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Showing posts from 2009

GFA vs GCA; Floodlights, Fatorda and Kicks backs

Why in Goa, we have to increasingly take recourse to the Law Courts to solve our problems is a question which has been troubling me for last couple of years. Garbage, Coastal Regulation Zone violations, Coastal shacks, has been some of the burning topics which have landed on the doorsteps of the Courts. The legal luminaries have been looked upon to deliver justice, pass judgments and come to decisions where the spineless politicians and the bureaucracy, which were suppose to help in the decision-making process have run out of options. The great Goan fight over trivial and non-trivial things, from business to environment has been ranging in the small state of India for quite some time. Now it is the turn of sports to join the bandwagon. Boxing Day is almost one month away, but if Goa Football Association (GFA) secretary Savio Messais threat of approaching the courts for recourse to using the Nehru Stadium at Fatorda is to be taken seriously, then Goans will well might see a prelude of t

A Lawyer Who Plows Paddy Fields in Goa

He dons a black suit in the court room and forcefully pleads his client’s cases before different judges in Goa. But back home in his village Ambaulim in Salcete Taluka of Indian state of Goa, the advocate discards his fancy court room clothes and soils his hands and feet, plowing his paddy fields. Yes, while paddy cultivation is looked down upon many educated youth of Goa, this practicing lawyer John Fernandes, has no qualms about lifting his plough and march into his paddy field.Given his multi-faceted personality, John is involved in many social activities and campaigns for the eradication of problems which affect the youths of his locality. Chronic alcoholism and gambling are two such evils which have plagued his locality for a long time and he has been involved in the fight against them. “When I was a parish youth member of Our Lady of Lourdes church in Ambaulim, I put forth the idea of fighting against gambling which were going on at the bars. It may be about 18 years back. And g

Time for Change at Goan Inter-village football

Inter-village football was once Goa’s lifeline. Not anymore. Some agree some disagree. But what has not diminished over the years is its importance and the entertainment value it has in all the Goan villages. It still thrives in the villages, thanks to the passion and generosity of Goans who would go at lengths to keep it kicking around. Having an inter village final on the village feast day of the patron saint has been a long established tradition in the former Portuguese colony. Over the years the nature and composition of the inter-village tournaments has undergone several changes over the years. Some for the good , some for the worse. Time to weed out the bad and retain the best. Is Goa football Association ready for the much needed facelift which the Goan Inter-village football cries for? An in-depth perusal of the functioning of the inter-village clubs and tournaments suggest that the arrangements in place have become outdated and long lost its value in terms of grooming the next

Missing Coffee at Margao's Marliz

The closed shutters of Marliz restaurant, once Margao’s much-sought after eating hole and a meeting point for Satiskars (resident so Salcete taluka in Indian state of Goa) points out to yet another grim story. A sad tale of yet another Goan enterprise crashing to the vagaries of time. A place which had become synonymous with the high and the mighty of Salcete as they discussed the day’s hot stories over coffee while enjoying the fragrance and greenery of the Margao Municipal garden. If miles away Mumbai’s once famous and now closed Bastani restaurant was a perfect place for Goans to start their day, back home Satiskars craved for more and more for Marliz’s coffee. If Basanti’s meat mince was once item Goans eat till the last bit of it, here in Margao it was coffee which ruled the roost at Marliz. There are many stories of marriage, business deals, jobs, career options and land deals interwoven around Marliz. But the name Marliz, has a story of its own. Like the Taj Mahal, here was a m

Religion change and caste equations in India

DOES CONVERSION to a new religion change caste equations in India? Do social customs and traditions change with religious conversion? Or do Indians continue with their Hindu customs and traditions despite conversions?   These are some of the questions my foreign friends pose to me when the topic of religious conversions comes up. I say, Indians certainly do follow their Hindu customs and traditions despite conversions. In fact, in the western Indian state of Goa, Christians continue to follow the age-old Hindu practices and traditions of their forefathers, who converted to Christianity in the 16th century, and take part in Hindu rituals and festivals. Fathom this: Tony Fernandes’ forefathers converted to Christianity in the 16th century but the 48-year-old Fernandes still carries on the practice of visiting the Hindu temples and seeking blessings from his village deity - Shri Shantadurga Kunkoliarin. The practice is in conflict with the Catholic Church, which comes down heavily o

Sara's poverty escape; Muslim-catholic interreligious marriage in India

    “I fear for the safety of my step-brother and my father,” said Qatar-based Sara in a trembling tone to her friend speaking at the other end of the telephone line from Mumbai.   She was conveying her terrible news that she had feared for a long time - the elopement of his brother Bashir with his Hindu girl friend Sunita. The dangerous fallouts of the Hindu-Muslim love affairs in the highly volatile communal sensitive city of Mumbai are well documented in the several religious related riots that the city has witnessed in recent years. If Sara had concerns over the safety of her family in Mumbai , she was perfectly justified in having them. She had valid reasons for that as the entire locality in which Bashir and his family lived were Muslims while Sunita who lived a few meters away in another pre-dominant Hindu locality. The Hindu locality where burning with fire as the elopement of the Hindu girl with a Muslim boy.   Sara herself went through the cycle of nearly creating a c

Goans explore Europe through Portuguese citizenship

Thousands of Indians from the Portuguese colonies have gone to Europe and settled there after acquiring Portuguese citizenship. A Portuguese citizenship, gives them passage to work and settle anywhere in Europe as European citizens. Remdious Rodrigues, a former Goa Shipyard employee - a government undertaking   is on his way to UK with a stopover in Portugal to collect his Portuguese passport and become a Portuguese citizen after surrendering his Indian passport. He is a step away from giving up his Indian citizenship in search of his European dreams.   The 50-year-old Indian from the holiday resort state of Goa who has his family of wife and children still based in Goa did not have to make rounds at the immigrations offices of the UK embassy in India, but pursued his English dreams through the Portuguese connections. Goa was a former Portuguese colony till 1961, until the Indian army liberated it, on December 19 that year.   An Indian born in that country and who has spent

Sky bus project gathers dust in Goa

On one hand the progress chart of India has been hailed but the benefits have not percolated to the lower strata of society. The Sky bus project which is path breaking indigenously-developed technology is one example of the slow pace things move in the Indian democracy.   Indian infrastructure is facing the problems which any surging economy faces in its transitional phase. With rapid growth on the economic front, Indian transport system is trying to have grip over the situation, what with crammed roads, overcrowded trains and buses, being a usual scene in the metros and the major cities of the country.   The Sky Bus transport was taunted as one of the solution to ease the load on the congested traffic lines of the Indian metros. That was almost three years back when the railway minister dedicated the modern rail transport system technology to the world when federal Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav dedicated the Sky bus project to the nation on October 15 2004 in the western Indi

Russian blonde's seduction games in Goa

The sea waves were roaring at a fast pace nothing unusual on a rainy day. But the intensity and frequency deviated. Pedro's life, who sat on the edge of the beach had also deviated and swung like a pendulum over the years. He has seen the bad, good and ugly side of the beach and the beach bunnies over the years.  Pedro was a seasonised beach gazer, his circular shining scalp in the middle of his big skull gave made him look he had look the Bishop whose pictures we were used to seeing in our younger days. To cap with his sparkling white hair he light green yes, a goatie beard with a couple of black hair thrown in all which added to his crescendo as a man of wisdom. He long forsaken his country of birth and made Talpon his home.  Talpon, a sea side beach village where villagers lived off the sea, fishing being there prime business. Some indulged in toddy tapping and others were carpenters building boats for fishermen.  Mystery stories surrounds the time and year when Pedro landed by

Wind energy experiment gone wrong in coastal Goa

        Haste makes waste, that’s what Charles D’Silva a resident of the coastal village of Kanaguinim in south Goa discovered albeit painfully some fifteen years back. His ancestral village which has not been affected by mass tourism till now , has had been constantly facing water shortage and low electricity voltage problems for the last several years.   And when the Norwegian company installed a wind turbine in 1993 to tap the wind as an energy source in the region, residents like D’Silva were happy. A sea of change was witnessed in the area with the installation of the wind turbine. The water pump motors which behaved erratically earlier – dependent, as they were on the fluctuating electricity supplied by the government – started working smoothly and the power fluctuations were a thing of the past. A state which depends for its power needs from the neighboring states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh But the initial euphoria lasted for just over one year.

Radika the sex bomb from Cambia town

Radika was wearing a micro-skirt and tauntingly swinging her shapely ass which caught the attention of the video men’s cameras covering the christening party of Jetroy. She loved every bit of it- The attention of the small crowd and the cameras spotlight on her. She was not the only one on the floor, there were more beautiful and shapely women around her. But her reveling dress – shapely thighs of all things - which set the crescendo rising in the lustful men. And there many around ready to take in her bed that afternoon in Colva  The music belted by Terminators did not end at the Furtado’s beachside restaurant in Colva but echoed from the sea waves back into the restaurant.  The Terminators winded up for the afternoon and were keen to catch some afternoon siestas as they had to play at a wedding reception in the evening.  But for Radika, the beginning of yet another exciting evening game has just began. That evening Radika ended in bed with two teenagers whom she met from the first ti

Goa the new football capital of India – has it replaced Kolkotta

Dempo’s entry into the AFC Cup semis brings the Goan clubs into the limelight at the Asian level Goan club Dempo Sports Club entry into the AFC Cup semi-final, the first-ever for an Indian club, has shifted the focus on the former Portuguese colony which has emerged as the football hub of the country.   So what makes the small state rave about its success on the football field? If the Indian National League – I- League is one area to fall back to arrive at conclusions – then Goa with four I- League clubs takes the cake, the same as the Eastern state of West Bengal, in the 12 team League. Goa Football Association (GFA) Secretary Savio Messais feels that Goa has replaced Kolkata as the Soccer capital of the country. “The soccer capital has shifted to Goa not only because of the four I-League clubs but for many other reasons like a greater success rate at nationals, better administration, production of good players, coaches, referees and also better infrastructure.” “Passion for

Reviving football memories the Goan way

      As head of Sports & Recreation Department of the University of Wollongong in Dubai (Australian) , Franky Baretto the former East Bengal and Salgaocar Sports Club player has a hectic schedule at his work place. Every December former India international in football, Franky Baretto, tries to squeeze in two weeks holiday to travel to his home town Goa. But the Goa trip not only serves as a perfect relaxing holiday for Baretto,   but time to connect to old friends from the football world. This year the former defender who shot into the limelight playing for the Goa University team, had another opportunity to reconnect to old club colleagues in Qatar. He is one of the many former Internationals who flew into Qatar for the one-day Intra Gulf Goans nine-a-side football tournament organized by Goan Welfare Association, Qatar (GWA). The event which took place on Friday 31 st October at Al Alhi Stadium. Baretto shares many a joyous moments with club colleagues at Vasco

Green India on a rainy day

Greenery, floods, thunder, lightning, and rainbows are some of the things which  one associates with the rainy season in India. In the west of India,  Goa is no different. Working in a foreign land, Armstrong Vaz pens down  his experiences and what he missed out on during the rainy season this  year.  As we reach the end of the rainy season, it is time to look at life  during this period: the rains which we loved as kids and the things we  did in the season. The things we miss, as we are away from the falling  rains in a faraway land.  The rainy season starts in June and ends in October. Rains, starting in  the last week of May, bring with them a respite from the summer heat.  May is the period when the school holidays end and it is back again to  school for the children.  The rainy season is on its last leg as we approach October. It is time  to say goodbye to the rains as we head towards the middle of the month.  It is time for the Goan farmers to collect the paddy from the fields. P

Goan Poelpe’s Film Festival (GPFF)-a people’s initiative, ‘Celebrating Life and Livelihoods’

  If the India International Film Festival (IIFF) was all about glamour, big stars and the red carpet being rolled for the stars, here was another film festival which was be fret of all the mega publicity and the associated glitz. Goa simultaneously hosted a parallel three-day film festival from November 23 to 25 – Goan Poelpe’s Film Festival   (GPFF)-a people’s initiative, ‘Celebrating Life and Livelihoods’ as they preferred to call it. The curtains in IFFI which was inaugurated on 22 November will come down on December 2. The GPFF was about social activism at the grass root levels and highlighting the issues which the mainstream media – both visual and print - have effectively ignored. The film festival featured digital narratives and award-winning documentaries from around India and Bangladesh. It documented Goa’s fight against mining - 127 operational mining leases over 8% of Goa’s surface threaten livelihoods and water sustainability of the hinterland. The assault on triba