[Goanet-News] A short play based on differences in Goan and Mangalorean Konkani...
Dilip D'Souza di...@alumni.brown.edu sent me this link: http://tinyurl.com/BhashechiGammat a short play based on differences in Goan and Mangalorean Konkani, written by his mother-in-law Sadhana Kamat and read by his wife Vibha and her cousin Dimple Wagle. It was performed at a recent Literary Forum organized by the Saraswat Mahila Samaj, here in Mumbai. More about Dilip, a technologist-turned-writer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilip_D%27Souza Book from HarperCollins India: The Curious Case of Binayak Sen Death Ends Fun: http://dcubed.blogspot.com Our Judgement Free: http://ourjudgementfree.blogspot.com -- FN Phone +91-832-2409490 Mobile +91-9822122436
Re: [Goanet] Mr. Chief minister, is Goa safe at all -- By Nisser Dias
Dear Nisser, I have no comments on your article titled Mr Chief Minister: Is Goa safe at all? . Rather I would like to express my views on other part of story, where our CM has celebrated his younger son's wedding with great joy, pomp with grand function. i am just giving a simple information based on my maid, who was at home for few hours looking after my house, during my absence in Goa and my driver who took us home after arrival from bus stand, and some friends. I along with my family members were in Pune celebrating Christmas with my elder daughter in this year. Today ( 26th Dec) at 7Am we are back to pavilion. I was totally off from Goa politics for these few days. In Pune we do not get any Goan newspapers, neither the local Channel TV. I never knew about this wedding as nobody mention to me. I was glue on TV only with the Modi news, IBN /CNN woman of the year , Justice Ganguly stunts, AAP Government formation in Delhi and their activities etc, . Now on my way back home I was told that Parrikar's son celebrated a GRANDE WEDDING celebration at Taleigao Babush Community Hall. The LALL BATTY? (Red Beacon), Sirens on vehicles zooming on D.Paula road up to his elder 's son bungalow at D.Paula and the number of policemen looking after the security of VIP's and other politicians, bureaucrats etc was quite astonishing. I am not zealous of his son's luck. It is a practice for every politician when they are in power to take all the advantages from the Government. Now the AAP are trying to get rid of this Lall Batti , Govt Bunglow, grand vehicles etc Also they have announced in Delhi that every home 700 litres of drinking water will be given, lowering essential commodities prices is in their list, and corruption cases of many politicians in the Congress including Mrs Sheila Dixit Ex-Chief Minister of Delhi will be on top priority and many other things etc. Let us wait and see. I am not sure whether Modi, Advani, Vajpayji, Suhma Swaraj, Jaitley ,and others have attended the wedding. Probably that could be a reason for a police security force in action. What I found more interesting is that my house was well guarded by 3 policemen just in front of my residence at D.Paula, during my absence, they were found sitting outside my compound wall. My house was locked and we were all out of station. I am so lucky to get this kind of security which I never expected, whether it is Z-security or any other LETTER security it does not matter to me. I was sure that no thieves could enter into my house when such security was extended to me during my absence without my knowledge. I must thank the officials from traffic dept, regulating the traffic on CM 's son wedding celebration. And in that context I was lucky. Thank You Chief Minister, and I wish his son a Happy Married Life. Stephen Dias D.Paula On 25 December 2013 10:34, Nisser Dias nisserd...@gmail.com wrote: By Nisser Dias 24th Dec 2013 Mr. Chief Minister! Is Goa safe at all? Somewhere in September 2013 St. Andre BJP MLA Vishnu Wagh had said, “ pall of gloom has descended on Goa as it doesn’t seem to be moving ahead”. During the same time Calangute BJP MLA Michael Lobo had said, “Law and order in the state in dismal and needs to be improved”. These statements have proved to be prophetic as two months down the line Wagh is waylaid and attacked allegedly by the BJP goons armed with iron rods, wooden stouts and stones. These two MLAs have been vocal against their own government and in my article on 19th September 2013 I had said that very soon Vishnu and Michael will not be able to air their views on their government or rather on the functioning of the chief minister so easily. It looks like it is coming true. Only thing it has come early than I expected. Manohar Parrikar might say that he will not tolerate violence and people taking law into their hands. But this is just a rhetoric statement because the crime graph is climbing higher and higher. Infact Manohar Parrikar should take moral blame for the attack on an elected representative from his own party and resign as the chief minister of Goa. Because if elected representative are not safe in the state under his governance than how can the common-man be secure. The attack on St. Andre MLA is not an isolated incident, in March this year a group of RTI activists were attacked in Margao in broad-day light while they were discussing Justice Shah Commission report on illegal mining. The Home ministry had not lifted finger to bring the culprits to book. I had termed it as ‘state sponsored terrorism’. The police initially refused to register a case against the accused despite of electronic media having captured them on their cameras. Sadly the chief minister had called me up to say that his police could not register the case for want of a complaint. When I told that the police can ‘suo motto’ register
[Goanet] Hello
Hi Cheryl, Your Christmas story from New Delhi memories brought my own flooding back. I still live in Delhi and my brother Martin (Toto) was a member of that Carol Singing group and an altar boy. I joined in the singing when I wanted to have some fun. I bet our families kew each other. Fr. Santos passed away some years ago but I still visit the others and at Christmas I always think of those times which were truly magical. I wish you and your family a blessed season and a wonderful New Year. Fatima Pais
[Goanet] Island of Goa
Here are some more old Portuguese maps of the island of Goa (Ilha de Goa) in the state of India (Estado da India) in all different cartographic conventions, as far as orientation is concerned. They are from various reliable sources, including the Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal. The following map is from 1747: http://purl.pt/3987/3/ This one of the island and city of Goa is by Linschoten from 1595 http://www.raremaps.com/gallery/archivedetail/22170/A_Ilha_e_Cidade_de_Goa_Metropolitana_da_India_E_Partes_Orientais_que_esta/Van%20Linschoten.html also at: http://purl.pt/1953/3/ Here is one from 1777 http://purl.pt/23012/2/ This is from 1752: http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~3022~410021?qvq=q:goa;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort,Pub_Date,Pub_List_No,Series_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1mi=0trs=5 This is from 1615: http://www.vitruvius.com.br/media/images/magazines/grid_9/0f96cac86e26_imagem_07.JPG Cheers, Santosh
[Goanet] PLAY REVIEW: The Breadman Came Calling (Jose Lourenco)
The Breadman Came Calling By José Lourenço joselourenco1...@gmail.com -- Play review: The Breadman’s Calling. Written directed by Isabel Santa Rita Vas -- How do we change as day morphs into night? How does a criminal’s mind work? Why do some like soft pao and others prefer katre pao or the kankonn? These colorful questions featured in a play on the humble Goan poder - The Breadman’s Calling, staged by the Mustard Seed Art Company in Margao and Panjim in the first week of December. The play was written and directed by Isabel Santa Rita Vas, a veteran playwright whose troupe has staged over 55 plays so far. An unspecified object has been stolen from the house of Bostiao Mendonsa, the town baker (played by Ryan Semelhago). A local lass Joella (Efigenia de Santana Miranda) decides to play Sherlock Holmes. There are several suspects―the town lawyer Albert (Kiran Bhandari), the baker’s delivery boy Kistu (Yulian Pinto) who pines for Joella, and even Mersu (Celsa Fernandes), Joella’s mother who works as a freelance ‘flying’ cook. Isabel gives a magical twist to her Goan whodunit thriller by exploring the alter-egos of her characters. As he kneads dough in the wee hours, Kistu asserts himself as ambitious Christy, Joella (who detests the nickname ‘Vency’ given by her mother) sees herself as Venezuela, yearning to sing. She recites haunting lines by poet Salil Chaturvedi on the mystique of the night. Her mother Mersu the cook transforms into the sensual Morgiana, who dances in the night to rise above her wretched past. Albert broods over the criminal mind; the lawyer of the day is Aristo, the philosopher of the night. Bostiao the now wealthy baker thinks of his long-dead hardworking and stern mother, yet the memory of the ugliness of her hands terrifies him. The poder inhabits a transition space in Goan time―the space between night and day. So in the play, even the alter-ego of the day is explored. The noises of the typical Goan day with its honking and hawkers give way to the darker peaceful sounds of the night and on to the wee morning with its chime of devotional bells, the early morning jogger, fresh fish hurried to the market and the most distinct sound of the Goan morning- the ponk ponk of the baker’s boy. The passers-by on the streets were played by Vanessa d’Souza and Kyra Semelhago. A second theft occurs. As Joella dips her hand into Kistu’s bread basket she discovers a Chinese vase, an antique from Bostiao’s house, and he becomes a prime suspect. But Joella suspects Kistu has been falsely framed, and proves that the crafty Albert had played this dirty trick. Albert/Aristo yields to the darker side in his quest to understand the criminal mind and becomes a diabolical schemer himself. It is he who has carried out the first theft―of a seemingly worthless portrait of a traditional poder―from Bostiao’s house and sold it to a museum, just to exercise his evil mind, and to discredit Kistu the poder-boy in the eyes of Joella, who Albert secretly lusts for. Joella cracks the case open and the portrait is recovered. But Bostiao goes further and actually cracks the portrait open to reveal a hidden diamond ring belonging to his parents. He benevolently gifts the ring to Kistu, who proposes to Joella and everyone lives happily ever after. Under Isabel Vas’ direction, there is impeccable English where desired, but the native ‘Konklish’ and multilingualism of Goan folk is also delivered delightfully in the lines of the characters. ‘Itu beginu?’ queries the poder, meaning ‘So early?’ The ‘u’ at the end of almost every word is a peculiarity of the Sashtti (Salcete) dialect. ‘Bor mure tum, malcriad!’(you are quite a rude chap!) shows how Portuguese words were absorbed into Konkani. The play of words like ‘Pulis-bulis’ ‘Investigate-binvestigate’ are derived from such usage in Konkani, where the first letter of a word is replaced by ‘b’ and repeated. Quaint English idioms like ‘Potatoes are not boiled twice’ are probably more used in Goa than anywhere else. There is a clever play of words in the title too – Is it also about the Breadman’s calling in life? Beside his ‘original’ katre pao, poie, bakri and kankonn that Kistu takes great pride in, he also carries ‘duplicate’ bread in his basket, pao that has been sourced from other bakers, possibly the ubiquitous migrant bakers from Goa’s neighbouring states. The times are changing. ‘Te poder gele, te undde kabar zale’ is inevitably quoted, an old proverb, often related to the passing of Portuguese colonial rule. It was a delightful play, made pleasant on the eye by sets designed by Norman Tagore, with a poder’s bicycle at centre stage. Vamona Navelcar’s sketch on the play brochure shows the poder of yesteryear carrying the bread panttlo on his head, walking along with staff in hand, many decades before the bicycle came along. The Mustard Seed Art Company, founded in 1987, stands out as a pioneering and vibrant theatre group that has seen a whole generation of
[Goanet] Saligao - The land of Garbage, Stink, Poison and Disease
My fellow Goans and Saligaonkars, People from all walks of life and parts of the world have been coming to Goa, and being so impressed by its pristine beauty, culture and people, that some have even made it their home. This inspite of Goans opting to leave Goa for greener pastures abroad and various parts of India. As a net result Goa still attracts more to settle here than those that leave. This is set to change especially for the beautiful villages of Saligao, Calangute, Candolim and Pilerne, with the Governments going ahead to set up a Garbage Treatement Plant (GTP) on the Saligao Plateau. The illegal Garbage Dump on the Saligao Plateau which has been in use for the last 25 years has poisoned the water of the wells and water bodies in the surrounding villages; stinks to the heavens and has made life miserable to people living in the proximity of the Garbage Dump plus caused diseases in humans and animals brought on by illegal burning of garbage containing plastics and toxic wastes. I a resident of Saligao no longer buy the agricultural produce of the village as all the water bodies are polluted, hence the food grown on its land is also. Soon others will follow suit. Now, the BJP Government is moving at Rocket Speed to set up this noxious Garbage Treatment Plant based on technology that has failed in India where-ever implemented on the Saligao Plateau, and is all set to convert Saligao into a village synonymous with GARBAGE AND ITS RELATED EFFECTS. This inspite of repeated resolutions against the Garbage Dump and Treatment Plant by the Communidade, Panchayat, Civil Consumer Cell, Saligao Garbage Struggle and other bodies. If the Garbage Treatment Plant (GTP) is set up and people suffer due to this they will want to know who were the people responsible for this disaster and for subverting the will of the people. Let us not forget the efforts of Mr. Manohar Parrikar (the current CM of Goa), our own sons of Saligao - Mr. Dilip Parulekar (current MLA of Saligao and Tourism Minister), Mr. Austin da Gama and others to set up the GTP in Saligao. The two sons of Saligao went on a so called STUDY TOUR to check out the selected GTB. Mr. Austin da Gama did report his experience of the trip, which left us in the Communidade none the wiser. Let us all oppose the setting up of the GTP on our Saligao Plateau by showing up at the Gram Sabha Meeting once more, and show our opposition. Let it not be felt later that you did not stand up for what was good the citizens of the village and the people of Goa. Thanks regards, Desmond da Costa Mb.: (+91) 8390653052 Email: desmonddaco...@yahoo.com
[Goanet] ACTION SOUGHT AGAINST TEACHER FOR BEING BJP OFFICE BEARER
Disciplinary action has today been sought against a Bicholim High secondary school teacher Mrs. Sulakshana Pramod Sawant for being the General Secretary of the Goa BJP Mahila Morcha in violation of the law. In a complaint addressed to the Director of Education today, immediate action has been demanded against Sulakshana Sawant, wife of Pale MLA Dr. Pramod Sawant who though a teacher of Chemistry at the Shri Shantadurga High Secondary school in Bicholim is actively involved with a political party. The Bombay High Court has ruled that academic institutions are required to be kept way from politics and that any person in employment of an educational institution was required not to have any political association or connection while in service. The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court comprising of Justice P.B.Majumdar and Justice P.B.Varale while dismissing a petition filed by a teacher Mr. Shrikant Pande also the head of the BJP unit at Umred in Nagpur, had ruled that a teacher’s role is to impart education to students in an impartial manner and that if a teacher is actively associated with any political party it may hamper the educational atmosphere of a school. While ruling that education should be kept away from politics, the High Court has held that the educational field should not be allowed to be polluted in any manner by bringing in politics. Mrs. Sulakshana Pramod Sawant is reportedly always coming late to school and had even without authorized leave accompanied her MLA husband on a ten day trip overseas. Aires Rodrigues T1 - B30, Ribandar Retreat Ribandar - Goa - 403006 Mobile: 9822684372
[Goanet] BOOK LINK: Tsunami Simon, by Damodar Mauzo (Ponytale Books)
Subject: FICTION ISBN: 978-93-80637-11-2 Title: Tsunami Simon Author: Damodar Mauzo Translated by Xavier Cota Publisher: Ponytale Books Publishing Date: 05/12/2013 Edition: I Availability: Yes Territorial Rights: World Currency: INR Price: 199 Binding: Paperback Size, in inches: 5 x 7.75 Weight in grammes: 150 Pages: 186 Languages: English Illustrations: No Descriptive note: Thirteen-year-old Simon lives in a coastal village in South Goa. He juggles school, dancing, karate classes and thoroughly loves the sea, especially going on fishing trips with his father, Gabru. Despite growing up in modern times, Simon nurtures a deep love for their traditional fisher-folk life. This winter Simon goes to Tamil Nadu, to spend his Christmas vacation with his aunt. But the holiday comes to a disastrous end. One morning, when out fishing with his uncle, the gigantic waves of the tsunami strike the coast of South India sparing little that lay in its path. Does Simon survive this calamity? What about his family? Will life ever be the same again? Author bio: Damodar Mauzo is a much-loved Konkani author who, over four decades, has penned short stories, novels, biographies, and more. His works have been translated into Hindi, Marathi, English, Bengali, Portuguese, French and several other languages. He was awarded the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Karmelin. He is the recipient of Goa State Cultural Award, Goa Konkani Sahitya Pratibha Puraskar among several others. He has also written screenplays for films including Aleesha, for which he was awarded the Best Screenplay Award. He is at the forefront of promotion of Konkani language and has also penned numerous short stories and books for children and young adults woven around the world of Goans. His Tsunami Simon was awarded the Vimla V Pai Vishwa Konkani Puraskar in 2011. Xavier Cota, a teacher and a retired banker, is actively involved in sports administration and social activism. A recipient of the prestigious Katha Award for Translation, he has translated fiction and other articles from Konkani into English. His works have been published in The Week, Gentlemen, Man’s World, See Goa, Mainstream, Katha Prize Stories among others. He has also translated Mauzo’s These are My Children the first collection of Konkani short stories from one writer published in English. -- FN Phone +91-832-2409490 Mobile +91-9822122436
[Goanet] Christmas and christianity
Christmas does not mean making cribs and putting statues in it or lighting a christmas star or having santa claus. Christmas reminds us of one thing. It is a great event in the life of everyone where God himself becomes man and gets into the womb of an ordinary human Mary. It teaches us simplicity,. Our religion is based on love. Love God, love every human beings. Today God wants to enter the hearts of human beings. It is dirty. worse than the stable when Jesus was born. Today most of our hearts are filled with greed, envy, pride, and anger. Today human beings think only of money, and status. We have forgotten about our own children and the ability to bring human beings on earth that is the biggest gift God has given human beings. We do not mind having dozen expensive dogs, and cats and other animals who are draining the money from our treasury but we will not bring just one living being into this world. Our big houses are invaded by rats, and mosquittos because human beings are not given the choice. We human beings have failed to understand that those whom we have brought into this world have a right to live and be happy. Your children want love. Parents have no time to love and understand their children. What is this life if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare etc etc I hope I have written it correctly. Human beings are suffering from ego problem. Their nose is in the air and feet in the muck. This is the reason many goans have sold their big portuguese houses and properties and have gone in search of status. Many of them are struggling and are making money washing dishes and cars which normally they would need a hand if they were in India. Some of them are serving the whites and brown drinks and cleaning their tables. No body likes to reveal the reality. God the extreme source of power, wealth etc has forgotten about His ego, status, and have become a man called Jesus who had no place to be born, no place to rest his head and not proper place to die . God did not mind all these because God loves human beings. God draws up a plan for human beings but it is human beings that do not know to read and interpret God's plan what a pity and then comes frustration.
[Goanet] Brandan Fernandes, Goan footballer - firstpost.com
http://www.firstpost.com/sports/brandon-fernandes-the-indian-footballer-who-could-rock-europe-1301421.html
Re: [Goanet] [GOABOOKCLUB] BOOK LINK: Tsunami Simon, by Damodar Mauzo (Ponytale Books)
Note: I'm sending a review of Tsunami Simon that I had written when the Konkani version came out and which was part of a profile on Mauzo. I haven't got my hands on the English translation as yet, but rereading my review, I see that it will be very interesting to find out how Xavier Cota has managed to juggle with the manner in which Mauzo has treated different Konkani dialects in the book. Those dialects were the focus of my review of the Konkani book. The full article is here: http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2009-April/177045.html Augusto Tsunami Simon The first first few pages of Tsunami Simon give the impression that Mauzo is delivering a veiled commentary on the Konkani script/dialect issue. What should be their standard dialect and script has been a millstone around the necks the Konkani speaking people in the recent past. This is a power struggle that started when the mainly Saraswat Brahmins elite of the Goan Hindu community ensured that the Antruzi dialect they spoke became the official or standard dialect of Konkani with Devanagari as the official script. This became the standard taught in schools and colleges, and the Antruzi written in Devangari most easily gets grants and awards from the State and Central government. All this happened when Konkani written in the Devanagari script became the official language of the state along with Marathi which shares the same status. Later the Christian elites and others who felt discriminated against as they were not too comfortable with either the Antruzi dialect or the Devanagari script began to protest. But there happen to be many other dialects of Konkani which are in turn marginalized by both the Hindu and Catholic elites - the dialect of the Hindus of Pernem for instance, whose voice the poet Shashikant Punaji articulates in his work; or the dialect of the Saxtti Christian Kharvi caste which in public discourse is heard only in tiatrs and that too mainly by subsidiary characters or in 'sideshows' by buffoon like figures. Hence Mauzo in Tsunami Simon is bucking a trend by making Kharvis the protagonists of his story. These are the Baptistas whose head Gabru still uses the traditional manual Rampon method of fishing even as almost the rest of the world has switched over to the more profitable but environmentally degrading mechanised trawler method. Obviously the standard theme of most Indian literature - the clash between the modern and the traditional - is going to played out here too. But the voices of these Kharvis (who also use the elite Bardezi dialect in Church rituals) is offset by the controlling Antruzi voice of the narrator who is a Bamon, as the Saraswat in Goa is called. However there are also other voices that creep in - such as the 'Madrasi' accented Konkani of Gabru's brother-in-law Ponnudurai, once his worker, but who fell in love with Gabru's wife's sister Marcelina and eloped with her to his native state. And there is Hindi and Tamil and English which are also heard suggesting that Mauzo is unlike the Konkani, Marathi and English warriors who habitually battle for linguistic supremacy in Goa . He perhaps realises that the real language of the land is a rich mix of many tongues. The story is set around December 2004. The 12 year old son of the family Simon who gives the novelette its name is persuaded by his 'Mashan' or aunt, Marcelina who has come visiting to come back with her for a holiday to Tamil Nadu. Marcelina is now back on good terms with her sister's family after they reconciled themselves to accepting her Tamilian husband Ponnudurai, now the owner of a mechanised fishing boat in a coastal village of Tamil Nadu. One gets little glimpses of the fishing community which is in a state of transition throughout the book. After their traditional occupation of fishing was hit by the advent of mechanised trawlers Ramponkars are seeing still further changes happening before their very eyes. Many of their children are getting educated and are working in white collar jobs and wish to shake off the stigma which they perceive is attached to their caste. Simon is a child who will very likely break away from his family's way of life for now he is being slowly drawn into the modern world whose culture is dictated by Bollywood cinema, and he will take to modern fads like learning Karate. However the story does not take us so far. The backdrop is the great Boxing day Tsunami of 26 December 2004 which was triggered off by an underwater earthquake off Indonesia and which set off giant tidal waves that killed over 3 lakh people and maimed and rendered homeless many more. The tsunami hit the east coast of India and that is where Simon had been at the time, out in the sea fishing with his uncle Ponnu. Simon miraculously escapes as he clutches to the top of a coconut tree but his aunt and uncle are drowned along with many other fisher folk who were the most badly hit by the disaster. The plot of the
[Goanet] Sidling, and friendships of convenience
Go to link below to see image that goes with Sidling, and friendships of convenience, or skip to text in next section. http://venantiusjpinto.blogspot.com/2013/12/sidling-and-friendships-of-convenience.html Thanks. Best all. ++ vjp + + + A Japanese proverb *Umeboshi to tomodachi wa, furui ho ga ii*, suggests a splendid analogy. Umeboshi are plums, and like friends and friendship better when old, meaning when aged well. This proverb has raised some charitable and other not so benign thoughts. Over time, earlier frustration, later with chagrin, and more recently in relative calmness I have attempted to understand why is it that those who shared time together in apparent friendship lacked resonance in essence of their friendship. It”s as though one is immune to good influences. Were no congeries of understanding developed over the course of sharing a bond? It seems nothing was ever learned! Was it perhaps that there was no friendship really or that only one side presumed it to be so, or was there merely a crass comprehension of the attributes of their friendship? Apparently, these are charades revealing an alacrity to exist merely for oneself while corroding ones friend. Nothing dumb here or anything new; and ostensibly, the gains are dutifully one sided. How does such venality sully the brine of friendship, Obviously one wishes the best, and is inadvertently aware of practically shortchanging the other, as also oneself. Such unanticipated thoughts are coming to my mind: Perhaps its a good plan to not reveal anything that enlightens such friends to ones virtues and refrain from alerting them to deeds one rendered unto others. Like loaning resources, lending a book, giving time: lest you be seen as an object of convenience. Hitherto not as aesthetic subject. Scheming papas’ and mamas’ response to such interpersonal and existential intelligence is: Well, you are a fool.
[Goanet] Adrift in an alien land - Portuguese passport-holding Goan arrivals in the UK by Selma Carvalho (Response to Roland Francis's is post by Melvyn Fernandes)
Dear goanet readers It is good to see Roland Francis's writing has migrated from his column of Stray Thoughts on Goan Voice to Straw Thoughts on Goanet providing Christmas humour badly needed in the UK which is experiencing such depressing weather. To assist Roland Francis from Canada understanding my posting from the United Kingdom, attached below is what the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom had to say on this matter and European Migrants as a whole. Our fellow Goykars from Goa will come under this category as they enter the United Kingdom clutching their Portuguese passposts. Quote David Cameron has defended plans to toughen welfare rules for EU migrants, saying he was sending a clear message to people that the UK was not a soft touch for claiming benefits. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25114890 Unquote Roland Francis has also written: Quote: That Goans arriving in London must do the same as East African Goans did a generation ago i.e. worked hard and prospered. Does the author assume that was only his monopoly or that he forgets that unlike in his days good jobs are no longer there for the asking but that despite this, new immigrants do what is required to get by. Perhaps he is not aware enough to know Churchill's famous KBO - keep buggering on - something immigrants do all the time. Unquote Roland Francis may have missed reading a report including its 40 comments made which was published in Goan Voice on 18 December 2013. The report was following inspection by the Care Quality Commission at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon and titled Damning report on cleanliness at Swindon's GWH. This is a hospital where I understand a number of our fellow Goykars coming from Goa are reportedly working under contract. http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/NEWS/10883455.Damning_report_on_cleanliness_at_Swindon_s_GWH/?ref=rss Here is just one of the comments made by a member of the public on the report: Maybe now we can expect the cleaners to be replaced. Get in people who are willing to work and not strike. It is a golden opportunity to have a full clear out so get on with it Carillion. I had hoped that this current generation of unskilled workers learning on the job would pass their skills back to fellow countrymen while they go on their annual holiday. Incredibly this is not the case as even those in work appear not to be up to standard but also appear ever ready in true traditional manner fighting with a system that keeps them in employment. Our fellow Goykars look like they have sold up lock, stock and barrel in Goa to follow a dream in the UK that will remain for many, a dream. If you can call moving from the tranquillity of Goa with spacious housing to a room shared by day shifts and graveyard shifts in a complex hotbed sharing system just to make ends meet and pay the rent on property that they will never own, then your version of a better life in the UK is in the eye of the beholder. I wish to thank Roland Francis for his interest and comments and trust my explanation and related attachments will assist in a better understanding of this matter in the United Kingdom. Melvyn Fernandes Thornton Heath, Surrey, United Kingdom 27 December 2013
Re: [Goanet] Saligao - The land of Garbage, Stink, Poison and Disease
Desmond, What were the people of Saligao, Pilerne, Calangute and Candolim doing during the past 25 years while the Saligao Plateau was being used as an illegal garbage dump? Roland. Sent from Samsung Mobile Original message From: Desmond da Costa desmonddaco...@yahoo.com Date: 27-12-2013 4:32 AM (GMT-05:00) To: Saligao Net saligao-...@googlegroups.com Cc: goanet@lists.goanet.org Subject: [Goanet] Saligao - The land of Garbage, Stink, Poison and Disease My fellow Goans and Saligaonkars, As a net result Goa still attracts more to settle here than those that leave. This is set to change especially for the beautiful villages of Saligao, Calangute, Candolim and Pilerne, with the Governments going ahead to set up a Garbage Treatement Plant (GTP) on the Saligao Plateau. The illegal Garbage Dump on the Saligao Plateau which has been in use for the last 25 years has poisoned the water of the wells and water bodies in the surrounding villages; stinks to the heavens and has made life miserable to people living in the proximity of the Garbage Dump plus caused diseases in humans and animals brought on by illegal burning of garbage containing plastics and toxic wastes. Desmond da Costa.
[Goanet] Why do you always think negative ?
Any ordinary wedding now a days lakhs of rupees are spent. People always want a grand show. Why can't our present chief minister celebrate his son's wedding ? Secondly he has every right to spend money. Of course not above his income. Why do some people like leeches talk against the chief minister ? It is difficult to change the government. A minister alone should not be held responsible for any thing. See you want a birthcertificate. The person says come after fifteen days. what do you do ? put a five hundred rupee note and get your job. Is Parrikar responsible ? He is the head of the state. He has people under him to do the work. Vigilance department to check the polution. no body does his job but the disease germ had entered in 1963 when Parrikar was in school may be. No body said anything but accepted what has been done. A job in the government cost between 9 lakhs to 25 lakhs. we pay for that job. has any one questioned the person who paid the money as from where he has brought the money ? When you point out a finger at others one finger points out to us. There are some people who take others to court and when their both hands are suitably greased and their feet too they cooly withdraw. These type of people have no right to open their mouth and call others a rogue. They have no job at hand but to black mail others and get money from them.
Re: [Goanet] Saligao - The land of Garbage, Stink, Poison and Disease
On Dec 27, 2013, at 10:36 AM, roland.francis roland.fran...@ymail.com wrote: Desmond, What were the people of Saligao, Pilerne, Calangute and Candolim doing during the past 25 years while the Saligao Plateau was being used as an illegal garbage dump? My dear Roland, I am sure you know what impossible odds have to be overcome in the Third World. I am also sure that you are at least aware of the struggles of Another Goa, Goa Foundation et al. There is a well known saying when one deals with powerful forces with deep pockets: ' There are so few of 'us' and so much of 'them'. One thing is for sure, the 'us' in this equation have to be super-specially watchful of ourselves and our own actions. For sure, the 'them' are watching 'us' and will not hesitate to submit 'us' to 'potency tests' and continued Aguada-like hotelization - whether it be justified or not. The object of this exercise being Humiliation of those among 'us' who dared to challenge the system and also as a lesson to the rest of 'us' to behave ourselves. And 'we all' have the nerve to wax eloquently in the negative about Pre1961 Aguada while remaining conspicuously silent about post1961 Potency Tests. Forget (temporarily) about the valiant ones from Saligao et al, let us ask ourselves: Are we not unreasonably silent about recent events? jc
Re: [Goanet] Saligao - The land of Garbage, Stink, Poison and Disease
On 27 December 2013 21:06, roland.francis roland.fran...@ymail.com wrote: Desmond, What were the people of Saligao, Pilerne, Calangute and Candolim doing during the past 25 years while the Saligao Plateau was being used as an illegal garbage dump? Roland, if you had even just bothered to Google, you wouldn't have been asking this question: http://bit.ly/SaligaoGarbgage -- FN Phone +91-832-2409490 Mobile +91-9822122436
[Goanet] Why do you always think negative ?
Ana Maria Fernandes amferns_naik at hotmail.com on Fri Dec 27 07:33:40 PST 2013 wrote: 1.- Any ordinary wedding now a days lakhs of rupees are spent. Res:- It depends what one perceives as “ordinary”. Ordinary Court weddings just cost the Judicial fees. 2.- Why can't our present chief minister celebrate his son's wedding ? Res:- Who says he is not celebrating? Has he stayed out of it? 3.- Of course not above his income. Res:- “Income” is not only salary; it is whatever ‘comes IN’. 4.- Why do some people like leeches talk against the chief minister ? Res:- ‘Leeches’ don’t talk, they suck blood! 5.- A minister alone should not be held responsible for any thing. Res:- Right! Not anything, but everything under his control. 6.- no body does his job but the disease germ had entered in 1963 when Parrikar was in school may be. Res:- If a disease affected you in 1963, should present doctors not eradicate it? 7.- A job in the government cost between 9 lakhs to 25 lakhs. Res:- You say so! Parrikar says NO! Who do we believe? 8.- When you point out a finger at others one finger points out to us. Res:- Maybe there are two-toed animals?? 9.- There are some people who take others to court and when their both hands are suitably greased and their feet too they cooly withdraw. These type of people have no right to open their mouth and call others a rogue. They have no job at hand but to black mail others and get money from them. Res:- Don’t go by ‘black mail’! Send by ‘speed post’ to police or vigilance! You relent only when you are on the wrong. 10.- Why do you always think negative ? Res:- YES! Why do you? Dr. Ferdinando dos Reis Falcão.
[Goanet] Goa Government's Performance
In March 2012, Goans fed up of the earlier corrupt Congress regime gave an opportunity to CM Manohar Parrikar and the BJP to give better Governance to Goa, stop the onslaught by the Goa by various lobbies, improve living conditions/economic opportunities for Goa/Goans, and put in measures to preserve Goa's Land, Culture Identity. While it appears that the Governance has got slightly better but overall insignificant to meet even the basic expectations: (1) Promised Regional Plan deliberately delayed, Land Sharks/Builders lobby still violating norms, destroying Goa's environment, cutting hills, Govt bodies like TCP acting like agents of the builders; (2) Govt claims they want to promote agriculture but what’s happening is exactly the opposite, fields for BJP events, acquiring fields for concretisation; (3) Law Order a serious concern with robberies, un-solved murders, rape of a child in Vasco long un-solved and recently even an MLA was attacked; (4) No time to full fill promises like RP but CM focussing on un-necessary destructive projects like MOPA airport; (5) Major U-Turn on Casino among many other U-Turns; (6) Preference still not given to Goans over jobs/business ventures despite having Goans applying for the same; red tape still discouraging Goan investors from Abroad to invest and assist in developing the state. I strongly believe that successive Goa Governments including the Current Govt via negative policies have and are actually destroying Goa. We have to set the Political Frame work in order and I think the Current Govt focus is mostly on Modi as BJP CM at the Centre, besides encouraging various destructive lobbies for BJP state/national interests. The Govt has failed Goans and now we have to look for as better alternative not only in Goa but also in India. I think we Goans are fooled for about 2 years now and I wonder if the Govt thinks if Goans are gullible and naïve to accept all this nonsense. The BJP is not much different from the Congress, same wine in a different bottle!! Time to get them to remedy their ways immediately or to change them!! -- Please post your comments on my Blog: http://goanidentity.blogspot.com/ Please also see below: 1. Benaulim Village Action Committee: http://www.bvacbenaulim.blogspot.com/ 2. Rape of Goa : http://www.parrikar.com/blog/the-rape-of-goa/ 3. MAND - an adivasi-rights resource centre : http://mandgoa.blogspot.com/ 4. EVERY GOAN SHOULD SEE THIS VIDEO: http://infochangeindia.org/Infochange-documentary.html 5. Goa's Identity Movement group on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com//#/group.php?gid=193497031686 6. Official Government Site NRI Office (GOA): http://www.globalgoans.org.in/
[Goanet] Goanet Reader: Verse, film, faith... and Goa: Tagore Almeida, a profile...
Goa-born Tagore Almeida (45) grew up in lovely Goa itself and, when 15, travelled abroad. He spent nine years in the United Kingdom studying Computer Studies. Simultaneously, he also did various courses in filmmaking, over the weekends, at the Filmmakers Co-op, in Camden Town, London. More recently, Tagore collated 50 of his poems into a book, printed 100 copies of it, and couriered it to a hundred people worldwide. People who had inspired him or entertained him as he grew up. Right from Japanese composer Kitaro to Steven Spielberg and a few individuals from India. Some wrote back, some called to thank home, while some never bothered. Since then Tagore has been writing poetry, street verses, as he prefers to call them. His work ranges from rebelling against the system, to his humanitarian cry, to love ballads and, last but not least, reflecting his immense sense of spirituality and relationship with the creator. Besides poetry, Tagore writes scripts for films, one of which has been made into a commercial Telugu film. At the peak of his carrier, Tagore decided to chuck it all in and write his first film. Living with his folks in Goa, Tagore would write daily from around 10pm to 7am and he did this for around three months. Script in hand and with absolutely no idea on how to sell it, or contact in Bollywood, Tagore set of to Mumbai (Bombay) and started knocking on doors. Strangely, the day he landed in the commercial capital, Tagore did not have a single address of any film director or producer. Several false leads later, Tagore tied up with someone he only refers to as the-offbeat-producer Pravesh Sippy. Months of re-writes (read as let's take your original film concept and Bollywood-ize it), the film was sold. One of the leading film and TV houses in India, Nimbus Communications purchased the film, translated it into Telugu, the regional language of Andhra Pradesh. It got directed by none other than Suresh Krishna, one of South India's most respected and well renowned film directors. Finally, Tagore has 10 books of poems available via the Net. Should anyone want to use one of these poems, all they need to do is contact Tagore. He also runs a website for The Uncultured Company, through which he hopes to promote his message of secularism in the world. He has also recently launched a quarterly online magazine to further spread the message of humanity and becoming one with the universe. Excerpts from a tete-a-tete with Remediana (Remy) Dias: RD: Tell us something about you yourself - I was born in lovely Goa -- Mapuca to be precise -- and was raised in peace and loving Calangute. Atleast that it how it was when I was a kid. Soon after school, I left for London to pursue college and what a shock to note that the rest of the world wasn't like good ol' Calangute. I mean in the rest of the world people were fighting in the names of religions, colour and races. What a shame I thought to myself, if only the world could come and see how peaceful the world can be by just visiting Calangute. I couldn't do anything at my life in those days except write verse that rhymed well, not that I ever had a reason to write prior to that -- except perhaps to impress a girl or two. But when I got exposed to the world, I began to write, and boy did I write! I wrote verses just about humanity, spirituality, peace, love and tolerance and of course some stuff to impress more women. Wrote loads of verses, watched the world ever more -- living in London I watched and learnt about people, cultures and beliefs from all over the world. All of that through the eyes of my Goan soul. It was during that time, that I also became aware of India and a proud Indian. BTW, I am a no religion and *all* faith, and my faith is mine, my business; if some people take something good out of it then yaaay, otherwise it is not up for debate. RD: What sets you apart from others? Tell us about your professional life? - Nothing I hope. I say that with all sincerity. Infact I think that everyone around me is more practical about the times we live in. They have learnt how to accept change and then gone out to make a difference in ways that work. I'm the dreamer, still looking for footprints of great dudes like Mahatma Gandhi, John Lennon, Bob Marley and Mother Teresa in the world today. Professionally I am a nerd, a hardcore technologist who unknowingly sold my techie soul to the corporate world a few years ago when I embraced a VP role for a MNC here in Dubai. But then again, thank God for my Goan roots I try to holistically re-visit the Calangute days, and do what is right, morally not corporately. RD: What are your hobbies? What do you do in your spare time?
[Goanet] 40 years later... the journalist Anthony Mascarenhas is remembered....
Check this discussion: http://kafila.org/2013/12/27/magistrate-ganatras-dictionary-and-the-crime-scene-of-language/#comment-62935 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16207201 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Mascarenhas http://tarekfatah.com/genocide-the-june-1971-article-about-pakistans-mass-murders-in-east-pakistan-by-tony-mascarenhas-in-londons-sunday-times-that-woke-up-the-world/ A PDF of his original article: http://www.frontierweekly.com/views/dec-13/14-12-13-Genocide.pdf -- FN Phone +91-832-2409490 Mobile +91-9822122436
[Goanet] Goa news for December 28, 2013
Goa News from Google News and Goanet.org Visit http://www.goanet.org/newslinks.php for the full stories. *** Kanakia Group ropes in Hyatt to manage its Goa hotel - Times of India tandard.com/article/companies/kanakia-group-to-invest-rs-500cr-in-residential-hotel-properties-113122700117_1.htmlKanakia Group to invest Rs 500cr in residential, hotel properties http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tfd=Rusg=AFQjCNFCa6MmsaNI0khvvy718rAv3Q9_lwurl=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/services/hotels-/-restaurants/kanakia-group-ropes-in-hyatt-to-manage-its-goa-hotel/articleshow/27989898.cms *** Huge haul of party drug seized in Goa; three held - Times of India DREsoSl_EXsASozfVg http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tfd=Rusg=AFQjCNEmEtd-1Zu2ncWEorhiGaAwncUYRQurl=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Huge-haul-of-party-drug-seized-in-Goa-three-held/articleshow/28001868.cms *** Fly cheap to Goa now, but pay triple for return - Times of India ays-passenger-growth-robust-despite-high-fares_1015057.htmlMakeMyTrip says passenger growth robust despite high fares http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tfd=Rusg=AFQjCNHw5E1AtcyKdqh8gwESt-TJA1DaxAurl=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Fly-cheap-to-Goa-now-but-pay-triple-for-return/articleshow/28028589.cms *** All roads lead to Goa in the Christmas-New Year season - Daily News Analysis ily News AnalysisFrom the 1990s, when Goa used to see record charter arrivals, there has seen a sharp fall in tourist numbers. This season has so far seen 1,500 charter arrivals. Unlike from the UK and Germany from where most tourists used to arrive earlier, over 60 ...a class= http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tfd=Rusg=AFQjCNH5RGn4xtqjR444kXDd4UM5_j4HWwurl=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-all-roads-lead-to-goa-in-the-christmas-new-year-season-194 *** Scarlett Keeling: Goa trial's 'snail's pace' progress - BBC News ear-old tour guide boyfriend Julio Lobo while the rest of her family went travelling, Scarlett's partially-clothed body was discovered on Anjuna beach in Goa in February 2008. Mr Lobo was questioned by police but has ...a class= http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tfd=Rusg=AFQjCNE9fLliGK0qA7zFALeBb6tAxojnYgurl=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-25107863 *** The view from Goa - Business Standard (blog) tar meal in Mumbai - was ...a class= http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tfd=Rusg=AFQjCNHe6TqyeQgsPba5WmlXjGCdxxHYAQurl=http://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/malavika-sangghvi-the-view-from-goa-113122701012_1.html *** Fares to Goa soar for peak season - Times of India pirited New Year in Goa will have to shell out the big bucks for air and bus tickets, with private operators charging more than double the normal rates. Half-way into the Christmas-New Year party ...a class= http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tfd=Rusg=AFQjCNHJFTlPAXZwTfMJvug_WaYwp9SigAurl=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Fares-to-Goa-soar-for-peak-season/articleshow/28024307.cms *** Geetanjali Krishna: Trailing tourists, Manali to Goa - Business Standard siness StandardThe temperatures have suddenly dipped in Delhi this week and everyone around me is thinking of travelling to balmier climes. When yet another friend mentioned going to Goa this weekend, I remembered Dilip Soni, the itinerant jeweller who, like the ...a class= http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tfd=Rusg=AFQjCNFx3RVIER6C87-I3KyXXlztw0bHmwurl=http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/geetanjali-krishna-trailing-tourists-manali-to-goa-113122701093_1.html *** Goa gears up for Christmas - Indian Express oloured bells and beautiful Christmas trees. While celebrations are a plenty, the Department of Tourism has ...a class= http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tfd=Rusg=AFQjCNFbOdWEWq5oKyx1VgF3EEc3i9seswurl=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/goa-gears-up-for-christmas/1212352/ *** Four house break-ins spurt of thefts in north Goa - Times of India ns were reported on Thursday in the Pernem and Mapusa police jurisdiction. Laptops, cameras, gold ornaments, cash worth lakhs of rupees were stolen in all four incidents. Guests living in rented premises were the ...a class= http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tfd=Rusg=AFQjCNFXv8eymk2tudLS6MkU6OQRk51kTgurl=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Four-house-break-ins-spurt-of-thefts-in-north-Goa/articleshow/28024337.cms Compiled by Goanet News Service http://www.goanet.org/newslinks.php
