To Goanet - It has been an unusually balmy and crisp April thus far in Goa. The air also has been clear the past 2 weeks or so affording a clear sight of landscapes in the distance. I was walking along the Mandovi bridge last evening when the slum at Chimbel came into view with a clarity not available in several months. Luckily I had my camera on me.
http://www.parrikar.org/images/samples/chimbel-slum.jpg A 100% crop - http://www.parrikar.org/images/samples/chimbel-slum-crop.jpg HOW IN THE WORLD could we have allowed this to take root in Goa? This is a ticking tinderbox, and the chickens will come home to roost someday. The communal harmonistas are, of course, delighted. This is lifetime employment for them. This is just the beginning. More slums are taking off elsewhere - Betim, Curti etc. The typical process goes like this: ghati arrives, receives a pep-talk and a voter card from his political benefactor (Babush, Digu, Ravi etc), then squats on public land. The Goan poor can only dream of a place of their own and have to jump through hoops to get their voter card. To those to want to be "rational" about this, I say: take these ghatis with you, and go build your Utopia elsewhere, outside the borders of Goa. Regards, r
