation and pressure from local Alumni, the school name and motto have once again changed to reflect its original name. It is now called the Dr. Ribeiro Parklands School. The renaming ceremony was attended by the grandson of its benefactor, Renee Ribeiro deSouza who made a substantial donation to the school. Almost the entire Goan School Staff were Indian graduates who attended the famed St. Xavier’s College in Bombay. Many of them proceeded to the U.K. to enhance their academic credentials, returning with a new and more progressive approach to education. Over the years the school has produced its share of doctors, engineers, IT professionals, entrepreneurs, teachers, authors and artists, men and women of the cloth, many in well placed positions globally. Profiling only a few would be inappropriate, but certainly does not diminish the achievements of all our alumni. Mention can be made of the grandson of our illustrious Dr. A.C.L. de Souza, Dr. Alan de Souza who has resided in Goa for the past 36 years and been involved in the field of education, most recently as Principal. Dr. Alan de Souza is a supporter of the Memorial Mass in Goa. There are chapters of the DRGS Alumni Association based in Toronto, Canada. and London, U.K. So then the question is what are the aims and aspirations of the alumni? The singular and most important goal is to give back to the global community and provide assistance or outreach whenever and wherever possible. For instance, donations are made on an ongoing basis to the Goan Welfare Society in Kenya. In addition, our Alma Mater has been fitted with a new library and been helped with the cost of text books and computers to facilitate continued learning at the highest levels; the Basilica de Bom Jesu and Navjyoti Rehabilitation Centre Children's home have also been assisted. Memorial Masses and reunion events in
[Goanet] It's like killing a child (Claude Alvares, IndianExpress.com)
http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/its-like-killing-a-child/ It's like killing a child -- Goa government offers a half-baked explanation for the removal of the coconut tree from the ambit of the Preservation of Trees Act. --- Written by Claude Alvares There are not that many ways to stun the world, but the Goa government succeeded in doing precisely that last week. To the consternation of all those who have visited this tourist destination crammed with no less than four million coconut palms, the Goa government amended the Goa Preservation of Trees Act to remove the coconut tree from its ambit, arguing that the coconut tree was an imposter; when seen in its true colours, the tree displayed, for example, no branches at all and, therefore, failed the botanical test: At most, it could be called a shrub, a grass or even a mop, but sorry, no longer a tree. The decision now enables anyone in Goa to fell coconut trees without a permit. However, public response in Goa has been instantaneous, accompanied by shrill denunciation, derision, lampoons, angry satire, cartoons, public demonstrations, videos, songs and slurs. This is the sort of response you get when you perceive someone has approached you with an indecent proposal. Goans have had a love affair with coconut trees that predates the Portuguese incursion of 1510. So the issue of felling them freely simply does not arise. They plant them in profusion. They look after them affectionately and also fight over them. The coconut tree is a constant source of tort: If it grows erect, there is no breaking news. Trouble begins when it begins to lean, as all tall things eventually do. While the roots remain in one property, the nuts and dried fronds fall on the roofs of neighbours, breaking tiles or heads. Civil disputes are legion. Some have reached the high court. In a recent case, a high court bench, in complete complicity with local sentiment, ruled that the government had no justification to cut all five problem trees belonging to the petitioner, only two would do. The judge, a well-known Goan, could not fathom why anyone would want to cut five coconut trees in one fell operation. It's just not done. And certainly, no such proposal would get endorsement from a constitutional court. It is difficult to explain why the prospect of having to cut a mature, bearing coconut tree can make even grown Goans cry. It's like killing your own child. A coconut tree produces nuts within eight to 10 years, after which, for the rest of its life, it simply gives, gives and gives. When it dies, its trunk is splintered into rafters and used to hold up the roof. The coconut is the principal ingredient in fish curry and rice, the recipe that has now made it to menus across the world, from Mumbai to Dubai, as 'Goan curry'. Its leaves are elegantly woven into large partitions for protection during the monsoon and for pandals. From the coconut come a bewildering variety of products: Coconut oil, fibre for ropes, shells for fuel. This is a kalpavriksha, true to type: Nothing is wasted; nothing can be wasted. Everything about the tree demands specialised expertise. Few human beings can climb one. Those who can, do it so effortlessly they get into picture postcards. De-husking the coconut looks a formidable expedition, but all along the coast, housewives can do one-a-minute. Felling a coconut tree needs a pro. It is cut and lowered in sections, but not without an attendant gaggle of spectators providing continuous gratuitous advice; anyone doing it any other way would almost certainly wreck a couple of houses in the vicinity. Every monsoon, we lose two to three days of power because some old coconut tree has decided to give up the ghost and taken all the overhead electrical wires with it. No advertisement of the Goa government promoting tourism appears without a coconut tree. The sands of Goa would be unbearable to tread without the thousands of these palms, swaying elegantly in the wind, providing the necessary shade. So what brought on the government's hostility to this humble tree? What reasonable explanation is there for this perfidy that Goan citizens see as an act of treason? The government's defence is that including it in the act (which covers all trees, including coconut palms) was originally an error. As a result, people wishing to fell diseased or affected trees were required to run the gauntlet of the cumbersome procedures of the act. The new amendment merely allows such trees to be removed without a permit. This is a half-baked justification. The Preservation of Trees Act allows emergency felling. One only needs to inform
[Goanet-News] It's like killing a child (Claude Alvares, IndianExpress.com)
http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/its-like-killing-a-child/ It's like killing a child -- Goa government offers a half-baked explanation for the removal of the coconut tree from the ambit of the Preservation of Trees Act. --- Written by Claude Alvares There are not that many ways to stun the world, but the Goa government succeeded in doing precisely that last week. To the consternation of all those who have visited this tourist destination crammed with no less than four million coconut palms, the Goa government amended the Goa Preservation of Trees Act to remove the coconut tree from its ambit, arguing that the coconut tree was an imposter; when seen in its true colours, the tree displayed, for example, no branches at all and, therefore, failed the botanical test: At most, it could be called a shrub, a grass or even a mop, but sorry, no longer a tree. The decision now enables anyone in Goa to fell coconut trees without a permit. However, public response in Goa has been instantaneous, accompanied by shrill denunciation, derision, lampoons, angry satire, cartoons, public demonstrations, videos, songs and slurs. This is the sort of response you get when you perceive someone has approached you with an indecent proposal. Goans have had a love affair with coconut trees that predates the Portuguese incursion of 1510. So the issue of felling them freely simply does not arise. They plant them in profusion. They look after them affectionately and also fight over them. The coconut tree is a constant source of tort: If it grows erect, there is no breaking news. Trouble begins when it begins to lean, as all tall things eventually do. While the roots remain in one property, the nuts and dried fronds fall on the roofs of neighbours, breaking tiles or heads. Civil disputes are legion. Some have reached the high court. In a recent case, a high court bench, in complete complicity with local sentiment, ruled that the government had no justification to cut all five problem trees belonging to the petitioner, only two would do. The judge, a well-known Goan, could not fathom why anyone would want to cut five coconut trees in one fell operation. It's just not done. And certainly, no such proposal would get endorsement from a constitutional court. It is difficult to explain why the prospect of having to cut a mature, bearing coconut tree can make even grown Goans cry. It's like killing your own child. A coconut tree produces nuts within eight to 10 years, after which, for the rest of its life, it simply gives, gives and gives. When it dies, its trunk is splintered into rafters and used to hold up the roof. The coconut is the principal ingredient in fish curry and rice, the recipe that has now made it to menus across the world, from Mumbai to Dubai, as 'Goan curry'. Its leaves are elegantly woven into large partitions for protection during the monsoon and for pandals. From the coconut come a bewildering variety of products: Coconut oil, fibre for ropes, shells for fuel. This is a kalpavriksha, true to type: Nothing is wasted; nothing can be wasted. Everything about the tree demands specialised expertise. Few human beings can climb one. Those who can, do it so effortlessly they get into picture postcards. De-husking the coconut looks a formidable expedition, but all along the coast, housewives can do one-a-minute. Felling a coconut tree needs a pro. It is cut and lowered in sections, but not without an attendant gaggle of spectators providing continuous gratuitous advice; anyone doing it any other way would almost certainly wreck a couple of houses in the vicinity. Every monsoon, we lose two to three days of power because some old coconut tree has decided to give up the ghost and taken all the overhead electrical wires with it. No advertisement of the Goa government promoting tourism appears without a coconut tree. The sands of Goa would be unbearable to tread without the thousands of these palms, swaying elegantly in the wind, providing the necessary shade. So what brought on the government's hostility to this humble tree? What reasonable explanation is there for this perfidy that Goan citizens see as an act of treason? The government's defence is that including it in the act (which covers all trees, including coconut palms) was originally an error. As a result, people wishing to fell diseased or affected trees were required to run the gauntlet of the cumbersome procedures of the act. The new amendment merely allows such trees to be removed without a permit. This is a half-baked justification. The Preservation of Trees Act allows emergency felling. One only needs to inform
[Goanet-News] From verdant lands to burnished deserts (Devika Sequeira, Times of India)
Hartman De Souza's book *Eat
Dust: Mining and Greed in Goa*,
released recently, chronicles
the worst of the mining years
in Goa and comes at a time when
the industry finds itself at
the crossroads
Devika Sequeira
The idea that a hill just disappeared left me fuzzy-headed.
How does one come to terms with the deliberate destruction,
in peacetime, of agricultural practices and the everyday life
of people whose only crime is that they live here? Or the
wasteful hacking of trees, the seismic upheaval of mud, the
conscienceless blasting of aquifers? -- from *Eat Dust: Mining
and Greed in Goa* by Hartman De Souza; published by Harper
Collins
The upheaval in the years preceding and following the peak in
mining in Goa was indeed seismic. Three years after the
September 2012 ban, iron ore mining is far from even a modest
restart. And it isn't the non-profit Goa Foundation’s
petition against the renewal of 88 leases that's holding up
the horses (as the BJP MLAs would have us believe), but the
crash in iron ore prices globally. The ugly spat between
Goa's biggest mining major Sesa Goa and the truckers
currently is a portent of things to come.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar who used the
mining 'crisis' to turn the pool of
mining-dependent into government-dependent and
consequently harnessed their votes in the last
year's Lok Sabha election has read the signals
correctly: Goa needed to look beyond mining to
other avenues of job creation. The global recession
in the mining industry could drag on for years, he
said in Ponda recently, warning that a recovery
could be a long time coming.
If you take the road to Rivona via Cawrem these days, you
could drive for miles accompanied by nothing but silence and
sweltering heat, passing only the occasional vehicle. A
little over three years ago, it was impossible to negotiate
this stretch of road without feeling the weight and menace of
marauding mining operators, with thousands of trucks lined up
and the visibly expanding scars on the landscape.
For those like Hartman De Souza whose family lives and runs a
farm "where once all was verdant" the land would in no time
turn into "burnished orange deserts" as the mining got more
intense in the five concessions operating between Maina and
Cawrem.
Part memoir, part travelogue, part reportage, *Eat Dust* covers
the crucial years of the super boom in Goa's mining industry
starting 2006 and peaking frenziedly in 2010-2011.
"I saw this chronicle as a factual blow-by-blow account of
what actually happened on the ground -- left behind like
photographs in monochrome and sepia. Only when there was
nothing left here, except the pockmarked ravages of open-cast
mining, would everybody know how this part of Goa had been
upended in a frenzy fuelled by greed," he writes.
Theatre personality, teacher and journalist, De Souza says he
wanted to speak "for the earth’s injured voice" and in so
doing he spares none of the players: not the politicians, not
the mining mafia -- and not even the local media.
It chronicles the complicity of politicians such as Digambar
Kamat and the gamut of officials who were more than willing
to facilitate the illegalities ("in the Age of Greed, the
forest officials couldn't see the forest for the ore") and
the quick turnabout of his successor, Manohar Parrikar. It
notes with the advantage of hindsight, the remarkable "growth
(as in wealth) stories" of Joaquim Alemao, Dinar Tarcar, the
Timblos -- and many others indicted by the Shah Commission
for illegal mining.
It also talks of the rarely spoken of 'role of the
media' -- in this instance, a particular editor of
a regional daily, better known for his brand of
made-to-order journalism. "Within months of handing
the Catholic population of Goa to the BJP on a
platter," the man jumped ship and went to work for
a publication owned by one of the biggest mining
companies, De Souza writes.
Is mining in Goa at the crossroads? Only temporarily perhaps.
Were international prices or iron ore to rebound, so would
the industry. But till then, it is only the small players who
will feel the weight of the recession, not the big-timers
whose ill-gotten profits have already been funnelled into
real estate, hotels, company shares -- and more recently in
starting new media ventures and even investing in a football
team.
*Eat Dust* is not the personal anguish of its writer
alone. It is a lament for Goa and the class of
politicians and unconscionable people it has been
saddled with who drive the state's agenda. Whether
mining resumes or not, this document of those
shameful years will remain.
END
This article first appeared in the Times of India on Jan 4,
2016
[Goanet] From verdant lands to burnished deserts (Devika Sequeira, Times of India)
Hartman De Souza's book *Eat
Dust: Mining and Greed in Goa*,
released recently, chronicles
the worst of the mining years
in Goa and comes at a time when
the industry finds itself at
the crossroads
Devika Sequeira
The idea that a hill just disappeared left me fuzzy-headed.
How does one come to terms with the deliberate destruction,
in peacetime, of agricultural practices and the everyday life
of people whose only crime is that they live here? Or the
wasteful hacking of trees, the seismic upheaval of mud, the
conscienceless blasting of aquifers? -- from *Eat Dust: Mining
and Greed in Goa* by Hartman De Souza; published by Harper
Collins
The upheaval in the years preceding and following the peak in
mining in Goa was indeed seismic. Three years after the
September 2012 ban, iron ore mining is far from even a modest
restart. And it isn't the non-profit Goa Foundation’s
petition against the renewal of 88 leases that's holding up
the horses (as the BJP MLAs would have us believe), but the
crash in iron ore prices globally. The ugly spat between
Goa's biggest mining major Sesa Goa and the truckers
currently is a portent of things to come.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar who used the
mining 'crisis' to turn the pool of
mining-dependent into government-dependent and
consequently harnessed their votes in the last
year's Lok Sabha election has read the signals
correctly: Goa needed to look beyond mining to
other avenues of job creation. The global recession
in the mining industry could drag on for years, he
said in Ponda recently, warning that a recovery
could be a long time coming.
If you take the road to Rivona via Cawrem these days, you
could drive for miles accompanied by nothing but silence and
sweltering heat, passing only the occasional vehicle. A
little over three years ago, it was impossible to negotiate
this stretch of road without feeling the weight and menace of
marauding mining operators, with thousands of trucks lined up
and the visibly expanding scars on the landscape.
For those like Hartman De Souza whose family lives and runs a
farm "where once all was verdant" the land would in no time
turn into "burnished orange deserts" as the mining got more
intense in the five concessions operating between Maina and
Cawrem.
Part memoir, part travelogue, part reportage, *Eat Dust* covers
the crucial years of the super boom in Goa's mining industry
starting 2006 and peaking frenziedly in 2010-2011.
"I saw this chronicle as a factual blow-by-blow account of
what actually happened on the ground -- left behind like
photographs in monochrome and sepia. Only when there was
nothing left here, except the pockmarked ravages of open-cast
mining, would everybody know how this part of Goa had been
upended in a frenzy fuelled by greed," he writes.
Theatre personality, teacher and journalist, De Souza says he
wanted to speak "for the earth’s injured voice" and in so
doing he spares none of the players: not the politicians, not
the mining mafia -- and not even the local media.
It chronicles the complicity of politicians such as Digambar
Kamat and the gamut of officials who were more than willing
to facilitate the illegalities ("in the Age of Greed, the
forest officials couldn't see the forest for the ore") and
the quick turnabout of his successor, Manohar Parrikar. It
notes with the advantage of hindsight, the remarkable "growth
(as in wealth) stories" of Joaquim Alemao, Dinar Tarcar, the
Timblos -- and many others indicted by the Shah Commission
for illegal mining.
It also talks of the rarely spoken of 'role of the
media' -- in this instance, a particular editor of
a regional daily, better known for his brand of
made-to-order journalism. "Within months of handing
the Catholic population of Goa to the BJP on a
platter," the man jumped ship and went to work for
a publication owned by one of the biggest mining
companies, De Souza writes.
Is mining in Goa at the crossroads? Only temporarily perhaps.
Were international prices or iron ore to rebound, so would
the industry. But till then, it is only the small players who
will feel the weight of the recession, not the big-timers
whose ill-gotten profits have already been funnelled into
real estate, hotels, company shares -- and more recently in
starting new media ventures and even investing in a football
team.
*Eat Dust* is not the personal anguish of its writer
alone. It is a lament for Goa and the class of
politicians and unconscionable people it has been
saddled with who drive the state's agenda. Whether
mining resumes or not, this document of those
shameful years will remain.
END
This article first appeared in the Times of India on Jan 4,
2016
[Goanet] Goa government decision makes scientists re-read their botany texts!
SOURCE: Redit.com Is the coconut palm a tree? self.botany submitted 16 days ago by NihiloEx In Goa, [the] coconut tree will no longer be a tree! Reason, if it were to remain a tree, each time one has to cut the coconut tree, they needed permission from the forest department. That it would no longer be a tree was formalized at a state cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar on Friday. The logic: "The definition of a tree is a plant with main trunk and branches but a coconut palm does not fit into this criteria as it has no branches," former deputy conservator of forest and then tree officer, Subhas Henriques said. Source http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Coconut-tree-loses-tree-status-in-Goa/articleshow/50239580.cms I'm curious to know if these guys are simply exploiting a loophole or if they are technically correct. Wikipedia has not been terribly helpful. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut 11 comments [–]SilverHoudini 6 points 16 days ago Technically, they are correct in that it's not a tree. Trees are primarily dicots (there's exceptions to every rule), where the Coconut is a monocot. Dicots are plants that, among other differences, have two cotolydons in their seed. Cotolydons are the first "leaves" that emerge. Common dicots are most trees and shrubs, as well as beans, peas, tomatoes, etc. Monocots only have a single "leaf" in their seeds. Common monocots include grasses and palms. Corn, wheat, barley, etc are considered a specialty grass. Palms are also monocots. Some people consider palms trees because they do in fact lignify (ie produce lignin, which is basically wood). But I personally don't use that as a good indicator because plenty of plants lignify and aren't considered trees. [–]NihiloEx[S] 2 points 16 days ago Thanks! That's very helpful :) Is the lignin in the palm's trunk? Or is it elsewhere? [–]SilverHoudini 5 points 16 days ago Well, the short answer is yes. The long answer is that palms don't have trunks any more than corn or grass does. It's most commonly called a shaft insert crude joke here or stalk. [–]porcelainpluto 2 points 15 days ago I disagree. The large number of trees represented by gymnosperms and magnoliids are too significant to brush them off as exceptions. If you look at a tulip poplar, it's clearly a tree, but not a dicot. When botanists talk about trees, they are talking about the growth habit, i.e. shrub, herb, tree, vine, liana. It's only a starting point for classification so it's broad, and just begins to give us an idea of the particular plant's evolutionary strategy. Just to double check myself though, I yanked one of my text books off the shelf and this is what they had to say: Plant Systematics: A Phylogenetic Approach (Judd et al.) defines a tree as "...a woody plant with a single main trunk." Just out of curiosity, I looked up Goa's Forestry department, and in their charter they refer to coconuts are tree cover that was specifically within their realm of concern. So I think Mr. Henriques is not being consistent with his department's mission. https://www.goa.gov.in/pdf/ForestDeptCharter.pdf [–]SilverHoudini 2 points 15 days ago I'm not sure where you got the information that tulip poplars are not dicots, but they are. They are also Angiosperms. Primitive Angiosperms, but they are considered Angiosperms. Gymnosperms vs Angiosperms is a very different argument than dicots vs monocots. Dicot and monocot refers to the cotolydons. Gymnosperm and Angiosperm refers to the type of reproduction (flower/cone and seed/fruit). [–]budsport 2 points 15 days ago I think they meant Basal Angiosperms and Magnoliids (inc. Liriodendron) - two cotyledons but from before Monocot/Eudicot separation, as oppose to the Eudicots. It is kinda strange to state trees generally are dicots given the conifers. [–]SilverHoudini 1 point 15 days ago Oh that's true. I hadn't thought of it that way. I was more focusing on the Angiosperm side of the plant kingdom. But you are correct, pines are monocots. [–]porcelainpluto 1 point 15 days ago By dicot, I'm casually referring to Eudicot. Dicot hasn't been considered a good classification since 1998 because it's paraphyletic. It's not even a clade any more. But since dicot was in use for such a long time, it's common for people to use Eudicot and Dicot interchangeably. I didn't realize you were using it in the old sense. Just check out the current APG III system. [–]rottie_Boston_daddy 4 points 15 days ago As an active horticulturalist this post has inspired me to re-read a book i have, botany for gardeners. Thank you. [–]budsport 3 points 15 days ago* A coconut palm 'trunk' is really a bunch of stacked
[Goanet-News] Goa government decision makes scientists re-read their botany texts!
SOURCE: Redit.com Is the coconut palm a tree? self.botany submitted 16 days ago by NihiloEx In Goa, [the] coconut tree will no longer be a tree! Reason, if it were to remain a tree, each time one has to cut the coconut tree, they needed permission from the forest department. That it would no longer be a tree was formalized at a state cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar on Friday. The logic: "The definition of a tree is a plant with main trunk and branches but a coconut palm does not fit into this criteria as it has no branches," former deputy conservator of forest and then tree officer, Subhas Henriques said. Source http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Coconut-tree-loses-tree-status-in-Goa/articleshow/50239580.cms I'm curious to know if these guys are simply exploiting a loophole or if they are technically correct. Wikipedia has not been terribly helpful. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut 11 comments [–]SilverHoudini 6 points 16 days ago Technically, they are correct in that it's not a tree. Trees are primarily dicots (there's exceptions to every rule), where the Coconut is a monocot. Dicots are plants that, among other differences, have two cotolydons in their seed. Cotolydons are the first "leaves" that emerge. Common dicots are most trees and shrubs, as well as beans, peas, tomatoes, etc. Monocots only have a single "leaf" in their seeds. Common monocots include grasses and palms. Corn, wheat, barley, etc are considered a specialty grass. Palms are also monocots. Some people consider palms trees because they do in fact lignify (ie produce lignin, which is basically wood). But I personally don't use that as a good indicator because plenty of plants lignify and aren't considered trees. [–]NihiloEx[S] 2 points 16 days ago Thanks! That's very helpful :) Is the lignin in the palm's trunk? Or is it elsewhere? [–]SilverHoudini 5 points 16 days ago Well, the short answer is yes. The long answer is that palms don't have trunks any more than corn or grass does. It's most commonly called a shaft insert crude joke here or stalk. [–]porcelainpluto 2 points 15 days ago I disagree. The large number of trees represented by gymnosperms and magnoliids are too significant to brush them off as exceptions. If you look at a tulip poplar, it's clearly a tree, but not a dicot. When botanists talk about trees, they are talking about the growth habit, i.e. shrub, herb, tree, vine, liana. It's only a starting point for classification so it's broad, and just begins to give us an idea of the particular plant's evolutionary strategy. Just to double check myself though, I yanked one of my text books off the shelf and this is what they had to say: Plant Systematics: A Phylogenetic Approach (Judd et al.) defines a tree as "...a woody plant with a single main trunk." Just out of curiosity, I looked up Goa's Forestry department, and in their charter they refer to coconuts are tree cover that was specifically within their realm of concern. So I think Mr. Henriques is not being consistent with his department's mission. https://www.goa.gov.in/pdf/ForestDeptCharter.pdf [–]SilverHoudini 2 points 15 days ago I'm not sure where you got the information that tulip poplars are not dicots, but they are. They are also Angiosperms. Primitive Angiosperms, but they are considered Angiosperms. Gymnosperms vs Angiosperms is a very different argument than dicots vs monocots. Dicot and monocot refers to the cotolydons. Gymnosperm and Angiosperm refers to the type of reproduction (flower/cone and seed/fruit). [–]budsport 2 points 15 days ago I think they meant Basal Angiosperms and Magnoliids (inc. Liriodendron) - two cotyledons but from before Monocot/Eudicot separation, as oppose to the Eudicots. It is kinda strange to state trees generally are dicots given the conifers. [–]SilverHoudini 1 point 15 days ago Oh that's true. I hadn't thought of it that way. I was more focusing on the Angiosperm side of the plant kingdom. But you are correct, pines are monocots. [–]porcelainpluto 1 point 15 days ago By dicot, I'm casually referring to Eudicot. Dicot hasn't been considered a good classification since 1998 because it's paraphyletic. It's not even a clade any more. But since dicot was in use for such a long time, it's common for people to use Eudicot and Dicot interchangeably. I didn't realize you were using it in the old sense. Just check out the current APG III system. [–]rottie_Boston_daddy 4 points 15 days ago As an active horticulturalist this post has inspired me to re-read a book i have, botany for gardeners. Thank you. [–]budsport 3 points 15 days ago* A coconut palm 'trunk' is really a bunch of stacked
[Goanet] Has Goan Writing in Portuguese been sufficiently studied or got adequately noticed? Not at all...
Goan writing 'withered on the vine with the advent of the Salazar dictatorship' -- Paul Melo e Castro Paul Melo e Castro [paulmeloecas...@yahoo.co.uk] is a University of Leeds prof in his thirties, who has been doing some serious work on Goan writing in Portuguese. After his translated collection of short stories written by Goans in Portuguese (Lengthening Shadows, published in 2016 in two volumes), he has collaborated with Prof Helder Garmes of Brazil to edit an undiscovered novel by the late Epitacio Pais, of Batim (Goa). In Goa currently, for the launch of the novel 'Preia Mar' or High Tide (at the Xavier Centre of Historical Research on Friday, Jan 15, 2016 at 5.30 pm), he responds to queries from Frederick Noronha about his work and his views. Q: How did you discover Epitacio Pais? Paul Melo e Castro: I first discovered Epitacio Pais in Vimala Devi and Manuel de Seabra's 'A Literatura Indo-Portuguesa'. Though today we might want to reflect critically on the way they frame Goan society and Goan writing -- it was composed in the early 70s when Portugal was still a dictatorship -- their work has been crucial in preserving Goan writing in Portuguese and whetting the interest of successive generations of (mainly non-Goan) scholars. Q: What is his relevance in Goan writing and, particularly, Goan writing in Portuguese? PMC: Epitacio Pais is the only Goan writer in Portuguese to deal with the sea changes in Goa at the end of the Portuguese period and the first decade of Indian rule. Vimala Devi radiographs Goa in the last years of the colonial period. Maria Elsa da Rocha provides intimist stories set in the personal and domestic spheres. But it's Pais who deals with mining, tourism, the shifts of attitude and clash of castes and classes. I see three fields of discussion in which Goan writing in Portuguese could enter: the discussion around the literary representation of Goa (where it could play an important comparative role in relation to Goan literatures in other languages); the discussion of post-colonial literatures in Portuguese (where it can help us expand and challenge commonplaces either shipped in from anglophone discussions or formed in relation to the former Portuguese Africa); discussions around Indian literature in general, given that it is the only Indian literature not written in English or an Indian regional language. Epitacio Pais's writing can shift the frame of all three. Q: Briefly, what were the strengths and weaknesses of GWiP, or Goan Writing in Portuguese? The strength of GWiP is that it contains a representation of Goa that challenges some of the commonplaces present in today's discussions of Goan identity and society. I think there is a tendency to imagine that Portuguese writing from Goa is 'pro-Portuguese', but that is not the case at all with Pais or with most other Portuguese-language writers. The weakness is that Goan writing, while it really started to get going in the late 19th century and early 20th century with Francisco Luis Gomes, Francisco Joao da Costa and Jose da Silva Coelho, it withered on the vine with the advent of the Salazar dictatorship. It's hard to see why exactly, given that this time saw the flowering of literature from Cape Verde, a society that shows an interesting play of parallels and divergences with Goa. Then, there is one last outpouring in the 1960s, the odd outlier in the following decades, and a lingering death, replaced by English. Q: Has GWiP been sufficiently studied or got adequately noticed? Not at all. It's been ignored in Goa because the language has been disestablished and the texts aren't always easy to locate, and relatively ignored in Portuguese because Goa has become the 'phantom limb' of lusophony -- present as a name in discussions but not really coming into the equation. Q: The Brazilians seem interested in this field too now. Why? In general, it seems that as Brazil grows and becomes more confident on the world stage, it has every interest in creating across the world. India is obviously high on its list and the shared aspects of Portuguese colonialism make Goa an obvious point of contact. I think that Goa could make much more use of its past in this way, but other people more versed in geo-political relations have made this point better than me. I think here the role of Helder Garmes in getting the Pensando Goa [http://goa.fflch.usp.br/] project up, running and financed cannot be overestimated. Hopefully it will lead to a step change in the image of Goan literature in the Portuguese-speaking world. Q: Is
[Goanet-News] Has Goan Writing in Portuguese been sufficiently studied or got adequately noticed? Not at all...
Goan writing 'withered on the vine with the advent of the Salazar dictatorship' -- Paul Melo e Castro Paul Melo e Castro [paulmeloecas...@yahoo.co.uk] is a University of Leeds prof in his thirties, who has been doing some serious work on Goan writing in Portuguese. After his translated collection of short stories written by Goans in Portuguese (Lengthening Shadows, published in 2016 in two volumes), he has collaborated with Prof Helder Garmes of Brazil to edit an undiscovered novel by the late Epitacio Pais, of Batim (Goa). In Goa currently, for the launch of the novel 'Preia Mar' or High Tide (at the Xavier Centre of Historical Research on Friday, Jan 15, 2016 at 5.30 pm), he responds to queries from Frederick Noronha about his work and his views. Q: How did you discover Epitacio Pais? Paul Melo e Castro: I first discovered Epitacio Pais in Vimala Devi and Manuel de Seabra's 'A Literatura Indo-Portuguesa'. Though today we might want to reflect critically on the way they frame Goan society and Goan writing -- it was composed in the early 70s when Portugal was still a dictatorship -- their work has been crucial in preserving Goan writing in Portuguese and whetting the interest of successive generations of (mainly non-Goan) scholars. Q: What is his relevance in Goan writing and, particularly, Goan writing in Portuguese? PMC: Epitacio Pais is the only Goan writer in Portuguese to deal with the sea changes in Goa at the end of the Portuguese period and the first decade of Indian rule. Vimala Devi radiographs Goa in the last years of the colonial period. Maria Elsa da Rocha provides intimist stories set in the personal and domestic spheres. But it's Pais who deals with mining, tourism, the shifts of attitude and clash of castes and classes. I see three fields of discussion in which Goan writing in Portuguese could enter: the discussion around the literary representation of Goa (where it could play an important comparative role in relation to Goan literatures in other languages); the discussion of post-colonial literatures in Portuguese (where it can help us expand and challenge commonplaces either shipped in from anglophone discussions or formed in relation to the former Portuguese Africa); discussions around Indian literature in general, given that it is the only Indian literature not written in English or an Indian regional language. Epitacio Pais's writing can shift the frame of all three. Q: Briefly, what were the strengths and weaknesses of GWiP, or Goan Writing in Portuguese? The strength of GWiP is that it contains a representation of Goa that challenges some of the commonplaces present in today's discussions of Goan identity and society. I think there is a tendency to imagine that Portuguese writing from Goa is 'pro-Portuguese', but that is not the case at all with Pais or with most other Portuguese-language writers. The weakness is that Goan writing, while it really started to get going in the late 19th century and early 20th century with Francisco Luis Gomes, Francisco Joao da Costa and Jose da Silva Coelho, it withered on the vine with the advent of the Salazar dictatorship. It's hard to see why exactly, given that this time saw the flowering of literature from Cape Verde, a society that shows an interesting play of parallels and divergences with Goa. Then, there is one last outpouring in the 1960s, the odd outlier in the following decades, and a lingering death, replaced by English. Q: Has GWiP been sufficiently studied or got adequately noticed? Not at all. It's been ignored in Goa because the language has been disestablished and the texts aren't always easy to locate, and relatively ignored in Portuguese because Goa has become the 'phantom limb' of lusophony -- present as a name in discussions but not really coming into the equation. Q: The Brazilians seem interested in this field too now. Why? In general, it seems that as Brazil grows and becomes more confident on the world stage, it has every interest in creating across the world. India is obviously high on its list and the shared aspects of Portuguese colonialism make Goa an obvious point of contact. I think that Goa could make much more use of its past in this way, but other people more versed in geo-political relations have made this point better than me. I think here the role of Helder Garmes in getting the Pensando Goa [http://goa.fflch.usp.br/] project up, running and financed cannot be overestimated. Hopefully it will lead to a step change in the image of Goan literature in the Portuguese-speaking world. Q: Is
[Goanet] CONTROVERSY: Who was Savarkar, and what did he stand for?
[Excerpts from an article written some time back, which may be relevant in Goa in view of the recent Savarkar naming controversy that has come up here, see below.] Footsoldiers in Search of an Icon By Subhash Gatade "The epitaph for the RSS volunteer will be that he was born, he joined the RSS and died without accomplishing anything." --V. D. Savarkar (D.V.Kelkar, "The R.S.S." Economic Weekly ( 4 Feb 1950: 132) Page 36, The Brotherhood in Saffron,The RSS and The Hindu Revivalism, Andersen and Damle,Vistaar, 1986, Delhi) Veer Savarkar was a Veer Purush who was not scared of death. He was a Shastra Upasak and Shaasrta Upasak: Shri Narendra Modi, May 29, 2013 (http://www.narendramodi.in/) Celebrations at the central hall of Parliament are a marker of the political ambience in the country. The change of guard at the centre was very much visible at the place recently where the entire top brass of BJP including PM Narendra Modi were present to celebrate the birth anniversary of Savarkar. Modi described Savarkar as a prolific writer, poet and social reformer. "Tributes to Veer Savarkar on his birth anniversary. We remember and salute his tireless efforts towards the regeneration of our motherland." People would recall that normally it used to be a low-key event. Last year, the celebrations were further muted. Only few prominent leaders of the BJP were present there. The ascendance of BJP led government had clearly made the difference. A trip down memory lane would tell us that even for the Sangh Parivar and its affiliated organisations this has not been the case always. The iconisation of Savarkar in the Parivar is not very old. Late nineties when Shiv Sena-BJP ran a coalition government in Maharashtra they did not even think of putting his portrait in the state the assembly. For them this discovery of Savarkar happened during the BJP led NDA regime at the centre (1998-2004). Perhaps neither Modi nor any of his cabinet colleagues, most of whom started their social political life in the RSS or Rashtra Sevika Samity (which is meant for women of the Hindutva brigade), would like to remember today that they are singing paens to the man who when alive had castigated the Hedgewars-Gurujis -- founders and pioneers of RSS -- and their Swaymsevaks umpteen times ( Sample the quote above) and the Hedgewars-Golwalkars had also returned the compliment in the same vein. Even a cursory glance at the trajectory of Hindu Mahasabha under the leadership of Savarkar or the way in which RSS unfolded itself during those days makes it quite clear that the differences in priorities between the two organisations was already visible from the day Savarkar was elected president of the Hindu Mahasabha after his release from jail (1937). In a sympathetic study of RSS "The Brotherhood in Saffron,The RSS and The Hindu Revivalism," the authors Andersen and Damle clearly explain (Page 40, Vistaar, 1986, Delhi) that in fact Savarkar's emphasis was on turning Mahasabha into a political party in opposition to the Congress when Hedgewar's had already decided to insulate RSS from any active politics and concentrate on 'cultural work'. Hedgewar and later Golwalkar also neither wanted to be associated with a formation whose confrontational activities would place the RSS in direct opposition to the Congress. According to him there were apprehensions regarding each other's role in the Hindu Unification Movement. The souring of relations between the two organisations is visible in a angry letter issued by Savarkar’s office in 1940 advising that "...when there is such a serious conflict at a particular locality between any of the branches of the Sangh RSS and the Hindu Sabhaites that actual preaching is carried out against the Hindu Mahasabha..., then the Hindu Sabhaites should better leave the Sangh ...and start their own Hindu Sabha volunteer corps. (Letter from V.D.Savarkar to S.L.Mishra, 3 March 1943, Savarkar files, Bombay)" Definitely the fact that this 'Veer Patriot' (to quote title of a write-up which appeared in 'Panchajanya' sometime back discussing Savarkar) died a lonely man abhorred especially by the thriving 'Parivar' then, which made special efforts to maintain distance from him in those days, did not bother these 'legatees' then. It did not pertrub their conscience a bit that it took more than thirty four long years after his death that they ultimately decided to claim their lineage from this pioneer of the Hindutva project. Just to recapitulate, a decade back, when the Vajpayi led NDA was ousted out and UPA I led by Congress, had assumed reins of power a controversy had erupted about removal of Savarkar's plaque from Port Blair's cellular jail where Savarkar was jailed, Vikram Savarkar, Savarkar's own nephew in an interview to a national daily exposed BJP's
[Goanet] Many talents, ideas seeking an outlet -- the short story in today's Goa (Augusto Pinto)
Augusto Pinto pinto...@gmail.com One of the priceless moments I had during the judging of the Fundacão Oriente Short Story Competition 2015-16 came during the meeting of the competition jury to decide the final results. Jury member, the children's writer Anita Pinto, in a dramatic whisper declared: "You know what people are saying: 'the results of all these competitions are fixed!'" The rest of us were quite taken aback and jury members -- Herald executive editor and former competition winner Alexandre Moniz Barbosa; and Sahitya Akademi award winner Meena Kakodkar; and Marathi short story writer and dramatist Narayan Mahale and I -- all hastened to reassure Anita that nothing of the sort would happen! On reflection I felt there was something to the metaphor of 'fixing' the competition that I found quite appealing. Not of course the negative connotation of 'to fix' -- which implies something dishonest being done to influence the results of a competition as nowadays all sports competitions from World Cup cricket to ISL football are accused of doing. Rather the very positive side to the word 'fix' -- to repair; to mend something -- in order that it improves, becomes better... Fixing the FOSSC Competition I would like to say for the jury of FOSSC 15-16 that it was very intensely involved in “fixing” this already undoubtedly excellent competition from the very start. This was done in many little ways -- from publicizing the competition well; to promoting the short story writing workshop ably conducted by Dr Isabel Santa Rita Vas; to preparing judging protocols. However I'm going to focus on just two measures we took: making the competition more attractive and streamlining the judging process. The single most important thing that the Jury did to make FOSSC more attractive was to offer more prizes to the contestants. This competition has attracted between 60 and a 100 odd competitors in past editions and we felt that these writers deserved to have more prizes. We saw that our desire attained concrete shape by putting our hands into our own purses. Jury member Anita Pinto donated Rs 10,000 for a 4th prize in memory of her mother Nur Coelho (who incidentally was also a writer); to encourage Konkani writers Meena Kakodkar donated Rs 5000 as a consolation prize for a Konkani story that didn't appear in the main prize list, in the name of her mother Hirabai Gaitonde; Marathi was getting left out and I wasn't too sure if any of my relatives dead or alive would like to be associated with giving a prize for Marathi, but I said 'zhalach pahije' and announced a prize of Rs 5000 in my own name The second way we tried to fix the competition was where it came to judging. Judging a short story competition in four different languages is a bit complicated as you may agree. Imagine a fruit competition where you have to judge the best fruit from among cashews, chikoos, mangoes and coconuts. But there at least every judge has a sense of taste that will dictate his or her choice of the best fruit. With languages it can be more complicated: what happens when someone didn't understand Marathi or Portuguese or could not read Devanagari script? My casual search of the Internet made me discover that the Fundacão Oriente short story competitions is perhaps unique. In literature, at the international level the Nobel prize and the Saraswati Samman at the national level are competitions where works across different languages are compared, but the procedures they adopt couldn't be easily used by us. The main analogy I found was among competitions at film festivals. But there the films are subtitled in English and anyway much of the narration is visual. At the few literary competitions across languages, a translation of the work must be sent. Could we adapt this procedure here? But how could we translate so many entries and into how many languages could we do that? The solution we hit upon was to translate into English -- the language which all of us had in common -- those Marathi, Konkani and Portuguese stories which those who could read had shortlisted so that everyone else could get a very good, if not a perfect idea, of the prize winning entries that were being judged. The responsibility of translating these stories was undertaken by me and two of my colleagues in my college Anjali Bhide (Konkani) and Aditi Barve (Marathi) assisted me in this task with some of the stories. Jury deputy chairman Alexandre Moniz Barbosa translated the one story in Portuguese. Fixing the FOSSC Results Finally to the results. We had a lot of reading to do: 41 stories in English; 19 in Konkani; 17 in Marathi and one in Portuguese. (I was a bit disappointed that very few Konkani writers who used the Romi script participated.) These stories were read by the jury without knowing the authors' names -- this
[Goanet] From Africa to Goa in the 1960s: troubled times, transitions and transistors
in 1964 some boys and I walked to Betim from Saligao and then took the ferry to Old Goa. If memory serves me right, we started at 4 am. Throughout the years, I have relived that trip in my mind. I also remember going to Candolim from Saligao. I went behind the Mater Dei Institute and then across the hill coming down near the church. Does anyone do that anymore? This was the Goa of yesteryears. By today's standards the life style of the 1960s would seem pretty tame but those were the reality of the times as is with every generation. TV, cable, the Internet were non-existent. The technology of the day was the transistor radio. We listened to the BBC and to the Western songs on Radio Ceylon. This helped me improve my English. In this regard, I felt that I had an advantage as I had more exposure to the language thanks to the Irish missionaries in Zanzibar. Also, at this time, the education system in Goa was changing from the Portuguese to English. This along with Hindi and Marathi created a period of adjustment and some difficulty for the average local student. I learned to watch and play football, which was and is an important sport in Goa. We boys followed the legendary Pele and his exploits in the World Cups and internationally. Church life and the various feasts became an integral part of our lives. During the monsoons, I watched in awe as the harsh rainy and squally conditions came every June through August affecting agriculture, fishing and life in general. I got to see the extent of the whole of Goa and some parts of India during my five years here. I must mention the 1967 Opinion Poll that Goans fought for to keep Goa from becoming part of another state. Older folks will remember the work of Dr. Jack Sequeira in this regard. That was an important deal for the people then as this would later contribute to Goa becoming a state in its own right. I did my high school here and then was admitted to further my studies in the United States. As with the time before, this opened an entire new avenue and adventure for me in a new land continents away. -- With his roots in Saligao, Goa, Roland Travas has later been in the US, and subsequently in Jamaica. In recent weeks, he has been travelling to Costa Rica. He visited Goa recently, where the Goanet Reader convinced him to pen some of his remembrances of life in Goa and Africa. He can be contacted at rolandtra...@gmail.com Goanet Reader is compiled and edited by Frederick Noronha.
[Goanet-News] From Africa to Goa in the 1960s: troubled times, transitions and transistors
in 1964 some boys and I walked to Betim from Saligao and then took the ferry to Old Goa. If memory serves me right, we started at 4 am. Throughout the years, I have relived that trip in my mind. I also remember going to Candolim from Saligao. I went behind the Mater Dei Institute and then across the hill coming down near the church. Does anyone do that anymore? This was the Goa of yesteryears. By today's standards the life style of the 1960s would seem pretty tame but those were the reality of the times as is with every generation. TV, cable, the Internet were non-existent. The technology of the day was the transistor radio. We listened to the BBC and to the Western songs on Radio Ceylon. This helped me improve my English. In this regard, I felt that I had an advantage as I had more exposure to the language thanks to the Irish missionaries in Zanzibar. Also, at this time, the education system in Goa was changing from the Portuguese to English. This along with Hindi and Marathi created a period of adjustment and some difficulty for the average local student. I learned to watch and play football, which was and is an important sport in Goa. We boys followed the legendary Pele and his exploits in the World Cups and internationally. Church life and the various feasts became an integral part of our lives. During the monsoons, I watched in awe as the harsh rainy and squally conditions came every June through August affecting agriculture, fishing and life in general. I got to see the extent of the whole of Goa and some parts of India during my five years here. I must mention the 1967 Opinion Poll that Goans fought for to keep Goa from becoming part of another state. Older folks will remember the work of Dr. Jack Sequeira in this regard. That was an important deal for the people then as this would later contribute to Goa becoming a state in its own right. I did my high school here and then was admitted to further my studies in the United States. As with the time before, this opened an entire new avenue and adventure for me in a new land continents away. -- With his roots in Saligao, Goa, Roland Travas has later been in the US, and subsequently in Jamaica. In recent weeks, he has been travelling to Costa Rica. He visited Goa recently, where the Goanet Reader convinced him to pen some of his remembrances of life in Goa and Africa. He can be contacted at rolandtra...@gmail.com Goanet Reader is compiled and edited by Frederick Noronha.
[Goanet] Sunburn vs Supersonic: The bitter rivalry between Goa's year-end electronic music gigs (Pamela D'Mello, Scroll.in)
--- Annual Goanetters Meet --- Annual Goanetters Meet - December 28, 2015 - 11:00 am Fundacao Oriente, Mala, Altinho, Panjim, Goa http://bit.ly/FundacaoOrienteGoa The Fundao Oriente carries out cultural and artistic activities in India with, for historical and cultural reasons, special emphasis on the State of Goa. Looking forward to seeing you there --- There's a lot of money and many egos riding on the competing electronic dance music festivals -- and, if rumours are to be believed, political corruption too. Pamela D’Mello They're supposed to be celebrations of music and love. But ever since they started going head-to-head in an attempt to become the prime attraction of Goa's party season, Sunburn and Supersonic -- India's most popular electronic dance music festivals -- have waged a rivalry that has become the stuff of local legend. Since 2013, the end-of-the-year EDM events have been accompanied by allegations that corrupt politicians have kept permissions dangling until the last minute and about the police being persuaded to cut the sound at the behest of rivals when it goes over the prescribed decibel levels. To those removed from the EDM world, some of the rumours could seem downright comical. Writers on online music portals have joined the chorus, echoing complaints of long queues at one festival or the other, nepotism in involving sons, wives and brothers as DJs, domestic talent being treated badly compared to the overseas musicians, tacky stages and sound outages. In 2013, Sunburn accused its rival of Powerpoint presentation theft and replication. This year, with both festivals scheduled to run between December 27 and 30, the clamour has erupted again. As Sunburn spruces up its venue at Vagator plateau and Supersonic tests its speakers at Candolim beach, objections have emerged once again. Local objections Earlier this year, Nationalist Congress Party leader Trajano D’Mello went to court, pointing to unpaid dues by both festivals towards security arrangements, the death of two women at the festivals in 2010 and 2014, and accusations of drug use. The court earlier this month ordered the state government to recover the dues and increase security checks at the venue. Said D'Mello, "Of what use are the festivals if a private citizen has to go to court to get them to collect dues to the state?" Some of the state's hoteliers aren't very happy either. They would prefer the two festivals -- which attract an estimated audience of 200,000 between them -- to be held at different times to serve the economy better and to ensure that the state's narrow streets aren't overwhelmed by traffic. The Goa government, they say, seems to have ignored the fact that this has been recommended by the committee it appoints each year to issue permission for such events. "What is going on, that the special committee every year says the festivals should not be held, police say two simultaneous festivals are a security and traffic hazard and yet the minister overrules the committee and permissions are given at the last minute?" said D'Mello. The controversies have been brewing since 2013, when MTV host Nikhil Chinapa, the face of Sunburn since it had started in 2007, parted ways with festival founder Shailendra Singh of a firm called Percept Live. Chinapa then joined hands with Live Viacom 18 to put together a competing festival. Supersonic chose the same venue and the same dates as Sunburn and were after fans of the same genre of music. Since then, the competition between Sunburn and Supersonic has made for some bizarre political antics in Goa. Much before the fans arrive, the reverberations are felt in the corridors of the tourism department and the state government, where a single-window clearance committee oversees events that require permissions from multiple state agencies. Turf war In 2013, the rivals fought a bitter battle for the venue -- a 74,000 sq mt beach-front property in Candolim that was the Sunburn trademark. The owners of the property switched loyalties and leased it out to the new entrants, triggering court complaints of agreement violations and counter allegations of non-payments. In the end, Sunburn was left to find a new venue. It departed for a spot on Vagator plateau, 11 kms away. On the face of it, Sunburn had suffered a blow by being bumped off the state's hottest party spot. But it used the larger 500,000-sq-mt venue in Vagator to scale up its
[Goanet-News] Sunburn vs Supersonic: The bitter rivalry between Goa's year-end electronic music gigs (Pamela D'Mello, Scroll.in)
--- Annual Goanetters Meet --- Annual Goanetters Meet - December 28, 2015 - 11:00 am Fundacao Oriente, Mala, Altinho, Panjim, Goa http://bit.ly/FundacaoOrienteGoa The Fundao Oriente carries out cultural and artistic activities in India with, for historical and cultural reasons, special emphasis on the State of Goa. Looking forward to seeing you there --- There's a lot of money and many egos riding on the competing electronic dance music festivals -- and, if rumours are to be believed, political corruption too. Pamela D’Mello They're supposed to be celebrations of music and love. But ever since they started going head-to-head in an attempt to become the prime attraction of Goa's party season, Sunburn and Supersonic -- India's most popular electronic dance music festivals -- have waged a rivalry that has become the stuff of local legend. Since 2013, the end-of-the-year EDM events have been accompanied by allegations that corrupt politicians have kept permissions dangling until the last minute and about the police being persuaded to cut the sound at the behest of rivals when it goes over the prescribed decibel levels. To those removed from the EDM world, some of the rumours could seem downright comical. Writers on online music portals have joined the chorus, echoing complaints of long queues at one festival or the other, nepotism in involving sons, wives and brothers as DJs, domestic talent being treated badly compared to the overseas musicians, tacky stages and sound outages. In 2013, Sunburn accused its rival of Powerpoint presentation theft and replication. This year, with both festivals scheduled to run between December 27 and 30, the clamour has erupted again. As Sunburn spruces up its venue at Vagator plateau and Supersonic tests its speakers at Candolim beach, objections have emerged once again. Local objections Earlier this year, Nationalist Congress Party leader Trajano D’Mello went to court, pointing to unpaid dues by both festivals towards security arrangements, the death of two women at the festivals in 2010 and 2014, and accusations of drug use. The court earlier this month ordered the state government to recover the dues and increase security checks at the venue. Said D'Mello, "Of what use are the festivals if a private citizen has to go to court to get them to collect dues to the state?" Some of the state's hoteliers aren't very happy either. They would prefer the two festivals -- which attract an estimated audience of 200,000 between them -- to be held at different times to serve the economy better and to ensure that the state's narrow streets aren't overwhelmed by traffic. The Goa government, they say, seems to have ignored the fact that this has been recommended by the committee it appoints each year to issue permission for such events. "What is going on, that the special committee every year says the festivals should not be held, police say two simultaneous festivals are a security and traffic hazard and yet the minister overrules the committee and permissions are given at the last minute?" said D'Mello. The controversies have been brewing since 2013, when MTV host Nikhil Chinapa, the face of Sunburn since it had started in 2007, parted ways with festival founder Shailendra Singh of a firm called Percept Live. Chinapa then joined hands with Live Viacom 18 to put together a competing festival. Supersonic chose the same venue and the same dates as Sunburn and were after fans of the same genre of music. Since then, the competition between Sunburn and Supersonic has made for some bizarre political antics in Goa. Much before the fans arrive, the reverberations are felt in the corridors of the tourism department and the state government, where a single-window clearance committee oversees events that require permissions from multiple state agencies. Turf war In 2013, the rivals fought a bitter battle for the venue -- a 74,000 sq mt beach-front property in Candolim that was the Sunburn trademark. The owners of the property switched loyalties and leased it out to the new entrants, triggering court complaints of agreement violations and counter allegations of non-payments. In the end, Sunburn was left to find a new venue. It departed for a spot on Vagator plateau, 11 kms away. On the face of it, Sunburn had suffered a blow by being bumped off the state's hottest party spot. But it used the larger 500,000-sq-mt venue in Vagator to scale up its
[Goanet] From Beetroot To Pineapple, Homemade Wines Sweeten Christmas In India (Nina Martyris, NPR.org)
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/12/24/460839331/from-beetroot-to-pineapple-homemade-wines-sweeten-christmas-in-india From Beetroot To Pineapple, Homemade Wines Sweeten Christmas In India NINA MARTYRIS nmarty...@gmail.com In October, Hilda Mascarenhas, who writes a popular food blog in Pune, India, began her Christmas preparations with an unusual request to her fruit seller. After buying a pineapple, she asked the vendor to separately pack the peel and eyes that he had skillfully removed with his long knife. Hilda's husband, Merwyn, though accustomed to his wife's culinary experiments, was as mystified as the fruit seller. What did the thick, thorny peel and tongue-lacerating eyes, normally discarded as waste, have to do with Christmas? He found out a month later when presented with a delicious little glass of golden pineapple wine. Across India, several Christian communities, including the Goans, Mangloreans, Anglo-Indians and East Indians, prepare sweet homemade wines for the festive season from a rich array of local fruit, roots and grain. Grape, raisin and ginger wine are the staples, but many households also make wine from beetroot, tomato, cashew, gooseberry, jackfruit, jambhul, watermelon, bananas, mango, mulberries and rice. The wine is served along with rich plum cake and traditional sweets like kulkuls and neuries to relatives and friends who drop by on Christmas visits. It is also served to guests at many Christian wedding receptions -- post-Christmas is wedding season — when the toast to the bridal couple is raised. New York chef Floyd Cardoz, who grew up in Bandra -- a once-quiet Mumbai suburb now home to some of the country's best restaurants -- has fond memories of Christmas wine. "My great-aunt used to make a bunch of wines — grapes for sure, but oranges and pineapple too," he told the Salt. "It was served in these very tiny plastic glasses. At the time, unlike today, wine wasn't easily available in India, so the only wine you got was the homemade stuff -- necessity really is the mother of invention." Though winemaking is an ancient Indian tradition, Christmas winemaking is a colonial legacy of the British and the Portuguese, who ruled the tiny coastal state of Goa for 500 years. Indian Christians, who form 2.3 percent of the country's population, have adapted the traditional recipes, using fruit like papaya and cashew "apples," and adding chilies and spices to make a wine that appeals to the Indian palate. PHOTO: Across India, several Christian communities prepare sweet homemade wines for the festive season from a rich array of local fruit, roots and grain. Above, a glass of golden pineapple wine. Courtesy Merwyn Mascarenhas For instance, Bridget Kumar White, a food writer in Bangalore who is an authority on colonial-era Anglo-Indian cooking, adds a dried red chili to her mulled ginger wine. "Ginger wine is not a wine so much as a cordial," she says. "It works as a good digestive after that heavy Christmas lunch of pork curry or chicken curry." The chilies, along with a dash of cinnamon, give the wine a pleasant kick. A few years ago, Mangalorean food blogger Shireen Sequeira was leafing through her mother's handwritten book of recipes when she came upon one for rice wine. "I was fascinated," she says, "but when I googled rice wine, the only recipes I came across were for Japanese sake, which uses a brewing rather than a fermenting process. So I just went by my mum's very general instructions. I used basmati rice and added sugar, yeast, raisins, limes and brandy. I was very pleased with the result. The wine turned out a pale gold and tasted like toddy [fermented palm sap]." Beetroot wine, fermented in a large ceramic jug. One of the pleasures of winemaking is watching the fermentation -- which you can only do when using glass jars. "For beetroot, which is a root, the fizzing is mild, like a carbonated drink poured into glass," says Hilda Mascarenhas, who writes a popular food blog in Pune, India. Courtesy Merwyn Mascarenhas Though many households still make Christmas wine, the number seems to be dwindling with each passing year. Many worry that over time, the nuances and closely guarded secrets of making tropical fruit wines will be lost. It's just as well, then, that an invaluable book by Edwin Saldanha called *Successful Goan Home Wines*, was published in 1995. It contains 59 recipes, including those for wines made from tea leaves, rhubarb, rose petals, kokum and condensed milk. Saldanha, a retired schoolteacher who has since died, liked to joke that he could even turn old shoe soles into wine. That his book -- now in its fifth edition -- exists is largely due to the good offices of his microbiologist friend Dr. Nandkumar Kamat, who is
[Goanet-News] DEBATE: History... that's only in the movies (Aakar Patel, in ToI)
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/aakarvani/bajirao-the-great-hindu-nationalist-thats-only-in-the-movies/ Bajirao the great Hindu nationalist -- That's only in the movies Aakar Patel in Aakarvani | India | TOI I think I'll write about Bajirao Mastani today. I have not seen the movie, nor do I intend to (only one Gujarati makes the cut as director of watchable pap and that is neither Sanjay Leela Bhansali nor Sajid Nadiadwala, but Manmohan Desai, a true master). However, I have read Bajirao Mastani's reviews and one of them said to my alarm, that the film "explores the romantic side of 18th-century Maratha general Bajirao Ballal Bhat, who fought and won 40 battles against the Mughals with an aim to create a unified Hindu kingdom or Akhand Bharatvarsha". Whoa, hold it right there. First, the Marathas only ever wanted a Marathi kingdom for themselves. It was not unified, hardly *akhand* and never Hindu. The Marathas were despised by other Hindu rulers, and disliked by non-Marathi Hindus as well, as history shows us. Bajirao and the Marathas campaigned for one thing alone, and it was called *chauth*. It meant a fourth of all revenue from other kingdoms, no matter what the faith of king and subject, and at collecting this Bajirao and the rest were efficient. Maratha extortion caused Jaipur's Ishwari Singh to commit suicide in December 1750. Sir Jadunath Sarkar (the Manmohan Desai of our historians) writes of what followed in his four-volume classic, *Fall of the Mughal Empire*: "On 10 January, some 4,000 Marathas entered Jaipur... (and) despising the helpless condition of a king propped up by their arms, seemed to have behaved towards Jaipur as a city taken by storm. Suddenly the pent-up hatred of the Rajputs burst forth; a riot broke out at noon, and the citizens attacked the unsuspecting Marathas. For nine hours slaughter and pillage raged." The Marathas first invaded Bengal in 1742. Of their behaviour, the *New Cambridge History of India* tells us that "all authorities, both Indian and European are agreed". A contemporary writer calls them "slayers of pregnant women and infants" and Sarkar has recorded their gang-rape of Hindu women, inexplicably stuffing the mouths of their victims with dust and breaking their arms and tying them behind their backs. The only Indian to try and protect his subjects against the Marathas incidentally, was the Mughal governor Ali Vardi Khan. So much for Akhand Bharat. But I must say that the Marathas did not behave differently from any other ruler or warrior community, and the idea of a unified Hindu sentiment exists only in the imagination of those who get their history from the movies. What the Marathas did striking north from the south, the Sikhs did in the opposite direction (they called their extortion 'rakhi', or protection, and it was 10% for all Indians). It is undeniably true on the other hand that the Marathas were originals. It is important for this romance between Bajirao and Mastani that she knew how to ride well because there were no palanquins and howdahs travelling with the Marathas as there were with the Mughals. The Marathas were the Mongols of South Asia, always on horseback, and with no infantry and no giant camp behind. Even the scavengers who followed them around, the bargis, rode. When the monsoons ended, the Maratha army, about 40,000 men, rode across the Narmada and Tapi, the border that marked off the Deccan, and attacked 'Hindustan'. Shivaji always organised this on a particular day: Dussehra (Bal Thackeray continued this tradition of declaring war on other Indians with his fiery Dussehra speeches). After the death of the peasant king, power passed to the Brahmin peshwas of whom the best was Bajirao. As the Mughal fighting ability and finances (the two being interchangeable) declined after Aurangzeb, the Marathas began penetrating increasingly into hitherto unknown territory in the north. It was the young Bajirao, then only in his teens, who determined, rightly, in one of these raids that the Mughals had gone soft and could no longer defend the realm. From this point on, the Marathas began holding ground instead of just taking their horses back. It is why we see Marathi names like Holkar and Scindia and Gaekwad in parts of India they do not naturally belong. Everyone grabbed what they could and held onto it, there was no Hindu or Bharat angle to any of it. Bajirao had one good battlefield victory, against Chin Qilich Khan, first Nizam of Hyderabad. It was a positional win, meaning the arrangement of Bajirao's force gave no space for Khan and he gave up without much fighting. Like chess. A similar situation came in Panipat, when Abdali positioned the Marathas out. Bravely, the Marathas
[Goanet] A dramatic book about the devastations of mining in Goa (Augusto Pinto)
By Augusto Pinto pinto...@gmail.com Consistent with Hartman De Souza's background in theatre, Eat Dust* is a very dramatic book about the devastations that mining has caused in Goa. It reads like a documentary in print, for his descriptions of landscapes before and after mining; and encounters with people feel like a camera is recording what he is doing. At the same time, his style is full of adjectives and metaphors that aim to persuade you to think his way. For us in Goa the basic story of the degradation caused by mining is quite familiar, but Hartman adds a personal touch to it as he weaves his sister Cheryl's fight against five powerful mine-owners who wanted to devastate her farm in Cawrem, Sanguem taluka, into the narrative. Along with this are struggles of other mining activists with the governments who were totally bought out by the mining lobby. Although I get the feeling that the audience for *Eat Dust* are Indians outside Goa, the book is a great primer to the people of Goa because it does not just focus on mining but on the social and political and historical context in which the mining is carried out. Hartman is pretty bitter about the role of the elite in Goa and about the way they have remained silent spectators. To understand this Hartman points his fingers at not just mining and the infrastructure and the tourism and real estate lobbies but he regards the greatest danger of all to be "consumerism". What that means is all of us who are hooked on to the good things of life all of which cost money, money which has to be got somehow or the other to feed our greed. The poor who sell their land to mine-owners for a pittance become part of the problem because to survive they then buy trucks to transport ore for a livelihood and now have a stake in the destruction of the environment. The middle classes don't have the time to care much one way or the other. So what Hartman is saying is that while the demoniacal greed of the mine-owners is definitely deadly, the common people also have no clue as to what they are doing while the intellectual class (you and I) who may be able to see what is happening have all also let Goa down. The author is quite bitter with the approach taken by NGOs such as Goa Foundation of Claude Alvares who have used the legal route to stop the illegalities of mining. By the end of the book he seems to be accusing Claude to have sold out by abandoning the ideal of stopping mining and of being willing to accept that mining is okay if regulated and if the money goes into the State's coffers. I think this is a bit unfair as the Shah Commission which the author praises for its role in stopping mining for a while would never have been appointed without the ground work done by Goa Foundation. Among the institutions which are seen to be playing a dubious role in the rape of Goa is the Catholic Church. It does not raise its considerable voice and allows the Gavdes who are the ones most directly affected by mining to suffer. And nobody seems to care about the long term loss of a basic necessity of man through mining: water. But what is done? Hartman advocates force. Hartman's family who bravely try to display the courage of their convictions by literally putting their bodies on the line by for instance chaining themselves to the gate of a mine in Cawrem discover that such attempts are too feeble to work. His octogenarian mother Dora participated in this incredibly crazy protest. However the problem was that this was not properly prepared and neither was it widely known thanks to the stranglehold the mining lobby have over the media. Maybe Hartman has a point but unless there is a huge mass opposing mining such physical displays are easy to get rid of. And there are lots of Right wing actors who will be happy to disrupt mass mining protests. At the end of the day this is a book that needs to be distributed read and discussed widely in Goa. Right now mining may not resume at the ruinous rate it was formerly used to, because the demand for the low grade ore of Goa has gone down and so have the prices for this commodity. But there is no saying that it won't resume in future -- and then what? -- Eat Dust: Mining and Greed in Goa Hartman de Souza Pp 288. Rs 350 HarperCollinsIndia -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. Goanet annual year-end meet in Goa: if you're reading this, you're eligible to join us! Dec 28, 2015 @ 11 am Fundacao Oriente, Panjim Confirm your participation with a short email to goa...@goanet.org
[Goanet] The Good Old Bad Days (Augusto Pinto)
Augusto Pinto: Afterword pinto...@gmail.com [From the Afterword to Paul Melo e Castro's *Lengthening Shadows*, a two-volume set of translations of Portuguese short stories written by Goans.] You could see, hear and smell Goa Portuguesa even as late as 1970. That was the year my parents, along with my nine-year-old self, returned from Kenya to live in our 'ancestral house' in the Goan village of Sangolda. At night those sights, sounds and smells became more pronounced. At home the quality of the light would change depending on whether you used the simple kerosene lamps improvised from old medicine bottles that flickered an orangish flame; or you were rich enough to own a petromax lamp which you had to pump every now and then to increase the glow. Or better still you had one of those sophisticated Aladdin lamps with the long elegant glass chimneys. Of course in the towns electricity made everything different; but the difference was most pronounced when one could afford neither kerosene nor candle, but made do with a little oil in a pontti. In the air, the whiff of smoke from those lamps mingled with that of burning firewood in the kitchen, and the aroma of the food cooking there. And there was also the pleasant odour of that age-old natural disinfectant -- cowdung paste -- which would be plastered on the floor of our houses to constitute its flooring. Also at night the sounds of nature could be heard distinctly: from the staccato non-stop chirping of crickets, to the whooey howls of the jackals in the fields whom we listened to till we nodded off to sleep, until we woke up to the twittering of the birds and the crowing of the cocks early in the morning. Then, we'd encounter the sows and their piglets crying 'oink oink', hurrying us up in the ubiquitous pig toilets of those times. All these sights, sounds and smells which sound romantic now but were a nuisance then, were to disappear, at first gradually and later rapidly, as villages were electrified and all the modern conveniences which the West was familiar with, from fans to fridges to fast food, started becoming commonplaces of middle class life over the years. From the late 1980s onwards, change continued at a bewildering pace with trees and hills being cut down to make way for concrete jungles, first in the towns and beach belt parts of Bardez, Ilhas and Salcete (the Portuguese Old Conquests) but later on, thanks to the tourism and real estate booms, even in comparatively remote New Conquest areas of Pernem and Canacona. Indiscriminate mining had begun by this time to wreak havoc. The agrarian economy declined and Goa rapidly transformed itself into a modern service-oriented one and mining, tourism, the bureaucracy and remittances from emigrants became the mainstays of Goa's economy. All these changes affected the Goan's way of life immensely. Imperceptibly in the meanwhile, Goa Portuguesa became history and the quaint artefacts of the times like the grinding stones and pestles and the bullock carts and the palanquins from the houses of old that produced those once familiar sights and sensations, got consigned to the museums or, worse, the garbage heaps of Goa, when they weren't eaten by termites or consumed by rust. * But what about the people and the society of Goa Portuguesa? What sort of lives did our parents and grandparents and great- grand-parents live? Were they happy and contented or otherwise? Myths, some diametrically opposed, abound about this Goa of old. There are those who look at Portuguese rule, beginning with the Inquisition, as one of undiluted horror and misery, one where civil liberties (especially for Hindus) were curtailed and one where Goans lived a life of fear from a police state, until the action of the Indian Army in 1961 regained paradise for us. Others think the Goa that is gone was already a Garden of Eden, at least in the sense that it was a more innocent place. These nostalgics yearn for the days when Goa had a very ordered if unequal society, and not the chaos and tumult that is the present. That yearned-after Goa was definitely greener and had a lot less of the big concrete boxes on the hillside style of architecture that exemplifies the word 'Modern'. It was also protected from all sorts of predators (or so these nostalgics thought) and everyone admitted that although the air was pure and the land was beautiful, it was poor and undeveloped. What's the truth? And is there a single truth? Probably not, for there probably never was any one single past, but a range of different pasts which were not black and white or even grey, but a kaleidoscope of colours
[Goanet-News] The Good Old Bad Days (Augusto Pinto)
Augusto Pinto: Afterword pinto...@gmail.com [From the Afterword to Paul Melo e Castro's *Lengthening Shadows*, a two-volume set of translations of Portuguese short stories written by Goans.] You could see, hear and smell Goa Portuguesa even as late as 1970. That was the year my parents, along with my nine-year-old self, returned from Kenya to live in our 'ancestral house' in the Goan village of Sangolda. At night those sights, sounds and smells became more pronounced. At home the quality of the light would change depending on whether you used the simple kerosene lamps improvised from old medicine bottles that flickered an orangish flame; or you were rich enough to own a petromax lamp which you had to pump every now and then to increase the glow. Or better still you had one of those sophisticated Aladdin lamps with the long elegant glass chimneys. Of course in the towns electricity made everything different; but the difference was most pronounced when one could afford neither kerosene nor candle, but made do with a little oil in a pontti. In the air, the whiff of smoke from those lamps mingled with that of burning firewood in the kitchen, and the aroma of the food cooking there. And there was also the pleasant odour of that age-old natural disinfectant -- cowdung paste -- which would be plastered on the floor of our houses to constitute its flooring. Also at night the sounds of nature could be heard distinctly: from the staccato non-stop chirping of crickets, to the whooey howls of the jackals in the fields whom we listened to till we nodded off to sleep, until we woke up to the twittering of the birds and the crowing of the cocks early in the morning. Then, we'd encounter the sows and their piglets crying 'oink oink', hurrying us up in the ubiquitous pig toilets of those times. All these sights, sounds and smells which sound romantic now but were a nuisance then, were to disappear, at first gradually and later rapidly, as villages were electrified and all the modern conveniences which the West was familiar with, from fans to fridges to fast food, started becoming commonplaces of middle class life over the years. From the late 1980s onwards, change continued at a bewildering pace with trees and hills being cut down to make way for concrete jungles, first in the towns and beach belt parts of Bardez, Ilhas and Salcete (the Portuguese Old Conquests) but later on, thanks to the tourism and real estate booms, even in comparatively remote New Conquest areas of Pernem and Canacona. Indiscriminate mining had begun by this time to wreak havoc. The agrarian economy declined and Goa rapidly transformed itself into a modern service-oriented one and mining, tourism, the bureaucracy and remittances from emigrants became the mainstays of Goa's economy. All these changes affected the Goan's way of life immensely. Imperceptibly in the meanwhile, Goa Portuguesa became history and the quaint artefacts of the times like the grinding stones and pestles and the bullock carts and the palanquins from the houses of old that produced those once familiar sights and sensations, got consigned to the museums or, worse, the garbage heaps of Goa, when they weren't eaten by termites or consumed by rust. * But what about the people and the society of Goa Portuguesa? What sort of lives did our parents and grandparents and great- grand-parents live? Were they happy and contented or otherwise? Myths, some diametrically opposed, abound about this Goa of old. There are those who look at Portuguese rule, beginning with the Inquisition, as one of undiluted horror and misery, one where civil liberties (especially for Hindus) were curtailed and one where Goans lived a life of fear from a police state, until the action of the Indian Army in 1961 regained paradise for us. Others think the Goa that is gone was already a Garden of Eden, at least in the sense that it was a more innocent place. These nostalgics yearn for the days when Goa had a very ordered if unequal society, and not the chaos and tumult that is the present. That yearned-after Goa was definitely greener and had a lot less of the big concrete boxes on the hillside style of architecture that exemplifies the word 'Modern'. It was also protected from all sorts of predators (or so these nostalgics thought) and everyone admitted that although the air was pure and the land was beautiful, it was poor and undeveloped. What's the truth? And is there a single truth? Probably not, for there probably never was any one single past, but a range of different pasts which were not black and white or even grey, but a kaleidoscope of colours
[Goanet-News] A Tribute To My First Reader (Anthony Gomes)
Anthony Gomes, MD, FACC, FAHA anthony.go...@mountsinai.org I was informed through your pages, and just yesterday by a mutual friend, the poet Ralph Nazareth, of the recent passing away of João da Veiga Coutinho at the age of 97 years. Undoubtedly, the death of a friend, a relative, a parent, a husband or wife is saddening and overwhelming; however, in João’s case, in his death we can amply celebrate his long, productive life full of humanity. João, of Margão, Goa, wore many hats in his lifetime, more than anyone I have known. He was a priest, a World War II POW camp translator, foreign correspondent, aid worker, professor, philosopher, theologian, a great conversationalist, a published author, husband and father, and a cook who could create Goan dishes with authenticity. He is survived by his wife, Barbara W. Weber, and his son Ravi. I first met João in the early 1970's in the company of his late brother, Fr. Lucio da Veiga Coutinho -- a friend of mine and my late wife Marina Flores -- who was then visiting New York, and who often consulted me regarding his heart problems. We kept in touch sporadically, and met again when Fr. Lucio had his coronary bypass surgery in the US. Many years later, I was contacted by his publisher, the poet Ralph Nazareth, professor of literature, and President of Yuganta Press, Stamford, Connecticut, who had also been the publisher of my first poetry collection, *Visions from Grymes Hill*. He kindly requested me to arrange a book reading for João's debut non-fiction book entitled *A Kind of Absence: Life in the Shadow of History*, at my home in Staten Island, New York. I was thoroughly pleased and excited to host such a celebration for João’s book. It was a wonderful affair on a spring afternoon in early June with the azaleas, rhododendrons, and roses in full bloom. The reading was attended by a host of prominent writers, of Goan and Manglorean origin, including, Dr. Jose Pereira, Dr. George Coelho, Victor Rangel Ribeiro, the poet and publisher Ralph Nazareth, and Richard Crasta, to mention but a few. Although many aspects of João’s book were controversial, particularly regarding Goan culture, the book was written in an essay style and highly provocative, reflective and meditative, inciting a lively discussion and a sense of curiosity. Some years later, a Portuguese translation of the book was published in Portugal by the Fundacão Oriente. Perhaps the best elements in the book included the theme of Absence exemplified in the loss of vital connection with the ancestral land, a recurring theme in today's globalized world, and importantly, the lack of history of one's own, since in his view it was the Portuguese who wrote their own history in the land of Goa: the Colonizer over the Colonized. In his final essay, Genesis, João writes realistically about the evolution of Goan culture: "A sense of Goanness appeared. There emerged a new interest in things Goan, Goan political and social history as distinct from the exploits of Portuguese heroes and rulers, in ancient local institutions, their evolution or erosion, family histories, and biographies of significant men... a new style of Goan architecture... a new authentically Goan cuisine, ballroom dancing and the mandó, an art song and dance which created its own choreography as well as its lyrics and music." Undoubtedly, these very elements of Goannness, or culture, outlined above are at risk of dilution and perhaps even extinction over time, and should be preserved at all costs. João lived with his family in Pennsylvania where I once spend a day with him discussing my novel, and American power and its effects on the world. Soon thereafter, João, together with his family settled in the warm and dry climate of New Mexico, when sometimes we communicated by phone. I personally owe a debt of gratitude to João since after reading just two chapters of my novel, *The Sting of Peppercorns*, he brimmed with excitement encouraging me to complete the book; he was my first reader. --Anthony Gomes, MD, FACC, FAHA -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. Goanet annual year-end meet in Goa: if you're reading this, you're eligible to join us! Dec 28, 2015 @ 11 am Fundacao Oriente, Panjim Confirm your participation with a short email to goa...@goanet.org -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
[Goanet] A Tribute To My First Reader (Anthony Gomes)
Anthony Gomes, MD, FACC, FAHA anthony.go...@mountsinai.org I was informed through your pages, and just yesterday by a mutual friend, the poet Ralph Nazareth, of the recent passing away of João da Veiga Coutinho at the age of 97 years. Undoubtedly, the death of a friend, a relative, a parent, a husband or wife is saddening and overwhelming; however, in João’s case, in his death we can amply celebrate his long, productive life full of humanity. João, of Margão, Goa, wore many hats in his lifetime, more than anyone I have known. He was a priest, a World War II POW camp translator, foreign correspondent, aid worker, professor, philosopher, theologian, a great conversationalist, a published author, husband and father, and a cook who could create Goan dishes with authenticity. He is survived by his wife, Barbara W. Weber, and his son Ravi. I first met João in the early 1970's in the company of his late brother, Fr. Lucio da Veiga Coutinho -- a friend of mine and my late wife Marina Flores -- who was then visiting New York, and who often consulted me regarding his heart problems. We kept in touch sporadically, and met again when Fr. Lucio had his coronary bypass surgery in the US. Many years later, I was contacted by his publisher, the poet Ralph Nazareth, professor of literature, and President of Yuganta Press, Stamford, Connecticut, who had also been the publisher of my first poetry collection, *Visions from Grymes Hill*. He kindly requested me to arrange a book reading for João's debut non-fiction book entitled *A Kind of Absence: Life in the Shadow of History*, at my home in Staten Island, New York. I was thoroughly pleased and excited to host such a celebration for João’s book. It was a wonderful affair on a spring afternoon in early June with the azaleas, rhododendrons, and roses in full bloom. The reading was attended by a host of prominent writers, of Goan and Manglorean origin, including, Dr. Jose Pereira, Dr. George Coelho, Victor Rangel Ribeiro, the poet and publisher Ralph Nazareth, and Richard Crasta, to mention but a few. Although many aspects of João’s book were controversial, particularly regarding Goan culture, the book was written in an essay style and highly provocative, reflective and meditative, inciting a lively discussion and a sense of curiosity. Some years later, a Portuguese translation of the book was published in Portugal by the Fundacão Oriente. Perhaps the best elements in the book included the theme of Absence exemplified in the loss of vital connection with the ancestral land, a recurring theme in today's globalized world, and importantly, the lack of history of one's own, since in his view it was the Portuguese who wrote their own history in the land of Goa: the Colonizer over the Colonized. In his final essay, Genesis, João writes realistically about the evolution of Goan culture: "A sense of Goanness appeared. There emerged a new interest in things Goan, Goan political and social history as distinct from the exploits of Portuguese heroes and rulers, in ancient local institutions, their evolution or erosion, family histories, and biographies of significant men... a new style of Goan architecture... a new authentically Goan cuisine, ballroom dancing and the mandó, an art song and dance which created its own choreography as well as its lyrics and music." Undoubtedly, these very elements of Goannness, or culture, outlined above are at risk of dilution and perhaps even extinction over time, and should be preserved at all costs. João lived with his family in Pennsylvania where I once spend a day with him discussing my novel, and American power and its effects on the world. Soon thereafter, João, together with his family settled in the warm and dry climate of New Mexico, when sometimes we communicated by phone. I personally owe a debt of gratitude to João since after reading just two chapters of my novel, *The Sting of Peppercorns*, he brimmed with excitement encouraging me to complete the book; he was my first reader. --Anthony Gomes, MD, FACC, FAHA
[Goanet] DEBATE: History... that's only in the movies (Aakar Patel, in ToI)
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/aakarvani/bajirao-the-great-hindu-nationalist-thats-only-in-the-movies/ Bajirao the great Hindu nationalist -- That's only in the movies Aakar Patel in Aakarvani | India | TOI I think I'll write about Bajirao Mastani today. I have not seen the movie, nor do I intend to (only one Gujarati makes the cut as director of watchable pap and that is neither Sanjay Leela Bhansali nor Sajid Nadiadwala, but Manmohan Desai, a true master). However, I have read Bajirao Mastani's reviews and one of them said to my alarm, that the film "explores the romantic side of 18th-century Maratha general Bajirao Ballal Bhat, who fought and won 40 battles against the Mughals with an aim to create a unified Hindu kingdom or Akhand Bharatvarsha". Whoa, hold it right there. First, the Marathas only ever wanted a Marathi kingdom for themselves. It was not unified, hardly *akhand* and never Hindu. The Marathas were despised by other Hindu rulers, and disliked by non-Marathi Hindus as well, as history shows us. Bajirao and the Marathas campaigned for one thing alone, and it was called *chauth*. It meant a fourth of all revenue from other kingdoms, no matter what the faith of king and subject, and at collecting this Bajirao and the rest were efficient. Maratha extortion caused Jaipur's Ishwari Singh to commit suicide in December 1750. Sir Jadunath Sarkar (the Manmohan Desai of our historians) writes of what followed in his four-volume classic, *Fall of the Mughal Empire*: "On 10 January, some 4,000 Marathas entered Jaipur... (and) despising the helpless condition of a king propped up by their arms, seemed to have behaved towards Jaipur as a city taken by storm. Suddenly the pent-up hatred of the Rajputs burst forth; a riot broke out at noon, and the citizens attacked the unsuspecting Marathas. For nine hours slaughter and pillage raged." The Marathas first invaded Bengal in 1742. Of their behaviour, the *New Cambridge History of India* tells us that "all authorities, both Indian and European are agreed". A contemporary writer calls them "slayers of pregnant women and infants" and Sarkar has recorded their gang-rape of Hindu women, inexplicably stuffing the mouths of their victims with dust and breaking their arms and tying them behind their backs. The only Indian to try and protect his subjects against the Marathas incidentally, was the Mughal governor Ali Vardi Khan. So much for Akhand Bharat. But I must say that the Marathas did not behave differently from any other ruler or warrior community, and the idea of a unified Hindu sentiment exists only in the imagination of those who get their history from the movies. What the Marathas did striking north from the south, the Sikhs did in the opposite direction (they called their extortion 'rakhi', or protection, and it was 10% for all Indians). It is undeniably true on the other hand that the Marathas were originals. It is important for this romance between Bajirao and Mastani that she knew how to ride well because there were no palanquins and howdahs travelling with the Marathas as there were with the Mughals. The Marathas were the Mongols of South Asia, always on horseback, and with no infantry and no giant camp behind. Even the scavengers who followed them around, the bargis, rode. When the monsoons ended, the Maratha army, about 40,000 men, rode across the Narmada and Tapi, the border that marked off the Deccan, and attacked 'Hindustan'. Shivaji always organised this on a particular day: Dussehra (Bal Thackeray continued this tradition of declaring war on other Indians with his fiery Dussehra speeches). After the death of the peasant king, power passed to the Brahmin peshwas of whom the best was Bajirao. As the Mughal fighting ability and finances (the two being interchangeable) declined after Aurangzeb, the Marathas began penetrating increasingly into hitherto unknown territory in the north. It was the young Bajirao, then only in his teens, who determined, rightly, in one of these raids that the Mughals had gone soft and could no longer defend the realm. From this point on, the Marathas began holding ground instead of just taking their horses back. It is why we see Marathi names like Holkar and Scindia and Gaekwad in parts of India they do not naturally belong. Everyone grabbed what they could and held onto it, there was no Hindu or Bharat angle to any of it. Bajirao had one good battlefield victory, against Chin Qilich Khan, first Nizam of Hyderabad. It was a positional win, meaning the arrangement of Bajirao's force gave no space for Khan and he gave up without much fighting. Like chess. A similar situation came in Panipat, when Abdali positioned the Marathas out. Bravely, the Marathas
[Goanet] A tribute to Joao da Veiga-Coutinho (1918-2015)
Scientist Helga do Rosario Gomes announced on the GoaResearchNet the death of Joao da Veiga Coutinho, and shared this note from his son Ravi: "Yesterday, my friend, mentor, and father, Joao V. Coutinho passed away at the age of 97. He died as he had hoped: at home, surrounded by those who loved him. While my heart is broken, my chief consolation is that his near-century on this Earth was full of life. Over the course of his lifetime he was a priest, WWII POW camp translator, foreign correspondent, humanitarian aid worker, professor, published author, loving husband to my mom, Barbara K. Webber and, finally, a father. He spoke 13 languages and left a lasting academic impact on the fields of sociology, education, and theology. He is, unquestionably, the smartest man I will ever have the privilege of meeting, and I was fortunate to have him shape my life. He was a great fan of Tagore, after whom my name was chosen, who wrote: 'Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.' His light will never be extinguished, and he will live on through the lives of those he loved, taught, and befriended. I love you, Dad." Below is a review of Joao da Viega-Coutinho's *A Kind of Absence*, reviewed by the late Dr George Coelho in the Goan Overseas Digest (Oct-Dec 1998), a magazine that was edited by statistician Dr Eddie Fernandes. Dr Coelho was an early Goanetter, and was pleased by the new forms of networking younger generations (then) of Goans were taking to. He saw it as the precursor of a Goan Renaissance. GO DIGEST WRITES: Born in Bombay, Dr Coelho graduated from St Xavier's College in Latin and English. He served in the Indian Armed Forces in World war II, rising to the rank kof Major. He received his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Harvard University in 1956. He was Health Science Administrator and International Health Officer at the National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland until his retirement in 1996. George has published in professional journals and edited several books on mental health issues. In the last 10 years, he has been drawn to his first love, literature and poetry, attending international conferences in portugal and Goa an dpublished essays on Goan poetry in Portuguese. -- Book review by Dr George Coelho THE FULL TITLE is *A Kind of Absence: Life in the Shadow of History* (Yuganta Press, USA). It is a beautifully crafted volume of essays, edited and published by Ralph Nazareth, poet, professor of literature and President of Yuganta Press, Stamford, Connecticut. A timely and significant work, it is conversational in tone, in the mode of Socratic dialogue. Neither didactic nor dogmatic, theessays are written in a lucid and elegant style: they flow with the cadence and imagery of a prose poem. They invite reflection and meditation. In his Preliminary Remarks, the author speaks of his essays as "musings fragmentary in part, explorationsThere are more questions than answers, not because answers that are widely satisfying are few (this is, after all, a search undertaken on one's own behalf) but because questions must be asked and multiplied and lived with, before there can be answers." The book cover displays a faint silhouette of the facade of the Santo Espirito Church of Margao, around which the author remembers playing as a child in his grandmother's home. There is history there, the author muses: "Our churches in Goa are built upon the ruins of destroyed Hindu temples (III, p42). In the middle of the square facing the Church of the Santo Espirito, Margao, Salcete, next to the cruzeiro, the white stuccoed monument surmounted by a black cross, stands a tree. It is said to have been there since before the church, a silent witness to the sacredness of the site, and ceremonies once performed in honour of the exiled divinity (III, p43). Part I: Thinking about History is the first essay, sounding the major theme of Absence: "There has been no Goan history... our story remains untold. What is it and where is it to be found? What are its outlines and what are its salient features? What are its sources? What should it cover? What should it show and explain? Our history was largely made by others. We were caught in it, almost in spite of ourselves. We have to salvage what is ourse; see how much of it belongs to us (I, p8,9). This theme of Absence recurs in the following motifs: i) The loss of a vital connection with an ancestral land. ii) The lack of a history of one's own, a proper universe. For "The Portuguese wrote their own story in these parts..." Part II: Conversations with th eDead discusses several versions of Goan history written by Goans (prior to Indian Independence in 1947). The
[Goanet-News] A tribute to Joao da Veiga-Coutinho (1918-2015)
Scientist Helga do Rosario Gomes announced on the GoaResearchNet the death of Joao da Veiga Coutinho, and shared this note from his son Ravi: "Yesterday, my friend, mentor, and father, Joao V. Coutinho passed away at the age of 97. He died as he had hoped: at home, surrounded by those who loved him. While my heart is broken, my chief consolation is that his near-century on this Earth was full of life. Over the course of his lifetime he was a priest, WWII POW camp translator, foreign correspondent, humanitarian aid worker, professor, published author, loving husband to my mom, Barbara K. Webber and, finally, a father. He spoke 13 languages and left a lasting academic impact on the fields of sociology, education, and theology. He is, unquestionably, the smartest man I will ever have the privilege of meeting, and I was fortunate to have him shape my life. He was a great fan of Tagore, after whom my name was chosen, who wrote: 'Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.' His light will never be extinguished, and he will live on through the lives of those he loved, taught, and befriended. I love you, Dad." Below is a review of Joao da Viega-Coutinho's *A Kind of Absence*, reviewed by the late Dr George Coelho in the Goan Overseas Digest (Oct-Dec 1998), a magazine that was edited by statistician Dr Eddie Fernandes. Dr Coelho was an early Goanetter, and was pleased by the new forms of networking younger generations (then) of Goans were taking to. He saw it as the precursor of a Goan Renaissance. GO DIGEST WRITES: Born in Bombay, Dr Coelho graduated from St Xavier's College in Latin and English. He served in the Indian Armed Forces in World war II, rising to the rank kof Major. He received his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Harvard University in 1956. He was Health Science Administrator and International Health Officer at the National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland until his retirement in 1996. George has published in professional journals and edited several books on mental health issues. In the last 10 years, he has been drawn to his first love, literature and poetry, attending international conferences in portugal and Goa an dpublished essays on Goan poetry in Portuguese. -- Book review by Dr George Coelho THE FULL TITLE is *A Kind of Absence: Life in the Shadow of History* (Yuganta Press, USA). It is a beautifully crafted volume of essays, edited and published by Ralph Nazareth, poet, professor of literature and President of Yuganta Press, Stamford, Connecticut. A timely and significant work, it is conversational in tone, in the mode of Socratic dialogue. Neither didactic nor dogmatic, theessays are written in a lucid and elegant style: they flow with the cadence and imagery of a prose poem. They invite reflection and meditation. In his Preliminary Remarks, the author speaks of his essays as "musings fragmentary in part, explorationsThere are more questions than answers, not because answers that are widely satisfying are few (this is, after all, a search undertaken on one's own behalf) but because questions must be asked and multiplied and lived with, before there can be answers." The book cover displays a faint silhouette of the facade of the Santo Espirito Church of Margao, around which the author remembers playing as a child in his grandmother's home. There is history there, the author muses: "Our churches in Goa are built upon the ruins of destroyed Hindu temples (III, p42). In the middle of the square facing the Church of the Santo Espirito, Margao, Salcete, next to the cruzeiro, the white stuccoed monument surmounted by a black cross, stands a tree. It is said to have been there since before the church, a silent witness to the sacredness of the site, and ceremonies once performed in honour of the exiled divinity (III, p43). Part I: Thinking about History is the first essay, sounding the major theme of Absence: "There has been no Goan history... our story remains untold. What is it and where is it to be found? What are its outlines and what are its salient features? What are its sources? What should it cover? What should it show and explain? Our history was largely made by others. We were caught in it, almost in spite of ourselves. We have to salvage what is ourse; see how much of it belongs to us (I, p8,9). This theme of Absence recurs in the following motifs: i) The loss of a vital connection with an ancestral land. ii) The lack of a history of one's own, a proper universe. For "The Portuguese wrote their own story in these parts..." Part II: Conversations with th eDead discusses several versions of Goan history written by Goans (prior to Indian Independence in 1947). The
[Goanet] A room of our own? (FN)
A room of our own? FN Ruskin Bond recently commented on a paradox from today's India: all over the country, bookshops are closing down. And all over lit fests are springing up. There's another paradox here too: everyone claims to be doing so much for the written word, but so little is actually happening. Few people notice a new book when it's published, and books still struggle to find a decent audience. In recent years, even tiny Goa has had its fair share of lit fests. Last year there were two. We've had the GALF annually for the past five years. This year, the children's lit fest, Bookaroo also came to Goa only last weekend. While interestingly organised, the audiences were poor. These festivals are in addition to the more traditional literary festivals, focussed on either Konkani (usually Devanagari) or Marathi, and known as sahitya sammelans, or something similar. Many sahitya sammelans might have done little to promote books and writing, but they did take quite a few political stands. Some stands against English education emerged here, before becoming part of State policy, now thankfully abandoned, but after Goa paid a heavy price. The new form of lit fests are just more glamorous, better funded, and pull in participants (usually communicating with each other in English) not only from from distant pockets of the country, but even from abroad. In a place like Goa specially, events which offer space to the written word in English do need space. For too long, this language has received step-motherly treatment here. Actually, Goa doesn't even have a direct colonial connect with English. Yet, the language plays a critical role in education, news dissemination, idea generation, creative expression and more. While the 'regional' languages (or 'mother tongues') have garnered support and incentives -- not that this has really helped their growth -- the language that the largest part of Goa uses to communicate has been treated as a step-child. There are no State awards for writers in English here. Despite its widespread use, it is still seen as 'foreign' and somehow not worthy of support. Never mind that India is today the second largest producer worldwide of English books, and this language helps us communicate across boundaries. The official website of the Directorate of Art and Culture has sections -- written, ironically enough, in English -- focusing on the 'Konkani Literature of Goa' and the 'Marathi Literature from Goa: An overview'. Browsing here, you might believe that no cultural expression happens in English. It is time even the Vishnu Wagh-headed Kala Academy begins recognising contributions made in the English language too. In such a context, having a lit fest that focusses on English (but has space to talk with, and listen to, other languages too) could have been a blessing. But is this really the case? Participants in the event often have good things to say about the GALF. What we see depends on where we stand. One count last year said India had sixty or so literary festivals, an average of over one each week. Global events like the Edinburgh Festival, the arts and cultural summer festival in the Scottish capital -- serve as the role for the bigger lit fests in India. These, in turn, act as the templates for the smaller ones, as Indrajit Hazra wrote for aljazeera.com. Way back in 2010, the then Director and Chief Executive of The International Centre, Goa, Nandini Sahai, suggested a literary festival in Goa. Getting a crowd for events discussing serious issues can be tough in Goa; and this was the experience of the GALF too. Like most serious events in Goa, initially the struggle was to get a decent crowd to attend. Over the years, that has improved, but three concerns still remain. Sponsorships, including official ones, have helped in some way. It is not clear how much gets spent on the events, because the International Centre Goa claims it is not covered by the Right to Information Act. But, three big challenges face events like the GALF: avoiding artificial hierarchies in classifying literature; becoming less top-down and arbitrary in its functioning; and creating a more participative approach. For decades, the creative process in Goa has been stymied by the lack of a market, of production facilities, of free speech (for a significant part of the 20th century), and even a shortage of role models. It was not much different from what Virginia Woolf describes, in quite another context, in A Room of One's Own. Goa needs to create rooms of its own to spur on the creative process. But, now, just when writers from here have an enhanced chance of getting heard, we could be building new hierarchies. Local work needs to be validated by the tastes of someone in New Delhi or New York, before it can be deemed as significant and
[Goanet-News] A room of our own? (FN)
A room of our own? FN Ruskin Bond recently commented on a paradox from today's India: all over the country, bookshops are closing down. And all over lit fests are springing up. There's another paradox here too: everyone claims to be doing so much for the written word, but so little is actually happening. Few people notice a new book when it's published, and books still struggle to find a decent audience. In recent years, even tiny Goa has had its fair share of lit fests. Last year there were two. We've had the GALF annually for the past five years. This year, the children's lit fest, Bookaroo also came to Goa only last weekend. While interestingly organised, the audiences were poor. These festivals are in addition to the more traditional literary festivals, focussed on either Konkani (usually Devanagari) or Marathi, and known as sahitya sammelans, or something similar. Many sahitya sammelans might have done little to promote books and writing, but they did take quite a few political stands. Some stands against English education emerged here, before becoming part of State policy, now thankfully abandoned, but after Goa paid a heavy price. The new form of lit fests are just more glamorous, better funded, and pull in participants (usually communicating with each other in English) not only from from distant pockets of the country, but even from abroad. In a place like Goa specially, events which offer space to the written word in English do need space. For too long, this language has received step-motherly treatment here. Actually, Goa doesn't even have a direct colonial connect with English. Yet, the language plays a critical role in education, news dissemination, idea generation, creative expression and more. While the 'regional' languages (or 'mother tongues') have garnered support and incentives -- not that this has really helped their growth -- the language that the largest part of Goa uses to communicate has been treated as a step-child. There are no State awards for writers in English here. Despite its widespread use, it is still seen as 'foreign' and somehow not worthy of support. Never mind that India is today the second largest producer worldwide of English books, and this language helps us communicate across boundaries. The official website of the Directorate of Art and Culture has sections -- written, ironically enough, in English -- focusing on the 'Konkani Literature of Goa' and the 'Marathi Literature from Goa: An overview'. Browsing here, you might believe that no cultural expression happens in English. It is time even the Vishnu Wagh-headed Kala Academy begins recognising contributions made in the English language too. In such a context, having a lit fest that focusses on English (but has space to talk with, and listen to, other languages too) could have been a blessing. But is this really the case? Participants in the event often have good things to say about the GALF. What we see depends on where we stand. One count last year said India had sixty or so literary festivals, an average of over one each week. Global events like the Edinburgh Festival, the arts and cultural summer festival in the Scottish capital -- serve as the role for the bigger lit fests in India. These, in turn, act as the templates for the smaller ones, as Indrajit Hazra wrote for aljazeera.com. Way back in 2010, the then Director and Chief Executive of The International Centre, Goa, Nandini Sahai, suggested a literary festival in Goa. Getting a crowd for events discussing serious issues can be tough in Goa; and this was the experience of the GALF too. Like most serious events in Goa, initially the struggle was to get a decent crowd to attend. Over the years, that has improved, but three concerns still remain. Sponsorships, including official ones, have helped in some way. It is not clear how much gets spent on the events, because the International Centre Goa claims it is not covered by the Right to Information Act. But, three big challenges face events like the GALF: avoiding artificial hierarchies in classifying literature; becoming less top-down and arbitrary in its functioning; and creating a more participative approach. For decades, the creative process in Goa has been stymied by the lack of a market, of production facilities, of free speech (for a significant part of the 20th century), and even a shortage of role models. It was not much different from what Virginia Woolf describes, in quite another context, in A Room of One's Own. Goa needs to create rooms of its own to spur on the creative process. But, now, just when writers from here have an enhanced chance of getting heard, we could be building new hierarchies. Local work needs to be validated by the tastes of someone in New Delhi or New York, before it can be deemed as significant and
[Goanet] From Souza & Paul to albums eaten by termites... (Savia Viegas)
FROM SOUZA & PAUL TO ALBUMS EATEN BY TERMITES Stories that the photographs leave behind for Goa By Savia Viegas saviavie...@hotmail.com The photographic image played a central role in the visual history of the changing world of the 1840s. It was a world that was colonially inscribed; its geographies redefined and culturally re-conglomerated. It was a world of centres and peripheries linked by power, trade and colonisation. These new political groups had intense activities that linked the axis to the margins and these fringes to each other wherein goods, flora and fauna were relocated. People too moved across immense distances either for work opportunities or propelled by destiny. The invention in 1839 of two methods of permanently-capturing images on metal or paper -- daguerreotype or producing an image on paper which was tonally and laterally reversed -- changed the way images were made and produced. The photograph was a response to a social and cultural hunger for accurate and real-looking images, whose origins Naomi Rosenblum, the photography historian, locates in the Renaissance. From then on, the processes, techniques and subjects of photography have changed and evolved. As Coco Fusco, director of Graduate Studies for the Visual Arts, Columbia University writes: "We are increasingly reliant on photographs for information about histories and realities that we do not experience directly. By looking at pictures we imagine that we can know who we are and who we were." This Exhibition seeks to offer a perspective of the history of Goa mirrored through a clutch of old photographs. As we view the images in this exhibition, questions will crop up in the minds of some of the viewers: * Why are the common people not in these photographs? * Why there are no photographs of Muslim families and those of minorities? Colonialism has left its tell-tale marks on our societies, creating different cultural metaphors for different cultural groups, changing and evolving with the passage of time. These photographs reflect these stark imprints of times gone by, exposing and delving into some common trends. In each Photograph, the identifiable and defined cues as the camera faced its subjects: the distance between the photographer and the posers in the foreground, the pose, clothes and other cultural artefacts coupled with the objects, human and inanimate, in the background, all reflect the unique aesthetics and conventions of the times. The Estado of the Portuguese empire was a tiny stretch of shoreline spread across three zones in western India namely Goa, Daman and Diu. These pockets situated away from each other on the rim of the Indian Ocean sustained on trading. Its gentrified populace, their short and long migrations to British India, parts of Africa Inglesa (British, East Africa) or the Portuguese colonies across the globe, coupled with the support of wealthy Hindu merchants afforded the Portuguese empire its holding power and Goa its singular importance in the network of the Portuguese colonial empire. Photography as an image-making tool travelled to the Indic colonies of Britain in 1840, as early on as just a year after its invention in England and France. But it came to be used in Goa, only some decades later. The chemical collodion, used for manufacturing blasting gelatin and imported under great surveillance, was a crucial ingredient in photograph processing. In the British colony, the technology was marshalled as a recording tool and used exclusively by the State and the elites, thereby putting photography off-limits for the common people for a long time. The first photographers to establish themselves in Goa were the Bombay-returned Souza & Paul duo who set up their photo studio shop in Nova Goa (Panjim) in 1884. This very successful team -- partners, according to some; brothers, according to others -- aided the elite gentry, created albums documenting the state and even served the colonial government in Goa in their capacity as police photographers. The photographs of Souza & Paul appropriated the imperial gaze, focusing more on locations than people, and undoubtedly were created for the consumption of viewers both, from Portugal and from the colonies. The central icons of their work are: the celebrated Panjim jetty with docked boats and gentrified people wearing urbane European clothing, showing an ordered populace without any hint of compulsory dress codes; wide avenues suggestive of well-laid-out inhabited city; and the belfries of cathedrals and church towers illustrating a visual hierarchy of indexical signs for the rationale of colonialism. But, even before the arrival of Souza & Paul, there is evidence to suggest that the Estado
[Goanet-News] From Souza & Paul to albums eaten by termites... (Savia Viegas)
FROM SOUZA & PAUL TO ALBUMS EATEN BY TERMITES Stories that the photographs leave behind for Goa By Savia Viegas saviavie...@hotmail.com The photographic image played a central role in the visual history of the changing world of the 1840s. It was a world that was colonially inscribed; its geographies redefined and culturally re-conglomerated. It was a world of centres and peripheries linked by power, trade and colonisation. These new political groups had intense activities that linked the axis to the margins and these fringes to each other wherein goods, flora and fauna were relocated. People too moved across immense distances either for work opportunities or propelled by destiny. The invention in 1839 of two methods of permanently-capturing images on metal or paper -- daguerreotype or producing an image on paper which was tonally and laterally reversed -- changed the way images were made and produced. The photograph was a response to a social and cultural hunger for accurate and real-looking images, whose origins Naomi Rosenblum, the photography historian, locates in the Renaissance. From then on, the processes, techniques and subjects of photography have changed and evolved. As Coco Fusco, director of Graduate Studies for the Visual Arts, Columbia University writes: "We are increasingly reliant on photographs for information about histories and realities that we do not experience directly. By looking at pictures we imagine that we can know who we are and who we were." This Exhibition seeks to offer a perspective of the history of Goa mirrored through a clutch of old photographs. As we view the images in this exhibition, questions will crop up in the minds of some of the viewers: * Why are the common people not in these photographs? * Why there are no photographs of Muslim families and those of minorities? Colonialism has left its tell-tale marks on our societies, creating different cultural metaphors for different cultural groups, changing and evolving with the passage of time. These photographs reflect these stark imprints of times gone by, exposing and delving into some common trends. In each Photograph, the identifiable and defined cues as the camera faced its subjects: the distance between the photographer and the posers in the foreground, the pose, clothes and other cultural artefacts coupled with the objects, human and inanimate, in the background, all reflect the unique aesthetics and conventions of the times. The Estado of the Portuguese empire was a tiny stretch of shoreline spread across three zones in western India namely Goa, Daman and Diu. These pockets situated away from each other on the rim of the Indian Ocean sustained on trading. Its gentrified populace, their short and long migrations to British India, parts of Africa Inglesa (British, East Africa) or the Portuguese colonies across the globe, coupled with the support of wealthy Hindu merchants afforded the Portuguese empire its holding power and Goa its singular importance in the network of the Portuguese colonial empire. Photography as an image-making tool travelled to the Indic colonies of Britain in 1840, as early on as just a year after its invention in England and France. But it came to be used in Goa, only some decades later. The chemical collodion, used for manufacturing blasting gelatin and imported under great surveillance, was a crucial ingredient in photograph processing. In the British colony, the technology was marshalled as a recording tool and used exclusively by the State and the elites, thereby putting photography off-limits for the common people for a long time. The first photographers to establish themselves in Goa were the Bombay-returned Souza & Paul duo who set up their photo studio shop in Nova Goa (Panjim) in 1884. This very successful team -- partners, according to some; brothers, according to others -- aided the elite gentry, created albums documenting the state and even served the colonial government in Goa in their capacity as police photographers. The photographs of Souza & Paul appropriated the imperial gaze, focusing more on locations than people, and undoubtedly were created for the consumption of viewers both, from Portugal and from the colonies. The central icons of their work are: the celebrated Panjim jetty with docked boats and gentrified people wearing urbane European clothing, showing an ordered populace without any hint of compulsory dress codes; wide avenues suggestive of well-laid-out inhabited city; and the belfries of cathedrals and church towers illustrating a visual hierarchy of indexical signs for the rationale of colonialism. But, even before the arrival of Souza & Paul, there is evidence to suggest that the Estado
[Goanet-News] When the State (and the law) decide the fate of a minority sport (Antonio do Rosario Fernandes)
WHEN THE STATE DECIDES THE FATE OF A MINORITY SPORT An analysis of the high court ban on bull fights in Goa Antonio do Rosario Fernandes +91 88 88 624464 Acting on a writ petition (No. 347 of 1996), the Panaji Bench of the Bombay High Court comprising of Justice R K Batta and Justice R M S Khandeparkar, in a judgement dated 20 December 1996, banned the sport of bull fights popularly known as dhirio in Goa, as a contravention of section 11(1) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, which is also in force in the state of Goa. Let's look at the merits of the case, and then ponder on the likely detrimental effects to society due to the imposition of the ban on bull fights, and suggest a course of action based on reason. The writ petition seeking the ban on bull fights was filed by Norma Alvares and People for Animals. The petitioners' advocate was M.S. Sonak. The respondents in the case were the State of Goa; the Director, Department of Animal Husbandry; and the Inspector General of Police. The respondents were represented by the Advocate General, V B Nadkarni, with G U Bhobe assisting him. The intervenors in the case were Simon Caiado and the All Goa Bull and Buffalo Owners' Association. The intervenors were represented by Anacleto Viegas. The arguments of the petitioners' counsel, Mr Sonak, all of which were found to be weighty by the honourable judges, were as follows: (i) That cruelty is inflicted to the animals in the course of the sport of bull fights and occasionally a bull can get gored and he can be calmed down only by putting to sleep. Also occasionally a spectator can be gored to death. In fact the immediate cause for the writ petition was the fact that notwithstanding the killing of a spectator, Xavier Rodrigues, during a bull fight organized at Ambaji-Fatorda, near Margao on 17 September 1996, a further bull fight was scheduled to take place on 2 October 1996. That eight months earlier an unnamed spectator was also gored to death during a bull fight at Guirim. (ii) That the conduct of bull fights is in contravention of section 11(1) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, for short called the Act, and therefore is illegal and that the respondents are aiding and abetting the illegalities. (iii) That bull fights are associated with social evils of illegal betting, relating to the fortunes and fate of individual bulls, and that bull fights have become popular because of the betting that goes with them. (iv) That bull fights are a recent introduction in Goa and though initially, no money or gambling was associated with them, in recent times, due to the patronage of politicians, the frequency of bull fights has increased enormously and they have become a completely commercial business in which spectators are charged Rs 35 as entrance fee and the crowd at a bull fight can range anywhere from 500 to 5000, depending on the bulls which are engaged for fighting, the commercialization being at the cost of cruelty to the animals and occasionally to human beings. (v) That the State cannot be a silent spectator to the cruelty to animals and choose to be indifferent to the barbaric treatment given to animals for sheer pleasure of human beings and cannot shirk the responsibility to take action under the Act and under the Criminal Procedure Code, and that toleration by the authorities of the violation of the Act will encourage lawlessness and social evils. In hindsight it may be observed that the respondents and the intervenors both relied solely on a single line of defence, which proved their undoing. Their defence was that cruelty to animals cannot be presumed merely because a bull fight is arranged. Cruelty may occur only in the course of a bull fight depending on the circumstances in each case of bull fights and there is no presumption that there will be cruelty to animals in the course of each and every bull fight. Being so, it is not possible to prohibit bull fights under the provisions of the Act. As rightly pointed out by the petitioners' counsel, neither the respondents nor the intervenors attempted to counter the arguments put forth by the petitioners, viz cruelty to animals and human beings, betting etc. In the course of his arguments, the Advocate General, V B Nadkarni mentioned to the effect that any cruelty inflicted to the animals in the course of their being butchered for food for human beings, is exempted from the Act. A moot question is, how does this cruelty to animals, which is
[Goanet] When the State (and the law) decide the fate of a minority sport (Antonio do Rosario Fernandes)
WHEN THE STATE DECIDES THE FATE OF A MINORITY SPORT An analysis of the high court ban on bull fights in Goa Antonio do Rosario Fernandes +91 88 88 624464 Acting on a writ petition (No. 347 of 1996), the Panaji Bench of the Bombay High Court comprising of Justice R K Batta and Justice R M S Khandeparkar, in a judgement dated 20 December 1996, banned the sport of bull fights popularly known as dhirio in Goa, as a contravention of section 11(1) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, which is also in force in the state of Goa. Let's look at the merits of the case, and then ponder on the likely detrimental effects to society due to the imposition of the ban on bull fights, and suggest a course of action based on reason. The writ petition seeking the ban on bull fights was filed by Norma Alvares and People for Animals. The petitioners' advocate was M.S. Sonak. The respondents in the case were the State of Goa; the Director, Department of Animal Husbandry; and the Inspector General of Police. The respondents were represented by the Advocate General, V B Nadkarni, with G U Bhobe assisting him. The intervenors in the case were Simon Caiado and the All Goa Bull and Buffalo Owners' Association. The intervenors were represented by Anacleto Viegas. The arguments of the petitioners' counsel, Mr Sonak, all of which were found to be weighty by the honourable judges, were as follows: (i) That cruelty is inflicted to the animals in the course of the sport of bull fights and occasionally a bull can get gored and he can be calmed down only by putting to sleep. Also occasionally a spectator can be gored to death. In fact the immediate cause for the writ petition was the fact that notwithstanding the killing of a spectator, Xavier Rodrigues, during a bull fight organized at Ambaji-Fatorda, near Margao on 17 September 1996, a further bull fight was scheduled to take place on 2 October 1996. That eight months earlier an unnamed spectator was also gored to death during a bull fight at Guirim. (ii) That the conduct of bull fights is in contravention of section 11(1) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, for short called the Act, and therefore is illegal and that the respondents are aiding and abetting the illegalities. (iii) That bull fights are associated with social evils of illegal betting, relating to the fortunes and fate of individual bulls, and that bull fights have become popular because of the betting that goes with them. (iv) That bull fights are a recent introduction in Goa and though initially, no money or gambling was associated with them, in recent times, due to the patronage of politicians, the frequency of bull fights has increased enormously and they have become a completely commercial business in which spectators are charged Rs 35 as entrance fee and the crowd at a bull fight can range anywhere from 500 to 5000, depending on the bulls which are engaged for fighting, the commercialization being at the cost of cruelty to the animals and occasionally to human beings. (v) That the State cannot be a silent spectator to the cruelty to animals and choose to be indifferent to the barbaric treatment given to animals for sheer pleasure of human beings and cannot shirk the responsibility to take action under the Act and under the Criminal Procedure Code, and that toleration by the authorities of the violation of the Act will encourage lawlessness and social evils. In hindsight it may be observed that the respondents and the intervenors both relied solely on a single line of defence, which proved their undoing. Their defence was that cruelty to animals cannot be presumed merely because a bull fight is arranged. Cruelty may occur only in the course of a bull fight depending on the circumstances in each case of bull fights and there is no presumption that there will be cruelty to animals in the course of each and every bull fight. Being so, it is not possible to prohibit bull fights under the provisions of the Act. As rightly pointed out by the petitioners' counsel, neither the respondents nor the intervenors attempted to counter the arguments put forth by the petitioners, viz cruelty to animals and human beings, betting etc. In the course of his arguments, the Advocate General, V B Nadkarni mentioned to the effect that any cruelty inflicted to the animals in the course of their being butchered for food for human beings, is exempted from the Act. A moot question is, how does this cruelty to animals, which is
[Goanet-News] Changing Goa (FN)
Changing Goa By Frederick Noronha fredericknoro...@gmail.com "Climb on my bike," I told my Bomoicar (Bombay Goan) friend. He promptly agreed, and we took off on a ride to somewhere. We spent a part of the evening visiting a hidden Goa, one which we know so little of, and one which is changing so dramatically even beneath our busy eyes. Our Bomoicar has been making regular trips to Goa for quite a few years now. He has been caught up in a tenancy dispute. Someone whom his family was generous to, and had permitted to stay in their only family house, stayed on and has claimed tenancy rights. A few hundred square metres of land lost. With it, their ancestral link to a region they consider home. And, the bitterness of having to face an unfair system. Frustrations on realising that this might be affecting so many other individuals, each of whom is unaware of the other's problems. Repeated visits to Goa, frequent adjournments, and being treated as an alien in your own land. This has been his story. Nobody is in a hurry to sort out this decades-old problem. Meanwhile, he stays in paying guests accomodation, or modest hotels, on each visit. The family which was offered shelter out of pity, clings on and claims 'mundkarial' rights in a home they were merely allowed to temporarily live in. Local religious leaders refused to offer a world on what should also be issue of ethics. Families not staying here do not have a single vote; so politicians would favour those who have the numbers on their side. Here. For the last many decades now, Goa has been dazzled with an amazing set of statistics. We have been repeatedly told how rapidly the state is changing -- for the better, of course -- and how the figures support this claim. But figures can misrepresent, if not actually lie. Figures also ignore human tragedies and the bitter tales of many groups of individuals. When my family returned to Goa in the 1960s, there were many people moving both out of, and into, Goa. The trend of migration into Goa was a fairly new one, due to the jobs that were then just opening up in some sectors. But out-migration had already been established for a few generations. Even as a child, one could notice that the village of the Goa of the 1960s comprised mostly of grandparents and grandchildren. There was a missing generation in between. In the central coastal areas of Goa, there were, even then, more people moving out, than moving in. Houses were easy to rent out. Our family took on a largish, maybe 300-400 square metre house, at a rent of a mere Rs 15 per month. In those times, people trustingly allowed you to live in their homes, not knowing what was to come up soon. They would not bother with 11-month-leases and the like, and everything ran on trust. By the late 1960s, people wisened up to the situation. If based outside Goa, in those days where media was not as active, they took time. Our landlady pleaded that the family needed back their home in a hurry, so could we find some alternative place urgently? As chance would have it, we were already preparing to move out, and sought a few months more. It probably didn't strike my parents that they could grab someone else's house due to a loophole in the law; or if it did strike them, thankfully they did not have the treachery enough in them to carry this out. * * * Statistics tell us that Goa's per capita income is tremendiously high. That we have more jobs on offer than any time in the past, since when statistics were maintained. We rode right on to encounter this reality. The main road that once lead into the village has meanwhile become a side road. The bigger road ran past some major industries, and on to a bridge taking you to Mumbai, some 600 kms away. Decades ago, when we sat in the old carreira (or caminhao, the old style bus of the Goa of the 1960s) headed down this path, it was one hell of a drive full of anticipation. Now too, like then, the curved road down the slope showed up. Then the overbridge, a strange structure. To the right, was the old bus-stop, and the chapel, almost invisible a little distance ahead. Going under the overbridge took you past the school. It was a tiny shalla then, where the caminhao parked. Now, a large school structure was up in its place. The village looked the same, except with a lot more houses vying for the same space. The affluence and vitality which came back with the Africanders (Goan expatriates returning from Africa) was clearly lacking. The village looked dusty and aging. The houses came in different types. For some reason, there were few or none of the flashy Gulf-funded houses that one sees in some parts of Goa. Instead, there were a larger than expected houses in a poor state of maintenance. The kind of home that has seen better days, built in times of affluence, and has now probably passed on
[Goanet] Changing Goa (FN)
Changing Goa By Frederick Noronha fredericknoro...@gmail.com "Climb on my bike," I told my Bomoicar (Bombay Goan) friend. He promptly agreed, and we took off on a ride to somewhere. We spent a part of the evening visiting a hidden Goa, one which we know so little of, and one which is changing so dramatically even beneath our busy eyes. Our Bomoicar has been making regular trips to Goa for quite a few years now. He has been caught up in a tenancy dispute. Someone whom his family was generous to, and had permitted to stay in their only family house, stayed on and has claimed tenancy rights. A few hundred square metres of land lost. With it, their ancestral link to a region they consider home. And, the bitterness of having to face an unfair system. Frustrations on realising that this might be affecting so many other individuals, each of whom is unaware of the other's problems. Repeated visits to Goa, frequent adjournments, and being treated as an alien in your own land. This has been his story. Nobody is in a hurry to sort out this decades-old problem. Meanwhile, he stays in paying guests accomodation, or modest hotels, on each visit. The family which was offered shelter out of pity, clings on and claims 'mundkarial' rights in a home they were merely allowed to temporarily live in. Local religious leaders refused to offer a world on what should also be issue of ethics. Families not staying here do not have a single vote; so politicians would favour those who have the numbers on their side. Here. For the last many decades now, Goa has been dazzled with an amazing set of statistics. We have been repeatedly told how rapidly the state is changing -- for the better, of course -- and how the figures support this claim. But figures can misrepresent, if not actually lie. Figures also ignore human tragedies and the bitter tales of many groups of individuals. When my family returned to Goa in the 1960s, there were many people moving both out of, and into, Goa. The trend of migration into Goa was a fairly new one, due to the jobs that were then just opening up in some sectors. But out-migration had already been established for a few generations. Even as a child, one could notice that the village of the Goa of the 1960s comprised mostly of grandparents and grandchildren. There was a missing generation in between. In the central coastal areas of Goa, there were, even then, more people moving out, than moving in. Houses were easy to rent out. Our family took on a largish, maybe 300-400 square metre house, at a rent of a mere Rs 15 per month. In those times, people trustingly allowed you to live in their homes, not knowing what was to come up soon. They would not bother with 11-month-leases and the like, and everything ran on trust. By the late 1960s, people wisened up to the situation. If based outside Goa, in those days where media was not as active, they took time. Our landlady pleaded that the family needed back their home in a hurry, so could we find some alternative place urgently? As chance would have it, we were already preparing to move out, and sought a few months more. It probably didn't strike my parents that they could grab someone else's house due to a loophole in the law; or if it did strike them, thankfully they did not have the treachery enough in them to carry this out. * * * Statistics tell us that Goa's per capita income is tremendiously high. That we have more jobs on offer than any time in the past, since when statistics were maintained. We rode right on to encounter this reality. The main road that once lead into the village has meanwhile become a side road. The bigger road ran past some major industries, and on to a bridge taking you to Mumbai, some 600 kms away. Decades ago, when we sat in the old carreira (or caminhao, the old style bus of the Goa of the 1960s) headed down this path, it was one hell of a drive full of anticipation. Now too, like then, the curved road down the slope showed up. Then the overbridge, a strange structure. To the right, was the old bus-stop, and the chapel, almost invisible a little distance ahead. Going under the overbridge took you past the school. It was a tiny shalla then, where the caminhao parked. Now, a large school structure was up in its place. The village looked the same, except with a lot more houses vying for the same space. The affluence and vitality which came back with the Africanders (Goan expatriates returning from Africa) was clearly lacking. The village looked dusty and aging. The houses came in different types. For some reason, there were few or none of the flashy Gulf-funded houses that one sees in some parts of Goa. Instead, there were a larger than expected houses in a poor state of maintenance. The kind of home that has seen better days, built in times of affluence, and has now probably passed on
[Goanet] Suggestions for A Smart City, from Goa IT Professionals
Suggestions for A Smart City, from Goa IT Professionals Goa IT Professionals goa...@gmail.com The Goa IT Professionals, a group of young Goan professionals working in the infotech sector, came up with some suggestions what could help the state-capital of Panjim to become a 'smart city'. See http://bit.ly/1NhhcL7 They say their suggestions are based on the principles of greater emphasis on public transport as against personal vehicles; imposing penalties only after implementing fundamental infrastructure; tackling problems at their source; and the application of technology. See more about the group at http://www.goaitpro.org --- Concrete, feasible suggestions centered around: * Transport * City planning * Waste Management * Sanitation * Energy * EGovernance TRANSPORT: FOCUS ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT The preferred approach to decongest the city should be to focus of public transport rather than roadwidening or multilevel parking. Allocate buses with two doors, one at the front and one at the rear. Let there be a strict protocol of getting in from the rear and getting of from front door. This allows the driver to be aware that passengers are getting off and eliminates the need for the conductor to keep a watch on whether somebody needs to get off. The conductor can focus on collecting the bus fare. Right from the beginning, introduce bus passes which are monthly and weekly. This eliminates the hassle of maintaining change. Allow city entry for personal vehicles with odd registration number on Mon, Wed, Friday and even number on Tue, Thu, Saturday. If vehicle owners want exception to this rule, provide a tag to be fixed on the windshield at a price of Rs 1000 per year. Areas that get released by the military should be used for setting up minibus stands. These are close to the market and should enable citizens to do their weekend shopping without their personal vehicle. Opening times of certain institutions should be staggered so that inflow of people into and out of the city is spread through the day. Instead of having a 9am-6pm working hours for all offices, allow some departments to work 10am-7pm and 8am to 5pm. Conduct training for private and public bus operators on basic manners so that passengers are not heckled due to rude comments. With reduction in traffic, there should be no need to blow horns. Honking in the city should be made a punishable offence. Apart from a monetary penalty, the offender should be made to perform community service for one full day. Fines should be imposed on vehicles that are found to emit excessive smoke. The PUC is just a certificate. The actual emission is what matters to keep the air clean. The city is small enough to be covered by bicycle. Even if creating dedicated cycle tracks is difficult, the use of this mode can be encouraged by creating bicycle parking stands, where people can lock their bicycles. CITY PLANNING: FINDABLE, DURABLE AND SAFER The city should have boards in such a way that someone unfamiliar with the city can locate any place based solely on the address without having to ask questions and without a smartphone. Road contracts should be awarded only with international standards. Strict guarantees should be defined. These cannot be one or two years but at least 20 years. Such roads do exist in India and have been used with heavy traffic since the British times. Application of road engineering and scientific methods makes this possible. Contracts should include the plotting of a median at the center of the road as well as drains at the side of the road. Departments need to coordinate so that no road is dug multiple times. All pipes and cables should be laid only during roadrepair. The roads should be safe even for pregnant women, people suffering from spondylitis and senior citizens. No speedbreaker should be installed in the city. Instead, traffic cops should be deployed to issue fines for speeding and to confiscate driving licenses of offenders. Like in any civilised society, markets should be made a lot less noisy. If vendors are made to write the price of goods on a blackboard or a whiteboard, there will be no need to shout out the prices for customers. WASTE MANAGEMENT: PENALISE PLASTICS, GARBAGE BINS NEEDED As is done in some cities of the country, vendors should be penalized for giving away plastic bags. Today every shopkeeper pulls out a plastic bag even if it is not asked for. Garment/ grocery/ shoe stores should be made to charge an extra Rs 10 is the customer needs a bag. It will be a 'smart' move to reduce the garbage problem before trying to solve it. Covered garbage bins allow for orderly collection of garbage and provides a place for people to drop waste rather than dropping along
[Goanet-News] Suggestions for A Smart City, from Goa IT Professionals
Suggestions for A Smart City, from Goa IT Professionals Goa IT Professionals goa...@gmail.com The Goa IT Professionals, a group of young Goan professionals working in the infotech sector, came up with some suggestions what could help the state-capital of Panjim to become a 'smart city'. See http://bit.ly/1NhhcL7 They say their suggestions are based on the principles of greater emphasis on public transport as against personal vehicles; imposing penalties only after implementing fundamental infrastructure; tackling problems at their source; and the application of technology. See more about the group at http://www.goaitpro.org --- Concrete, feasible suggestions centered around: * Transport * City planning * Waste Management * Sanitation * Energy * EGovernance TRANSPORT: FOCUS ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT The preferred approach to decongest the city should be to focus of public transport rather than roadwidening or multilevel parking. Allocate buses with two doors, one at the front and one at the rear. Let there be a strict protocol of getting in from the rear and getting of from front door. This allows the driver to be aware that passengers are getting off and eliminates the need for the conductor to keep a watch on whether somebody needs to get off. The conductor can focus on collecting the bus fare. Right from the beginning, introduce bus passes which are monthly and weekly. This eliminates the hassle of maintaining change. Allow city entry for personal vehicles with odd registration number on Mon, Wed, Friday and even number on Tue, Thu, Saturday. If vehicle owners want exception to this rule, provide a tag to be fixed on the windshield at a price of Rs 1000 per year. Areas that get released by the military should be used for setting up minibus stands. These are close to the market and should enable citizens to do their weekend shopping without their personal vehicle. Opening times of certain institutions should be staggered so that inflow of people into and out of the city is spread through the day. Instead of having a 9am-6pm working hours for all offices, allow some departments to work 10am-7pm and 8am to 5pm. Conduct training for private and public bus operators on basic manners so that passengers are not heckled due to rude comments. With reduction in traffic, there should be no need to blow horns. Honking in the city should be made a punishable offence. Apart from a monetary penalty, the offender should be made to perform community service for one full day. Fines should be imposed on vehicles that are found to emit excessive smoke. The PUC is just a certificate. The actual emission is what matters to keep the air clean. The city is small enough to be covered by bicycle. Even if creating dedicated cycle tracks is difficult, the use of this mode can be encouraged by creating bicycle parking stands, where people can lock their bicycles. CITY PLANNING: FINDABLE, DURABLE AND SAFER The city should have boards in such a way that someone unfamiliar with the city can locate any place based solely on the address without having to ask questions and without a smartphone. Road contracts should be awarded only with international standards. Strict guarantees should be defined. These cannot be one or two years but at least 20 years. Such roads do exist in India and have been used with heavy traffic since the British times. Application of road engineering and scientific methods makes this possible. Contracts should include the plotting of a median at the center of the road as well as drains at the side of the road. Departments need to coordinate so that no road is dug multiple times. All pipes and cables should be laid only during roadrepair. The roads should be safe even for pregnant women, people suffering from spondylitis and senior citizens. No speedbreaker should be installed in the city. Instead, traffic cops should be deployed to issue fines for speeding and to confiscate driving licenses of offenders. Like in any civilised society, markets should be made a lot less noisy. If vendors are made to write the price of goods on a blackboard or a whiteboard, there will be no need to shout out the prices for customers. WASTE MANAGEMENT: PENALISE PLASTICS, GARBAGE BINS NEEDED As is done in some cities of the country, vendors should be penalized for giving away plastic bags. Today every shopkeeper pulls out a plastic bag even if it is not asked for. Garment/ grocery/ shoe stores should be made to charge an extra Rs 10 is the customer needs a bag. It will be a 'smart' move to reduce the garbage problem before trying to solve it. Covered garbage bins allow for orderly collection of garbage and provides a place for people to drop waste rather than dropping along
[Goanet] Why Christians are up in arms (Ashley D'Mello)
http://www.thehoot.org/free-speech/media-freedom/why-christians-are-up-in-arms-8954 Why Christians are up in arms BY ASHLEY D’MELLO | IN Media Freedom ashley.dme...@gmail.com The demand for a ban on 'Agnes of God' reveals a new assertiveness among Christians. ASHLEY D’MELLO explains the reasons for this phenomenon The fight for maintaining space for free speech is intensifying among Christian groups in Mumbai, some of which have objected to the staging of the play, 'Agnes of God' while others have opposed the call for a ban. The play was staged in Mumbai on October 6 without any untoward incident, albeit under police protection. Women's rights activist and lawyer Flavia Agnes has taken out a memorandum signed by 70 prominent citizens, including Christians, which condemns the idea of a ban. This move is expected to gather momentum in the next few days. The issue of a ban has agitated other cities too. A similar production in Hyderabad was stopped by a court order. Another, in Kerala, is waiting to be staged. The play, directed by Kaizaad Kotwal and produced by his mother, Mahabanoo Modi Kotwal in Mumbai, was first staged on Broadway in 1982. Written by American playwright John Pielmeier, it tells the story of a mentally unstable nun from New York who gives birth to a baby and kills it, claiming it was a virgin birth. The play was made into a film starring Jane Fonda and Annie Bancroft and received nominations for the Academy Awards. It was staged over 20 years ago in Mumbai without a controversy. However, this time round, a Christian group, the Catholic Secular Forum led by Joseph Dias, led the campaign for a ban. Dias, who has led several agitations over similar issues, made public a letter from the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) to the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh saying the play hurt Christian sentiments. The letter said the play was 'a misinterpretation of the religious beliefs of the Christian Community, a wrong portrayal of the character of lakhs of the clergy committed to a life of celibacy and a mockery of lakhs of religious sisters working selflessly and with dedication'. Dias also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharasthra Chief Minister,Devendra Phadnavis, to ban the play but the latter declined to do so. Are Christian groups more aggressive today? --- Are Christian groups growing increasingly aggressive? During the last few years Christian groups have taken a strong stand when they felt threatened. One example is the visit by Sanal Edamaraku, President of the Rationalists Association of India, to the statue of Christ which was 'dripping water' at the Church of Our Lady of Vailankanni, near Vile Parle in suburban Mumbai. He explained that the water was no miracle; it was merely coming out of clogged drain pipes. His explanation riled some Catholics in the city. The Association of Concerned Catholics filed a case against him. After going back to Delhi, he received death threats that were serious enough to make him leave for Finland where he remains to this day. Two journalists, Naresh Fernandes and Dilip D’Souza, were roughed up in 2012 when they decided to march alongside a Christian group which was protesting against the film 'Kamaal Dhamal Malamaal' which depicted a priest who was a lottery addict. Their crime was to carry placards urging Christians not to watch the movie. The stand-up comedy group, All India Backchod, also faced the ire of the Catholic Church over their show in Worli last December. The Association of Concerned Catholics felt that a part of the show was an insult to Jesus Christ and painted Catholic priests in a poor light. The group had to apologise to the archbishop. Under attack from the saffron brigade and from within - The reasons behind this Christian aggressiveness are varied. First, the community has felt under attack from Hindu extremist groups for many years now. The last 10 years has seen rising attacks on Christians, primarily in the Kandhamal district in Orissa where over 100 Christians are reported to have died in attacks in the past eight years and where hundreds still live in shelters far from their homes because they are too scared to return. These attacks have generated a feeling that they have to assert themselves on issues which concern them in order to be heard. This sense of being under threat has meant that Christian groups which concerned themselves only with social uplift now feel that they have to take civic action to goad the authorities to act. Issuing statements to the media over real and perceived wrongs has now become the norm. Second, the structure of Christian organizations on the ground has also changed. The Christian
[Goanet-News] Why Christians are up in arms (Ashley D'Mello)
http://www.thehoot.org/free-speech/media-freedom/why-christians-are-up-in-arms-8954 Why Christians are up in arms BY ASHLEY D’MELLO | IN Media Freedom ashley.dme...@gmail.com The demand for a ban on 'Agnes of God' reveals a new assertiveness among Christians. ASHLEY D’MELLO explains the reasons for this phenomenon The fight for maintaining space for free speech is intensifying among Christian groups in Mumbai, some of which have objected to the staging of the play, 'Agnes of God' while others have opposed the call for a ban. The play was staged in Mumbai on October 6 without any untoward incident, albeit under police protection. Women's rights activist and lawyer Flavia Agnes has taken out a memorandum signed by 70 prominent citizens, including Christians, which condemns the idea of a ban. This move is expected to gather momentum in the next few days. The issue of a ban has agitated other cities too. A similar production in Hyderabad was stopped by a court order. Another, in Kerala, is waiting to be staged. The play, directed by Kaizaad Kotwal and produced by his mother, Mahabanoo Modi Kotwal in Mumbai, was first staged on Broadway in 1982. Written by American playwright John Pielmeier, it tells the story of a mentally unstable nun from New York who gives birth to a baby and kills it, claiming it was a virgin birth. The play was made into a film starring Jane Fonda and Annie Bancroft and received nominations for the Academy Awards. It was staged over 20 years ago in Mumbai without a controversy. However, this time round, a Christian group, the Catholic Secular Forum led by Joseph Dias, led the campaign for a ban. Dias, who has led several agitations over similar issues, made public a letter from the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) to the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh saying the play hurt Christian sentiments. The letter said the play was 'a misinterpretation of the religious beliefs of the Christian Community, a wrong portrayal of the character of lakhs of the clergy committed to a life of celibacy and a mockery of lakhs of religious sisters working selflessly and with dedication'. Dias also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharasthra Chief Minister,Devendra Phadnavis, to ban the play but the latter declined to do so. Are Christian groups more aggressive today? --- Are Christian groups growing increasingly aggressive? During the last few years Christian groups have taken a strong stand when they felt threatened. One example is the visit by Sanal Edamaraku, President of the Rationalists Association of India, to the statue of Christ which was 'dripping water' at the Church of Our Lady of Vailankanni, near Vile Parle in suburban Mumbai. He explained that the water was no miracle; it was merely coming out of clogged drain pipes. His explanation riled some Catholics in the city. The Association of Concerned Catholics filed a case against him. After going back to Delhi, he received death threats that were serious enough to make him leave for Finland where he remains to this day. Two journalists, Naresh Fernandes and Dilip D’Souza, were roughed up in 2012 when they decided to march alongside a Christian group which was protesting against the film 'Kamaal Dhamal Malamaal' which depicted a priest who was a lottery addict. Their crime was to carry placards urging Christians not to watch the movie. The stand-up comedy group, All India Backchod, also faced the ire of the Catholic Church over their show in Worli last December. The Association of Concerned Catholics felt that a part of the show was an insult to Jesus Christ and painted Catholic priests in a poor light. The group had to apologise to the archbishop. Under attack from the saffron brigade and from within - The reasons behind this Christian aggressiveness are varied. First, the community has felt under attack from Hindu extremist groups for many years now. The last 10 years has seen rising attacks on Christians, primarily in the Kandhamal district in Orissa where over 100 Christians are reported to have died in attacks in the past eight years and where hundreds still live in shelters far from their homes because they are too scared to return. These attacks have generated a feeling that they have to assert themselves on issues which concern them in order to be heard. This sense of being under threat has meant that Christian groups which concerned themselves only with social uplift now feel that they have to take civic action to goad the authorities to act. Issuing statements to the media over real and perceived wrongs has now become the norm. Second, the structure of Christian organizations on the ground has also changed. The Christian
[Goanet] DEBATE: Caesar and the Indian Cross: A Christian response to current politics (Chhotebhai/Allan de Noronha)
By Chhotebhai (Allan de Noronha) THE POLITICAL SCENARIO This topic was chosen before the recent 'rapid changes' that took place in the Bihar elections. Till Bihar happened, the political scenario was dominated and determined by Namo and the BJP. There was talk of a ten-year mandate, and possibility of a 2/3rds majority that would enable major amendments to the 'Secular, Socialist' Indian Constitution. This would strike at the root of our modern Indian nation, with a not so hidden agenda to revert to an idyllic Vedic era. Post Bihar this threat may have receded, but it cannot be considered dead or buried, as there are too many 'resurrections' in politics. I have no hesitation in saying that under the guise of 'development' there is a desperation to establish a Hindu Rashtra in India. There are similarities and differences in this aspiration from Huntington's 'Clash of Civilizations' in the West, where radical Islam is pitched against what was once European Christendom. One wants Islamisation, the other Hinduisation, but there the similarity ends. Organizations like the IS are like mad dogs, which are more dangerous than an enemy. An enemy's moves can be anticipated, and a counter strategy prepared, as in a game of chess. Not so with a rabid creature, precisely because there is no rationale to its actions, the 'why' factor. Hence one cannot predict the where, when, who, what or how of their actions. This is further accentuated by a suicidal approach, where there is no attempt to hide one's tracks or get away, defying analysis by criminologists. Perhaps this is why the West has not been able to come up with a credible response, and reacting with more violence, which is only aggravating the situation. Hindutva fascists, however, are a study in contrasts. They avoid the 'confrontational' approach. Those who did adopt it post-Dadri paid a heavy price for it in Bihar. They prefer the 'infiltration' approach, which is a silent, often innocuous, penetration; something that the Marxists earlier used to good effect. For example, till today nobody has been able to shake off the Left stranglehold on the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. The right wingers in India will not attempt to destroy through physical violence (aberrations apart), but will try to capture the mind space. They will not show their true colours, or talk of religion. 'Culture' would be their buzzword, be it for yoga or Vedic Maths. Remember that even Mao talked of a 'cultural revolution'. What is their basis for culture? Our ethnic origin/ancient civilization. So the first attempt is to debunk the 'Western theory' of an Aryan invasion. This achieves two things -- first the cultural superiority of the vedic era, and secondly, demoting the adivasis (original inhabitants) to the status of vanvasis (forest dwellers). This is not even Hinduism, but caste-based Brahminism, which dovetails with the RSS ideology and worldview. Unfortunately, just as Macedonian Emperor Alexander the Great could not penetrate beyond the Indus, so too the Brahminical forces could not dent the impregnable fortress of Bihar with its resurgent and belligerent subaltern classes, led by the indomitable Lalu. But infiltration is a slow and steady poison. There is the story of the frogs in a cauldron of water. The heat was turned on slowly and the frogs were lulled into a false sense of comfort, leading to complacency. By the time the heat was really turned on the frogs were too weak to jump out and save themselves. Entrapment is another form of infiltration. For this I will borrow a quote from the Bible. "Your enemy, the devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour" (1 Pet 5:8). St Peter used this analogy because he knew how lions hunt. Lions, infact, do not hunt. They just roar, stampeding the unsuspecting quarry in the opposite direction, where the pride of lionesses is lying in wait for them. Here again realization dawns too late. Now juxtapose this on current events like beef, the Uniform Civil 2~Ccode, being packed off to Pakistan or Ghar Vapsi. These are the lions roaring, to create panic in their intended target group (Muslims and Christians), who will react and run without thinking (and say or do things that they normally wouldn't). They get trapped by such provocation and become victims of the cultural czars. If the Christian community in India is able to fathom the game plan of the 'enemy', it can evolve a calibrated response. Is that a big IF? OUR CHRISTIAN RESPONSE This requires mature and informed leadership and spokespersons. Unfortunately, they are sadly lacking in both style and substance. (Remember that presidential debates on American TV have a major impact
[Goanet-News] DEBATE: Caesar and the Indian Cross: A Christian response to current politics (Chhotebhai/Allan de Noronha)
By Chhotebhai (Allan de Noronha) THE POLITICAL SCENARIO This topic was chosen before the recent 'rapid changes' that took place in the Bihar elections. Till Bihar happened, the political scenario was dominated and determined by Namo and the BJP. There was talk of a ten-year mandate, and possibility of a 2/3rds majority that would enable major amendments to the 'Secular, Socialist' Indian Constitution. This would strike at the root of our modern Indian nation, with a not so hidden agenda to revert to an idyllic Vedic era. Post Bihar this threat may have receded, but it cannot be considered dead or buried, as there are too many 'resurrections' in politics. I have no hesitation in saying that under the guise of 'development' there is a desperation to establish a Hindu Rashtra in India. There are similarities and differences in this aspiration from Huntington's 'Clash of Civilizations' in the West, where radical Islam is pitched against what was once European Christendom. One wants Islamisation, the other Hinduisation, but there the similarity ends. Organizations like the IS are like mad dogs, which are more dangerous than an enemy. An enemy's moves can be anticipated, and a counter strategy prepared, as in a game of chess. Not so with a rabid creature, precisely because there is no rationale to its actions, the 'why' factor. Hence one cannot predict the where, when, who, what or how of their actions. This is further accentuated by a suicidal approach, where there is no attempt to hide one's tracks or get away, defying analysis by criminologists. Perhaps this is why the West has not been able to come up with a credible response, and reacting with more violence, which is only aggravating the situation. Hindutva fascists, however, are a study in contrasts. They avoid the 'confrontational' approach. Those who did adopt it post-Dadri paid a heavy price for it in Bihar. They prefer the 'infiltration' approach, which is a silent, often innocuous, penetration; something that the Marxists earlier used to good effect. For example, till today nobody has been able to shake off the Left stranglehold on the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. The right wingers in India will not attempt to destroy through physical violence (aberrations apart), but will try to capture the mind space. They will not show their true colours, or talk of religion. 'Culture' would be their buzzword, be it for yoga or Vedic Maths. Remember that even Mao talked of a 'cultural revolution'. What is their basis for culture? Our ethnic origin/ancient civilization. So the first attempt is to debunk the 'Western theory' of an Aryan invasion. This achieves two things -- first the cultural superiority of the vedic era, and secondly, demoting the adivasis (original inhabitants) to the status of vanvasis (forest dwellers). This is not even Hinduism, but caste-based Brahminism, which dovetails with the RSS ideology and worldview. Unfortunately, just as Macedonian Emperor Alexander the Great could not penetrate beyond the Indus, so too the Brahminical forces could not dent the impregnable fortress of Bihar with its resurgent and belligerent subaltern classes, led by the indomitable Lalu. But infiltration is a slow and steady poison. There is the story of the frogs in a cauldron of water. The heat was turned on slowly and the frogs were lulled into a false sense of comfort, leading to complacency. By the time the heat was really turned on the frogs were too weak to jump out and save themselves. Entrapment is another form of infiltration. For this I will borrow a quote from the Bible. "Your enemy, the devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour" (1 Pet 5:8). St Peter used this analogy because he knew how lions hunt. Lions, infact, do not hunt. They just roar, stampeding the unsuspecting quarry in the opposite direction, where the pride of lionesses is lying in wait for them. Here again realization dawns too late. Now juxtapose this on current events like beef, the Uniform Civil 2~Ccode, being packed off to Pakistan or Ghar Vapsi. These are the lions roaring, to create panic in their intended target group (Muslims and Christians), who will react and run without thinking (and say or do things that they normally wouldn't). They get trapped by such provocation and become victims of the cultural czars. If the Christian community in India is able to fathom the game plan of the 'enemy', it can evolve a calibrated response. Is that a big IF? OUR CHRISTIAN RESPONSE This requires mature and informed leadership and spokespersons. Unfortunately, they are sadly lacking in both style and substance. (Remember that presidential debates on American TV have a major impact
[Goanet] The Portuguese power centre, Governors and the native elite (Stanley Coutinho)
The Portuguese power centre, Governors and the native elite (Stanley Coutinho) (Or, how the capital of the Estado da Índia configured in the imperial dynamics of the 17th and 18th centuries) Review by Stanley Coutinho stanley_couti...@yahoo.com --- Globalising Goa (1660-1820) Change and exchange in a former capital of empire Ernestine Carreira Translator: Claire Davison Goa,1556: 2014 RS.500 Pp.618 --- There are history books and then there are books on history. The former are normal, fact-filled books for normal people interested in reading about the past; the latter are historiographies. *Globalising Goa* by Ernestine Carreira (who has specialised in the history of India and the western Indian Ocean in the Modern Era), translated by Professor Claire Davison, falls in the latter category. The title of the book is interesting. Globalising or globalisation has achieved a very specific meaning and connotation today: Economic globalization is the increasing economic interdependence of national economies across the world through a rapid increase in cross-border movement of goods, service, technology and capital leading to the emergence of a global marketplace or a single world market. However Wikipedia seems to recognize 'proto-globalisation' roughly during the years between 1600 and 1800, which describes the phase of increasing trade links and cultural exchange that was characterized by the rise of maritime European empires, in the 16th and 17th centuries, There is however a great deal of anguish expressed by historiographers in general, and Ernestine Carreira in particular over the non-availability of sources, and the attempts (if any) at preserving these sources. Time and climatic conditions (not to forget, political considerations) play havoc on the memory of the past -- whether that memory is contained in documents or in oral tradition -- and more so if that past includes a 'colonial' period. Against the backdrop of these reservations, Carreira starts the book under review with the question of how the capital of Estado da Índia configured in the imperial dynamics of the 17th and 18th centuries, a study entailing "a constant ferrying back and forth" between the Portuguese power-centre at one end, and the governors and the native elite at the other. Part 1 of the book reflects upon the links between how imperial structures evolved across the centuries, and the development of global trade up to the time Brazil broke free of the empire in 1822. The author attributes the dismantling of the Asian side the empire to three major factors (a) emergence of Mughal sovereignty (b) breakdown of pacts with regional sovereigns (with regard to coastal rights),and (c) breaking of the pact of sovereignty with Portugal, besides the Estado's failure to reform its archaic structures. This is in contrast with the Eurocentric historical accounts that traditionally attribute the changes to the arrival of other European powers into the Asian waters. This part also deals with the French and British companies' attempts to buy out the Estado da Índia, the take-over strategies from 1730 to 1792 which actually played out between 1793 and 1813; it covers also the aspect of 'atlanticisation' of Goa after 1786 and the conflict surrounding the yielding of Bombay to the East India Company. This is followed by studies of the networks of Asian influence in Goa giving a glimpse of Goa's position at the centre of the Nação Portuguesa. Part 2 looks at Goa as a 'Catholic nation' in western India and the expansion of trade with specific regard to Surat, while Part 3 deals with the roles of the then emerging diasporas in the development of trade links through the transmission of cultural, political and military information. This part also offers interesting glimpses on the slave trade and the circulation of coins and currencies. Part 4 of the book speaks of 'The Complex Voyage of Goan Historiography' -- which is a study of the projection of Goa over the centuries. Examining travel journals "with a certain caution" Carreira analyses the "exotic, erotic and monstrous" depiction of Goan women, and how this evolved over time; later she finds a more realistic representation of the Goan woman, as she is linked with religion, social norms, miscegenation and social classes. All through the account, the author points out the difficulties of accessing sources of information, multiplied by the lack of proficiency in the local languages as much as in the mastery of Portuguese, and "the emotionally-charged ideological heritage which is still so painful". The
[Goanet-News] The Portuguese power centre, Governors and the native elite (Stanley Coutinho)
The Portuguese power centre, Governors and the native elite (Stanley Coutinho) (Or, how the capital of the Estado da Índia configured in the imperial dynamics of the 17th and 18th centuries) Review by Stanley Coutinho stanley_couti...@yahoo.com --- Globalising Goa (1660-1820) Change and exchange in a former capital of empire Ernestine Carreira Translator: Claire Davison Goa,1556: 2014 RS.500 Pp.618 --- There are history books and then there are books on history. The former are normal, fact-filled books for normal people interested in reading about the past; the latter are historiographies. *Globalising Goa* by Ernestine Carreira (who has specialised in the history of India and the western Indian Ocean in the Modern Era), translated by Professor Claire Davison, falls in the latter category. The title of the book is interesting. Globalising or globalisation has achieved a very specific meaning and connotation today: Economic globalization is the increasing economic interdependence of national economies across the world through a rapid increase in cross-border movement of goods, service, technology and capital leading to the emergence of a global marketplace or a single world market. However Wikipedia seems to recognize 'proto-globalisation' roughly during the years between 1600 and 1800, which describes the phase of increasing trade links and cultural exchange that was characterized by the rise of maritime European empires, in the 16th and 17th centuries, There is however a great deal of anguish expressed by historiographers in general, and Ernestine Carreira in particular over the non-availability of sources, and the attempts (if any) at preserving these sources. Time and climatic conditions (not to forget, political considerations) play havoc on the memory of the past -- whether that memory is contained in documents or in oral tradition -- and more so if that past includes a 'colonial' period. Against the backdrop of these reservations, Carreira starts the book under review with the question of how the capital of Estado da Índia configured in the imperial dynamics of the 17th and 18th centuries, a study entailing "a constant ferrying back and forth" between the Portuguese power-centre at one end, and the governors and the native elite at the other. Part 1 of the book reflects upon the links between how imperial structures evolved across the centuries, and the development of global trade up to the time Brazil broke free of the empire in 1822. The author attributes the dismantling of the Asian side the empire to three major factors (a) emergence of Mughal sovereignty (b) breakdown of pacts with regional sovereigns (with regard to coastal rights),and (c) breaking of the pact of sovereignty with Portugal, besides the Estado's failure to reform its archaic structures. This is in contrast with the Eurocentric historical accounts that traditionally attribute the changes to the arrival of other European powers into the Asian waters. This part also deals with the French and British companies' attempts to buy out the Estado da Índia, the take-over strategies from 1730 to 1792 which actually played out between 1793 and 1813; it covers also the aspect of 'atlanticisation' of Goa after 1786 and the conflict surrounding the yielding of Bombay to the East India Company. This is followed by studies of the networks of Asian influence in Goa giving a glimpse of Goa's position at the centre of the Nação Portuguesa. Part 2 looks at Goa as a 'Catholic nation' in western India and the expansion of trade with specific regard to Surat, while Part 3 deals with the roles of the then emerging diasporas in the development of trade links through the transmission of cultural, political and military information. This part also offers interesting glimpses on the slave trade and the circulation of coins and currencies. Part 4 of the book speaks of 'The Complex Voyage of Goan Historiography' -- which is a study of the projection of Goa over the centuries. Examining travel journals "with a certain caution" Carreira analyses the "exotic, erotic and monstrous" depiction of Goan women, and how this evolved over time; later she finds a more realistic representation of the Goan woman, as she is linked with religion, social norms, miscegenation and social classes. All through the account, the author points out the difficulties of accessing sources of information, multiplied by the lack of proficiency in the local languages as much as in the mastery of Portuguese, and "the emotionally-charged ideological heritage which is still so painful". The
[Goanet] The Remarkable Syncretism in Goa's Early Modern Architecture (Amita Kanekar)
The Remarkable Syncretism in Goa's Early Modern Architecture By Amita Kanekar amitakane...@gmail.com There is a tendency in South Asia to privilege the early in architecture, as George Michell mentions in his recent book, Late Temple Architecture of India (2015), as if beginnings are more important than later developments. And even when later works are examined it is usually in comparison with the earlier, as a linear progression, or -- more often than not -- a regression. This attitude of course fits in very well with the nationalist approach to Goa's history, i.e. with the concerted effort to show that Goa has always been a part of India despite 450 years of Portuguese rule, and despite the non-existence of, both, Goa and today's India before the Portuguese arrived. Thanks to this tendency, and the concurrent emphasis on the 'Indian' in Goa's 'ancient' heritage, many people might be unaware that Goa is the home of a unique tradition of architecture of the early modern period. Old Goa is well known, of course, as a UNESCO world heritage site, but Goa;s remarkable heritage goes beyond Old Goa, to its own unique church tradition, its own mosque tradition, and its own temple tradition, all of which developed in connection to one another. This latter point, i.e. the influence of different building types on one another, counters the neat compartmentalisation that even architects tend to do, seeing temples as related to only temples, mosques to mosques, and so on. And here we come to another shibboleth of architectural history in South Asia -- the religious style. Designating of style, in which aesthetic or formal elements are grouped together as a tradition, is a long-popular way of evaluating buildings. But while European stylistic identification is roughly based on era and elements, in India it is common to connect style with religion -- thus 'Hindu architecture' and 'Muslim architecture' are terms heard not just among laypeople but even among teachers of architecture. This of course ignores the fact that there are multiple traditions of both mosque- and temple-building, also that the latter was fundamentally influenced by Buddhist monuments. And it also ignores the still-vibrant heritage of the early modern period, not just in Goa but all over South Asia, which directly challenges such narrow-mindedness. Even before the sixteenth century, Vijayanagara, true to its Islamicate culture, was adopting Deccan Sultanate forms and systems in secular building, while the Sulltanates themselves looked towards Persia and China for inspiration. Things became more heterogenous later, with the Ikkeri Nayakas probably the first to use Sultanate forms in temples. By this point, European influences had also arrived in South Asia, as can be seen in the later works of the Mughals, which included Persian, Central Asian, Gujarati, Bangla, Deccani, and also European elements of design. This became the norm, with even socially conservative and casteist regimes, like the Peshvas of Pune and the Jaipur rajas, founding temples that closely resemble Sultanate mosques and Mughal baradaris. For, syncretic architecture does not imply a liberal society, just a connected one. Architecture has always been about power; architectural syncretism was usually about connecting elites to other elites. But it does negate the huge importance that we ascribe today to religious difference. An even more intense syncretism can be seen in Goa, perhaps because of its history as a centre of global trade. This begins with the Goan mosque, also called the Adilshahi mosque. As Mehrdad Shokoohy points out in his study of the Safa Masjid of Ponda (1997), the architecture here blends Malabar Islamicate traditions of intricate timberwork (and details influenced by South-East Asia), with Bijapuri arches and tank. Bijapur is in fact the common element that links Goan mosques, churches and temples, with the tiered corner towers of the Gol Gumbaz reflected in the tiered forms of church facades as well as the lamp-towers of the big temples. The latter, being the latest of the trio, were strongly influenced by the churches as well, displaying their classical orders and nave-and-aisle layouts alongside Bijapuri domes, arches, tanks and lamp-towers, even as they roughly follow spatial arrangements for brahmanical shrines in the larger region. Given such a rich heritage, it would be good to see a concerted effort for its protection. The churches and mosques do appear somewhat protected, though one might cavil at the errors in reconstruction efforts, as at the Safa Masjid. The temples however are another story, with many temple trusts as well as architects trying to replace them with grander
[Goanet-News] The Remarkable Syncretism in Goa's Early Modern Architecture (Amita Kanekar)
The Remarkable Syncretism in Goa's Early Modern Architecture By Amita Kanekar amitakane...@gmail.com There is a tendency in South Asia to privilege the early in architecture, as George Michell mentions in his recent book, Late Temple Architecture of India (2015), as if beginnings are more important than later developments. And even when later works are examined it is usually in comparison with the earlier, as a linear progression, or -- more often than not -- a regression. This attitude of course fits in very well with the nationalist approach to Goa's history, i.e. with the concerted effort to show that Goa has always been a part of India despite 450 years of Portuguese rule, and despite the non-existence of, both, Goa and today's India before the Portuguese arrived. Thanks to this tendency, and the concurrent emphasis on the 'Indian' in Goa's 'ancient' heritage, many people might be unaware that Goa is the home of a unique tradition of architecture of the early modern period. Old Goa is well known, of course, as a UNESCO world heritage site, but Goa;s remarkable heritage goes beyond Old Goa, to its own unique church tradition, its own mosque tradition, and its own temple tradition, all of which developed in connection to one another. This latter point, i.e. the influence of different building types on one another, counters the neat compartmentalisation that even architects tend to do, seeing temples as related to only temples, mosques to mosques, and so on. And here we come to another shibboleth of architectural history in South Asia -- the religious style. Designating of style, in which aesthetic or formal elements are grouped together as a tradition, is a long-popular way of evaluating buildings. But while European stylistic identification is roughly based on era and elements, in India it is common to connect style with religion -- thus 'Hindu architecture' and 'Muslim architecture' are terms heard not just among laypeople but even among teachers of architecture. This of course ignores the fact that there are multiple traditions of both mosque- and temple-building, also that the latter was fundamentally influenced by Buddhist monuments. And it also ignores the still-vibrant heritage of the early modern period, not just in Goa but all over South Asia, which directly challenges such narrow-mindedness. Even before the sixteenth century, Vijayanagara, true to its Islamicate culture, was adopting Deccan Sultanate forms and systems in secular building, while the Sulltanates themselves looked towards Persia and China for inspiration. Things became more heterogenous later, with the Ikkeri Nayakas probably the first to use Sultanate forms in temples. By this point, European influences had also arrived in South Asia, as can be seen in the later works of the Mughals, which included Persian, Central Asian, Gujarati, Bangla, Deccani, and also European elements of design. This became the norm, with even socially conservative and casteist regimes, like the Peshvas of Pune and the Jaipur rajas, founding temples that closely resemble Sultanate mosques and Mughal baradaris. For, syncretic architecture does not imply a liberal society, just a connected one. Architecture has always been about power; architectural syncretism was usually about connecting elites to other elites. But it does negate the huge importance that we ascribe today to religious difference. An even more intense syncretism can be seen in Goa, perhaps because of its history as a centre of global trade. This begins with the Goan mosque, also called the Adilshahi mosque. As Mehrdad Shokoohy points out in his study of the Safa Masjid of Ponda (1997), the architecture here blends Malabar Islamicate traditions of intricate timberwork (and details influenced by South-East Asia), with Bijapuri arches and tank. Bijapur is in fact the common element that links Goan mosques, churches and temples, with the tiered corner towers of the Gol Gumbaz reflected in the tiered forms of church facades as well as the lamp-towers of the big temples. The latter, being the latest of the trio, were strongly influenced by the churches as well, displaying their classical orders and nave-and-aisle layouts alongside Bijapuri domes, arches, tanks and lamp-towers, even as they roughly follow spatial arrangements for brahmanical shrines in the larger region. Given such a rich heritage, it would be good to see a concerted effort for its protection. The churches and mosques do appear somewhat protected, though one might cavil at the errors in reconstruction efforts, as at the Safa Masjid. The temples however are another story, with many temple trusts as well as architects trying to replace them with grander
[Goanet] EXCERPT: How detective Shorty Gomes made it to the pages of a book (Scroll.In)
BOOK EXCERPT How detective Shorty Gomes made it to the pages of a book The creator of the sleuth from Goa recounts the long saga that led to the publication of the Shorty Gomes stories. AHMED BUNGLOWALA ahmed.bung...@gmail.com >From 1975 to 1983 we lived at Pedder Road, Bombay, as paying guests. Vijaya and I were recently married and the one-room-bath-kitchenette accommodation suited us fine -- especially after the few months we had spent in a shabby and claustrophobic place in Kurla East, with a nosey landlord as bonus. What hastened our exit from the Kurla place was that one day a chunk of the ceiling plaster came crashing down. Fortunately, no one was hurt. The landlady at Pedder Road was a jaded and quirky film star of yesteryears and my first meeting with her had evoked a strong association with the Gloria Swanson character in Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard. She (the landlady) had advertised the PG room in the TOI (we had become voracious readers of the 'accommodation available' columns after the plaster falling incident) and I had written her a postcard saying I was interested and would like to check out the place. She had phoned me after a couple of weeks and I went over to meet her. She looked at me with her cat-like green eyes, sizing me up. The usual interrogation followed. Soon, she agreed quite readily to rent the place to us. I was thrilled, and paid out a month's rent in advance. Before leaving she let me know that the one thing that had greatly weighed in my favour was my handwriting -- it was neat and clean, she said. Later on I was to understand that a good hand is the written equivalent of a good voice. Soon we settled down in our new digs -- we bought a second-hand fridge, an old cassette player and a used (now, pre-owned) Jawa motorcycle -- not all of them at the same time. One of the things our hidebound landlady was very particular about was the doorbell ringing protocol. Our visitors, she insisted, had to ring the bell twice. Hers, once. Easier said than done. And this became a constant source of irritation and friction. On weekends, our small place would invariably turn into an *adda* with many of our friends simply forgetting the golden rule. Holy cow! The arguments over recently watched movies at the Alliance Française or Max Müller would grow progressively louder with Rashid Irani flying off the handle if someone even mildly suggested any shortcomings in the movies of his 'sacred' pantheon of directors -- headed by Werner Herzog. Vijaya and I would try, in vain, to coax our friends to keep the decibel levels low. The impromptu bar in the kitchen would be depleted by midnight and every one would make their way home after grabbing a few bites of the food that someone had brought along -- very often kababs and nans from Sarvi in Nagpada. Bombay, at that time, was flush with creative energy -- in cinema, theatre, poetry, and fiction. It was a very stimulating period in our lives. It was at this time and place that I first started writing the Shorty Gomes stories. I was by now on a regular reading regimen of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler -- with James M Cain, B Traven and JD Salinger completing the eclectic mix. Then one day something very strange happened. At a party at a friend's place we met a Bengali woman -- plump, self-assured and quite drunk. Making conversation, I asked her what she was doing with her life generally. With a deadpan expression she intoned, "I work for a private detective agency." I almost dropped my glass of rum and soda, complete in the surprise of what she;d just said in her deep, husky voice. Keya Dutt was to become one of our dearest friends during that time and we would often go to her place in Andheri on my Jawa to while away the hours in the company of her friends -- all Bengalis -- and listen to Keya's exploits about her matrimonial snooping on husbands cheating on their wives, and wives cheating on their husbands. She told us a hilarious story about a guy who was cheating on his wife with not one EMA (agency jargon for extramarital affair) but three! Meeting Keya provided further impetus to get on with my writing. (The character of the cunning, corpulent Madam Flora in the story The House is inspired by her.) After much procrastination and rework I completed the first story and got started on the second-writing longhand on ruled A4 size paper. I would be constantly bothering Vijaya with spellings and connotations of certain words and phrases. (I became 'comfortable' with English a little late in life because my formative years were spent reading and writing in Hindi in a small town in Madhya Pradesh, where my father was a successful furniture contractor -- the business he summarily lost after Partition.) By now the buzz about Shorty Gomes -- the Goan-origin private eye, operating from his
[Goanet-News] The Salesian Story in Goa: From the War to the Fields (Fernando do Rego)
Compiled by FERNANDO DO REGO fernandodor...@yahoo.com One of the most popular Catholic religious Orders in the world is the Salesians of Don Bosco. The Salesians of Don Bosco (or the Salesian Society, officially named the Society of St. Francis de Sales) is a Roman Catholic religious institute founded in the late nineteenth century by St. John Bosco to help poor children during the Industrial Revolution. The Salesians' charter describes the society's mission as "the Christian perfection of its associates obtained by the exercise of spiritual and corporal works of charity towards the young, especially the poor, and the education of boys". The institute is named after Francis de Sales, an early-modern bishop from Geneva. Today worldwide, there are 15,298 Salesians (14,731 if you exclude novices and bishops). ARRIVAL IN GOA It was soon after World War II, around the year 1948, after a request of many Goan Catholics, which included my father Dr. Antonio Augusto do Rego, to the then Prelate of Goa, that the first Salesians arrived in Panjim. They were lead by Fr. Vincenzo Scuderi. With him were many more Italians who had been held in the Concentration Camps of the British India, being Italians, at that time enemies of England! Vincenzo Scuderi, born 30th May 1902 in Ramacca near Catania in Sicily, was a Catholic priest belonging Salesians of Don Bosco. One of the great members of this Society in India, he was a pioneer of the Salesian work in Goa, including Don Bosco, Panjim. He died on 22nd November 1982 at Catania, Sicily. Fr. Scuderi did his early schooling with the Salesians at St. Philip Neri School, Catania. He showed early promise as a student and leader. He joined the Salesian Congregation, and was ordained in 1926. He opted for the missions of India, and reached Shillong, the capital of what today is the North Eastern State of Meghalaya, at the end of December 1928. Within two years, in June 1931, he was named in-charge of the Assam plains, together with Fr. Archimedes Pianazzi and Antonio Alessi. In 1934 he was appointed Provincial, with jurisdiction over the regions now roughly forming Assam, Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. A few months later, he was also appointed Apostolic Administrator of the diocese of Krishnagar (in the central region of India's West Bengal state). His secretary was the young Fr. Giuseppe Moja. In June 1940, Msgr. Scuderi and other Italian Salesians were taken prisoners by the British, since Italy had entered World War II on the side of Germany. He spent time in several camps all over India: Fort William (Calcutta), Ahmednagar, Deolali, Dehradun, and finally Purandar. Interestingly, the Salesians in these camps even underwent a whole course of theology and received ordination. In Purandar, Scuderi began schools for children of the prisoners, of the servants, and of the sweepers. When the British made it clear he would have to go, he opted for the Portuguese territory of Goa, so as not to have to leave India. There, a new saga of six years, with a group of volunteers who followed him, began. He started with the Oratory and a Portuguese primary school, followed by a technical school and English high school; two other festive and daily oratories in town; a technical school in Valpoi. He even bought a plot in Panjim, the capital, and built a chapel that soon became a centre of devotion for hundreds. Fr. Scuderi is thus the founder of the Salesian work in Goa, which now includes foundations in Panjim, Odxel, Parra, Paliem, Tuem, Fatorda, Loutolim, Benaulim, besides other foundations in southern Maharashtra and coastal Karnataka. Msgr. Vincent Scuderi spent 24 years in India. He spent roughly 12 years in Assam and Bengal (1928-1940), six years as a prisoner (1940 to 1946) and the remaining six years in Goa. However, broken by two major hernia operations and a severe bout of typhoid, he was called back to Italy. His place in Goa was taken by Fr. Jose Luis Carreno, who can be called the second great Salesian pioneer of Goa. Fr Carreno worked in Caltanisetta, Gela and Riesi, before retiring to Catania. His volcanic dynamism marked his passage in all these places. Fr. Guiseppe Moja (20th December 1915, Orino, Lombardy -- 26th May 2009) was yet another prominent Salesian priest and missionary in India. He is part of the group of pioneers who began the Salesian work in Panjim, Goa, including the Don Bosco High School, Panjim. He also pioneered the Salesian work in Sulcorna, Goa, now to home to a substantial farm and the Don Bosco High School, Sulcorna. Fr. Moja had left Italy for India in 1932. He entered the Salesian novitiate at Shillong and made his first profession on 7th December 1933. He was soon appointed secretary to Fr. Vincenzo
[Goanet] The Salesian Story in Goa: From the War to the Fields (Fernando do Rego)
Compiled by FERNANDO DO REGO fernandodor...@yahoo.com One of the most popular Catholic religious Orders in the world is the Salesians of Don Bosco. The Salesians of Don Bosco (or the Salesian Society, officially named the Society of St. Francis de Sales) is a Roman Catholic religious institute founded in the late nineteenth century by St. John Bosco to help poor children during the Industrial Revolution. The Salesians' charter describes the society's mission as "the Christian perfection of its associates obtained by the exercise of spiritual and corporal works of charity towards the young, especially the poor, and the education of boys". The institute is named after Francis de Sales, an early-modern bishop from Geneva. Today worldwide, there are 15,298 Salesians (14,731 if you exclude novices and bishops). ARRIVAL IN GOA It was soon after World War II, around the year 1948, after a request of many Goan Catholics, which included my father Dr. Antonio Augusto do Rego, to the then Prelate of Goa, that the first Salesians arrived in Panjim. They were lead by Fr. Vincenzo Scuderi. With him were many more Italians who had been held in the Concentration Camps of the British India, being Italians, at that time enemies of England! Vincenzo Scuderi, born 30th May 1902 in Ramacca near Catania in Sicily, was a Catholic priest belonging Salesians of Don Bosco. One of the great members of this Society in India, he was a pioneer of the Salesian work in Goa, including Don Bosco, Panjim. He died on 22nd November 1982 at Catania, Sicily. Fr. Scuderi did his early schooling with the Salesians at St. Philip Neri School, Catania. He showed early promise as a student and leader. He joined the Salesian Congregation, and was ordained in 1926. He opted for the missions of India, and reached Shillong, the capital of what today is the North Eastern State of Meghalaya, at the end of December 1928. Within two years, in June 1931, he was named in-charge of the Assam plains, together with Fr. Archimedes Pianazzi and Antonio Alessi. In 1934 he was appointed Provincial, with jurisdiction over the regions now roughly forming Assam, Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. A few months later, he was also appointed Apostolic Administrator of the diocese of Krishnagar (in the central region of India's West Bengal state). His secretary was the young Fr. Giuseppe Moja. In June 1940, Msgr. Scuderi and other Italian Salesians were taken prisoners by the British, since Italy had entered World War II on the side of Germany. He spent time in several camps all over India: Fort William (Calcutta), Ahmednagar, Deolali, Dehradun, and finally Purandar. Interestingly, the Salesians in these camps even underwent a whole course of theology and received ordination. In Purandar, Scuderi began schools for children of the prisoners, of the servants, and of the sweepers. When the British made it clear he would have to go, he opted for the Portuguese territory of Goa, so as not to have to leave India. There, a new saga of six years, with a group of volunteers who followed him, began. He started with the Oratory and a Portuguese primary school, followed by a technical school and English high school; two other festive and daily oratories in town; a technical school in Valpoi. He even bought a plot in Panjim, the capital, and built a chapel that soon became a centre of devotion for hundreds. Fr. Scuderi is thus the founder of the Salesian work in Goa, which now includes foundations in Panjim, Odxel, Parra, Paliem, Tuem, Fatorda, Loutolim, Benaulim, besides other foundations in southern Maharashtra and coastal Karnataka. Msgr. Vincent Scuderi spent 24 years in India. He spent roughly 12 years in Assam and Bengal (1928-1940), six years as a prisoner (1940 to 1946) and the remaining six years in Goa. However, broken by two major hernia operations and a severe bout of typhoid, he was called back to Italy. His place in Goa was taken by Fr. Jose Luis Carreno, who can be called the second great Salesian pioneer of Goa. Fr Carreno worked in Caltanisetta, Gela and Riesi, before retiring to Catania. His volcanic dynamism marked his passage in all these places. Fr. Guiseppe Moja (20th December 1915, Orino, Lombardy -- 26th May 2009) was yet another prominent Salesian priest and missionary in India. He is part of the group of pioneers who began the Salesian work in Panjim, Goa, including the Don Bosco High School, Panjim. He also pioneered the Salesian work in Sulcorna, Goa, now to home to a substantial farm and the Don Bosco High School, Sulcorna. Fr. Moja had left Italy for India in 1932. He entered the Salesian novitiate at Shillong and made his first profession on 7th December 1933. He was soon appointed secretary to Fr. Vincenzo
[Goanet] Coalition government claim Portuguese election win... a guide to parties... Antonio Costa
Coalition government claim Portuguese election win Sunday 04 October 2015 20.31 Portugal's centre-right ruling coalition has claimed victory in a national election after exit polls put it well ahead of the main opposition socialists, although likely shy of an outright parliament majority. Polls show the government likely to win between 36.4% and 43% of the vote compared with 29.5-35% for the socialists. Two of the exit polls, by Catolica University for RTP television and by Intercampus/TVI, showed that the coalition could win a maximum of 116 to 118 seats in 230-seat parliament, while another showed a maximum of 108 seats. That means it still has a slim chance of winning an outright majority. "In the name of the coalition we are here to affirm that all the projections that are known point to a clear fact that the coalition Portugal Forward had a great victory on this election night," Marco Antonio Costa, deputy president of the main coalition party, the Social Democrats, told cheering supporters. "We will maintain our commitment to guarantee a recovery ...and will maintain an attitude of dialogue." The latest polls, released on Friday, gave Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho's ruling coalition a lead of between five and 12 points over centre-left Socialist opponent Antonio Costa. But if Mr Passos Coelho, whose government introduced deep spending cuts and the biggest tax hikes in living memory, fails to secure more than the around 38% that he has polled in recent days, he will fall short of an absolute majority in the parliament. http://www.rte.ie/news/2015/1004/732298-portugal-elections/ -- Portugal's election – a guide to the parties and politics The incumbent government is ahead in the polls but will it get enough support to win a majority? George Arnett Portugal goes to the polls this Sunday to give its verdict on four years of governance by a coalition of two centre-right parties, now running under one banner as Portugal à Frente (Portugal Ahead or PàF). The tenure of the current prime minister, Pedro Passos Coelho, has been marked by the three-year austerity programme the government had to implement in 2011 in return for Euro78bn (then UKP70bn) bailout funds. That programme came to an end in May last year, with Portugal passing every economic test set by its Eurozone lenders. Despite austerity taking a significant toll, the economy has shown positive signs of recovery and Coelho's coalition has nudged ahead in recent polls. The electoral system Portugal has a single chamber parliament made up of 230 members, with a maximum of four years between each election. Each of Portugal's 18 administrative districts, plus the two autonomous regions (the Azores and Madeira), are electoral constituencies. There are two further constituencies for Portuguese based abroad, one for European residents and another for those in the rest of the world. Despite this geographic split, all members of parliament represent the whole country rather than the specific locales where they are elected. Each region has a fixed number of seats to be won, with parties putting forward a list of candidates. MPs are chosen using the D'Hondt method of proportional representation, which means the higher up they are on their party list the more likely they are to get a seat. To win a majority in the parliament a party needs to gain 116 seats. No party achieved this in 2011 so a coalition government was formed. However, ruling with a minority of seats is possible as a vote of no confidence or a rejection of the leading party's agenda requires the support of an absolute majority of MPs (at least 116). The parties Portugal à Frente (Portugal Ahead) -- a centre-right electoral alliance between the two parties that have ruled in coalition for the past four years: the party of Social Democrats (PSD) and the Social Centre -- People’s party (CDS-PP). The grouping is led by Coelho. Partido Socialista (Socialist Party) -- the centre-left party that presided over the sovereign debt crisis in 2010, but has since recovered in the polls. It is led by a former mayor of Lisbon, António Costa. Coligação Democrática Unitária (CDU) -- an electoral alliance between the Communist party of Portugal and the country’s Green party. Led by Jerónimo de Sousa, who has been party secretary for over a decade. Bloco de Esquerda (Left Bloc) -- a far left party with no official leader, overseen instead by a six-member committee. Actor Catarina Martins is the main spokesperson. The issues Portugal's economy seems to be recovering, albeit tentatively. GDP grew by 1.5% in the second quarter of 2015 compared with the same period last year and unemployment is at its lowest level (12.4%) since early 2011. As a result, ratings agencies Standard
[Goanet] Our music, our story (Judy Luis-Watson)
BOOK EXCERPT: OUR MUSIC, OUR STORY... Waiting for the Sunrise: Goan Jazz Musicians in Dar es Salaam Waiting for the Sunrise by Judy Luis-Watson is now available at http://bit.ly/wfts-judy (in both print and ebook versions). Details from jazzgoan...@gmail.com PRELUDE The impressions we pick up as children, when our minds are still open to influence and as soft as damp sponges, are likely to stay with us the longest. --- Ann Patchet When the Jazz Swingers were at the top of their game in Dar es Salaam, I was just a young child. Yet I have clear memories of their band practices at our home and gigs at the Goan Institute (G.I.), a private club where Goans and their guests could socialize. This band story is a result of a question that kept playing in my mind when music was my profession. Strangers in the U.S. often asked after a performance how I learned to play the blues. What I think they were really asking was how someone who looked like me could be so immersed in music that originated in African American culture. The answer, however, seemed clear -- I fell in love with the deep sound of blues music as well as the clever story-telling and double entendre lyrics. As for jazz, I felt at home with it because swing music was the live and very real soundtrack of my early childhood. That recurring question, however, became the catalyst to delve into my family's musical roots. How did my dad Jerry Luis, born in Tanganyika and of Goan ancestry, learn the wide range of music he played? And what about the Jazz Swingers, the band he played with in Dar es Salaam? The Jazz Swingers were the first Goan swing band in Dar es Salaam (Arabic for Harbor of Peace), the capital city of Tanganyika. Beginning in 1947 and through the mid-'60s, these musicians of Goan heritage entertained thousands with American swing jazz as well as dance music from Cuba, South America, and Europe. At every occasion, the Jazz Swingers opened and closed with an instrumental version of 'The World is Waiting for the Sunrise,' a hopeful tune born in Toronto, Canada, following the devastation of World War I. They became twinned with the song, especially in the hearts of their Goan audiences. It's been a fascinating journey to learn about these musicians, why they left their ancestral home, and how they contributed to the music scene in Dar. My safari began in an unlikely place, but perhaps it was precisely the right time. In Toronto, on September 26, 1999, a long line of relatives and friends waited to offer condolences to my parents at the wake for my brother Ian. I would rather have been sitting quietly somewhere, but I mustered up the courage to talk with people I didn’t really know or hadn't seen for years. One person was John Nazareth, who had served as the President of the Goan Overseas Association in Toronto. At some point I asked what he thought of the idea for this band story, and he responded that people (at least Goans) would be interested in it. When I mentioned his brother Peter and how much I enjoyed his novels and the compilation he edited on Goan literature, John suggested I call Peter, who lived in Iowa City. In the meantime, my dad Jerry arranged for us to meet with several former members of the Jazz Swingers who lived in Toronto. Follow-up conversations with musicians as well as other members of the international Goan community helped to unpack the story. My intention is to provide a window through music into the Goan experience in Dar; acknowledge the role these musicians played in their community; and share a picture of the times in which they lived. As much as this project is a slice of my family history, it is also a piece of the Goan, Indian, and Tanzanian story.
[Goanet] Pope Francis and India's Narendra Modi had very different visits to America (LATimes.com)
By Christine Mai-DucContact Reporter Pope Francis and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi both landed in the U.S. last week in overlapping visits. They each lead a billion people worldwide, and drew crowds, worship and controversy while here. There were tears, talk about climate change and the role of women. Still, a closer look at their itineraries shows some key differences. Obama welcomed the pope at the airport, hugged Modi at the U.N. (Getty Images / Associated Press) President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama greeted Pope Francis at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Tuesday, breaking with White House protocol. Obama greeted Modi with an embrace in a United Nations hallway Monday morning, on Day 5 of Modi's five-day trip to the United States. It was the fifth meeting between the two world leaders in a year, according to an Indian government spokesman. The pope hung out with the homeless, abuse victims and prisoners; Modi with Google, Facebook and Apple (Associated Press) Modi and Pope Francis had some meetings in common: Both spoke to world leaders at the United Nations and met with President Obama. But the similarities stopped there. Modi, primarily focused on strengthening commercial ties, rubbed shoulders with top tech executives such as Apple's Tim Cook, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook. Francis, on the other hand, took a detour to meet with victims of sex abuse, turned down lunch with leaders in Washington to dine with the homeless and visited prisoners in Philadelphia and inner-city students in East Harlem, New York. Francis also addressed a joint meeting of Congress, the first pontiff in history to do so. 1 million gathered to see the pope in Philadelphia; 18,000 showed up for Modi in California (Associated Press / Tribune News Service) Organizers estimated that about 1 million faithful would turn out to see Francis celebrate Sunday Mass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia. Days earlier, about 80,000 lottery winners lined Central Park in New York City to await his arrival. On Sunday, Modi spoke at a "town hall" event at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., attended by an estimated 18,000 people, many of them Indian Americans. Both men lead more than 1 billion people each worldwide. There are an estimated 72 million U.S. Catholics, and more than 2.8 million Indian Americans live in the U.S., according to U.S. Census figures. The pope skipped California while Modi rubbed elbows with state and business leaders (European Pressphoto Agency) Modi spent a good deal of his time in the U.S. on the West Coast, meeting with California Gov. Jerry Brown in San Jose on Sunday to discuss climate change as part of his swing through the Golden State. The pope, on the other hand, kept his travel to the East Coast, even as he celebrated a Mass to canonize Father Junipero Serra, who founded several of California's 21 missions and became the first saint canonized on U.S. soil. (Over the weekend, just days after Serra was canonized, vandals struck the Carmel Mission where the remains of the missionary are buried, toppling statues and damaging gravesites.) On climate change, the pope quoted Martin Luther King Jr., while Modi went with Gandhi (AFP/Getty Images / European Pressphoto Agency) Both Francis and Modi invoked the names of peaceful leaders in their discussions of climate change. Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, whom he called "that towering personality of our times," Modi said, "We must care, too, for that future world that we ourselves will not be able to see." Speaking at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit last week, Modi said that climate change must be a priority, but that changes must be made with an eye to how they affect the poor. "When we speak of climate change, there is a hint, unspoken or not, of safeguarding what we already have. But when we speak of climate justice, then the responsibility of saving the poor from the vagaries of climate is something that will help us." The pontiff also spoke about how climate change affects the world's poorest, saying they "suffer most from such offenses," and speaking of a "true right of the environment." "They are cast off by society, forced to live off what is discarded and suffer unjustly from the consequences of the abuse of the environment," Francis told the United Nations General Assembly. "They are part of today's widespread and quietly growing 'culture of waste.'" The pope invoked the name of Martin Luther King, borrowing words he spoke in his "I Have a Dream" speech. "We can say that we have defaulted on a promissory note and now is the time to honor it," the pope said. The pope made John Boehner cry, while Mark Zuckerberg left Modi in tears
[Goanet-News] Pope Francis and India's Narendra Modi had very different visits to America (LATimes.com)
By Christine Mai-DucContact Reporter Pope Francis and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi both landed in the U.S. last week in overlapping visits. They each lead a billion people worldwide, and drew crowds, worship and controversy while here. There were tears, talk about climate change and the role of women. Still, a closer look at their itineraries shows some key differences. Obama welcomed the pope at the airport, hugged Modi at the U.N. (Getty Images / Associated Press) President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama greeted Pope Francis at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Tuesday, breaking with White House protocol. Obama greeted Modi with an embrace in a United Nations hallway Monday morning, on Day 5 of Modi's five-day trip to the United States. It was the fifth meeting between the two world leaders in a year, according to an Indian government spokesman. The pope hung out with the homeless, abuse victims and prisoners; Modi with Google, Facebook and Apple (Associated Press) Modi and Pope Francis had some meetings in common: Both spoke to world leaders at the United Nations and met with President Obama. But the similarities stopped there. Modi, primarily focused on strengthening commercial ties, rubbed shoulders with top tech executives such as Apple's Tim Cook, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook. Francis, on the other hand, took a detour to meet with victims of sex abuse, turned down lunch with leaders in Washington to dine with the homeless and visited prisoners in Philadelphia and inner-city students in East Harlem, New York. Francis also addressed a joint meeting of Congress, the first pontiff in history to do so. 1 million gathered to see the pope in Philadelphia; 18,000 showed up for Modi in California (Associated Press / Tribune News Service) Organizers estimated that about 1 million faithful would turn out to see Francis celebrate Sunday Mass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia. Days earlier, about 80,000 lottery winners lined Central Park in New York City to await his arrival. On Sunday, Modi spoke at a "town hall" event at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., attended by an estimated 18,000 people, many of them Indian Americans. Both men lead more than 1 billion people each worldwide. There are an estimated 72 million U.S. Catholics, and more than 2.8 million Indian Americans live in the U.S., according to U.S. Census figures. The pope skipped California while Modi rubbed elbows with state and business leaders (European Pressphoto Agency) Modi spent a good deal of his time in the U.S. on the West Coast, meeting with California Gov. Jerry Brown in San Jose on Sunday to discuss climate change as part of his swing through the Golden State. The pope, on the other hand, kept his travel to the East Coast, even as he celebrated a Mass to canonize Father Junipero Serra, who founded several of California's 21 missions and became the first saint canonized on U.S. soil. (Over the weekend, just days after Serra was canonized, vandals struck the Carmel Mission where the remains of the missionary are buried, toppling statues and damaging gravesites.) On climate change, the pope quoted Martin Luther King Jr., while Modi went with Gandhi (AFP/Getty Images / European Pressphoto Agency) Both Francis and Modi invoked the names of peaceful leaders in their discussions of climate change. Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, whom he called "that towering personality of our times," Modi said, "We must care, too, for that future world that we ourselves will not be able to see." Speaking at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit last week, Modi said that climate change must be a priority, but that changes must be made with an eye to how they affect the poor. "When we speak of climate change, there is a hint, unspoken or not, of safeguarding what we already have. But when we speak of climate justice, then the responsibility of saving the poor from the vagaries of climate is something that will help us." The pontiff also spoke about how climate change affects the world's poorest, saying they "suffer most from such offenses," and speaking of a "true right of the environment." "They are cast off by society, forced to live off what is discarded and suffer unjustly from the consequences of the abuse of the environment," Francis told the United Nations General Assembly. "They are part of today's widespread and quietly growing 'culture of waste.'" The pope invoked the name of Martin Luther King, borrowing words he spoke in his "I Have a Dream" speech. "We can say that we have defaulted on a promissory note and now is the time to honor it," the pope said. The pope made John Boehner cry, while Mark Zuckerberg left Modi in tears
[Goanet] Goa, as Goa was: cleanliness and health two generations ago.... (Domnic Fernandes, Village Anjuna)
BOOK-EXTRACT
-
Domnic Fernandes was Goanet's find. After
he started writing his uber-interesting
reminiscences of the Goa of the
yesteryears in cyberspace through this
network over a decade ago, many
appreciated his work. After writing his
first book in 2007 ('Domnic's Goa') and
his second on Mapusa in 2012, Domnic's
latest book called 'Village Anjuna' ISBN
978-93-80739-98-4 gets released on this
weekend. The author invites every
Goanetter and relatives back home for
this function in Anjuna on coming Sunday
evening. Details below. This text is an extract
from his latest book.
---
In the middle of the last century, life in Goa was hard. It
was not an easy task, but the people of those times had
neither high aspirations nor did they work themselves to the
bone to become wealthy, as is the case today. People lived
for the day. They depended solely on Mother Nature for their
daily requirements.
RINTTE, THE INEDIBLE SOAP BERRIES
They say: 'Cleanliness is next to godliness' and man has
followed this adage. There were no power laundries around,
but the few clothes owned were regularly washed. Detergents
then were not as abundantly available. So, with what did he
wash his clothes? He made use of a natural detergent, rintte
(small, round, inedible soap-producing berries).
Practically every ward in Anjuna then had a few
rintteachim zhaddam (trees bearing inedible
berries). Once the rintte were ripe and dried on
the tree, they would fall to the ground, just like
boram (sweet-sour local berries). Every morning,
people, especially women, would gather under the
trees and collect as many rintte as they needed for
the day. They would sometimes gather extra rintte,
dry and store them in a panttulo (basket made of
bamboo), as a contingency stock.
Here is how rintte were used: housewives would fill a bucket
with water, place two handfuls of rintte in it and leave them
to soak overnight for maximum soap extraction. Washing
clothes was an early morning chores so that clothes could be
put out to dry in the open when the sun rose. As soon as
women woke up, they would stir water in the bucket with their
hands in order to check the formation of lather, which was as
good as that of any detergent today. They would keep the
soiled clothes in the bucket for soaking until breakfast for
the family was prepared.
By then, washing the soaked clothes became much easier.
Clothes were washed on a large rôp duvpachi fatorn (stone for
washing of clothes), placed at a height on a pedestal of
stones. Washing was done by pressing and rubbing clothes on a
washing stone, but thick and heavily soiled clothes were
either beaten with a solid, round tonnko (bludgeon)
preferably of bamboo, or they would just swirl and hit the
clothes on the washing stone, every swirl accompanied by a
sound: Shh... S! Shh... S! Shh... S!
In the case of obstinate stains, they would pick some rintte
from the bucket and rub them into the spots, and the stains
would completely disappear. We never used rintte at my home
to wash our clothes, but I would collect and pass them on to
those of my neighbours who could not afford to buy washing
soap. Today, we have dozens of brands of detergents to wash
clothes. Most middle class people use a washing machine.
In Anjuna, there was a Christian professional
mainato (Portuguese word) or moddvoll (washer man).
He was quite short in stature and always wore a
pair of white shorts and a short-sleeved white
shirt. As we know, the collar of a shirt gathers
more dirt than the rest of the shirt, and it was
worse in those days with heavy dust flying in the
air from muddy roads. Therefore, the washer man,
like some people, placed a folded handkerchief
under collar of his shirt to avoid dirt on the
collar. He did the laundry of the affluent as well
as of St. Michael's Church. Because of his long
association with the church he was allotted a paddy
field, which he cultivated with paddy.
A Hindu woman from Baga also collected laundry around Anjuna.
Fair in complexion, she would wear a blouse and sari that was
folded into a kastto (a form of dressing of the sari used by
fisher-women). She picked-up dirty clothes on a Saturday and
returned them washed in a week. She would count the clothes
and tie them together with one of the dirty clothes. She
wrapped clothes in a bed sheet and carried the bundle on her
head. As kids, we wondered how she never mixed up clothes
among her clientele. The moddvoll washed clothes at a well,
and these were then strung on a rope between two trees.
Mid-20th century, it was a fashion to wear starched clothes,
especially white shirts. Many post-Liberation politicians
opted to wear white
[Goanet-News] Goa, as Goa was: cleanliness and health two generations ago.... (Domnic Fernandes, Village Anjuna)
BOOK-EXTRACT
-
Domnic Fernandes was Goanet's find. After
he started writing his uber-interesting
reminiscences of the Goa of the
yesteryears in cyberspace through this
network over a decade ago, many
appreciated his work. After writing his
first book in 2007 ('Domnic's Goa') and
his second on Mapusa in 2012, Domnic's
latest book called 'Village Anjuna' ISBN
978-93-80739-98-4 gets released on this
weekend. The author invites every
Goanetter and relatives back home for
this function in Anjuna on coming Sunday
evening. Details below. This text is an extract
from his latest book.
---
In the middle of the last century, life in Goa was hard. It
was not an easy task, but the people of those times had
neither high aspirations nor did they work themselves to the
bone to become wealthy, as is the case today. People lived
for the day. They depended solely on Mother Nature for their
daily requirements.
RINTTE, THE INEDIBLE SOAP BERRIES
They say: 'Cleanliness is next to godliness' and man has
followed this adage. There were no power laundries around,
but the few clothes owned were regularly washed. Detergents
then were not as abundantly available. So, with what did he
wash his clothes? He made use of a natural detergent, rintte
(small, round, inedible soap-producing berries).
Practically every ward in Anjuna then had a few
rintteachim zhaddam (trees bearing inedible
berries). Once the rintte were ripe and dried on
the tree, they would fall to the ground, just like
boram (sweet-sour local berries). Every morning,
people, especially women, would gather under the
trees and collect as many rintte as they needed for
the day. They would sometimes gather extra rintte,
dry and store them in a panttulo (basket made of
bamboo), as a contingency stock.
Here is how rintte were used: housewives would fill a bucket
with water, place two handfuls of rintte in it and leave them
to soak overnight for maximum soap extraction. Washing
clothes was an early morning chores so that clothes could be
put out to dry in the open when the sun rose. As soon as
women woke up, they would stir water in the bucket with their
hands in order to check the formation of lather, which was as
good as that of any detergent today. They would keep the
soiled clothes in the bucket for soaking until breakfast for
the family was prepared.
By then, washing the soaked clothes became much easier.
Clothes were washed on a large rôp duvpachi fatorn (stone for
washing of clothes), placed at a height on a pedestal of
stones. Washing was done by pressing and rubbing clothes on a
washing stone, but thick and heavily soiled clothes were
either beaten with a solid, round tonnko (bludgeon)
preferably of bamboo, or they would just swirl and hit the
clothes on the washing stone, every swirl accompanied by a
sound: Shh... S! Shh... S! Shh... S!
In the case of obstinate stains, they would pick some rintte
from the bucket and rub them into the spots, and the stains
would completely disappear. We never used rintte at my home
to wash our clothes, but I would collect and pass them on to
those of my neighbours who could not afford to buy washing
soap. Today, we have dozens of brands of detergents to wash
clothes. Most middle class people use a washing machine.
In Anjuna, there was a Christian professional
mainato (Portuguese word) or moddvoll (washer man).
He was quite short in stature and always wore a
pair of white shorts and a short-sleeved white
shirt. As we know, the collar of a shirt gathers
more dirt than the rest of the shirt, and it was
worse in those days with heavy dust flying in the
air from muddy roads. Therefore, the washer man,
like some people, placed a folded handkerchief
under collar of his shirt to avoid dirt on the
collar. He did the laundry of the affluent as well
as of St. Michael's Church. Because of his long
association with the church he was allotted a paddy
field, which he cultivated with paddy.
A Hindu woman from Baga also collected laundry around Anjuna.
Fair in complexion, she would wear a blouse and sari that was
folded into a kastto (a form of dressing of the sari used by
fisher-women). She picked-up dirty clothes on a Saturday and
returned them washed in a week. She would count the clothes
and tie them together with one of the dirty clothes. She
wrapped clothes in a bed sheet and carried the bundle on her
head. As kids, we wondered how she never mixed up clothes
among her clientele. The moddvoll washed clothes at a well,
and these were then strung on a rope between two trees.
Mid-20th century, it was a fashion to wear starched clothes,
especially white shirts. Many post-Liberation politicians
opted to wear white
[Goanet] A new life into a purana text (The Times of India)
The scene was Arambol, one of the frontiers of Goa, 500 years ago. A family mourns the passing away of its eldest member. That night a man was summoned. Known by the locals as 'Purankar', he had to sing the verses of a holy text called the 'Krista Purana' for the entire night. Such was the scene half a millennium ago, when Goa's natives embraced Christianity. The influence of Latin culture had not yet reached Goan shores, and the new converts sang their hymns to the beats of the dholak, ghumot and other folk instruments. The 'Krista Purana' translates as the 'The Christian Puranas', an epic poem on the life of Jesus Christ written in a mix of Marathi and Konkani by Fr Thomas Stephens, SJ (1549-1619). Adopting the literary form of the Hindu Puranas, it retells the entire story of mankind, from the creation days to the time of Jesus in lyrical verse form. The Christian Puranas comprise 11,000 stanzas of four verses. Three years ago, Fr Glen D'Silva, who served on the executive board of Kala Academy, met its member secretary, Shrikanth Bhatt, who told him, "Father, someone must revive the Krista Purana." Those words stuck in his mind, and he began to look for the book, learning later that a handwritten copy lies in the Pilar seminary museum, while a new edition of the book was in the possession of the Don Bosco educational complex in Panaji. D'Silva certainly had illustrious predecessors to follow. Fr (Dr) Nelson Falcao had translated the works into English, while Padmashri Suresh Amonkar, educationist, social worker and writer had worked on the Konkani translation. Eleven thousand verses dwelling in 49 chapters divided into the old and new testaments, D'Silva worked steadfastly in his mission to revive the almost-defunct 500-year-old 'Krista Purana'. "My main aim in reviving the 'Krista Purana' was to bring about a cultural integration. It is important for us Goans to know our rich musical heritage in order to appreciate our own culture and traditions," says D'Silva, who, at present, serves the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Vaddem-Curdi as its parish priest. Two years ago, in March 2013, D'Silva sang the first 11 verses in a public performance at the XVI Bhakti Sangeet Samaroh held at the Kala Academy. D'Silva is also former director of the Pilar Music School and he was instrumental in starting music schools in Porvorim, Moira and Margao. His labour of love in revitalizing the devotional songs materialized in the release of his album 'O Namo', comprising 11 songs which is symbolic of the 11,000 verses in the 'Krista Purana'. The album comprises the songs, 'O Namo' (Oh! Hail to thee), 'Tu Parmananda' (You are the absolute bliss, pervading the universe), 'Tu Sakshat Parmeshvaru' (You are the very God, Eternal and Infinite), 'Tu ani Tuzaa Ekach Sutu' (You and your only Son), 'Namo Visvachiye Dipti' (I bow to you, the light of the universe), 'Namo Spirita' (Hail to you, Oh! Pure and Holy Spirit), 'Tu Sapta Divya Dannacha Dataru' (You are the giver of seven divine gifts), 'Jaisa Baap Taisa Putr' (The Father as well as the Son), 'Teenazanache Ekach Tatva' (The three are made of one substance); 'Putr to Baapa Pasuni Vartala' (The Son, of course, came from the Father); 'To Amchaa Svami' (He is Jesus Christ our Lord). Of the 11 songs, 'O Namo', 'Namo Spirita', and 'To Amchaa Swami' are his favourites. "'O Namo' is a rare composition in Raag Bhupali, 'Namo Spirita' is Raag Hem Kalian. These are unheard of by today's generation and 'To Amchaa Swami' is in Raag Shaym Kalyan, which is my favourite raag," he says. "The 11 songs comprise the first chapter of the Krista Purana with 25 verses. It is difficult to measure the hours and time which I have put in. It was an inspiration and God's grace that worked. I have not done any great research as such, but, whatever I learned in Indian music, I applied it in the compositions," adds D'Silva. The music in 'O Namo' features the harmonium, tabla, electronic tanpura and the violin, which D'Silva has played himself. "The audio CD is available at music stores. It has been produced by Brian D'Silva, who is my brother," he says. "Fr Thomas Stephens began writing the 'Krista Purana' while he served as parish priest of Benaulim almost 500 years ago. Having roots in Salcete myself, I felt that God provided me a task to preserve, propagate and promote the 'Krista Purana' through 'O Namo'," says D'Silva, who is a native of Carmona. "When I completed the first chapter comprising 11 songs, I realized that my efforts were supported by divine grace as the 'Krista Purana' itself comprises 11,000 verses," says D'Silva, who doesn't forget to appreciate the support given by his
[Goanet-News] Laughing all the way to the Net (Reena Martins, The Telegraph)
Laughing all the way to the Net Soaring onion prices are being lampooned on the Internet -- a reflection of a new breed of humour writers who're running riot on the web, chuckles Reena Martins She's not cryin' anymore, Can't afford you is what she says; There's a smile upon her face; Tomatoes took my place... She's Not Cryin' Anymore... This ditty, composed by Goa's humour writer Cecil Pinto (with due apologies to Billy Ray Cyrus), is an ode to the onion, which has become the butt of Internet and WhatsApp jokes over the past few weeks. As the pricey bulb graces a ring in cyber space -- pictured like a ruby over a band -- one can't help but wonder about the funny bones behind the thriving Internet satire that leaves the user hungry for more. As one Facebook satire page says, Bahut bhook lagee hai yaar, subah se kuch nahi khaya (I'm very hungry, haven't eaten anything all day). These days, there is a joke for every occasion. The rising price of onions has been lampooned in varied ways. A cartoon being circulated on the Internet has a couple asking for two kilos of onions, prompting the vegetable seller to suspiciously ask them for their PAN card number. The latest joke doing the rounds is a WhatsApp message with the header, Today's currency exchange rate. It says: 1 dollar = 765g onions; 1 Euro = 1.15g onions, 1 rupee = 12g onions. Cartoons from newspapers are scanned and circulated, as humour writers -- college students, advertising executives and others -- let their imagination run riot, thinking of funny one liners on topical issues. There is this new breed of humour writers that is cutting edge, says Kunal Vijaykar, co-host of the television show The Week That Wasn't. Even though Cyrus (Broacha) and I were the ones to start the irreverent humour trend, I feel jealous when I see this flurry of WhatsApp jokes, 90 per cent of which are very funny and come out within hardly a couple of hours of a newsbreak. We have to rewrite our TV script as we can't repeat the damn jokes! Most of the jokes are targeted at politicians. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tours across the world have evoked considerable mirth. I don't believe in maps, satellites and NASA,' says one message, and then goes on to add, just above Modi's smiling photograph, I will travel myself to prove that the world is round. A lot of the humour is focused on Rahul Gandhi's lack of political experience. We must work for the party, Sonia Gandhi says in one such joke. Oh, who's throwing it, asks an excited Rahul. Political satire can take the form of innovative laws too. That's how US-based political satirist Nishant Jain pokes fun at the system. On his five-year-old Facebook page Testimonial Comics (with close to 9,000 likes), Jain this week drafted a Whistleblower's Protection Act to protect lewd, perverted whistleblowers who make innocent ministers feel unsafe in their armored cars (with police escorts and barricades) composed almost exclusively of sacks of black money. It adds: No minister or official in any governmental capacity need ever be afraid of loud, prejudiced, aggressive individuals eager to blow whistles at them just because they were walking across the street to exchange briefcases full of money from the corporation of their choice. Jain points out that the bandwagon of humour has got bigger now that the Internet has exploded all over cell phones, laptops and tablets. I regularly read stuff that makes me insanely jealous of the writer behind it, adds Jain, who holds a master's degree in bio-mechanical engineering. Some of the jokes can be wildly irreverent. Take this one, which says: After the grand success of Coffee with Karan, xxx (television company) is coming up with three new shows: 1: Tea with Modi 2: Cerelac with Rahul 3: Cough syrup with Kejriwal. Thank God, it goes on to add, Morarji Desai is dead. A lot of the humour is on blogs. Actor Twinkle Khanna's blog entries -- where she takes on, with subtle humour, issues such as the ban on beef in Maharasthra or the hush-hush world of menstruation -- are now out as a book. Architect and humour writer Clement de Sylva's blog Bandrabuggers is a hugely popular book written in pidgin English. De Sylva, who has been writing for 10 years, says that positive responses never stop pouring in from those in his neighbourhood of Bandra. There are occasions when people take exception to a joke. Most of Pinto's funny posts centre on family and Goan village life, so every once in a while he gets accosted by someone taking offence at something he has written. I try to be sensitive and not hurt anyone's feelings, but that's not always possible. Political correctness and humour don't go together. Like any
[Goanet] Laughing all the way to the Net (Reena Martins, The Telegraph)
Laughing all the way to the Net Soaring onion prices are being lampooned on the Internet -- a reflection of a new breed of humour writers who're running riot on the web, chuckles Reena Martins She's not cryin' anymore, Can't afford you is what she says; There's a smile upon her face; Tomatoes took my place... She's Not Cryin' Anymore... This ditty, composed by Goa's humour writer Cecil Pinto (with due apologies to Billy Ray Cyrus), is an ode to the onion, which has become the butt of Internet and WhatsApp jokes over the past few weeks. As the pricey bulb graces a ring in cyber space -- pictured like a ruby over a band -- one can't help but wonder about the funny bones behind the thriving Internet satire that leaves the user hungry for more. As one Facebook satire page says, Bahut bhook lagee hai yaar, subah se kuch nahi khaya (I'm very hungry, haven't eaten anything all day). These days, there is a joke for every occasion. The rising price of onions has been lampooned in varied ways. A cartoon being circulated on the Internet has a couple asking for two kilos of onions, prompting the vegetable seller to suspiciously ask them for their PAN card number. The latest joke doing the rounds is a WhatsApp message with the header, Today's currency exchange rate. It says: 1 dollar = 765g onions; 1 Euro = 1.15g onions, 1 rupee = 12g onions. Cartoons from newspapers are scanned and circulated, as humour writers -- college students, advertising executives and others -- let their imagination run riot, thinking of funny one liners on topical issues. There is this new breed of humour writers that is cutting edge, says Kunal Vijaykar, co-host of the television show The Week That Wasn't. Even though Cyrus (Broacha) and I were the ones to start the irreverent humour trend, I feel jealous when I see this flurry of WhatsApp jokes, 90 per cent of which are very funny and come out within hardly a couple of hours of a newsbreak. We have to rewrite our TV script as we can't repeat the damn jokes! Most of the jokes are targeted at politicians. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tours across the world have evoked considerable mirth. I don't believe in maps, satellites and NASA,' says one message, and then goes on to add, just above Modi's smiling photograph, I will travel myself to prove that the world is round. A lot of the humour is focused on Rahul Gandhi's lack of political experience. We must work for the party, Sonia Gandhi says in one such joke. Oh, who's throwing it, asks an excited Rahul. Political satire can take the form of innovative laws too. That's how US-based political satirist Nishant Jain pokes fun at the system. On his five-year-old Facebook page Testimonial Comics (with close to 9,000 likes), Jain this week drafted a Whistleblower's Protection Act to protect lewd, perverted whistleblowers who make innocent ministers feel unsafe in their armored cars (with police escorts and barricades) composed almost exclusively of sacks of black money. It adds: No minister or official in any governmental capacity need ever be afraid of loud, prejudiced, aggressive individuals eager to blow whistles at them just because they were walking across the street to exchange briefcases full of money from the corporation of their choice. Jain points out that the bandwagon of humour has got bigger now that the Internet has exploded all over cell phones, laptops and tablets. I regularly read stuff that makes me insanely jealous of the writer behind it, adds Jain, who holds a master's degree in bio-mechanical engineering. Some of the jokes can be wildly irreverent. Take this one, which says: After the grand success of Coffee with Karan, xxx (television company) is coming up with three new shows: 1: Tea with Modi 2: Cerelac with Rahul 3: Cough syrup with Kejriwal. Thank God, it goes on to add, Morarji Desai is dead. A lot of the humour is on blogs. Actor Twinkle Khanna's blog entries -- where she takes on, with subtle humour, issues such as the ban on beef in Maharasthra or the hush-hush world of menstruation -- are now out as a book. Architect and humour writer Clement de Sylva's blog Bandrabuggers is a hugely popular book written in pidgin English. De Sylva, who has been writing for 10 years, says that positive responses never stop pouring in from those in his neighbourhood of Bandra. There are occasions when people take exception to a joke. Most of Pinto's funny posts centre on family and Goan village life, so every once in a while he gets accosted by someone taking offence at something he has written. I try to be sensitive and not hurt anyone's feelings, but that's not always possible. Political correctness and humour don't go together. Like any
[Goanet] How many Goans are there worldwide, really? (John Nazareth)
HOW MANY GOANS ARE THERE WORLDWIDE, REALLY? The story behind the figures... The author is a Canada-based statistician who has put together estimates of how many Goans there could be worldwide. The figures are available online at http://bit.ly/rd3K8J and http://bit.ly/r8uMAU Nazareth agreed to share the back-story of these figures, when requested by Goanet Reader recently. This account was meant to be a reply to a journalist's queries, and hence its personalised tone. By John Nazareth jhr_nazar...@hotmail.com By way of some background, I live in Mississauga, Canada, was born in Uganda and lived there until 1973, a year after the Expulsion of Asians by Idi Amin. Before leaving to do my postgraduate studies in London and coming to Toronto in 1974, I had a BSc in Mathematics/Physics from Makerere University, Uganda, and subsequently added a postgrad diploma in statistics from the London School of Economics, an M.Sc. in Mathematical Statistics from the University of Toronto and an MBA from York University in Toronto. My ancestral links are to the village of Moira in Goa. I worked for three years in the Ministry of Finance Planning in Uganda, and am now a Senior Reliability Specialist with the Maintenance Engineering Department of Bombardier Aerospace, my workplace for thirty years. Now in the twilight of my career, I will be retiring in a few months. One stumbled into the field of Reliability Engineering by accident in 1978. Reliability is the application of statistics in engineering. It happened by chance -- or, as one might prefer to say, by the grace of God. One has had the good fortune of becoming an expert in the field of aircraft in-service statistics and have had a hand in creating several world standards in the field. In particular SPEC2000 Chapters 11 and 13 with the Air Transport Association of America. While having had a share in management for several years, it has been in the technical field that I feel able to have made a unique contribution. Because of my training and profession, I have always been enthralled with numbers. It has also been because of the Uganda Expulsion and aftermath that I became so involved with playing a role in things Goan. In Uganda I had come to consider myself an African, but when most of the Goans left and I was just one of three Goans remaining in Entebbe, my home town, I came to appreciate Goans. Their departure felt like the death of a parent. You are always with your friends, but when your mum or dad dies, you the feel it big time. So on reaching Canada, I decided to play a role in Goan affairs. In 1982, as Vice-President of the Goan Overseas Association, I did a general survey of Goans here. Although it was not a census, based on a lot of numbers gathered, I was able to do my first estimate of the size of the Goan population of the Toronto area. (Later I became President of the G.O.A. in 1985 and the defacto historian of the Goan presence in Ontario by writing the history of the Goan community for the 25th anniversary of the GOA in 1995.) From my love for numbers, over the years I made notes of Goan populations -- even scraps of information. Then one day in 2010 or so Milton Rodrigues in London emailed several people desperately looking for numbers on the Goan population scattered worldwide. Someone forwarded it to me. I could have just said that there was nothing. But I sat down and wrote based on all the scraps I had. Sometime after that Frederick Noronha took an interest and wrote an article about it. Thanks to that, I decided to be more serious about the subject. Another thing that has helped has been my curiosity of the Goan experience in different parts of the world. Some Goans feel resentment about Goans from other places, always thinking that they try to lord it over someone else. Instead, I have been interested in all our collective experiences. As a result I have made friends with Goans from all over. I have many good friends from Karachi, my wife and I have belonged to two prayer groups mainly with Goans from the Gulf, I've wondered about the ethnicity of Mangaloreans and so on. (Thanks to Alan Machado Prabhu I was finally able to confirm that Mangalorean Christians and Hindus came from Goa and so I've added them to my count.) About the tools I use, my profession in Bombardier has led me to being creative. Over the years I have developed methodologies and software that has helped make Bombardier a world leader in analysis of aircraft reliability performance -- something that has surpassed bigger airframe manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus. This is not because I am a genius, but because by the grace of God I am one of the very few statisticians that works in this field. Most do not even
[Goanet-News] How many Goans are there worldwide, really? (John Nazareth)
HOW MANY GOANS ARE THERE WORLDWIDE, REALLY? The story behind the figures... The author is a Canada-based statistician who has put together estimates of how many Goans there could be worldwide. The figures are available online at http://bit.ly/rd3K8J and http://bit.ly/r8uMAU Nazareth agreed to share the back-story of these figures, when requested by Goanet Reader recently. This account was meant to be a reply to a journalist's queries, and hence its personalised tone. By John Nazareth jhr_nazar...@hotmail.com By way of some background, I live in Mississauga, Canada, was born in Uganda and lived there until 1973, a year after the Expulsion of Asians by Idi Amin. Before leaving to do my postgraduate studies in London and coming to Toronto in 1974, I had a BSc in Mathematics/Physics from Makerere University, Uganda, and subsequently added a postgrad diploma in statistics from the London School of Economics, an M.Sc. in Mathematical Statistics from the University of Toronto and an MBA from York University in Toronto. My ancestral links are to the village of Moira in Goa. I worked for three years in the Ministry of Finance Planning in Uganda, and am now a Senior Reliability Specialist with the Maintenance Engineering Department of Bombardier Aerospace, my workplace for thirty years. Now in the twilight of my career, I will be retiring in a few months. One stumbled into the field of Reliability Engineering by accident in 1978. Reliability is the application of statistics in engineering. It happened by chance -- or, as one might prefer to say, by the grace of God. One has had the good fortune of becoming an expert in the field of aircraft in-service statistics and have had a hand in creating several world standards in the field. In particular SPEC2000 Chapters 11 and 13 with the Air Transport Association of America. While having had a share in management for several years, it has been in the technical field that I feel able to have made a unique contribution. Because of my training and profession, I have always been enthralled with numbers. It has also been because of the Uganda Expulsion and aftermath that I became so involved with playing a role in things Goan. In Uganda I had come to consider myself an African, but when most of the Goans left and I was just one of three Goans remaining in Entebbe, my home town, I came to appreciate Goans. Their departure felt like the death of a parent. You are always with your friends, but when your mum or dad dies, you the feel it big time. So on reaching Canada, I decided to play a role in Goan affairs. In 1982, as Vice-President of the Goan Overseas Association, I did a general survey of Goans here. Although it was not a census, based on a lot of numbers gathered, I was able to do my first estimate of the size of the Goan population of the Toronto area. (Later I became President of the G.O.A. in 1985 and the defacto historian of the Goan presence in Ontario by writing the history of the Goan community for the 25th anniversary of the GOA in 1995.) From my love for numbers, over the years I made notes of Goan populations -- even scraps of information. Then one day in 2010 or so Milton Rodrigues in London emailed several people desperately looking for numbers on the Goan population scattered worldwide. Someone forwarded it to me. I could have just said that there was nothing. But I sat down and wrote based on all the scraps I had. Sometime after that Frederick Noronha took an interest and wrote an article about it. Thanks to that, I decided to be more serious about the subject. Another thing that has helped has been my curiosity of the Goan experience in different parts of the world. Some Goans feel resentment about Goans from other places, always thinking that they try to lord it over someone else. Instead, I have been interested in all our collective experiences. As a result I have made friends with Goans from all over. I have many good friends from Karachi, my wife and I have belonged to two prayer groups mainly with Goans from the Gulf, I've wondered about the ethnicity of Mangaloreans and so on. (Thanks to Alan Machado Prabhu I was finally able to confirm that Mangalorean Christians and Hindus came from Goa and so I've added them to my count.) About the tools I use, my profession in Bombardier has led me to being creative. Over the years I have developed methodologies and software that has helped make Bombardier a world leader in analysis of aircraft reliability performance -- something that has surpassed bigger airframe manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus. This is not because I am a genius, but because by the grace of God I am one of the very few statisticians that works in this field. Most do not even
[Goanet] Olga Tellis: Karmayogi of journalism (Shobhaa De, Mumbai Mirror)
Olga Tellis: Karmayogi of journalism By Shobhaa De, Mumbai Mirror | Aug 15, 2015, 12.00 AM IST 0 in A A Olga will probably stop talking to me when this column appears. That may end our 45-year-old friendship rather abruptly! But I am happy taking the risk - because Olga's many unsung achievements are worth documenting. On Wednesday afternoon, Olga Tellis nearly didn't show up for her own Felicitation, organised by Gurbir Singh, and her fourth estate admirers at Mumbai's historic Press Club, right across from the offices of the Old Lady of Boribunder. Singh had unwittingly done the unthinkable when he posted about Olga having turned 75 on the 4th of August this year. By his rough calculation, that made it 50 years of Olga as an active journalist. By any standards, it is a colossal milestone, and definitely one worth celebrating. But, unsurprisingly, Olga herself was aghast when she was alerted about the post by friends and promptly declined the honour. Said she to Gurbir, it is unthinkable. I don't accept felicitations. I love my work. To be felicitated for that is demeaning the beauty of work...please, make it a meet for senior journalists - not a felicitation - or else, I won't turn up! Nobody messes with Ms Tellis! Not even Gurbir Singh, Chairman of the Press Club - the invitation was hastily reworded. As Gurbir Singh put it disarmingly, Let's call this a farce of a panel discussion - we are all here for Olga Tellis. And there she was! Red nails, red lipstick, red Maharashtrian lugde worn with a gold coloured Khaan choli. A far cry from the Olga Tellis who used to stride into the ultraconservative Mantralaya 40 years ago for regular press briefings wearing 4-inch killer stilettos, miniskirts, sensuous jersey blouses...and loads of attitude! This, at a time when she was possibly the only woman on the political/business beat. And that's the time I first met her - was she jaw-droppingly gorgeous! She worked crazy hours then and she works crazy hours now, rarely leaving her desk before 10 pm. Nothing but nothing matters to Olga as much as her beloved work. Her life is about the next story. The next deadline. The next exclusive. The rest can go to hell. Me included! It is an admirable trait for someone in her unique position. She craves nothing. And shuns personal glory. She has consistently refused awards and recognitions, saying her work is reward enough. So single-minded is she that if you ask her about movies, music, entertainment - you will draw a blank. Her Spartan existence is reflected in the way she lives - a simple roof over her head in the middle of a vegetable market. Strictly no frills - not even a geyser! She seems to subsist on thin air, while concentrating all her energies on gathering political and financial information/knowledge. Olga and I have many unusual connections - spotting rainbows is one of them. Wherever I am in the world, the minute I spot a beautiful rainbow arching across the sky, I send Olga a message. She does the same. We love sunsets and skies. Plants and flowers. Her tiny balcony is a mini forest with wild shrubs and vivid hibiscus. A weaver bird visits once a year and methodically builds a nest. The huge rubber tree has long outgrown its planter. These are Olga's real friends! These are the people she goes home to, and wakes up with. Because her heart was given 53 years ago to a very demanding partner - journalism. When I had asked Zia Modi to write a book for my imprint, identifying 10 judgements that changed India, she had picked as one of those ten, a Supreme Court verdict delivered on a case filed by Olga Tellis, upholding the rights of slum dwellers. This was way back in 1980. It was a significant judgement that provided legitimacy, dignity and shelter to thousands by recognising their fundamental right to life. When I mentioned this to Olga, she was happy - not for herself, but for the slum dwellers she had fought so strenuously for. In an era where any and every semi-literate pen-pusher actively lobbies for national awards (at least a Padma Shri... they bleat), here is one individual who has spent the better part of her life doing what she believes in - sans compromise! The best compliment I can pay my friend Olga is that she remains the quintessential reporter's reporter - generously sharing her contacts and information with younger colleagues, taking copious notes at boring press conferences, paying attention to routine RBI briefings on fiscal policy, keeping a hawk's eye on corporate jigri pokri, asking tough questions to hard boiled politicians, and hammering out copy late into the night, her long, carefully varnished nails tapping the keys somewhat noisily...and her attention remaining unwaveringly on the edit she has to file, an impossible deadline she has to meet. Olga Tellis represents true Azaadi! Happy Independence Day, readers!
[Goanet-News] Olga Tellis: Karmayogi of journalism (Shobhaa De, Mumbai Mirror)
Olga Tellis: Karmayogi of journalism By Shobhaa De, Mumbai Mirror | Aug 15, 2015, 12.00 AM IST 0 in A A Olga will probably stop talking to me when this column appears. That may end our 45-year-old friendship rather abruptly! But I am happy taking the risk - because Olga's many unsung achievements are worth documenting. On Wednesday afternoon, Olga Tellis nearly didn't show up for her own Felicitation, organised by Gurbir Singh, and her fourth estate admirers at Mumbai's historic Press Club, right across from the offices of the Old Lady of Boribunder. Singh had unwittingly done the unthinkable when he posted about Olga having turned 75 on the 4th of August this year. By his rough calculation, that made it 50 years of Olga as an active journalist. By any standards, it is a colossal milestone, and definitely one worth celebrating. But, unsurprisingly, Olga herself was aghast when she was alerted about the post by friends and promptly declined the honour. Said she to Gurbir, it is unthinkable. I don't accept felicitations. I love my work. To be felicitated for that is demeaning the beauty of work...please, make it a meet for senior journalists - not a felicitation - or else, I won't turn up! Nobody messes with Ms Tellis! Not even Gurbir Singh, Chairman of the Press Club - the invitation was hastily reworded. As Gurbir Singh put it disarmingly, Let's call this a farce of a panel discussion - we are all here for Olga Tellis. And there she was! Red nails, red lipstick, red Maharashtrian lugde worn with a gold coloured Khaan choli. A far cry from the Olga Tellis who used to stride into the ultraconservative Mantralaya 40 years ago for regular press briefings wearing 4-inch killer stilettos, miniskirts, sensuous jersey blouses...and loads of attitude! This, at a time when she was possibly the only woman on the political/business beat. And that's the time I first met her - was she jaw-droppingly gorgeous! She worked crazy hours then and she works crazy hours now, rarely leaving her desk before 10 pm. Nothing but nothing matters to Olga as much as her beloved work. Her life is about the next story. The next deadline. The next exclusive. The rest can go to hell. Me included! It is an admirable trait for someone in her unique position. She craves nothing. And shuns personal glory. She has consistently refused awards and recognitions, saying her work is reward enough. So single-minded is she that if you ask her about movies, music, entertainment - you will draw a blank. Her Spartan existence is reflected in the way she lives - a simple roof over her head in the middle of a vegetable market. Strictly no frills - not even a geyser! She seems to subsist on thin air, while concentrating all her energies on gathering political and financial information/knowledge. Olga and I have many unusual connections - spotting rainbows is one of them. Wherever I am in the world, the minute I spot a beautiful rainbow arching across the sky, I send Olga a message. She does the same. We love sunsets and skies. Plants and flowers. Her tiny balcony is a mini forest with wild shrubs and vivid hibiscus. A weaver bird visits once a year and methodically builds a nest. The huge rubber tree has long outgrown its planter. These are Olga's real friends! These are the people she goes home to, and wakes up with. Because her heart was given 53 years ago to a very demanding partner - journalism. When I had asked Zia Modi to write a book for my imprint, identifying 10 judgements that changed India, she had picked as one of those ten, a Supreme Court verdict delivered on a case filed by Olga Tellis, upholding the rights of slum dwellers. This was way back in 1980. It was a significant judgement that provided legitimacy, dignity and shelter to thousands by recognising their fundamental right to life. When I mentioned this to Olga, she was happy - not for herself, but for the slum dwellers she had fought so strenuously for. In an era where any and every semi-literate pen-pusher actively lobbies for national awards (at least a Padma Shri... they bleat), here is one individual who has spent the better part of her life doing what she believes in - sans compromise! The best compliment I can pay my friend Olga is that she remains the quintessential reporter's reporter - generously sharing her contacts and information with younger colleagues, taking copious notes at boring press conferences, paying attention to routine RBI briefings on fiscal policy, keeping a hawk's eye on corporate jigri pokri, asking tough questions to hard boiled politicians, and hammering out copy late into the night, her long, carefully varnished nails tapping the keys somewhat noisily...and her attention remaining unwaveringly on the edit she has to file, an impossible deadline she has to meet. Olga Tellis represents true Azaadi! Happy Independence Day, readers!
[Goanet] The friendly face of corruption in Goa (Devika Sequeira)
The friendly face of corruption in Goa Devika Sequeira devikaseque...@gmail.com Apart from the Congress' defence of Digambar Kamat, and the party's commitment to stand by its former chief minister in the Louis Berger accusations, there've been practically no sound bytes from the political class to either censure or applaud the police action against the two politicians. In Churchill Alemao's case, his legal team, family and hangers-on are the only ones who've been rallying round him, leaving the once weighty politician looking somewhat isolated. Some would argue that Alemao has only himself to blame for his current isolation. His most recent political sojourn had him jumping into -- of all parties -- the Trinamool Congress. That move, prompted by his peeve against the Congress party for not giving in to his demand to field his daughter Valanka for the Lok Sabha poll last year, defines Alemao's maverick three and half decades in politics which have been governed mostly by a self-serving agenda. 'Make me and my brother Joaquim ministers, or we'll bring down your government...'. 'Give Valanka the ticket, or I'll contest against your official candidate and help the BJP...' The Congress Party has been the worst casualty of this constant arm-twisting—and deservedly so, for bending over backward to accommodate him. Though Alemao is being implicated in the current payoffs case for his tenure in a Congress government, the party must be truly relieved it doesn't have to come to his defence as a party man. Perhaps it should thank Valanka Alemao for her overreaching political ambition. Churchill's closest supporters are clutching the hope that there might after all be a positive outcome to his current discomfiture and political low. The unfolding graft case, the manner of his midnight arrest and his being lodged in custody by the police could translate into a sympathy wave for him in the next election, they believe. While a more urban and educated voter might be repulsed by corruption, rural Goa -- constituencies like Benaulim, Navelim, Nuvem, Taleigao -- is often dismissive of it. There's probably some truth in this. How else does one explain the electoral successes of people like Mickky Pacheco, Babush Monserrate, Mauvin Godinho? Digambar Kamat and Churchill Alemao couldn't have been more unalike. Alemao's large personality comes with a grassroots appeal and charisma that has seen him often turn the tables on more educated politicians. Kamat, on the other hand, a backroom player, has used cunning, guile and astute compromise (his Brahmin genes, his critics would say) to get to where he is, and survive a whole term as chief minister. But both pride themselves on being accessible to their constituents and to the public at large. One can walk into Digambar's sitting room in Margao, just as one can with Churchill in Varca. The bonhomie that exudes from such accessibility can often blunt public perception of corruption in politics. This is no sinister Vyapam scandal where scores of witnesses and participants are being bumped off like skittles dropping off a bowling alley. This is the soft and friendly face of an elected representative who might have occasionally put his hand out behind our backs. It is often argued that graft is the necessary evil of politics in this country, and we just have to learn to live with it. But the biting fact is that it is political greed that has impeded development on every front in Goa, putting it on the irreversible path to ruination. It is why we will never resolve such a small matter as getting rid of our garbage, the wilful destruction of our beaches and the deliberate and tedious impediments to everyday living for common people. Worse yet is that worthless progeny of politicians have been brought up to believe that inducements are an entitlement of their political lineage. The corrosion does indeed run deep. The BJP which has been accused of putting the Goa Watergate case on overdrive to deflect attention from the far more serious Vyapam racket has been sitting smugly on the sidelines of the Louis Berger investigations. Its recent move to reward Mauvin Godinho -- who was dragged to the courts by former chief minister Manohar Parrikar over the multi-crore power rebate racket -- with the chairmanship of the South Goa Planning and Development Authority exposes the saffron party's hypocrisy on the issue of corruption. Who's to say Kamat and Alemao will not be absolved in the same cynical manner before the next election? There may actually be a rainbow at the end
[Goanet-News] The friendly face of corruption in Goa (Devika Sequeira)
The friendly face of corruption in Goa Devika Sequeira devikaseque...@gmail.com Apart from the Congress' defence of Digambar Kamat, and the party's commitment to stand by its former chief minister in the Louis Berger accusations, there've been practically no sound bytes from the political class to either censure or applaud the police action against the two politicians. In Churchill Alemao's case, his legal team, family and hangers-on are the only ones who've been rallying round him, leaving the once weighty politician looking somewhat isolated. Some would argue that Alemao has only himself to blame for his current isolation. His most recent political sojourn had him jumping into -- of all parties -- the Trinamool Congress. That move, prompted by his peeve against the Congress party for not giving in to his demand to field his daughter Valanka for the Lok Sabha poll last year, defines Alemao's maverick three and half decades in politics which have been governed mostly by a self-serving agenda. 'Make me and my brother Joaquim ministers, or we'll bring down your government...'. 'Give Valanka the ticket, or I'll contest against your official candidate and help the BJP...' The Congress Party has been the worst casualty of this constant arm-twisting—and deservedly so, for bending over backward to accommodate him. Though Alemao is being implicated in the current payoffs case for his tenure in a Congress government, the party must be truly relieved it doesn't have to come to his defence as a party man. Perhaps it should thank Valanka Alemao for her overreaching political ambition. Churchill's closest supporters are clutching the hope that there might after all be a positive outcome to his current discomfiture and political low. The unfolding graft case, the manner of his midnight arrest and his being lodged in custody by the police could translate into a sympathy wave for him in the next election, they believe. While a more urban and educated voter might be repulsed by corruption, rural Goa -- constituencies like Benaulim, Navelim, Nuvem, Taleigao -- is often dismissive of it. There's probably some truth in this. How else does one explain the electoral successes of people like Mickky Pacheco, Babush Monserrate, Mauvin Godinho? Digambar Kamat and Churchill Alemao couldn't have been more unalike. Alemao's large personality comes with a grassroots appeal and charisma that has seen him often turn the tables on more educated politicians. Kamat, on the other hand, a backroom player, has used cunning, guile and astute compromise (his Brahmin genes, his critics would say) to get to where he is, and survive a whole term as chief minister. But both pride themselves on being accessible to their constituents and to the public at large. One can walk into Digambar's sitting room in Margao, just as one can with Churchill in Varca. The bonhomie that exudes from such accessibility can often blunt public perception of corruption in politics. This is no sinister Vyapam scandal where scores of witnesses and participants are being bumped off like skittles dropping off a bowling alley. This is the soft and friendly face of an elected representative who might have occasionally put his hand out behind our backs. It is often argued that graft is the necessary evil of politics in this country, and we just have to learn to live with it. But the biting fact is that it is political greed that has impeded development on every front in Goa, putting it on the irreversible path to ruination. It is why we will never resolve such a small matter as getting rid of our garbage, the wilful destruction of our beaches and the deliberate and tedious impediments to everyday living for common people. Worse yet is that worthless progeny of politicians have been brought up to believe that inducements are an entitlement of their political lineage. The corrosion does indeed run deep. The BJP which has been accused of putting the Goa Watergate case on overdrive to deflect attention from the far more serious Vyapam racket has been sitting smugly on the sidelines of the Louis Berger investigations. Its recent move to reward Mauvin Godinho -- who was dragged to the courts by former chief minister Manohar Parrikar over the multi-crore power rebate racket -- with the chairmanship of the South Goa Planning and Development Authority exposes the saffron party's hypocrisy on the issue of corruption. Who's to say Kamat and Alemao will not be absolved in the same cynical manner before the next election? There may actually be a rainbow at the end
[Goanet-News] Of migration, wealth, feni, an Vhodlem Ghor... and a diamond ring (Roland Francis)
By Roland Francis roland.fran...@gmail.com This narration is dedicated to the memory of Joel D'Souza of Assagao, photojournalist, long time reporter for many Goa publications and online outlets, kind friend of many and acquaintance to even more who like myself, knew and befriended him in cyberspace, but never had the occasion to meet. Joel's piece on Assagao can be read on Goacom.com [http://goacom.com/Goan-villages-1/92-bardez/556-assagao]. In that article, crafted with endearment, he makes a reference to the person around whom my essay revolves and the house he lived in called 'Vhodlem Ghor'. It is located in a scenic part of this village and which since 1961 was taken over by the Palotti priests and run as a seminary to bolster the sagging vocations experienced by the Catholic Church in Goa. Like all tales passed over from father to son, how much is fact and how much embellishment or even fiction no one will ever know. What I can tell you with confidence is the sincerity with which it was told to me by a no-nonsense former railwayman whose house was in close proximity to the Vhodlem Ghor and whose family would have been in a better position to know firsthand the foibles of the grand old man of the Ghor. It was the early years of the 20th century which witnessed the migration of many Goans to Bombay to study, to work and to establish themselves. Those were the heydays of the city. If India was the crown of the Raj, then Bombay City and its Bombay Province was its crown jewel. The crème de la crème of Goan society was recognized as part of the aristocracy of Bombay. One among such noble Goan souls was Caetano Domingos Athaide. Assagao then, though originated from a Saraswat Brahmin aristocracy from the Atri gotra with Ravalnath as the presiding deity, had long since been converted to Catholicism by the Franciscans. The Athaides were one of the elite families in the village, producing many famous scions, in music, law and commerce. Domingos, called Dom in Bombay, was, as expected in such a family, not only highly educated, but astute in the commercial practices of the time. When this story unfolds, he was the General Manager of a number of mills of a British conglomerate. Domingos lacked for nothing. He build a palatial home in Assagao or perhaps completely rebuilt his ancestral home in sync with his status in life. Among the many features of the home was a magnificent hall that served well for family functions. A wide section for the orchestra formed a part of this hall, with a raised platform and all, but with an important difference. Their music could be heard with excellent sound reverberation but not one of the band members could be seen; Domingos was of the opinion that the enjoyment of music should not be subject to distraction. This was a good family, interacting without snobbery with the neighbors and the rest of the village. Local children were given the run of the house when things were quiet and when Domingos had no need of quietude. One of the other quirks of the lord of this manor was his liking for good feni. When he was in Bombay, which was most of the year, he arranged to import a keg of the best feni available in Goa. The importation of feni was not allowed in British Bombay, but such a minor impediment was not an obstacle for a man who presided over a commercial empire such as his. The liquid was labelled vinegar and all the customs and excise minions were paid to look the other way. Such would have been the continued enjoyment of his Goa feni had it not been for a zealous Customs officer. Not relying on the label, he had the barrel opened and his suspicions confirmed. He resealed it with a Customs seal and a case was filed in the local court against Athaide. Domingos schemed to have the seal broken although the evidence was in official custody, refilled with vinegar and resealed with the official customs seal. When the matter came up before his lordship the judge, the evidence was brought into the room and presented to the judge, who asked the court clerk break to break the seal and verify the contents. It is vinegar, sir said the Indian clerk to the judge, who then looked askance at the Custom officer who was a province witness. The officer then proceeded to taste it and knew the clerk was right. Knowing that Athaide had done what he had done, he ran out of the court in shame and humiliation and jumped to his death on the pavement below. When the judge heard of what had happened he knew there was some trickery involved on Domingos' part. He brought down his gavel and ordered a full enquiry. Dom knew what that meant. A criminal case of causing suicide, a cheating accusation and numerous other charges that would lead to his job loss and the resultant shame to his family. He had a wedding ring
[Goanet] Of migration, wealth, feni, an Vhodlem Ghor... and a diamond ring (Roland Francis)
By Roland Francis roland.fran...@gmail.com This narration is dedicated to the memory of Joel D'Souza of Assagao, photojournalist, long time reporter for many Goa publications and online outlets, kind friend of many and acquaintance to even more who like myself, knew and befriended him in cyberspace, but never had the occasion to meet. Joel's piece on Assagao can be read on Goacom.com [http://goacom.com/Goan-villages-1/92-bardez/556-assagao]. In that article, crafted with endearment, he makes a reference to the person around whom my essay revolves and the house he lived in called 'Vhodlem Ghor'. It is located in a scenic part of this village and which since 1961 was taken over by the Palotti priests and run as a seminary to bolster the sagging vocations experienced by the Catholic Church in Goa. Like all tales passed over from father to son, how much is fact and how much embellishment or even fiction no one will ever know. What I can tell you with confidence is the sincerity with which it was told to me by a no-nonsense former railwayman whose house was in close proximity to the Vhodlem Ghor and whose family would have been in a better position to know firsthand the foibles of the grand old man of the Ghor. It was the early years of the 20th century which witnessed the migration of many Goans to Bombay to study, to work and to establish themselves. Those were the heydays of the city. If India was the crown of the Raj, then Bombay City and its Bombay Province was its crown jewel. The crème de la crème of Goan society was recognized as part of the aristocracy of Bombay. One among such noble Goan souls was Caetano Domingos Athaide. Assagao then, though originated from a Saraswat Brahmin aristocracy from the Atri gotra with Ravalnath as the presiding deity, had long since been converted to Catholicism by the Franciscans. The Athaides were one of the elite families in the village, producing many famous scions, in music, law and commerce. Domingos, called Dom in Bombay, was, as expected in such a family, not only highly educated, but astute in the commercial practices of the time. When this story unfolds, he was the General Manager of a number of mills of a British conglomerate. Domingos lacked for nothing. He build a palatial home in Assagao or perhaps completely rebuilt his ancestral home in sync with his status in life. Among the many features of the home was a magnificent hall that served well for family functions. A wide section for the orchestra formed a part of this hall, with a raised platform and all, but with an important difference. Their music could be heard with excellent sound reverberation but not one of the band members could be seen; Domingos was of the opinion that the enjoyment of music should not be subject to distraction. This was a good family, interacting without snobbery with the neighbors and the rest of the village. Local children were given the run of the house when things were quiet and when Domingos had no need of quietude. One of the other quirks of the lord of this manor was his liking for good feni. When he was in Bombay, which was most of the year, he arranged to import a keg of the best feni available in Goa. The importation of feni was not allowed in British Bombay, but such a minor impediment was not an obstacle for a man who presided over a commercial empire such as his. The liquid was labelled vinegar and all the customs and excise minions were paid to look the other way. Such would have been the continued enjoyment of his Goa feni had it not been for a zealous Customs officer. Not relying on the label, he had the barrel opened and his suspicions confirmed. He resealed it with a Customs seal and a case was filed in the local court against Athaide. Domingos schemed to have the seal broken although the evidence was in official custody, refilled with vinegar and resealed with the official customs seal. When the matter came up before his lordship the judge, the evidence was brought into the room and presented to the judge, who asked the court clerk break to break the seal and verify the contents. It is vinegar, sir said the Indian clerk to the judge, who then looked askance at the Custom officer who was a province witness. The officer then proceeded to taste it and knew the clerk was right. Knowing that Athaide had done what he had done, he ran out of the court in shame and humiliation and jumped to his death on the pavement below. When the judge heard of what had happened he knew there was some trickery involved on Domingos' part. He brought down his gavel and ordered a full enquiry. Dom knew what that meant. A criminal case of causing suicide, a cheating accusation and numerous other charges that would lead to his job loss and the resultant shame to his family. He had a wedding ring
[Goanet-News] Good bye, Joel D'Souza (a pictorial report by JoeGoaUk)
Good bye, Joel D'Souza By JoeGoaUk joego...@yahoo.co.uk Joel D'Souza: Died on 5.8.2015 http://joegoauk.blogspot.in/2015/08/good-bye-joel-dsouza.html A journalist reporter, photographer, videographer etc of Goa-related issues. Well known figure in Cyberspace, Goa News Clippings, Goacom, Goanet, flickr (Joel's Goa Pics), facebook (Joel DS) etc We never met each other yet we were good friends for about 13 years A true Goan, suddenly gone Adieus my friend Joel Some photographs from Goa on Thursday: Funeral pics etc Residence https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20335354842/in/photostream At home with wife, sons etc Wife Lena, Sons Clive, Carl.. https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20157143679/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20317538546/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20317550626/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19721165394/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20349839651/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19721121564/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19721123504/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20155796288/in/photostream/ Leaving home https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20155695730/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20155698120/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19721116454/in/photostream/ Funeral Brass band https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19722785643/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20157118589/in/photostream/ Funeral van https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19722875693/in/photostream/ Mass service, Priests Fr Joaquim Loiola Pereira etc Main Altar, People etc https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20349932061/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20155843768/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20155817890/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20157254739/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19722937363/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20155891418/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20155908298/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20350023421/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19721313754/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20350049831/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20344001185/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20157370049/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20317592706/in/photostream/ Cemetery AMFT Grave, tomb https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20155957090/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19723065823/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20156021418/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20317797676/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20155992280/in/photostream/ Church Square https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20344069035/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19721422084/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19721433224/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20156060308/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20344106005/in/photostream/ The Church ASSAGÃO Church: St Cajetan (1826) https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20317848826/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20156048010/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20157481569/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20317875086/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20335649902/in/photostream/ Joel's Pics 14.6.2015 https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20299104322/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19684875684/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19686533663/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20119498778/in/photostream/
[Goanet] Good bye, Joel D'Souza (a pictorial report by JoeGoaUk)
Good bye, Joel D'Souza By JoeGoaUk joego...@yahoo.co.uk Joel D'Souza: Died on 5.8.2015 http://joegoauk.blogspot.in/2015/08/good-bye-joel-dsouza.html A journalist reporter, photographer, videographer etc of Goa-related issues. Well known figure in Cyberspace, Goa News Clippings, Goacom, Goanet, flickr (Joel's Goa Pics), facebook (Joel DS) etc We never met each other yet we were good friends for about 13 years A true Goan, suddenly gone Adieus my friend Joel Some photographs from Goa on Thursday: Funeral pics etc Residence https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20335354842/in/photostream At home with wife, sons etc Wife Lena, Sons Clive, Carl.. https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20157143679/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20317538546/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20317550626/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19721165394/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20349839651/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19721121564/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19721123504/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20155796288/in/photostream/ Leaving home https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20155695730/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20155698120/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19721116454/in/photostream/ Funeral Brass band https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19722785643/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20157118589/in/photostream/ Funeral van https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19722875693/in/photostream/ Mass service, Priests Fr Joaquim Loiola Pereira etc Main Altar, People etc https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20349932061/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20155843768/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20155817890/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20157254739/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19722937363/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20155891418/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20155908298/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20350023421/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19721313754/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20350049831/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20344001185/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20157370049/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20317592706/in/photostream/ Cemetery AMFT Grave, tomb https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20155957090/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19723065823/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20156021418/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20317797676/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20155992280/in/photostream/ Church Square https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20344069035/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19721422084/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19721433224/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20156060308/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20344106005/in/photostream/ The Church ASSAGÃO Church: St Cajetan (1826) https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20317848826/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20156048010/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20157481569/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20317875086/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20335649902/in/photostream/ Joel's Pics 14.6.2015 https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20299104322/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19684875684/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/19686533663/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk72/20119498778/in/photostream/
[Goanet] FleetRover: A Goa based product startup that provides fleet tracking intelligence to Canadian companies
FleetRover: A Goa based product startup that provides fleet tracking intelligence to Canadian companies Jubin Mehta | June 16, 2015 at 1:56 pm A Goan boy goes to study in Canada, works for a while. Then, home beckons, so he returns to start something of his own. Along with sparking a tech community in Goa, he launches a product startup with friends in Canada, develops teams in both countries, and sells the solution to Canadian companies to start with. He has also raised funds in order to scale his business and develop the tech scene in Goa. And this is not a one-off story in India, it is happening in various parts of the country. The company in question in this example is Fleetrover, and the man behind it is Luke Sequeira. As his blog bio says, A UX designer based in Canada and Goa. I run dccper.com and goa.me and I’m widely recognised as the least important man on earth. PHOTO: Aprup and Luke Aprup Shet and Luke Sequeira After college, Luke spent a few years gaining exposure and experience before heading to Canada for a Masters' degree in strategic brand management. Before going to Canada, Luke had already started community building exercises in Goa with goa.me and was intending to work further in the direction. He took the plunge in 2013 and started Dccper, a UX Design and product development company. During this time, he got talking with partners Aprup Shet, Hannah Bain (UK) and Chris Atkinson (Canada) and they came came up with an idea that would require combining the group's talents and connections in India and Canada. We are still a small team, but a distributed one, with about four people working on development in Goa, while a small team works in sales in Canada. Having lived in both places, such an arrangement lets us have the best of both worlds, says Luke. Fleetrover What does Fleetrover do? It is an end-to-end enterprise software for fleet management with the following features: * Fleet dashboard: Lets businesses monitor their fleet and drill down to specific assets and their current status or outstanding alerts. This overview of operations can be used to make critical, time-saving decisions that will improve efficiency. * Vehicle logs: Within a comprehensive timeline, businesses can analyze concise records of all assets, interactions, and behaviours. * Warehouse logs: Help in tracking trailers and trucks as they arrive and depart from warehouses, and utilize RFID-enabled devices to produce precise time stamps and reliable insights into inventory utilization. * Vehicle Diagnostics: Assess vehicle maintenance, performance and driver behaviour with contextualized metrics in real-time. Fleetrover has managed to raise $180,000 from angel investors like Tim Chen, CEO, Nerdwallet and Sanjay Venkat, former VP, Bank of America and partner at Cadian Capital. Talking of the product, Luke explains, FleetRover delivers uncluttered insights into fleet movement, position, behaviour and fuel consumption. It gives businesses actionable insights in real-time, through GPS tracking hardware connected to vehicle ECMs. The company has four clients as of now with the device installed in close to 1000 trucks. Logistics is a space seeing a lot of innovation now, post the e-commerce boom. Companies like Loginext in Mumbai are working on similar vehicle-tracking technologies, while platforms like Shippr and Returntrucks have built platforms in order to organize trucks and lorries for transportation. The segment is huge in India, and technology has hardly infiltrated the process yet. As large as the opportunity may seem, it is difficult to educate stakeholders involved in the sector and prove the value of the proposition. For Fleetrover, the aim is to expand in Canada before looking at other markets. Shuttling between Goa and Canada, Luke dons multiple hats. And apart from devoting time to Dccper and Fleetrover, Luke is working hard towards developing the tech community in Goa. There is not a lot happening but whatever little there is, the signs are encouraging. There is a small team of volunteers, of which Luke is a part, that runs Startup Goa Jobs board, and makes it a point to conduct activities for start-ups at regular intervals. CIBA is an incubator that is based in Panjim which has an interesting portfolio, Cory York has been actively building a base in Goa, Prajyot Mainkar is an entrepreneur and Android evangelist in the region and DesignBeard, one of the best design firms in India, is based in Goa. And there are many more such efforts being made towards getting the technology scene cracking. Contact Luke Sequeira lukeseque...@gmail.com -- http://yourstory.com/2015/06/fleetrover-goa-startup/
[Goanet-News] FleetRover: A Goa based product startup that provides fleet tracking intelligence to Canadian companies
FleetRover: A Goa based product startup that provides fleet tracking intelligence to Canadian companies Jubin Mehta | June 16, 2015 at 1:56 pm A Goan boy goes to study in Canada, works for a while. Then, home beckons, so he returns to start something of his own. Along with sparking a tech community in Goa, he launches a product startup with friends in Canada, develops teams in both countries, and sells the solution to Canadian companies to start with. He has also raised funds in order to scale his business and develop the tech scene in Goa. And this is not a one-off story in India, it is happening in various parts of the country. The company in question in this example is Fleetrover, and the man behind it is Luke Sequeira. As his blog bio says, A UX designer based in Canada and Goa. I run dccper.com and goa.me and I’m widely recognised as the least important man on earth. PHOTO: Aprup and Luke Aprup Shet and Luke Sequeira After college, Luke spent a few years gaining exposure and experience before heading to Canada for a Masters' degree in strategic brand management. Before going to Canada, Luke had already started community building exercises in Goa with goa.me and was intending to work further in the direction. He took the plunge in 2013 and started Dccper, a UX Design and product development company. During this time, he got talking with partners Aprup Shet, Hannah Bain (UK) and Chris Atkinson (Canada) and they came came up with an idea that would require combining the group's talents and connections in India and Canada. We are still a small team, but a distributed one, with about four people working on development in Goa, while a small team works in sales in Canada. Having lived in both places, such an arrangement lets us have the best of both worlds, says Luke. Fleetrover What does Fleetrover do? It is an end-to-end enterprise software for fleet management with the following features: * Fleet dashboard: Lets businesses monitor their fleet and drill down to specific assets and their current status or outstanding alerts. This overview of operations can be used to make critical, time-saving decisions that will improve efficiency. * Vehicle logs: Within a comprehensive timeline, businesses can analyze concise records of all assets, interactions, and behaviours. * Warehouse logs: Help in tracking trailers and trucks as they arrive and depart from warehouses, and utilize RFID-enabled devices to produce precise time stamps and reliable insights into inventory utilization. * Vehicle Diagnostics: Assess vehicle maintenance, performance and driver behaviour with contextualized metrics in real-time. Fleetrover has managed to raise $180,000 from angel investors like Tim Chen, CEO, Nerdwallet and Sanjay Venkat, former VP, Bank of America and partner at Cadian Capital. Talking of the product, Luke explains, FleetRover delivers uncluttered insights into fleet movement, position, behaviour and fuel consumption. It gives businesses actionable insights in real-time, through GPS tracking hardware connected to vehicle ECMs. The company has four clients as of now with the device installed in close to 1000 trucks. Logistics is a space seeing a lot of innovation now, post the e-commerce boom. Companies like Loginext in Mumbai are working on similar vehicle-tracking technologies, while platforms like Shippr and Returntrucks have built platforms in order to organize trucks and lorries for transportation. The segment is huge in India, and technology has hardly infiltrated the process yet. As large as the opportunity may seem, it is difficult to educate stakeholders involved in the sector and prove the value of the proposition. For Fleetrover, the aim is to expand in Canada before looking at other markets. Shuttling between Goa and Canada, Luke dons multiple hats. And apart from devoting time to Dccper and Fleetrover, Luke is working hard towards developing the tech community in Goa. There is not a lot happening but whatever little there is, the signs are encouraging. There is a small team of volunteers, of which Luke is a part, that runs Startup Goa Jobs board, and makes it a point to conduct activities for start-ups at regular intervals. CIBA is an incubator that is based in Panjim which has an interesting portfolio, Cory York has been actively building a base in Goa, Prajyot Mainkar is an entrepreneur and Android evangelist in the region and DesignBeard, one of the best design firms in India, is based in Goa. And there are many more such efforts being made towards getting the technology scene cracking. Contact Luke Sequeira lukeseque...@gmail.com -- http://yourstory.com/2015/06/fleetrover-goa-startup/
[Goanet] Radio Gaga (FN)
Radio Gaga FN For most in today's generation, radio is the poor cousin of television, and definitely not in the least comparable with the social media. Yet, one generation ago, the radio was the one-stop-shop from where we got almost all our information, most of our entertainment and a large part of our non-formal education. In the 1960s, not everyone in Goa had access to a radio. Most villages were yet to get access to regular electricity too, for that matter. A radio usually meant a largish Philips instrument, the size of a big shoe-box. It had to be regularly fed with fat, probably EverReady D-size batteries. Two of our neighbours, Assumptina and Natividade (Natty), were high school girls, whom Mum had an arrangement with to supervise us primary kids after school. They were drawn to the radio. It was from them that one got into the habit of eating food to the tunes of All India Radio in the background, with time flying by speedily. Of course we didn't realise it then, but those were the golden years of Konkani music for Goa, as the film 'Nachoiya Kumpasar' reminds us so eloquently. Noted musician Remo Fernandes has also written elsewhere about the discovery of the Konkani music world of those times, via the records played at Miramar beach. This charming Goan-music-made-in-Bombay, in the Cantaram category, took decades more to be adequately understood (by the German recordist Sigrid Pfeiffer and the Mumbai-based Goan writer Naresh Fernandes, among others). In a way, All India Radio shaped, created and almost dictated the musical tastes of a generation. Some would suggest that if Alfred Rose turned out far more popular that his contemporaries, that was perhaps as much due to his talent and hard work as to the way in which AIR (or Akashvani) shaped taste. Recently, at a workshop on Goa's intangible cultural heritage, it was noted that AIR Panjim has about the single best collection of Konkani music anywhere, and this needs to be both catalogued and preserved for posterity. The Goa Directorate of Art and Culture has evinced interest in working on this goal. In those times, cyberspace was some decades away and even books and magazines were quite hard to access. We lacked libraries then, which were even fewer than now, and the few that existed were overcrowded and poorly stocked. (It was only later, in the 1970s and early 1980s, that private players created a good business model of loaning out books at a price, per day. These were mostly potboilers, crime and thrillers, and borrowed by eager readers. There was Ceco and Shabbir in Mapusa; Avanti, Sun Circulating Library and Sophia's in Panjim. In Margao, the busy Confidant bookshop still runs its Laureatte Lending Library, in a world which universally voices concern over the demise of the reading habit. Children's books were hard to come by; and as Aloysius D'Souza reminded me recently, till the 1940s and 1950s, there were hardly any domestically-authored books being published in India.) In those times, radio was our window to the outside world. It decided our time-table for us. Pleasant music wafting in through the airwaves was a signal that it was time for lunch. This was a new, almost-Pavlovian response. Later on, as a hig h school and higher-secondary student, one would rush home in time for the five-minute sports news at 8 pm. In his ten-page article titled 'Goa's voice on the airwaves', Domnic Fernandes of Anjuna (earlier in Saudi Arabia) describes the changing radio scene in the Goa he knew. The author of *Domnic's Goa: A Romp Through a Bygone Era* talks of the rare HMV gramophone, and the arrival of radios and transistors. He mentions the powerful and popular Portuguese-run Emissora de Goa, whose broadcasts even reached East Africa and the Gulf States. Post-1961, Domnic [domvalden at hotmail.com] paints a detailed picture of the people and programmes heard on Akashwanni Ponn'je. There were programmes with names like Amcho Adhar, Bhuimchafim, Amche Akashwannir Mudrailelim Ghitam (locally recorded songs), Kholla Mollar, Your Favourites, Kandllam Onvllam,Jaymala, Shabduli, Chavdder Ghozali, Pradeshik Khobro (regional news), Monazoktim Ghitam or Magnneanchim Ghitam, Foddni Fov, plays and tiatrs and more. He writes; Radio's charm lay in the fact that it provided entertainment to the whole family, right from the drawing-room to the bedroom and even upto the kitchen... I still consider radio as one of the best media we've encountered. * * * In a multilingual Goa, one obvious grievance was radio's inability to cope with diverse taste, and distinct languages and
[Goanet-News] Radio Gaga (FN)
Radio Gaga FN For most in today's generation, radio is the poor cousin of television, and definitely not in the least comparable with the social media. Yet, one generation ago, the radio was the one-stop-shop from where we got almost all our information, most of our entertainment and a large part of our non-formal education. In the 1960s, not everyone in Goa had access to a radio. Most villages were yet to get access to regular electricity too, for that matter. A radio usually meant a largish Philips instrument, the size of a big shoe-box. It had to be regularly fed with fat, probably EverReady D-size batteries. Two of our neighbours, Assumptina and Natividade (Natty), were high school girls, whom Mum had an arrangement with to supervise us primary kids after school. They were drawn to the radio. It was from them that one got into the habit of eating food to the tunes of All India Radio in the background, with time flying by speedily. Of course we didn't realise it then, but those were the golden years of Konkani music for Goa, as the film 'Nachoiya Kumpasar' reminds us so eloquently. Noted musician Remo Fernandes has also written elsewhere about the discovery of the Konkani music world of those times, via the records played at Miramar beach. This charming Goan-music-made-in-Bombay, in the Cantaram category, took decades more to be adequately understood (by the German recordist Sigrid Pfeiffer and the Mumbai-based Goan writer Naresh Fernandes, among others). In a way, All India Radio shaped, created and almost dictated the musical tastes of a generation. Some would suggest that if Alfred Rose turned out far more popular that his contemporaries, that was perhaps as much due to his talent and hard work as to the way in which AIR (or Akashvani) shaped taste. Recently, at a workshop on Goa's intangible cultural heritage, it was noted that AIR Panjim has about the single best collection of Konkani music anywhere, and this needs to be both catalogued and preserved for posterity. The Goa Directorate of Art and Culture has evinced interest in working on this goal. In those times, cyberspace was some decades away and even books and magazines were quite hard to access. We lacked libraries then, which were even fewer than now, and the few that existed were overcrowded and poorly stocked. (It was only later, in the 1970s and early 1980s, that private players created a good business model of loaning out books at a price, per day. These were mostly potboilers, crime and thrillers, and borrowed by eager readers. There was Ceco and Shabbir in Mapusa; Avanti, Sun Circulating Library and Sophia's in Panjim. In Margao, the busy Confidant bookshop still runs its Laureatte Lending Library, in a world which universally voices concern over the demise of the reading habit. Children's books were hard to come by; and as Aloysius D'Souza reminded me recently, till the 1940s and 1950s, there were hardly any domestically-authored books being published in India.) In those times, radio was our window to the outside world. It decided our time-table for us. Pleasant music wafting in through the airwaves was a signal that it was time for lunch. This was a new, almost-Pavlovian response. Later on, as a hig h school and higher-secondary student, one would rush home in time for the five-minute sports news at 8 pm. In his ten-page article titled 'Goa's voice on the airwaves', Domnic Fernandes of Anjuna (earlier in Saudi Arabia) describes the changing radio scene in the Goa he knew. The author of *Domnic's Goa: A Romp Through a Bygone Era* talks of the rare HMV gramophone, and the arrival of radios and transistors. He mentions the powerful and popular Portuguese-run Emissora de Goa, whose broadcasts even reached East Africa and the Gulf States. Post-1961, Domnic [domvalden at hotmail.com] paints a detailed picture of the people and programmes heard on Akashwanni Ponn'je. There were programmes with names like Amcho Adhar, Bhuimchafim, Amche Akashwannir Mudrailelim Ghitam (locally recorded songs), Kholla Mollar, Your Favourites, Kandllam Onvllam,Jaymala, Shabduli, Chavdder Ghozali, Pradeshik Khobro (regional news), Monazoktim Ghitam or Magnneanchim Ghitam, Foddni Fov, plays and tiatrs and more. He writes; Radio's charm lay in the fact that it provided entertainment to the whole family, right from the drawing-room to the bedroom and even upto the kitchen... I still consider radio as one of the best media we've encountered. * * * In a multilingual Goa, one obvious grievance was radio's inability to cope with diverse taste, and distinct languages and
[Goanet-News] Tiracol is not alone in its battle for land and livelihood... (AVF, GoaKranti)
Tiracol is not alone in its battle for land and livelihood... A. Veronica Fernandes Candolim, Goa M:+91-7507394349 You are not alone in your fight my dear brothers and sisters, I am with you and the entire Goa is with you in your fight against the Leading Hotels and golf course. And that the entire Goa is with you was noticed yesterday when about three to four thousands pure Goans from all over Goa congregated to show their solidarity with you when you organized a massive public meeting against Leading Hotels. This was the message conveyed to the Goans from Tiracol in their fight against Leading Hotels trying to usurp the entire Tiracol for their project. Through this type of a cunning procedure, the Arab Palestine was Judaised cunningly by uprooting the genuine Palestinians from their homeland. In the same manner, Tiracol first and later on the entire Goa will be uprooted from their original homes by big forces having the backing of the Goa and Central governments. The way the Zionists used all types of cruelties against Palestinians to inculcate fear in their minds, in the same manner the Leading Hotels created a fear into the minds of Tiracol residents by using bouncers to threatened the locals. If this type of dadagiri is not challenged by us then the bouncer policy will be used against other Goans as well. It is imperative for all genuine Goans to fight in support of the Tiracol people. Thanks to the Church authorities, six prominent priests actively participated in this meeting and many more priests and nuns came along with their parishioners came in buses from distant places including from Candolim. Besides, many of our Hindu brothers and sisters too came out to show their support for the people of Tiracol. It is now proved beyond doubt that this battle is between Goans from all over Goa and the Leadings Hotel. History tells that the movement handled by Goans from all over Goa have never failed and as such this movement of Tiracol will surely succeed. The momentum created by the people movement now will create good effect. Speaker after speaker spoke in support of the people of Tiracol -- who approximately number around 400 residing in about 90 dwellings. The total area of Tiracol is about 14,00,000 sq.mtrs. From this area, 12,18,589 sq.mtrs. are now in the hands of the Leading Hotels through sale deeds executed between the Leading Hotels and the Khalaps, landlords of the area. The balance area of 1,50,582 by way of Tiracol Fort is owned by the Goa government. Tiracol is situated at the far end of North Goa, touching Maharastra. It is a very scenic and beautiful place consisting of medicinal springs, plenty of productive trees and plants having curative effects for many of the sicknesses and deaseses. The Tiracol River and Fort add beauty to this place. Outside interference through the Leading Hotels and golf course will destroy Tiracol of its genuine Goan inhabitants, trees, plants and spring water. This all belongs to us Goans and as such it should remain in the hands of Goans. In this direction, it is our duty to preserve it by giving our support to the people of Tiarcol in opposing Leading Hotels. Tiracol is Goa and Goan and what hurts Tiracol also hurts entire Goa and all Goans. Let every genuine Goan show his or her solidarity with the Tiracol Rakhonn Manch (Tiracol Protection Front), an organization formed by the locals to fight for their rights. It was something to be appreciated that the people who came in large number did not even care for the rain pouring there. It looked as if they said, come what may, rain or thundering and lighting, we will never leave this place unless the meeting is started and concluded. PHOTOS - [http://kranti-goa.blogspot.in/] AAM Admi party and others showing their support to Tiracol Convener of Tiracol Rakhonn Manch addressing the meet. Attendees seen even braving the Rain during the meet. Dr. Francis Colaco, renowned cardiologist, addressing the meet One of the locals seen addressing the meet. Seen above is a section of the crowd. = Earlier report: http://bit.ly/1HlokTO Leading Hotels wins bid to set up golf course at Tiracol
[Goanet] Tiracol is not alone in its battle for land and livelihood... (AVF, GoaKranti)
Tiracol is not alone in its battle for land and livelihood... A. Veronica Fernandes Candolim, Goa M:+91-7507394349 You are not alone in your fight my dear brothers and sisters, I am with you and the entire Goa is with you in your fight against the Leading Hotels and golf course. And that the entire Goa is with you was noticed yesterday when about three to four thousands pure Goans from all over Goa congregated to show their solidarity with you when you organized a massive public meeting against Leading Hotels. This was the message conveyed to the Goans from Tiracol in their fight against Leading Hotels trying to usurp the entire Tiracol for their project. Through this type of a cunning procedure, the Arab Palestine was Judaised cunningly by uprooting the genuine Palestinians from their homeland. In the same manner, Tiracol first and later on the entire Goa will be uprooted from their original homes by big forces having the backing of the Goa and Central governments. The way the Zionists used all types of cruelties against Palestinians to inculcate fear in their minds, in the same manner the Leading Hotels created a fear into the minds of Tiracol residents by using bouncers to threatened the locals. If this type of dadagiri is not challenged by us then the bouncer policy will be used against other Goans as well. It is imperative for all genuine Goans to fight in support of the Tiracol people. Thanks to the Church authorities, six prominent priests actively participated in this meeting and many more priests and nuns came along with their parishioners came in buses from distant places including from Candolim. Besides, many of our Hindu brothers and sisters too came out to show their support for the people of Tiracol. It is now proved beyond doubt that this battle is between Goans from all over Goa and the Leadings Hotel. History tells that the movement handled by Goans from all over Goa have never failed and as such this movement of Tiracol will surely succeed. The momentum created by the people movement now will create good effect. Speaker after speaker spoke in support of the people of Tiracol -- who approximately number around 400 residing in about 90 dwellings. The total area of Tiracol is about 14,00,000 sq.mtrs. From this area, 12,18,589 sq.mtrs. are now in the hands of the Leading Hotels through sale deeds executed between the Leading Hotels and the Khalaps, landlords of the area. The balance area of 1,50,582 by way of Tiracol Fort is owned by the Goa government. Tiracol is situated at the far end of North Goa, touching Maharastra. It is a very scenic and beautiful place consisting of medicinal springs, plenty of productive trees and plants having curative effects for many of the sicknesses and deaseses. The Tiracol River and Fort add beauty to this place. Outside interference through the Leading Hotels and golf course will destroy Tiracol of its genuine Goan inhabitants, trees, plants and spring water. This all belongs to us Goans and as such it should remain in the hands of Goans. In this direction, it is our duty to preserve it by giving our support to the people of Tiarcol in opposing Leading Hotels. Tiracol is Goa and Goan and what hurts Tiracol also hurts entire Goa and all Goans. Let every genuine Goan show his or her solidarity with the Tiracol Rakhonn Manch (Tiracol Protection Front), an organization formed by the locals to fight for their rights. It was something to be appreciated that the people who came in large number did not even care for the rain pouring there. It looked as if they said, come what may, rain or thundering and lighting, we will never leave this place unless the meeting is started and concluded. PHOTOS - [http://kranti-goa.blogspot.in/] AAM Admi party and others showing their support to Tiracol Convener of Tiracol Rakhonn Manch addressing the meet. Attendees seen even braving the Rain during the meet. Dr. Francis Colaco, renowned cardiologist, addressing the meet One of the locals seen addressing the meet. Seen above is a section of the crowd. = Earlier report: http://bit.ly/1HlokTO Leading Hotels wins bid to set up golf course at Tiracol
[Goanet] In Goa, it's the theatre of the absurd (Devika Sequeira, ToI)
In Goa, it's the theatre of the absurd Devika Sequeira devikaseque...@gmail.com Francis de Tuem's biting political satire 'Reporter' notched its 60th show Monday evening at the Kala Academy. It was houseful, and from the rush at the counter it will continue to be a sellout for more shows to come. Political theatrics -- both the real and the staged one -- are a huge draw in Goa, and Monday night, the two seemed to surreally intertwine, as one was being enacted on stage, and the other played out in a Margao courtroom. It's easy to recognise why Francis de Tuem has picked up pace in just three years, making the progression from singer of political songs to director/writer (this is his third tiatr) delivering the acerbic punchline. So attuned is the 40-year-old tiatr director to the political pulse, Mickky Pacheco's surrender the same evening had been seamlessly woven into the caustic repartee. As the tiatr played on, weaving through a long-drawn political melodrama and cutting asides even as Pacheco prepared for the long haul in Cell No 14 at Sada, I was struck by the odd coincidence of poetic justice at play that evening. Two years ago on August 9 Francis de Tuem -- whose real name is also coincidentally Francisco Xavier -- was arrested by the police at Ravindra Bhavan as he walked in to take part in a Roseferns tiatr. A complaint had been lodged against the Konkani singer by -- ironic really—Mickky Pacheco. The allegation was that the tiatrist's remarks at the previous day's show had crossed the boundaries of decency and were tantamount to defaming the MLA and his family. The complaint also encompassed allegations of extortion of which one has been provided little evidence or heard much of since. Yet it took the police but a few hours to arrest Francisco Xavier Fernandes (Francis de Tuem). In Pacheco's case, several teams of the Goa police were despatched on and off (to please the courts one assumes) to hunt for the elusive Mickky in Delhi -- this pretence played out at the expense of the public exchequer -- but he evaded arrest for close to two months. We knew he had exhausted all resources and would surrender one of these days. We knew he was to surrender in Goa. Director General of Police TN Mohan's comments to the media are practically an admission of collusion between the MLA's family/associates/lawyers and the government to give him a long rope till the very end -- when the attachment of properties would have to begin. (Aires Rodrigues would have hardly allowed that opportunity to pass by.) Just before the release of 'Reporter' sometime in April, Francis de Tuem was asked why he decided to shift gears from family drama to political satire. Using the Nirbhaya rape case as example he said he believed a reporter could make all the difference. It was only because of media pressure that the police swung into action. Opradhi lojek poddona te meren sudrona (A criminal won't change unless he is shamed), he said. The comment would naturally apply to corrupt politicians. But 'Reporter' is not so much about the power of the media as the entrapment of those with festering political ambitions and the taking down of real-life ones. It can be cathartic for the audience mired in the everyday morass of corruption, unemployment, bad roads, and much more. Which perhaps explains its runaway success and should be cause for worry to those currently in power. Many believe this is the end of the road for Mickky Pacheco. I'm not so sure. Scores of his supporters came to shake hands and sympathise with him. Given what we have become as a people, and the kind of politicians we elect, that's hardly surprising. In many quarters, the anger was directed against Aires for being such a persistent bulldog in pursuing such a small matter. In a state where everyone is on backslapping terms with the MLA in his constituency, the black easily diffuses into grey and all is easily forgotten and forgiven. The one redeeming factor from Mickky's latest political circus is that Francis de Tuem will have another plot for a new tiatr. ### First published in The Times of India, June 3, 2015 under the title 'Is it curtains for Mickky Pacheco?'
[Goanet-News] In Goa, it's the theatre of the absurd (Devika Sequeira, ToI)
In Goa, it's the theatre of the absurd Devika Sequeira devikaseque...@gmail.com Francis de Tuem's biting political satire 'Reporter' notched its 60th show Monday evening at the Kala Academy. It was houseful, and from the rush at the counter it will continue to be a sellout for more shows to come. Political theatrics -- both the real and the staged one -- are a huge draw in Goa, and Monday night, the two seemed to surreally intertwine, as one was being enacted on stage, and the other played out in a Margao courtroom. It's easy to recognise why Francis de Tuem has picked up pace in just three years, making the progression from singer of political songs to director/writer (this is his third tiatr) delivering the acerbic punchline. So attuned is the 40-year-old tiatr director to the political pulse, Mickky Pacheco's surrender the same evening had been seamlessly woven into the caustic repartee. As the tiatr played on, weaving through a long-drawn political melodrama and cutting asides even as Pacheco prepared for the long haul in Cell No 14 at Sada, I was struck by the odd coincidence of poetic justice at play that evening. Two years ago on August 9 Francis de Tuem -- whose real name is also coincidentally Francisco Xavier -- was arrested by the police at Ravindra Bhavan as he walked in to take part in a Roseferns tiatr. A complaint had been lodged against the Konkani singer by -- ironic really—Mickky Pacheco. The allegation was that the tiatrist's remarks at the previous day's show had crossed the boundaries of decency and were tantamount to defaming the MLA and his family. The complaint also encompassed allegations of extortion of which one has been provided little evidence or heard much of since. Yet it took the police but a few hours to arrest Francisco Xavier Fernandes (Francis de Tuem). In Pacheco's case, several teams of the Goa police were despatched on and off (to please the courts one assumes) to hunt for the elusive Mickky in Delhi -- this pretence played out at the expense of the public exchequer -- but he evaded arrest for close to two months. We knew he had exhausted all resources and would surrender one of these days. We knew he was to surrender in Goa. Director General of Police TN Mohan's comments to the media are practically an admission of collusion between the MLA's family/associates/lawyers and the government to give him a long rope till the very end -- when the attachment of properties would have to begin. (Aires Rodrigues would have hardly allowed that opportunity to pass by.) Just before the release of 'Reporter' sometime in April, Francis de Tuem was asked why he decided to shift gears from family drama to political satire. Using the Nirbhaya rape case as example he said he believed a reporter could make all the difference. It was only because of media pressure that the police swung into action. Opradhi lojek poddona te meren sudrona (A criminal won't change unless he is shamed), he said. The comment would naturally apply to corrupt politicians. But 'Reporter' is not so much about the power of the media as the entrapment of those with festering political ambitions and the taking down of real-life ones. It can be cathartic for the audience mired in the everyday morass of corruption, unemployment, bad roads, and much more. Which perhaps explains its runaway success and should be cause for worry to those currently in power. Many believe this is the end of the road for Mickky Pacheco. I'm not so sure. Scores of his supporters came to shake hands and sympathise with him. Given what we have become as a people, and the kind of politicians we elect, that's hardly surprising. In many quarters, the anger was directed against Aires for being such a persistent bulldog in pursuing such a small matter. In a state where everyone is on backslapping terms with the MLA in his constituency, the black easily diffuses into grey and all is easily forgotten and forgiven. The one redeeming factor from Mickky's latest political circus is that Francis de Tuem will have another plot for a new tiatr. ### First published in The Times of India, June 3, 2015 under the title 'Is it curtains for Mickky Pacheco?'
[Goanet-News] The 'wanted dead or alive' insurgent who became Goa police chief (Devika Sequeira, ToI)
The 'wanted dead or alive' insurgent who became Goa police chief Prabhakar Sinari looks back on a daring escape that plunged him deeper into the armed resistance for Goa’s freedom Devika Sequeira devikaseque...@gmail.com Who in his sane mind would think to jump into the toxic waters of the Campal Creek these days? Back in the early '50s one could fish in its clear free flowing waters. It’s what we did as children, often catching a big bite, Prabhakar Sinari says. It was a memory that would serve him well in the most crucial moment of his life. A few weeks short of four years in high security incarceration under the Portuguese regime, Sinari would make a second bid at escape in 1951. The first attempt, two years earlier, had been frustrated by the unexpected presence of a band of Mozambican soldiers washing their clothes at the base of the Reis Magos Fort. The botched breakout -- a daring jump over the sheer walls of the prison-fort -- left him injured and eventually cost the life of his escape accomplice, Simão. Beaten unconscious for his defiance in saluting the Portuguese flag, (the poor conditions in the Reis Magos lockup had already left him with a bad case of night blindness), Sinari was brought in a precarious state to the prison ward of the Escola Medica (Goa Medical College) in Campal in October of 1951. Not yet 19 at the time, all he could think of was how to escape. Surrounded at last by Goan doctors and local policemen sympathetic to the freedom cause the GMC lockup held the best chance of getaway. With hospital care and improved food, recovery was quick, so was his decision to plot another breakout. The other prisoner in the ward, Deu Upaskar knew that the Portuguese cabo guarding us had a weakness for drink. He had no trouble procuring some. With their chief guard thus 'neutralised', Sinari and Upaskar decided it was now or never. Soon after the last meal at 5.30 pm on October 16, they bolted towards the hospital lab, Sinari taking one route, Upaskar the other. But the guards had their sights set only on the 'most wanted, dead or alive' escapee. One of the cabos managed to grab my hospital shirt. I wriggled out of his grasp, leaving my shirt in his hands and kept running. The attempt had caused quite a commotion and I heard two or three rounds fired in the air. But it didn't deter me one bit, my focus entirely on getting away. In a flash he had made for the boundary wall of GMC (where the Inox parking lot stands today), on the periphery of which flows the nullah. Expecting their fugitive to use the Mandovi shore, the Portuguese launched a massive hunt along this part of beach. But Sinari clung to the underside of the small bridge (much larger in those days, he recalls), emerging to the riverfront under cover of darkness. Creeping back to the nullah, he partly waded, partly swam through the creek from Campal to Taleigao. At one point he even flagged down a car on the Taleigao road, only to discover its occupants were colonial officers in white uniforms. He stepped back quickly into the shadows, and spent the night hiding in the Taleigao lake waters in the company of leeches feeding off his shirtless body. I could hear the sound of Harley-Davidsons (used by the Portuguese police) as the hunt intensified, but I wasn't afraid of death. Just the feeling of being free gave me a sense of utter defiance. And so he remained till dawn, emerging from behind Santa Cruz Church. Feet cut and bleeding, the next eight days were spent hidden in haystacks in the Chimbel fields, looked after by a family tenant Gopi Ghatwal and treated with medicines surreptitiously supplied by Dr Kuchadkar. With Ghatwal as guide he made it by canoe to Sirigao, the two later risking leopards to begin the 40-odd km trek through jungle to Banda in Maharashtra. No sooner had we crossed the border near Maneri (in Maharashtra), I sat myself down on a stone and poured the choicest abuses at the Portuguese, to the utter astonishment of the guard on the Goa side who had not the faintest clue as to who he was. It was as if a dam had burst. The deep welter of rage against the coloniser for humiliation inflicted would find expression in the persistent armed insurrection of the Azad Gomantak Dal (AGD), formed in 1953 with Vishwanath Lawande and others in which Prabhakar Sinari too became a driving force. The AGD's tactical hits on Portuguese positions in the border areas kept the regime -- the assassin Agente Casmiro Monteiro included -- on edge till the final takeover of Goa by India end-1961. But the former Goa police chief's formative awakening came much earlier, when barely 14 and in Class VIII in Escola Moderna (known later as Progress High School). It begins one rainy afternoon in Panjim. Ram Manohar Lohia's June 1946 defiant address in Margao had left a deep impression on many,
[Goanet] The 'wanted dead or alive' insurgent who became Goa police chief (Devika Sequeira, ToI)
The 'wanted dead or alive' insurgent who became Goa police chief Prabhakar Sinari looks back on a daring escape that plunged him deeper into the armed resistance for Goa’s freedom Devika Sequeira devikaseque...@gmail.com Who in his sane mind would think to jump into the toxic waters of the Campal Creek these days? Back in the early '50s one could fish in its clear free flowing waters. It’s what we did as children, often catching a big bite, Prabhakar Sinari says. It was a memory that would serve him well in the most crucial moment of his life. A few weeks short of four years in high security incarceration under the Portuguese regime, Sinari would make a second bid at escape in 1951. The first attempt, two years earlier, had been frustrated by the unexpected presence of a band of Mozambican soldiers washing their clothes at the base of the Reis Magos Fort. The botched breakout -- a daring jump over the sheer walls of the prison-fort -- left him injured and eventually cost the life of his escape accomplice, Simão. Beaten unconscious for his defiance in saluting the Portuguese flag, (the poor conditions in the Reis Magos lockup had already left him with a bad case of night blindness), Sinari was brought in a precarious state to the prison ward of the Escola Medica (Goa Medical College) in Campal in October of 1951. Not yet 19 at the time, all he could think of was how to escape. Surrounded at last by Goan doctors and local policemen sympathetic to the freedom cause the GMC lockup held the best chance of getaway. With hospital care and improved food, recovery was quick, so was his decision to plot another breakout. The other prisoner in the ward, Deu Upaskar knew that the Portuguese cabo guarding us had a weakness for drink. He had no trouble procuring some. With their chief guard thus 'neutralised', Sinari and Upaskar decided it was now or never. Soon after the last meal at 5.30 pm on October 16, they bolted towards the hospital lab, Sinari taking one route, Upaskar the other. But the guards had their sights set only on the 'most wanted, dead or alive' escapee. One of the cabos managed to grab my hospital shirt. I wriggled out of his grasp, leaving my shirt in his hands and kept running. The attempt had caused quite a commotion and I heard two or three rounds fired in the air. But it didn't deter me one bit, my focus entirely on getting away. In a flash he had made for the boundary wall of GMC (where the Inox parking lot stands today), on the periphery of which flows the nullah. Expecting their fugitive to use the Mandovi shore, the Portuguese launched a massive hunt along this part of beach. But Sinari clung to the underside of the small bridge (much larger in those days, he recalls), emerging to the riverfront under cover of darkness. Creeping back to the nullah, he partly waded, partly swam through the creek from Campal to Taleigao. At one point he even flagged down a car on the Taleigao road, only to discover its occupants were colonial officers in white uniforms. He stepped back quickly into the shadows, and spent the night hiding in the Taleigao lake waters in the company of leeches feeding off his shirtless body. I could hear the sound of Harley-Davidsons (used by the Portuguese police) as the hunt intensified, but I wasn't afraid of death. Just the feeling of being free gave me a sense of utter defiance. And so he remained till dawn, emerging from behind Santa Cruz Church. Feet cut and bleeding, the next eight days were spent hidden in haystacks in the Chimbel fields, looked after by a family tenant Gopi Ghatwal and treated with medicines surreptitiously supplied by Dr Kuchadkar. With Ghatwal as guide he made it by canoe to Sirigao, the two later risking leopards to begin the 40-odd km trek through jungle to Banda in Maharashtra. No sooner had we crossed the border near Maneri (in Maharashtra), I sat myself down on a stone and poured the choicest abuses at the Portuguese, to the utter astonishment of the guard on the Goa side who had not the faintest clue as to who he was. It was as if a dam had burst. The deep welter of rage against the coloniser for humiliation inflicted would find expression in the persistent armed insurrection of the Azad Gomantak Dal (AGD), formed in 1953 with Vishwanath Lawande and others in which Prabhakar Sinari too became a driving force. The AGD's tactical hits on Portuguese positions in the border areas kept the regime -- the assassin Agente Casmiro Monteiro included -- on edge till the final takeover of Goa by India end-1961. But the former Goa police chief's formative awakening came much earlier, when barely 14 and in Class VIII in Escola Moderna (known later as Progress High School). It begins one rainy afternoon in Panjim. Ram Manohar Lohia's June 1946 defiant address in Margao had left a deep impression on many,
[Goanet-News] Ashis Nandy on being an Indian Christian, Julio Ribeiro's pain and why he opposes conversion (Ajaz Ashraf, Scroll.in)
Ashis Nandy on being an Indian Christian, Julio Ribeiro's pain and why he opposes conversion The BJP 'can sell their mothers for winning an election, what to speak of Hinduism and Ram', says the renowned social scientist. Ajaz Ashraf Renowned political psychologist Ashis Nandy speaks out against the attacks on the Christian community, to which he too belongs, and why the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's ghar wapsi programme will only increase conversions in India. Very few in the public arena know you are a Christian, and it is impossible to make out your religious identity from your name. For a person such as you, how has the attack on the Christian community impacted you at a personal level? It has saddened me. There is no doubt that it is an organised attack. It has also been going on for a while. It is sad that some people don't feel secure even when their community is just 2.5% or 1.5% of the Indian population. This is a sad comment on our political culture. The inability to accept diversity has now become a salient factor of Indian public life and politics. I have seen many Muslims who are not devout become acutely conscious of their identity when their faith comes under attack. Do you see this happening with Christians in India? I see this trend among Muslims in India. But I don't think it has happened with Christians as yet. At least, it doesn't seem so, as I haven't seen any evidence of it around me. Nor have I come across any surveys or data which would suggest otherwise. I would be surprised if it were to happen -- for, on the whole, Christians are a self-confident community. Also, don't forget that in many parts of India, Christians are predominantly Dalits and the attacks on them might have other kinds of political consequences. For instance, it might further divide the Dalits. Have you felt personally threatened with the targeting of Christians over the last nine months? No. But then you can say I have been brought up in an atmosphere where attacks on Christians or even a campaign against them was unthinkable. In Calcutta, where I grew up, the Christian community is taken as part of the landscape and played an important role in defining the culture of the city. Bengalis, whether Hindu or Muslim, would have been shocked to hear about these attacks on Christians. The RSS has portrayed Christians and Muslims as communities that don't accept their Hindu cultural heritage. From your own experience during your growing up years, do you think it is possible for any community to be insulated from what is called Hindu influence? I don't think it is possible. For instance, my father was a student of Sanskrit and persuaded us to study Sanskrit. Only my third brother, who studied in La Martiniere, didn't get to learn Sanskrit. My father was very proud of the fact that he knew Sanskrit. He was a good student of Sanskrit and his teachers loved him for that. It is indicative of things that he was invariably called by one of his teachers Mleccha [barbarian]. In fact, whenever another student would fail to answer a question, the Sanskrit pandit would say, “Mleccha, you better answer that.” My father knew the teacher used the term Mleccha not as an insult, but as a term of endearment; he was very proud of my father. Are you second- or third- or fifth-generation Christian, or is it that you don't even know when your ancestors converted? If you include my daughter, I think we are now fourth-generation Christians. Considering it is impossible for Christians or Muslims to remain insulated from Hindu influence, why do you think the RSS insists the religious minorities describe themselves as Hindu? The RSS is basically a western, colonial implant in India. The RSS categories are all European, beginning from Savarkar's Hindutva, which is a perfectly European concept of the theory of state. That concept is one state, one culture, one nationality and nationalism -- and the state the Hindutvavadis have in mind is a modern Westphalian European state. To understand Savarkar's worldview, people should read his futuristic novel, Kalapani, which is a rather silly description of an ideal Hindutva-based state -- totally monolithic, terribly boring national community. In this community, according to Savarkar's imagination, everybody speaks the same language, everybody is marrying inter-caste, so on and so forth. Fortunately, he doesn't include the Christians and Muslims in this community and they should be grateful to him for that. I'd die of boredom living in a state like that. Earlier, most Indians would have agreed with me. But it now seems there is a small group of young people, particularly NRIs in India, who, because they feel guilty about ditching India, have become very articulate in this matter. They shout themselves hoarse about the beauties of one state, one culture, one nation. How do you
[Goanet] Ashis Nandy on being an Indian Christian, Julio Ribeiro's pain and why he opposes conversion (Ajaz Ashraf, Scroll.in)
Ashis Nandy on being an Indian Christian, Julio Ribeiro's pain and why he opposes conversion The BJP 'can sell their mothers for winning an election, what to speak of Hinduism and Ram', says the renowned social scientist. Ajaz Ashraf Renowned political psychologist Ashis Nandy speaks out against the attacks on the Christian community, to which he too belongs, and why the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's ghar wapsi programme will only increase conversions in India. Very few in the public arena know you are a Christian, and it is impossible to make out your religious identity from your name. For a person such as you, how has the attack on the Christian community impacted you at a personal level? It has saddened me. There is no doubt that it is an organised attack. It has also been going on for a while. It is sad that some people don't feel secure even when their community is just 2.5% or 1.5% of the Indian population. This is a sad comment on our political culture. The inability to accept diversity has now become a salient factor of Indian public life and politics. I have seen many Muslims who are not devout become acutely conscious of their identity when their faith comes under attack. Do you see this happening with Christians in India? I see this trend among Muslims in India. But I don't think it has happened with Christians as yet. At least, it doesn't seem so, as I haven't seen any evidence of it around me. Nor have I come across any surveys or data which would suggest otherwise. I would be surprised if it were to happen -- for, on the whole, Christians are a self-confident community. Also, don't forget that in many parts of India, Christians are predominantly Dalits and the attacks on them might have other kinds of political consequences. For instance, it might further divide the Dalits. Have you felt personally threatened with the targeting of Christians over the last nine months? No. But then you can say I have been brought up in an atmosphere where attacks on Christians or even a campaign against them was unthinkable. In Calcutta, where I grew up, the Christian community is taken as part of the landscape and played an important role in defining the culture of the city. Bengalis, whether Hindu or Muslim, would have been shocked to hear about these attacks on Christians. The RSS has portrayed Christians and Muslims as communities that don't accept their Hindu cultural heritage. From your own experience during your growing up years, do you think it is possible for any community to be insulated from what is called Hindu influence? I don't think it is possible. For instance, my father was a student of Sanskrit and persuaded us to study Sanskrit. Only my third brother, who studied in La Martiniere, didn't get to learn Sanskrit. My father was very proud of the fact that he knew Sanskrit. He was a good student of Sanskrit and his teachers loved him for that. It is indicative of things that he was invariably called by one of his teachers Mleccha [barbarian]. In fact, whenever another student would fail to answer a question, the Sanskrit pandit would say, “Mleccha, you better answer that.” My father knew the teacher used the term Mleccha not as an insult, but as a term of endearment; he was very proud of my father. Are you second- or third- or fifth-generation Christian, or is it that you don't even know when your ancestors converted? If you include my daughter, I think we are now fourth-generation Christians. Considering it is impossible for Christians or Muslims to remain insulated from Hindu influence, why do you think the RSS insists the religious minorities describe themselves as Hindu? The RSS is basically a western, colonial implant in India. The RSS categories are all European, beginning from Savarkar's Hindutva, which is a perfectly European concept of the theory of state. That concept is one state, one culture, one nationality and nationalism -- and the state the Hindutvavadis have in mind is a modern Westphalian European state. To understand Savarkar's worldview, people should read his futuristic novel, Kalapani, which is a rather silly description of an ideal Hindutva-based state -- totally monolithic, terribly boring national community. In this community, according to Savarkar's imagination, everybody speaks the same language, everybody is marrying inter-caste, so on and so forth. Fortunately, he doesn't include the Christians and Muslims in this community and they should be grateful to him for that. I'd die of boredom living in a state like that. Earlier, most Indians would have agreed with me. But it now seems there is a small group of young people, particularly NRIs in India, who, because they feel guilty about ditching India, have become very articulate in this matter. They shout themselves hoarse about the beauties of one state, one culture, one nation. How do you
[Goanet] DEBATE: The Source of Violence (Nazar da Silva)
The Source of Violence By Nazar da Silva Moira, Goa +91-832-2470290 nazardasi...@gmail.com The stats may be shocking; but that should not surprise anyone. The truth is that you and I are contributing in a big way to perpetuate the scourge of Violence. And we don't want to know about it. We are in serious denial because 'we must have our cake and eat it too'. That is how a snowflake of violence has snowballed into an avalanche of such epic proportions today. Surely, as rational human beings, we owe it to ourselves that we take stock of the ground realities that plague us. Surely, it is our social obligation to deal with the problems that are destroying society: Dispassionately, and with all sincerity, we need to expose the root cause of the brutality that afflicts us as a people -- not as a community, not as a nation, but as a people. What all people share is a natural urge to discover the cause of whatever afflicts us. This desire itself confirms, quite graphically, that all people are gifted in an extraordinary way: Alone in all creation -- whether it began with a big bang, a whim or a whimper -- only the human person is endowed with this unique gift of reasoning and, among a host of other gifts, we have the freedom of making our own choices. This opens our eyes to a deeper truth: that we are all made in the image of our Creator. We all carry the DNA of Divinity so to speak! This is an astounding truth that we are reluctant to confront for reasons that should become apparent as we progress on our own path to self-discovery. Even though every one of us is gifted with an inherent intuition of what is right and what is wrong, we stubbornly choose to ignore that inner voice and, willy-nilly, make a mockery of freedom of choice. Consequently, we seem to have all but abandoned the concept of what constitutes wrong-doing. Basically, we are wired by our animal instincts to do only that which pleasures us. This familiar weakness is vigorously exploited by the global lobby of consumerism. Before we even know it we have become comfortable with ignoring the well-being of others, including that of our own off-spring. To add insult to injury, we even forget our role as custodians of the earth's natural resources. Some might say: We have traded the 'Garden of Eden' for a quagmire fraught with the vulgar weeds and deeds of self-indulgence. The fall-out is that we dare not ask about the social costs of 'development' because society has itself created the real bogey by succumbing to the lures of market-driven forces. On the one hand, under the guise of religion, the resulting civic turmoil is exploited by bigotry and extremism; on the other hand, some power-hungry politicians resort to a crony form of capitalism and intimidation. The tinder-box for violence is primed; but violence does not come single file: it is a hydra-headed monster born of injustice: injustice being the calling card of all that is evil. The fruits of evil are enticing: they appeal to the baser instincts of our human nature. And, whether we realise it or not, unless we take corrective measures, we are being overtaken by the choices we make. Our once proud, multi-cultural nation, reputed for its tolerance and generosity, has fallen prey to the expedience of party politics and the pursuit of power. We keep making the wrong choices; we take the easy options. We have compromised and traded our hallowed values, especially the treasured traditions of family, for a false sense of 'freedom' that is evocative of utter licentiousness. We have allowed ourselves to be enslaved by dissolute addictions: power, wealth, sex, status, greed, the lot! The tragedy is that many of our chosen politicians have succumbed to the misuse of their legislative powers. And it is the Legislative Assembly -- no less -- that has let us down. It has compromised the most fundamental of human rights: the right to life! The irony of this heinous development came about because of the unnatural methods of birth control popularised by government. For one thing, such programmes are an affront to the dignity of the human person as they brazenly assume that all people are irresponsible and incapable of practicing restraint or self denial! Such undermining of the self-worth of any person can only encourage a lack of respect for life. This is exactly what has happened: Moreover, when any child is brought up to believe that s/he is counted among the 'unwanted', the culture of rebellion and violence can only deepen and become ingrained. As though that is not bad enough, one would think that a lesson has been learnt; but what has happened? We have gone deeper into the impossible morass! Abortion was legalised! The gut-churning horrors of Auschwitz, Belsen and more recently,
[Goanet-News] DEBATE: The Source of Violence (Nazar da Silva)
The Source of Violence By Nazar da Silva Moira, Goa +91-832-2470290 nazardasi...@gmail.com The stats may be shocking; but that should not surprise anyone. The truth is that you and I are contributing in a big way to perpetuate the scourge of Violence. And we don't want to know about it. We are in serious denial because 'we must have our cake and eat it too'. That is how a snowflake of violence has snowballed into an avalanche of such epic proportions today. Surely, as rational human beings, we owe it to ourselves that we take stock of the ground realities that plague us. Surely, it is our social obligation to deal with the problems that are destroying society: Dispassionately, and with all sincerity, we need to expose the root cause of the brutality that afflicts us as a people -- not as a community, not as a nation, but as a people. What all people share is a natural urge to discover the cause of whatever afflicts us. This desire itself confirms, quite graphically, that all people are gifted in an extraordinary way: Alone in all creation -- whether it began with a big bang, a whim or a whimper -- only the human person is endowed with this unique gift of reasoning and, among a host of other gifts, we have the freedom of making our own choices. This opens our eyes to a deeper truth: that we are all made in the image of our Creator. We all carry the DNA of Divinity so to speak! This is an astounding truth that we are reluctant to confront for reasons that should become apparent as we progress on our own path to self-discovery. Even though every one of us is gifted with an inherent intuition of what is right and what is wrong, we stubbornly choose to ignore that inner voice and, willy-nilly, make a mockery of freedom of choice. Consequently, we seem to have all but abandoned the concept of what constitutes wrong-doing. Basically, we are wired by our animal instincts to do only that which pleasures us. This familiar weakness is vigorously exploited by the global lobby of consumerism. Before we even know it we have become comfortable with ignoring the well-being of others, including that of our own off-spring. To add insult to injury, we even forget our role as custodians of the earth's natural resources. Some might say: We have traded the 'Garden of Eden' for a quagmire fraught with the vulgar weeds and deeds of self-indulgence. The fall-out is that we dare not ask about the social costs of 'development' because society has itself created the real bogey by succumbing to the lures of market-driven forces. On the one hand, under the guise of religion, the resulting civic turmoil is exploited by bigotry and extremism; on the other hand, some power-hungry politicians resort to a crony form of capitalism and intimidation. The tinder-box for violence is primed; but violence does not come single file: it is a hydra-headed monster born of injustice: injustice being the calling card of all that is evil. The fruits of evil are enticing: they appeal to the baser instincts of our human nature. And, whether we realise it or not, unless we take corrective measures, we are being overtaken by the choices we make. Our once proud, multi-cultural nation, reputed for its tolerance and generosity, has fallen prey to the expedience of party politics and the pursuit of power. We keep making the wrong choices; we take the easy options. We have compromised and traded our hallowed values, especially the treasured traditions of family, for a false sense of 'freedom' that is evocative of utter licentiousness. We have allowed ourselves to be enslaved by dissolute addictions: power, wealth, sex, status, greed, the lot! The tragedy is that many of our chosen politicians have succumbed to the misuse of their legislative powers. And it is the Legislative Assembly -- no less -- that has let us down. It has compromised the most fundamental of human rights: the right to life! The irony of this heinous development came about because of the unnatural methods of birth control popularised by government. For one thing, such programmes are an affront to the dignity of the human person as they brazenly assume that all people are irresponsible and incapable of practicing restraint or self denial! Such undermining of the self-worth of any person can only encourage a lack of respect for life. This is exactly what has happened: Moreover, when any child is brought up to believe that s/he is counted among the 'unwanted', the culture of rebellion and violence can only deepen and become ingrained. As though that is not bad enough, one would think that a lesson has been learnt; but what has happened? We have gone deeper into the impossible morass! Abortion was legalised! The gut-churning horrors of Auschwitz, Belsen and more recently,
[Goanet] How Goa is getting colonised, one mega-project at a time (Menezes, Almeida, Fernandes, Kanekar in DNA)
How Goa is getting colonised, one mega-project at a time Sunday, 31 May 2015 - 3:15pm IST | Agency: dna webdesk Dale Luis Menezes Albertina Almeida Jason Keith Fernandes Amita Kanekar A narrowly framed conception of 'development' is being used by the Goan government in collusion with corporates to push the people of Goa off their land. dna Research Archives Goa is constantly framed as the holiday capital of India. However, there is a good amount of violence that underwrites this project of providing fun. The recent incidents in Tiracol, a village in the northern-most tip of the state, highlight this clearly. Sometime around the midnight of 14 May, residents of the village were awakened by the arrival of men and machinery hired by M/s Leading Hotels Pvt. Ltd., a five-star hotel company, who went on to bulldoze a large part of the orchard lands of the village as part of their plan to build a PGA standard golf course and resort. The villagers have been strongly opposing this project for the last several years, with the result that the project has now been virtually stayed by the courts. Leading Hotels’ response to this legal and popular opposition was to sneak their men and machinery in at the dead of night, protected by 50-odd bouncers. Work was halted only when the vigilant villagers alerted the police. However, when local reporters reached the scene, the bouncers were still there. Diana Fernandes, a journalist writing for O Heraldo (16 May, 2015), reported that the area was still swarming with 20-odd musclemen the next day. This instance of violent land grab is not confined to the village of Tiracol. In fact, as a result of the boom in mining, real estate and tourism industries in Goa, it has become a trend over the last couple of decades. In most cases, the chief victims are agricultural tenants who tilled the land belonging to landlords, and mundkars living on this land, with various obligations towards its upkeep. The problem of land-grab in Goa needs to be understood through the existing feudal land relations in Goa -- the relation between the mundkars and agricultural tenants (henceforth tenants), and the bhatkar (landlord) -- have been supplemented by the feudal-like powers of global capital that work in alliance with the feudal lords. Additionally, we also suggest that the existing sorry state of affairs that Goa finds itself in, due to excesses of 'development' in the real estate market and other industries that gobble huge chunks of land, can only be correctly understood and effectively addressed, if one approaches the issue from the perspective of the tenants and their experiences. In Goa, land was traditionally appropriated and tightly controlled by the bhatkars. In addition to being a class, these bhatkars were also upper-caste. The caste equation is important as the bhatkars could be of any religious background, but were invariably from the upper-castes. Relief to the mundkars and tenants came in the form of the Goa Agricultural Tenancy Act, 1964 and the Goa Mundkar Act, 1975, but this relief was eventually thwarted by a new and developing economic system that no longer made it economically viable to cultivate land and made it seem more alluring to sell land to the highest bidder and share the spoils, albeit disproportionately between the bhatkar and the tenants. But Tiracol was different. The bhatkarial rights were held by the Khalap family, said to be a branch of the Deshprabhu family who still are the bhatkars of most of Pernem taluka. The bhatkar here was an absentee one who had long broken contact with the village, to the extent of not collecting either mundkarial services or tenant revenues. This, coupled with the relative homogeneity of the tenant population -- a small village of about 50 Catholic households living off cashew orchards, fishing and the production of urrack and feni, along with some rice farming and coconut plantations -- made the village a relatively egalitarian and developing space where caste hierarchy was not strongly evident and where many were making the socio-economic shift from tenants to entrepreneurs and workers in the modern economy. Hence it is not surprising that the proposed golf course project by M/s Leading Hotels, which first hit the news in 2007-08, was vehemently opposed by the St. Anthony Tenant and Mundkar Association (SATMA) of Tiracol. It is also interesting, though again not surprising, that the local spokesperson of Leading Hotels, Gerson Rebelo, viewed the company that he
[Goanet-News] How Goa is getting colonised, one mega-project at a time (Menezes, Almeida, Fernandes, Kanekar in DNA)
How Goa is getting colonised, one mega-project at a time Sunday, 31 May 2015 - 3:15pm IST | Agency: dna webdesk Dale Luis Menezes Albertina Almeida Jason Keith Fernandes Amita Kanekar A narrowly framed conception of 'development' is being used by the Goan government in collusion with corporates to push the people of Goa off their land. dna Research Archives Goa is constantly framed as the holiday capital of India. However, there is a good amount of violence that underwrites this project of providing fun. The recent incidents in Tiracol, a village in the northern-most tip of the state, highlight this clearly. Sometime around the midnight of 14 May, residents of the village were awakened by the arrival of men and machinery hired by M/s Leading Hotels Pvt. Ltd., a five-star hotel company, who went on to bulldoze a large part of the orchard lands of the village as part of their plan to build a PGA standard golf course and resort. The villagers have been strongly opposing this project for the last several years, with the result that the project has now been virtually stayed by the courts. Leading Hotels’ response to this legal and popular opposition was to sneak their men and machinery in at the dead of night, protected by 50-odd bouncers. Work was halted only when the vigilant villagers alerted the police. However, when local reporters reached the scene, the bouncers were still there. Diana Fernandes, a journalist writing for O Heraldo (16 May, 2015), reported that the area was still swarming with 20-odd musclemen the next day. This instance of violent land grab is not confined to the village of Tiracol. In fact, as a result of the boom in mining, real estate and tourism industries in Goa, it has become a trend over the last couple of decades. In most cases, the chief victims are agricultural tenants who tilled the land belonging to landlords, and mundkars living on this land, with various obligations towards its upkeep. The problem of land-grab in Goa needs to be understood through the existing feudal land relations in Goa -- the relation between the mundkars and agricultural tenants (henceforth tenants), and the bhatkar (landlord) -- have been supplemented by the feudal-like powers of global capital that work in alliance with the feudal lords. Additionally, we also suggest that the existing sorry state of affairs that Goa finds itself in, due to excesses of 'development' in the real estate market and other industries that gobble huge chunks of land, can only be correctly understood and effectively addressed, if one approaches the issue from the perspective of the tenants and their experiences. In Goa, land was traditionally appropriated and tightly controlled by the bhatkars. In addition to being a class, these bhatkars were also upper-caste. The caste equation is important as the bhatkars could be of any religious background, but were invariably from the upper-castes. Relief to the mundkars and tenants came in the form of the Goa Agricultural Tenancy Act, 1964 and the Goa Mundkar Act, 1975, but this relief was eventually thwarted by a new and developing economic system that no longer made it economically viable to cultivate land and made it seem more alluring to sell land to the highest bidder and share the spoils, albeit disproportionately between the bhatkar and the tenants. But Tiracol was different. The bhatkarial rights were held by the Khalap family, said to be a branch of the Deshprabhu family who still are the bhatkars of most of Pernem taluka. The bhatkar here was an absentee one who had long broken contact with the village, to the extent of not collecting either mundkarial services or tenant revenues. This, coupled with the relative homogeneity of the tenant population -- a small village of about 50 Catholic households living off cashew orchards, fishing and the production of urrack and feni, along with some rice farming and coconut plantations -- made the village a relatively egalitarian and developing space where caste hierarchy was not strongly evident and where many were making the socio-economic shift from tenants to entrepreneurs and workers in the modern economy. Hence it is not surprising that the proposed golf course project by M/s Leading Hotels, which first hit the news in 2007-08, was vehemently opposed by the St. Anthony Tenant and Mundkar Association (SATMA) of Tiracol. It is also interesting, though again not surprising, that the local spokesperson of Leading Hotels, Gerson Rebelo, viewed the company that he
[Goanet] With the Pastoralists of Kenya's Northern Deserts Once More (Mervyn Maciel)
WITH THE PASTORALISTS OF KENYA’s NORTHERN DESERT ONCE MORE Mervyn Maciel mervynels.watuwasha...@gmail.com (After my “Wanderings among the Nomads” article, I had planned to write further of my time in the Northern Frontier, and this article is about the time I spent among the pastoralists of Marsabit District in Northern Kenya.) Much though I wanted to remain in the inferno of Turkana (Lodwar), my superiors decided otherwise and I soon found myself in much cooler climes at Marsabit, the home of the Gabbra, Rendille and Boran tribes. Marsabit is a vast district covering some 28,000 square miles, a lacustrine section in the north being the only ameliorating factor. Because of its pleasant climate, it had once been proposed as the Provincial Headquarters for the Northern Province, an idea that never took off though. While the township area was always green and lush because of the mists from the mountain, a few miles out and you could be in the middle of lava deserts and empty wastelands. The boma (Government offices) itself was situated on Marsabit mountain -- an oasis of sorts surrounded by a thick forest where elephant, buffalo and fairly large buck roamed freely. I had elephants for my nightly visitors, and an encounter with a lone buffalo in the middle of the night was not an uncommon sight (I once had such a hairy experience when visiting the outside loo in the middle of the night!).That was when indoor sanitation had not yet 'arrived' in our part of the world. In the office, I had a true 'mixture' of individuals; my immediate assistant was a Gabbra (David Dabasso Wabera), later to become the first African District Commissioner from the Northern Frontier. (Sadly, Wabera, who was D.C. Isiolo (Provincial headquarters for the Northern Frontier Province) at the time, was gunned down by Somali bandits shortly after Kenya's independence in 1963. To honour his memory, Wabera Street in Nairobi was named after him.) The D.C.'s interpreter was a Rendille (Sangarta) while the office boy (Shalle), a Burji from Ethiopia. We also had an Asst. Office boy, a Boran (Galma). In addition to the office staff, we had an elite force of Frontier Tribal Policemen, popularly known as Dubas. These men were drawn from among the best of the tribes and looked very smart in their snow-white uniforms and brilliant red turbans. The Gabbra, often referred to as the 'Camel nomads of Northern Kenya', are pastoralists who live in the dry areas of northern Kenya. There is a section of this tribe who also live in Ethiopia. The camels, which always carry heavy water containers, fibre mats and wooden poles (which are used to build a Gabbra house), provide the transport that is so vital to the nomadic life that these people lead. The Gabbra themselves say, Camels are our lorries, and I can still recall scenes of camel caravans moving in areas where no vehicle could possibly move with such high-humped loads. One thing I remember so well about the Gabbra is their greeting, 'waare nagayati, waari nagayati' (Peace in the morning, peace in the evening). Another, commonly heard greeting around Marsabit was, 'naga naga, nageni badada' again, all invoking peace. The Gabbra have any number of rituals and colourful ceremonies and also religious songs (hymns) known as dikira. They have songs about their Elders, children, the rain and even their camels. One particular line from their hymn to the camels, when translated, reads, O camels, give us milk, fill the vessels, stay in the enclosure and give us milk, O camels. Like the Turkana I'd left behind in Lodwar, I got to like the Gabbra too; in their tribal dress they looked like Prophets right out of the Old Testament! Another tribe I got to meet at Marsabit were the Rendille who are closely related to their neighbours, the Samburu. They inhabit a most inhospitable area along the Kaisut desert -- a desert I often had to cross during my travels. Whereas a stranger to the N.F.D. could not readily differentiate between a Rendille and a Turkana, those of us who lived in the frontier had no difficulty in telling one from the other. Their speech and mode of dress would give them away! Like the Gabbra I've described earlier, the Rendille prefer camels to cattle. These 'ships of the desert' are ideal for moving across vast arid areas. Women’s lib was unheard of during my time in this region, so women coped with most of the chores like tending the children, cooking etc while the men took their responsibility of looking after their livestock very seriously. Like the age-old custom of 'dowry' among us, Goans, (now happily dying out), the Rendille pay a bride price in the form of livestock, and again, like their Masai cousins, Rendille men cannot marry until they've proved themselves as warriors (a Masai moran
[Goanet-News] With the Pastoralists of Kenya's Northern Deserts Once More (Mervyn Maciel)
WITH THE PASTORALISTS OF KENYA’s NORTHERN DESERT ONCE MORE Mervyn Maciel mervynels.watuwasha...@gmail.com (After my “Wanderings among the Nomads” article, I had planned to write further of my time in the Northern Frontier, and this article is about the time I spent among the pastoralists of Marsabit District in Northern Kenya.) Much though I wanted to remain in the inferno of Turkana (Lodwar), my superiors decided otherwise and I soon found myself in much cooler climes at Marsabit, the home of the Gabbra, Rendille and Boran tribes. Marsabit is a vast district covering some 28,000 square miles, a lacustrine section in the north being the only ameliorating factor. Because of its pleasant climate, it had once been proposed as the Provincial Headquarters for the Northern Province, an idea that never took off though. While the township area was always green and lush because of the mists from the mountain, a few miles out and you could be in the middle of lava deserts and empty wastelands. The boma (Government offices) itself was situated on Marsabit mountain -- an oasis of sorts surrounded by a thick forest where elephant, buffalo and fairly large buck roamed freely. I had elephants for my nightly visitors, and an encounter with a lone buffalo in the middle of the night was not an uncommon sight (I once had such a hairy experience when visiting the outside loo in the middle of the night!).That was when indoor sanitation had not yet 'arrived' in our part of the world. In the office, I had a true 'mixture' of individuals; my immediate assistant was a Gabbra (David Dabasso Wabera), later to become the first African District Commissioner from the Northern Frontier. (Sadly, Wabera, who was D.C. Isiolo (Provincial headquarters for the Northern Frontier Province) at the time, was gunned down by Somali bandits shortly after Kenya's independence in 1963. To honour his memory, Wabera Street in Nairobi was named after him.) The D.C.'s interpreter was a Rendille (Sangarta) while the office boy (Shalle), a Burji from Ethiopia. We also had an Asst. Office boy, a Boran (Galma). In addition to the office staff, we had an elite force of Frontier Tribal Policemen, popularly known as Dubas. These men were drawn from among the best of the tribes and looked very smart in their snow-white uniforms and brilliant red turbans. The Gabbra, often referred to as the 'Camel nomads of Northern Kenya', are pastoralists who live in the dry areas of northern Kenya. There is a section of this tribe who also live in Ethiopia. The camels, which always carry heavy water containers, fibre mats and wooden poles (which are used to build a Gabbra house), provide the transport that is so vital to the nomadic life that these people lead. The Gabbra themselves say, Camels are our lorries, and I can still recall scenes of camel caravans moving in areas where no vehicle could possibly move with such high-humped loads. One thing I remember so well about the Gabbra is their greeting, 'waare nagayati, waari nagayati' (Peace in the morning, peace in the evening). Another, commonly heard greeting around Marsabit was, 'naga naga, nageni badada' again, all invoking peace. The Gabbra have any number of rituals and colourful ceremonies and also religious songs (hymns) known as dikira. They have songs about their Elders, children, the rain and even their camels. One particular line from their hymn to the camels, when translated, reads, O camels, give us milk, fill the vessels, stay in the enclosure and give us milk, O camels. Like the Turkana I'd left behind in Lodwar, I got to like the Gabbra too; in their tribal dress they looked like Prophets right out of the Old Testament! Another tribe I got to meet at Marsabit were the Rendille who are closely related to their neighbours, the Samburu. They inhabit a most inhospitable area along the Kaisut desert -- a desert I often had to cross during my travels. Whereas a stranger to the N.F.D. could not readily differentiate between a Rendille and a Turkana, those of us who lived in the frontier had no difficulty in telling one from the other. Their speech and mode of dress would give them away! Like the Gabbra I've described earlier, the Rendille prefer camels to cattle. These 'ships of the desert' are ideal for moving across vast arid areas. Women’s lib was unheard of during my time in this region, so women coped with most of the chores like tending the children, cooking etc while the men took their responsibility of looking after their livestock very seriously. Like the age-old custom of 'dowry' among us, Goans, (now happily dying out), the Rendille pay a bride price in the form of livestock, and again, like their Masai cousins, Rendille men cannot marry until they've proved themselves as warriors (a Masai moran
[Goanet-News] Margao: a thumbnail sketch (Valmiki Faleiro, Soaring Spirit)
Margao: a thumbnail sketch
EXTRACT | From SOARING SPIRIT BY VALMIKI FALEIRO
valmi...@gmail.com
Margao was always the principal village of Salcete.
Salcete was always the principal taluka of Goa.
Salcete was Goa's largest, most populous, highest
revenue yielding, path breaking and trendsetting
taluka... always. ('Always' here means from the
start of Goa's recorded history, which is more or
less from the dawn of the era of Anno Domini, AD,
or the Current Era, CE.) Only after the Portuguese
reorganized Goa's talukas in the 19th century,
Salcete lost its preeminence but only on one count,
that of being the largest taluka by area.
The Portuguese merged the former provinces of Hembarbarshem
and Ashtragar into a single taluka called Sanguem, and
snatched Mormugao from Salcete to form a separate taluka
(:for better administration of the Mormugao port in the late
19th century). It was then that Salcete lost on the
yardstick of being the largest taluka by geographical size,
though it continued -- and still does, especially
politically! -- as Goa's foremost taluka on most parameters.
(The merger of Chandravati and Bali into Quepem taluka had no
bearing on the status of Salcete.)
Of that foremost taluka of Goa, Margao was the capital.
The very brief story of Margao, Salcete and Goa that follows
may leave more questions than it provides answers. The
interested reader desiring greater detail would need to wait
for a book in the making, From Mathgrām to Margão.
From Mathgrām to Margão will include a fairly
detailed account of Goa from tribal times to the
20th century and pan to a bird's eye view of
Salcete (today's Salcete-Mormugao), its present 61
villages, before zooming into Margao, its history,
lore, legends, and more.. The reader may note that
some parts of the manuscript of that book to-be
have been excerpted here, hence any quote from here
(there is no copyright!) may kindly be done with
attribution.
IMAGE: Margao, based on GoogleEarth as marked by Arch. Ankit
Prabhudessai.
Margao, known as Mathgrām, village of the Mathas
(religious schools or Hindu monasteries) from the
time Indo-Aryans conquered it from its original
tribal settlers, was the chief village of Salcete,
which led the rest of Goa from its ancient Bhoja
capital of Chandrapura (now Chandor) at least from
325 AD. Chandrapura was Goa's capital for a major
part of Goa's history. The Salcete-based Kadamba
ruler, Jayakesi I (1052-1080) shifted the capital
to Govapuri (roughly the area from Agasaim to the
foothill of Siridao) in 1054 before the Bijapur
rulers adopted Ela (now Old Goa) as the capital in
the late 15th century. The Portuguese shifted the
capital to Panjim in 1843, where it officially
continues to this day even if -- among Goa's
post-1961 ironies -- the seat of government lies
across the river in Bardez taluka (and most of Goa
at sea).
The first settlers in Goa came over land. They are generally
believed to be the mixed bred Mhars of the Austro-Asiatic
linguistic group. Purebred Austro-Asiatics are found only in
the Andaman Nicobar Islands, while their ancestors, who had
moved to Australia ages ago, constitute the aborigines of
that continent.
The generally accepted conjecture is that this first human
settlement in Goa occurred in the post-1500 BC period. Mhars
(from Maraung, elder family in the Mundari language) are
believed to have come from the coastal plains of southwest
India, probably Karnataka if not the Malabar. Mhars
worshipped the demon-god Maru and sacrificed buffaloes. They
consumed their flesh and hence were relegated to the class of
untouchable outcastes by the Indo-Aryan dominated society.
Illicit offspring with Mhars was Shvapka (dog eaters). If
visiting caste areas, Mhars had to alert others of their
presence by howling like animals or by ringing a bell worn
around their neck, so that even the shadow of a Mhar would
not 'pollute' the caste gentry.
Gonvllis (called Dhangars outside Goa) were the
next to arrive. They were a pastoral tribe that
had mastered the skill of domesticating productive
wild animals like cattle, goats and sheep. Between
them were shepherds-cowherds, buffalo keepers and
wool weavers, with a half-division of butchers.
They worshipped nature, including the human
reproductive organs. In Mathgrām, they were
associated with rituals at the Damodar temple of
the presiding deity. Even today, the famous gulal
festival must start with Gonvllis dancing in the
front yard of the temple.
[Goanet] Margao: a thumbnail sketch (Valmiki Faleiro, Soaring Spirit)
Margao: a thumbnail sketch
EXTRACT | From SOARING SPIRIT BY VALMIKI FALEIRO
valmi...@gmail.com
Margao was always the principal village of Salcete.
Salcete was always the principal taluka of Goa.
Salcete was Goa's largest, most populous, highest
revenue yielding, path breaking and trendsetting
taluka... always. ('Always' here means from the
start of Goa's recorded history, which is more or
less from the dawn of the era of Anno Domini, AD,
or the Current Era, CE.) Only after the Portuguese
reorganized Goa's talukas in the 19th century,
Salcete lost its preeminence but only on one count,
that of being the largest taluka by area.
The Portuguese merged the former provinces of Hembarbarshem
and Ashtragar into a single taluka called Sanguem, and
snatched Mormugao from Salcete to form a separate taluka
(:for better administration of the Mormugao port in the late
19th century). It was then that Salcete lost on the
yardstick of being the largest taluka by geographical size,
though it continued -- and still does, especially
politically! -- as Goa's foremost taluka on most parameters.
(The merger of Chandravati and Bali into Quepem taluka had no
bearing on the status of Salcete.)
Of that foremost taluka of Goa, Margao was the capital.
The very brief story of Margao, Salcete and Goa that follows
may leave more questions than it provides answers. The
interested reader desiring greater detail would need to wait
for a book in the making, From Mathgrām to Margão.
From Mathgrām to Margão will include a fairly
detailed account of Goa from tribal times to the
20th century and pan to a bird's eye view of
Salcete (today's Salcete-Mormugao), its present 61
villages, before zooming into Margao, its history,
lore, legends, and more.. The reader may note that
some parts of the manuscript of that book to-be
have been excerpted here, hence any quote from here
(there is no copyright!) may kindly be done with
attribution.
IMAGE: Margao, based on GoogleEarth as marked by Arch. Ankit
Prabhudessai.
Margao, known as Mathgrām, village of the Mathas
(religious schools or Hindu monasteries) from the
time Indo-Aryans conquered it from its original
tribal settlers, was the chief village of Salcete,
which led the rest of Goa from its ancient Bhoja
capital of Chandrapura (now Chandor) at least from
325 AD. Chandrapura was Goa's capital for a major
part of Goa's history. The Salcete-based Kadamba
ruler, Jayakesi I (1052-1080) shifted the capital
to Govapuri (roughly the area from Agasaim to the
foothill of Siridao) in 1054 before the Bijapur
rulers adopted Ela (now Old Goa) as the capital in
the late 15th century. The Portuguese shifted the
capital to Panjim in 1843, where it officially
continues to this day even if -- among Goa's
post-1961 ironies -- the seat of government lies
across the river in Bardez taluka (and most of Goa
at sea).
The first settlers in Goa came over land. They are generally
believed to be the mixed bred Mhars of the Austro-Asiatic
linguistic group. Purebred Austro-Asiatics are found only in
the Andaman Nicobar Islands, while their ancestors, who had
moved to Australia ages ago, constitute the aborigines of
that continent.
The generally accepted conjecture is that this first human
settlement in Goa occurred in the post-1500 BC period. Mhars
(from Maraung, elder family in the Mundari language) are
believed to have come from the coastal plains of southwest
India, probably Karnataka if not the Malabar. Mhars
worshipped the demon-god Maru and sacrificed buffaloes. They
consumed their flesh and hence were relegated to the class of
untouchable outcastes by the Indo-Aryan dominated society.
Illicit offspring with Mhars was Shvapka (dog eaters). If
visiting caste areas, Mhars had to alert others of their
presence by howling like animals or by ringing a bell worn
around their neck, so that even the shadow of a Mhar would
not 'pollute' the caste gentry.
Gonvllis (called Dhangars outside Goa) were the
next to arrive. They were a pastoral tribe that
had mastered the skill of domesticating productive
wild animals like cattle, goats and sheep. Between
them were shepherds-cowherds, buffalo keepers and
wool weavers, with a half-division of butchers.
They worshipped nature, including the human
reproductive organs. In Mathgrām, they were
associated with rituals at the Damodar temple of
the presiding deity. Even today, the famous gulal
festival must start with Gonvllis dancing in the
front yard of the temple.
[Goanet] Forgotten chapter from a hidden side of Goa (Anjali Arondekar, differences)
Forgotten chapter from a hidden side of Goa (Writings from Rajaram Rangoji Paigankar, the son of a kalavantin) By Anjali Arondekar aaron...@ucsc.edu (831)459-4748 (Voicemail) An extract from Dr Anjali Arondekar's recent essay on the Gomantak Maratha Samaj. Dr Arondekar is Associate Professor Department of Feminist Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz. Devadasi is a compound noun, coupling deva, or god, with dasi, or female slave; it is a pan-Indian term (falsely) interchangeable with courtesan, dancing girl, prostitute, and sex worker. Members of this diaspora, also referred to as kalavants (literally carriers of kala, or art), shuttled between Portuguese and British colonial India for over two hundred years, challenging European epistemologies of race and rule through their inhabitation of two discrepant empires. Tracing its roots back to early eighteenth-century Goa, the Gomantak Maratha Samaj (henceforth the Samaj) is an OBC (Other Backward Caste) community and was established as a formal organization in 1927 and 1929 in the western states of Goa and Maharashtra, respectively. It officially became a charitable institution in 1936. The Samaj continues its activities to this day and has from its inception maintained a community of 10,000 to 50,000 registered members. Unlike more received histories of Devadasis in South Asia that lament the disappearance or erasure of Devadasis, the history of the Samaj offers no telos of loss and recovery. Instead, the Samaj, from its inception, has maintained a continuous, copious, and accessible archive of its own emergence, embracing rather than disavowing its past and present attachments to sexuality. The Samaj's archive (housed in Panaji and Bombay) constitutes an efflorescence of information in Marathi, Konkani, and Portuguese, ranging from minutes of meetings, journals, newsletters, private correspondence, flyers, and programs, all filled with details of the daily exigencies and crises that concerned the community. Often referred to as Bharatatil ek Aggressor Samaj (an aggressive community in India), this Devadasi diaspora is routinely lauded (by the left and the right in India) for its self-reform and progress. From the immortal Mangeshkar sisters (Lata and Asha) to the first chief minister of independent Goa, Dayanand Bandodkar, there are few sectors of Indian society where the presence of Samaj members cannot be felt. In obvious ways, the presence of this vibrant Devadasi diaspora in western India (spliced as it is between the borders of two competing colonial projects) disrupts established histories of sexuality through its survival and geography and holds much potential for a differentiated model of historiography. First, Devadasis are studied more in southern India and rarely in western India, suggesting a regional twist. Second, studies of sexuality and colonialism have overwhelmingly focused on the affective and temporal weight of British India, with Portuguese India lurking as the accidental presence in the landscape of colonialism. Leaving aside the startling point that the Portuguese occupied Goa for nearly 451 years, we have here a south–south colonial comparison. And last but not least, Goan historiography itself, long written off as an underdeveloped and undertheorized kin of Indian historiography, could find new flesh within the lineaments of the radical history of the Samaj. As one scholar writes, it is time for Goan history to move beyond a kind of absence, to brush aside the shadows that obstruct our attempt to access, retrieve and understand our past. Yet even as such comparative modes (regional, south–south) enrich our understanding of sexuality's pasts, they could equally function in ways that are perilously additive, minoritizing the very histories they seek to make visible. That is, the story of the Samaj must not function as a singular parable of cathartic potentiality, nor of an abjured geopolitics, resolving historical ambivalence or loss through its success and emergence. Rather, I will argue, the archive of the Samaj must be read as an example of catachresis, an incitement to analytical reflection that produces more robust idioms of the historical. Here, the story of sexuality estranges settled readings of recuperative scrutiny, drawing us more into the queer forms of an archive's becoming, angled through lineages of the nonreproductive and the unfinished. Let me turn, then, to one such example within the Samaj archive. That Thrilling Dark Night “Bundachi tee romanchkari kaari raatr [A thrilling dark night of insurrection]. 25 May 1921. It is 10:00 p.m. and we are under attack. Our house has been surrounded on all four sides, and I can hear loud cries and whistles
[Goanet-News] What is Virgin Coconut Oil? (Sunetra Talaulikar, ICAR-PIB)
By Sunetra Talaulikar Virgin coconut oil (VCO), extracted from fresh coconut meat without chemical processes is said to be the mother of all oils. It is rich in medium chain fatty acids, particularly lauric acid and is a treasure trove of minerals, vitamins, antioxidants and is an excellent nutraceutical. It has about 50% lauric acids, having qualities similar to mother's milk, thus confirming its disease-fighting ability. When lauric acid enters human body it gets converted to Monolaurin, which has the ability to enhance immunity. Several studies have confirmed that this compound has the ability to kill viruses including herpes and numerous other bacteria. Its antiviral effect has the ability to considerably reduce the viral load of HIV patients. VCO is not subjected to high temperatures, solvents or refinement procedures and therefore retains the fresh scent and taste of coconuts. It is rich in vitamin E, is non-greasy, non-staining and is widely used in soaps, lotions, creams and lip balms. The health benefits of VCO are second to none; ranging from speeding up body metabolic system and providing immunity against a horde of commonly prevalent diseases. Health Benefits of Virgin Coconut Oil Virgin Coconut oil benefits are similar in structure to the fats in mothers milk that gives baby immunity to disease. Virgin Coconut Oil possess anti inflammatory, anti microbial and anti oxidant properties hence protects heart from arthrosclerosis. Virgin Coconut Oil is also digested easily and does not require pancreatic digestive e enzymes and bile and goes directly to the liver for conversion into energy. Virgin Coconut Oil improves the nutritional value if food by increasing absorption of vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Virgin Coconut Oil is mainly based in cosmetic products which provide skin health. Coconut oil has several industrial applications, but Virgin Coconut Oil is unique among all other vegetable oils because of its high lauric acid content. It is used as: Hair and skin conditioner, Oil base for various cosmetic and skin care products, Carrier oil for aroma therapy and massage oil, Nutraceuticals and functional food. The author is Subjuct Matter Specialist in Home Science at Krishi Vigyan Kendra at ICAR. Ela, Old Goa (Press Information Bureau)
