Hi folks One cannot judge a book by its cover and as I have yet to read the book, I am therefore going to give you my observations about the cover. We live in a world of colours, shapes, signs and text to communicate. The cover brings to mind a bebdo who is faced with steps going up and steps going down and not being able to choose, he ends up in a State of Confusion, going nowhere mirroring our community today. The colours of the stairs may represent the Portuguese colours but interestingly a lot of countries that once flew the Portuguese flag, now fly a flag of their own.
Thankfully Professor Dr.Teotonio R. de Souza had the good sense not to use "traffic lights" on his book cover, as it is in Goa we have traffic lights with no bulbs. Drivers use road markings as decorations. Even the electricity department at Colva has a street lamp post missing with the light bulb hanging from a water bottle. Wonder if this survived the recent monsoons or created a blackout. Speaking for myself and thanks to my parents for introducing me to Goa where I have made several trips in the last 50 years, I can confirm that Goa has progressed in most fields but still remains a backward state compared to the rest of India mainly due to sorpotelised people with peasant thinking linked to money. Many years ago, I attended an Expo in Lisbon where almost every democratic country was represented. One of the exhibitors was the Association of Portuguese speaking countries. I had a look around this stand and to my disappointment there was no mention of Goa at all. I also had an opportunity of visiting a preserved Portuguese wooden warship of the type that came to Goa and when I attended a book launch in 2012 in a red building opposite the Holy Rosary Church in Margao, I was surprised to find similar floor boards to that of the ship well designed and preserved. Melvyn Fernandes Thornton Heath, Surrey, United Kingdom 6 October 2014
