These days I don’t pay attention to Goa’s politics or the sordid goings-on here in our cherished motherland. I resigned myself to Goa’s fate years ago. I keep up with the headlines, have (mostly private) opinions on some issues, but I am Zen-like about the situation. Shri Krishna’s guidance in the Bhagavad Geeta serves well in these times.
Occasionally I come across something that stirs certain (unpleasant) memories, like today when a friend sent me this cutting - https://parrikar.org/misc/Goa-Mess.jpg My reaction was a smirk, for it reminded me of the time c.2007 when Frederick Noronha pooh-poohed the documentary I had made, “The Rape of Goa.” Mr. Noronha, the ‘digital humanitarian’ and lover of all ‘bhaile’ in Goa. He claimed that it was all an exaggeration. Earlier, he had blamed my “telephoto lens” for distorting things. Those were the pre-smartphone and pre-social media days. Concurrently he was slipping in innuendos that I was secretly in cahoots with Manohar Parrikar. It is true that a telephoto lens - or ANY lens for that matter - does distort. No lens ‘sees’ or renders a scene like the human eye. But Mr. Noronha’s implication was something else. What he really meant to say was, I was fabricating a scenario, a crisis, and presenting a falsehood. Even then, you didn’t need a lens to tell you then what was going on. A pair of open eyes and half-a-brain could have sufficed. The years that followed have conclusively shown that Mr. Noronha was the one lying, whether willfully or not, perhaps he can tell us. Might he accept his error and apologize? Bwahahahahahahahahahahahaha. What man, you crazy? Me Goenkar, always right, me never wrong. There is no point in a telephoto lens now in Panjim and surrounds because you can’t see far beyond your nose anyway, the field of view interrupted by all the trashy concrete towers meant not for Goans but for the benefit of Frederick’s beloved bhaile. Best, r
