Dear Goanet Readers I decided to take a?short trip to Goa to get away from the lousy weather and get some sunshine.The flight took off on time and I was about to have my meal when there was a call out for a doctor or a nurse.I?looked around to see if anybody was making a move?when I heard the second announcement and I?promptly identified myself.The passenger was quite ill and I managed to keep things under control until we could make an emergency landing.Due to this delay,The stop over to Bahrain was cancelled and we headed straight to Dabolim and with that no more duty free shopping for anybody.More than the duty free shopping,the patient was very much on my mind.
It took?almost two hours for immigration check,but I was glad to be home .I?cleared through customs in minutes after telling the officer in my fluent konkani that I had nothing to declare.On the way home,besides the site of Dharavi of Goa,?you could see the ever increasing?plastics,concrete structures and hutments all over. I was wondering whether I landed in the wrong place. ? Next, I decided to?meet key people who I thought were in the ?forefront to save Goa.I also decided to talk to the man on the street whom we tend to ignore but is the most important person when it comes to voting. I attended a meeting in a remote village where the poor people are fighting against the mighty,powerful and inhumane mining mafia .I travelled around quite a bit to see for myself the destruction caused by the building mafia and the impact of migrants.In a place like Margao,which looked like semblance of old Goa,one can see?hawkers all over the place besides roadside vendors selling anything under the sun.It looks like the public space is donated to all these migrants for their day to day business, lodging and boarding free of charge. I wonder why all our poor goans?cant occupy the land themselves and why all the shopkeepers?conduct their businesses from legal premises paying council and other taxes. I met social activists who are trying to save whatever is left of Goa.I made special effort to meet Anthony D'Silva?who I think deserves?to be named as the Goan of the Year Award than anybody else.His bag was full of paper cuttings of all his social?activities?over the years and yet nobody heard much about him.HE WAS THE MAN IN DELHI DURING THE GOAN REAL ESTATE EXHIBITION?TELLING POTENTIAL BUYERS TO?SAVE GOA FROM DESTRUCTION.? I talked to goyenkars of every shade and colour from villages and towns to hear about their main worry for? the future.Everbody is worried and angry at the state of affairs in Goa and they think the politicians are all out to sell Goa. SALE OF LAND, INFLUX OF MIGRANTS AND CORRUPTION IS THEIR MAIN CONCERN.It was depressing,but at the same time encouraging to see common men protesting all over Goa?specially?in places in?salcette where some key politician use goondas to silence any protests. On departure,there was no air conditioning and computers not?working at the Airport.The immigration ques were moving at nail pace and?everybody was swearing and sweating.The guy at the immigration told me that -TE SOGLE CHOR- which I translated to a fellow tourist in English.?Two hours into the flight. I had another medical emergency to attend and luckily I managed to get her to her destination.The flight?crew was ever grateful and asked me to fly with them more often which I thought was a good idea. Back to my working schedule and Goanet, I have been reading?various posts.Loks like some people have no clue nor concern about the happenings in Goa.If they can't or do not want to help?in anyway,least they can do is stop criticising and let people who are?fighting hard get on and do their job. VIVA GOA, VIVA GOYENKAR Regards Dr.ANESIMO?Feranandes???????????? ________________________________________________________________________ AOL's new homepage has launched. Take a tour at http://info.aol.co.uk/homepage/ now.
