goenkar anik goenkarpon

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

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of the functioning of the inter-village clubs and tournaments suggest that the arrangements in place have become outdated and long lost its value in terms of grooming the next

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