Hi to all goanetters,
Remo's Bomb Scare issue at the Airport This particular saga has been going on for a while on goanet, some support, some against Remo's reaction and his excuses. Like Remo and a lot of Goans, I love my Goa too and get very emotionally depressed every time I arrive or leave Goa via Dabolim airport. I started traveling by air right from my college days in the second half of the 70's when I was studying in Bombay, not that I came from a rich family but availed of the 50% students concession on air travel (as well) at that time, the 50% ticket use to be 300 and later 500, during those days the normal bus tickets cost any thing between 150 -250 during the holiday seasons, back then those shanties at Zuari Nagar were few and the roads were not littered with all the waste as it is now but still those ugly shanties were visible from the air and I use to hope and pray that they would not turn in to a monster like the one at the Bombay airport, but looking at them every time I traveled year after year they seem to get bigger and uglier and the waste looked like piling up and the road sides looked like open air toilets and now the shanties are competing with the ones in Bombay and the road sides are littered with human waste, it's very repulsive and I travel may be two or three times a year maximum, what about the people who travel regularly, any sane Goan will go "bananas" going through Zuari Nagar. After my college days, till today I hate going back to Bombay mainly because of the filth and unhealthy stench on the streets but now the same thing prevails not only on the airport road but also in the cities and spreading to the villages as well, one classic example is in the heart of Margao city the famous Loyola, Fatima School and the Police station junction at the side of Sabina hotel. I just fail to see how the authorities are so blind to the fact that there are two major schools and a couple of hospitals in close proximity to this very unhygienic spot plus it's the main passage to another three schools and a college where hoards of stray dogs have made their permanent dwelling. It's a disaster in waiting, to happen. Getting back to Remo, I know Remo cannot blame the sun for being too hot in summer and go berserk at the hot tea and coffee outlet. The point is he realized he was wrong and gave a few pointers as well, may be it's a fact that he was affected by all those circumstances or may be not, in his shoes I may have gone berserk too, who knows. Another important thing to note is, how long is a vehicle actually allowed to park at the drop off point in front of the airport or does it depend on personalities ? On my many visits to the airports I noticed the security personnel being bias some are allowed to park as long as they like that should not happen, a notice should be put up informing the details and it should be followed no matter who the person is and if what Remo says is right that your are allowed 10 minutes, and if Remo infact did get back within those ten minutes then it's definitely wrong, for the security to impound his car and it's surely a case of harassment. Another part of this immense discussion is about the local language, do the police and the security agencies need to know the local dialect, I think it is imperative and should be made mandatory, as a persons life or the life of the public might depend on it or a security initiative might fail because of it, if a person trying to communicate to the police or the security does not know any language other than the local and the officer does not understand, the situation could instantly turn in to a disaster, knowledge of local, Hindi and English language should be made mandatory for the police and the security agencies. During my college days I traveled over different parts of India mostly to play, apart from Bombay, Delhi and Bangalore, people preferred to communicate in their local languages, be it Chennai, Kerela, Punjab or Himachal Pradesh, even people who knew Hindi or English pretended not understand it, but we Goans, go out of the way to help others even if we don't understand them, the result we end up learning their language rather than they learn ours. I can give a very good example, two years back when I was down in Goa I noticed huge lines mostly comprising of non Goans at the Margao Collectorate at first I thought it was for ration cards or one or the other certificates but then I was told it was for election cards, looking at so many non Goans in the queue I felt threatened of my very own Goan identity, if all these guys want an election card that means all of them have ration cards and if all of them have ration cards that means our very own elected members have given them, our rights for the security of their chairs, I was overwhelmed with sadness and anger and at the same time realized that I being a Goan did not have an EC, so I stared the process and finally got all the required paper work ready and one morning left my flat at 5.45 thinking I'll be the first one in line, but when I reached the Collectorate, found myself behind 20 odd people and like earlier days 80% of them were non Goans (not exaggerating) finally the shutter opened up at 8.30 the officer himself and the photographer were non Goans, there were two hawaldars as security and two clerks to check the paper work, two and a half hours in line and the heat and the constant pushing was getting on my nerves when suddenly I heard people arguing in front of the line and it went on for a while and then I realized that the clerk was trying to explain to the people in broken Hindi that their documents were not filled in properly and the group was talking to the clerk in "Kannad", my head exploded, here were some people claiming to be Goans but did not know Konkanni nor Hindi nor English and wanting election cards as Goans, this was the height, I could not contain my anger any longer, I burst out of the line caught hold of the clerk and the hawaldar and questioned them as to why they were talking in broken Hindi, if they are Goans they should know Konkanni and if they are not Goans what the hell were they doing here in line ? It was then that I heard a good number of loud voices cheering and supporting me from behind, the non Goan officer noticed the commotion and came to me and asked me, what the problem was in arrogant Hindi "eedar kya ho raha hai ?" I knew that he was aware of what was going on but wanted me to explain and I answered him in Konkanni, which he did not understand, he persisted in Hindi and then in English, it was then that I exploded, "what the Fu- are you doing in Goa if you don't know Konkanni" ? He was taken aback and embarrassed but at the same time realized that the situation would get out of hand as lot of big guys were converging on us (my supporters) so he puts him arm round my shoulder asks me to cool down walks me to a shaded place and pleads with me to explain in English, so I concede, and explain the episode and then, he tell's me that these non Goans are in line because they either have a ration card or a residency certificate or other mandatory documents which make then legible for an EC and that there was nothing I or he could do about it and that it was not his doing and to sort out the problem with the elected members of the Government. It was a sort of disguised "FO" with a kiss and I couldn't do a thing about it and he personally took my papers and walked me through the process, I was dazed and stunned. Is this what we Goans want to happen to each one of us? I realized I was wrong to use the four letter word but did I actually intend to use it ? No, it just burst out from my mouth, so am I supposed to be villain for that ? Goa Think and think hard, this could happen to YOU as well To Goa with love Freddy Agnelo Fernandes D G Jones International Ltd. Dubai Mall - Project P.O. Box 62256 Dubai United Arab Emirates Tel : 00971 4 4073599 Mob : 00971 50 541 7001 -------------------------------------------------------- The content of this electronic communication is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed and any others who are specifically authorized to receive it. It may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or otherwise placing reliance on the contents of this information is prohibited and may be unlawful in certain legal jurisdictions. 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