My friend Hugo Alvares from Loutulim has been celebrating Earth Day for the past few years.
We his friends, gather at his house at 8pm, put off the lights at 8.30 and spend the rest of the evening discussing this and that. At 9.30 by unanimous decision we keep the electricity off and the candles gives us an ambience of Goa in the 1950s and 60s. Hugo cooks the most delicious fish curry, pork ambott tik and addan maas that few chefs in Goa can emulate although by profession he is a nuclear tecnologist. Southern Scarborough just near the shores of Lake Ontario is a beautiful place. The trees and greenery remind you of Goa and so do the houses tastefully built. There is no show of opulence unlike in the north of the city but the houses are comfortable, warm and airy. The guests are a mixed bunch and only Hugo, his family and mine are of Goan origin. Yet the topic turns to Goa and India. We talk of Lalu Prasad and how as Minister he has brought the Indian Railways out of it's perpetual red ink. We talk of Mayawati and how at this juncture, this scheduled caste and mostly illiterate woman who has been Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh 4 times and is now rumored to have a shot at the Prime Minster's chair could be the best thing that India needs. No matter what her sins. See: http://www.newspostonline.com/sports/nsa-invoked-against-varun-gandhi-lead-2009033046177 Farmers and scheduled caste people who are from the rural areas have that essential common sense that politicians lack. Add to that a kind of national pride however misdirected, and you have the formula for an India that at present has a million problems on its plate, not the least of which is militant Hinduvta. Compare her no-nonsense attitude in dealing with Varun Gandhi to the vascillating CMs of Orissa and Karnataka even after violence troubles their state. -- Roland Francis http://roland-torontogoan.blogspot.com +1 (416) 453.3371
