goanet-digest Saturday, June 8 2002 Volume 01 : Number 4057
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In this issue:
[Goanet] June issue of GoaNow
[Goanet] REVIEW/ Pundalik Naik's *The Upheaval*
[Goanet] CYBERFILE: E-spamming at election time
[none]
[Goanet] Goans Making Headlines in USA.
See end of digest for information on subscribing/unsusbcribing.
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Date: Sat, 08 Jun 2002 11:11:21 +0530
From: Luiza de Mello <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Goanet] June issue of GoaNow
Dear News readers,
Just to inform you that the June issue of GoaNow is online at
www.goacom.com/goanow/
Some interesting articles this month:
EdWords
LOOKING FORWARD: Hoping for the best from the new set of MLAs... mainly
hoping that they will stick together
Cover Story
FRACTURES PERSIST IN MANDATE: The Goa Assembly poll results threw up a hung
Assembly
Election Results
Detailed Results of the 10th Goa State Assembly Polls 2002
Point Blank
CORRUPTED DEMOCRACY: Tony-Correia-Afonso's view of what happens in politics
today
GoaSPICE
The usual and slightly unusual sights we saw in Goa during the current
sweltering summer
Goa Books
Some new Goa Books including the famed "Fish, Curry, Rice"
Konkani-English Dictionary
Continuing with a series of new words to add to your Konkani-English Dictionary
Greetings
A load of good wishes to those celebrating special occasions
Urba (Konkani Webzine)
Konknni Kotha, Kovita ani lekh
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Luiza
GOACOM
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Date: Sat, 8 Jun 2002 05:10:13 -0600 (MDT)
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Goanet] REVIEW/ Pundalik Naik's *The Upheaval*
>From Deccan Herald May 26
Book Review/ Pundalik Naik's 'The Upheaval'
The Spell of Doom
By Manohar Shetty
'The Upheaval' by Pundalik N. Naik; translated from the Konkani by Vidya
Pai; Oxford University Press, N Delhi; Rs 295; Pp144.
To fully understand the power and pathos of this novel, a little background
on the iron ore mining industry in Goa may be useful. After the Second World
War, the Portuguese regime realised that war ravaged Japan would require
enormous quantities of iron and steel to rebuild the devastated country and
its economy. The colonial power also understood that it was in its own
long-term interests to rope in more local Goans with a stake in its future
growth.
The Portuguese shrewdly granted a few Goans, mostly small businessmen and
war profiteers, generous 99-year leases for the mining of iron ore. After
the Liberation of Goa in 1961, the Government of India turned a benevolent
eye on these miners, and on renewal of the licenses, even granted them huge
tax concessions. These miners have since diversified and prospered
enormously, but they have also left irreparable scars on the landscape of
Goa.
Hundreds of hectares of forest land have been virtually decimated by mining
activity and legions of families have been affected by the pollution of the
Bicholim, Khandepar, Madei and other rivers caused by the erosion of waste
dumps, the discharge of mine pit water and other effluents from
environmentally unsound open cast mining.
Visitors to Goa, bedazzled by the coastline and its 'Iberian ambience' will
be shocked and appalled by this wholesale depredation of the land in the
mining belts of Bicholim, Pissurlem, Pale, Codli and other areas in the
interiors of Goa.
Pundalik Naik's novel is set in this grim backdrop, chronicling in detail
the decay of a self-sufficient agricultural community with the impassive
invasion of the mining industry. Naik's novel, the first to be translated
from Konkani, created something of a sensation when it appeared in 1977. No
other writer in Goa had portrayed in such graphic and brutal detail the
ruinous fallouts on small agricultural holdings by the bulldozers of big
industry.
Pandhari, the protagonist of the novel, is the first to fall into the
tempting shaft. Just before the auspicious day of sowing, Babuso, a wily and
unscrupulous go-between, approaches him for his services as a load-bearer
and to hire his bullock-cart to carry ore from the mines. Pandhari succumbs
to the allure of quick money and in an instant becomes a bonded labourer and
the bullocks, which once ploughed the life-sustaining fields, become a
transport vehicle, the cart laden with the metallic spoils of the pillaged
land.
Pandhari's wife Rukmini, remonstrates with her husband for forsaking his
'gods and his duties for money'. But this is met by an angry drunken blow
from Pandhari, which sets the direction for the rest of the novel.
Naik assembles a cast of true-to-life characters in his riveting and
realistic story: the school teacher Savlo who is forced to close down and
leave in exile as the children of the village abandon their education to
work in the mines; Abu, the sentinel spirit of the village, who is ignored
by everyone until it is too late; the scheming and licentious Babuso; the
estranged son of Pandhari, Nanu who becomes a truck driver and his younger
sister, Kesar, who also works in the mines; and the feckless Romeo, Manuel,
also a truck driver who seduces Kesar.
Rukmini watches helplessly as her son and daughter follow in the shadows of
the father, neglecting both their education and their traditional
occupation. Pandhari himself is sidelined when tippers and other vehicles
render the bullock-cart redundant. Towards the end, the land nearly denuded,
a character asks: "When this mine is exhausted and closes down what will we
Kolambkars eat? We begged the Sarpanch to talk to the mine owners. Those
bastards declared that if the fields turned barren they were willing to buy
the land! Why don't you write about this in the papers?" The response is
significant even to this day: "The mine owners own the newspapers. Will they
print anything that is critical of them?"
Pundalik Naik, who comes from a rural farming family and has experienced
poverty, is well in touch with the land and its seasons and rituals. A
versatile writer of short stories, plays and screenplays, he has some pithy
and earthy turns of phrase: "Kolamba village nestled in the curve of the
river Mandovi as snugly as a water pot fits against a woman's hip". And tart
similes of rustic India: Like that story where the snake bites the calf and
the cowherd bears the blame. The author observes ruefully that the mining
settlement does not wake up to the cock's crow but to the siren at 6 am, and
that the birds crowed at odd hours, confused by the sound of the machinery.
'The Upheaval' is by no means "a near perfect work", as some critics have
claimed. It is structurally uneven and some of the incidents seem to occur
arbitrarily. But it is a piece of authentic and realistic fiction, and a
visceral document on the literal steamrolling of a well-knit, contended
rural community by heavy industry.
--Manohar Shetty
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Date: Sat, 8 Jun 2002 16:48:17 +0530 (IST)
From: Frederick Noronha <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Goanet] CYBERFILE: E-spamming at election time
E-spamming at election time
- ---------------------------
Elections 2002 in Goa will come to be known among cybersurfers as the one
which lead to a whole deal of spamming. The BJP sent out its propaganda to
thousands of email subscribers in the state. Whether they wanted it or not.
This would probably only increase the irritation-levels of persons finding
their mailboxes crowded with unsolicited BJP mail. There were complaints
from many sides. The party got to Dishnet's accounts too, and its spam came
through here too.
This is a note sent in to this columnist, from one reader: "Would like to
ask you whether our email address with Goatelecom aren't confidential? There
is no directory on emails address. How did they give it to BJP party to send
us mail? My full email box was flooded with their mails."
Another party which emerged as netsavvy -- leave aside its impact (or lack
of it) on the election results -- was the newly-formed Goa-Suraj. It set up
its web-site months in advance. It also interacted with overseas Goans via
cyberspace relatively effectively, notwithstanding the misunderstandings
that are wont to come up in anything Goan.
Moral of the story? Of course, how net-savvy one is, is perhaps in no way
related to the results in the polls.
Link to Calangute
- -----------------
For those from Calangute, check out a new (and still small) mailing-list
that keeps you in touch with the beach-village via email. Visit
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/calangutenet or to join the list send an email
to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Fighting virus
- --------------
This is an update again linked to cyber-Calangute, and brought to our
attention courtesy journalist Joaquim Fernandes.
Check out www.goa4all.com, which is being called a "made-in-Calangute" site,
and has an interesting unique-selling point (USP) in these days where
computer Windows virii spread like wildfire. This site has a special 'virus
rescue' section.
Designed and run by TotalWebSolutions, a company that specialises in web
site design, it hopes to evolve into a free portal owned by Vilanova Lobo.
Lobo's argument is that when hit by a virus, we don't know what to do and
normally spend lots of money of technicians. Many problems can easily be
solved by following the simple steps provided on this website, says he.
www.goa4all.com/virlist.htm lists newly-found virus, and explains what
damage a particular virus wrecks. It offers tips to configure anti-virus
software, and cope with the problem.
Goa4all.com says its personnel are now available on msn chat for free online
consultations on virus related problems, normally in the mornings. Their id
is: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Of course, with so many known persons in this business (including Sachin
Chatte, who's battling this plague while not radio-jockeying on All India
Radio's FM channel) it's hard to put it this way. But fighting Windows virii
can be a real losing battle.
One's own solution is simple: shifting to the GNU/Linux computer operating
system. This has kept my computer, touch wood, virus-free for over a year.
All the .exe or .pif or other virii files coming in, simply don't affect it
because of this interesting operating system.
Unfortunately, GNU/Linux has the image of being a OS for computer geeks.
That's what it once was. It is now fast changing. Admittedly, there is still
need for much more support services at the grassroot-level, to ensure that
people can easily install and run GNU/Linux.
Nonetheless, the Goa-based India Linux Users Group (ILUG) has some 190
members on its website. Quite a number, indicating the interest in this new
and innovative, and above all 'free' operating system. Check
groups.yahoo.com./group/ilug-goa. To join the group, send an email to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Football fans
- -------------
Arunava Chaudhuri's indianfootball.com site recently claimed to have crossed
100,000 hits. This site was launched in April 1998, and would be of interest
also to Goa fans of football. (ENDS)
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Date: 8 Jun 2002 12:16:20 +0500 (IST)
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [none]
I strongly protest against the wrong statement. It is totally
false and has no basis whatsoever. There was no such press
conference. Furthermore my mother was with me here in Bombay.
This must stop at once.
Regards,
Alfred
2/6/2002
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Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 11:18:17 -0700 (PDT)
From: Bradley n Clive <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Goanet] Goans Making Headlines in USA.
Hi guys,
I saw Dinesh D'zouza being interviewed on TV and found
out more details about him. However, I do not know of
his origin. But know that he is an Indian.
here are more details about him. Did not publish on
Saligaonet as its not Saligao related.
Mr. D'Souza is the Robert and Karen Rishwain Fellow at
the Hoover Institution.
Publications:
Mr. D'Souza's new book What's So Great About America
(Regnery, April 2002) examines various critiques of
America, including the Islamic critique and the
multicultural critique. It makes the case for an
intelligent patriotism, based on an understanding of
what makes America unique in the world. His earlier
books include the New York Times bestseller Illiberal
Education (1991) and The End of Racism (1995), Ronald
Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary
Leader (1997), and The Virtue of Prosperity: Finding
Values in an Age of Techno Affluence (Free Press,
2000). His articles on culture and politics have
appeared in Vanity Fair, Forbes, Harper's, the Wall
Street Journal, Atlantic Monthly, the Washington Post,
and the New York Times.
Media appearances:
Mr. D'Souza has been featured on numerous programs,
including This Week with David Brinkley, Nightline,
Crossfire, Firing Line, Good Morning America, and
Politically Incorrect.
Speaking engagements:
He speaks at top universities and business groups
across the country. Among his recent engagements are
the annual Telecosm conference, Forbes CEO Summit,
Harvard University, and the University of Virginia.
Professional experience: Mr. D'Souza was senior
domestic policy analyst at the White House during the
Reagan administration from 1987 to 1988.
Personal
He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College in
1983.
Seby Mascarenhas
Maryland, USA.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com
------------------------------
End of goanet-digest V1 #4057
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