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Showing posts from June, 2009

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

Using cellphones to portray people’s bitter struggle for survival

    Call it citizen journalism or social activism, but people from various walks of life are increasingly dabbling with the latest tools in communication to get their message across the world and India is no different. Video blogging is one medium which is used, effectively to send the message across to a larger audience. Goa is involved in a bitter struggle against a concerted assault on their lives and livelihoods from the forces of Globalisation of which the state government is a willing accomplice. In a bid to empower grass root social activists in using cellphone and video blogs, as a quick, effective visual communication the organizers of Goan People's Film Festival also hosted a workshop last week, which was an overwhelming success as part of the People’s festival . The people’s festival which was put together as a people’s initiative by the people of the state of Goa while the government sponsored India International Film festival was also staged in the state fr

UK doctor provides answers to back problems in India; Chiropractor sets up shop in Goa

Ashley Moraes, my banker friend had a back problem; his regular eight-hour job meant he remains confined to his chair for most part of his duty hours. And to add to it the sedentary life style of his - he does not indulge in regular fitness regime to keep him fit. But now the back pain which was bearable a few months back   had became unbearable, and , he had no option but to make an appointment with an specialist doctor. Someone suggested to him the new doctor in Margao town who has had been quite successful in getting away with the back pain of a number of patients who have visited them.   So Moraes, went about in search of more information about the new doctors in town which led him to Rafael Medicare Centre on Dr L  Da Costa Bldg, Ascanio Costa Road, behind Grace Church ,opposite Sapana Chambers, Margao Here he came face to face with Dr Alison Bale and Martin Bale, the British couple. Dr Alison Bale is a chiropractor and Martin is a Bowen and Trigger Point practitioner.