The Big Goan - Goa Holiday Blog

Twentieth of August saw the inclusion of Konkani in the eight schedule of the constitution and the day was celebrated by all lovers of the language. However for many Goans, especially the Catholics of Goa, the day was a non-event. These same Goans had strived and fought for the inclusion of the language in the eight schedule but now after 17 years of its inclusion all they can feel is a sincere betrayal by the stubborn lobby of the Devnagri konkani supporters who seem to have lost their vision for the wholesome support of the language.

In the name of Devnagri Konkani all attempts have been successfully made by this lobby to stifle the voices of the lovers of Romi Konkani which is the language spoken by Catholics in Goa in their everyday life. Devnagri Konkani is however spoken among the Hindus of Goa. While we must respect the wishes of our Hindu brethren in Goa to use Devnagri, the same compliment needs to be extended to the catholic community in Goa by accepting that Roman Konkani be given a similar status as its sister Devnagri.

However instead of doing that, our Devnagri brothers have insisted that it is the only script to follow which is a dictatorial attitude. catholic children find it hard to digest devnagri Konkani and yet it is being forced down their throats in the government aided primary schools as a medium of instruction.

To a great extent, the fault lies with the people who inserted the meticulous note of including the language of Konkani for official purposes in Goa - in Devnagri only.  This was a complete betrayal to the aspirations of the people who were actually fighting for the dual cause of Konkani in Devnagri and Romi. However the former won and the Romi lovers are currently running from pillar to post to make their voices heard. To no avail.

The clergy in Goa is also silent on the issue and despite the medium of speech and instruction in the Church of Goa being Romi Konkani, this silence and lack of interest to pursue this matter is highly surprising.In contrast, the Hindu political elite of Goa have had their way.

It is therefore our right to the language that needs to be exercised in all forums and the government of Goa needs to stop ignoring the genuine pleas of Romi konkani lovers, an issue which is threatening to influence an ugly divide in the Goan community. we Goans need to therefore stand up and speak for our script of Konkani without being drowned under bogey of Konkani only in Devnagri.

The days of Goa appear to be numbered. And it has nothing to do with the new "number plate" resentments. Instead, a new law awaits Goa and most importantly, Goan villages which threatens to change the Goan demography, Goan landscape, Goan beauty, Goan environment and the Goan way of life - forever. With disastrous implications.

The amendment to the Panchayati raj act 2009, which was unanimously passed by the ruling Congress woven coalition in the Goa assembly this month is yet another attempt to hoodwink Goans and foist on us the gargantuan plans of concrete jungles designed to satisfy the potbellies of real estate barons, politicians from Goa and elsewhere, bureaucrats and an increasingly alarming migrant workforce.

The way the bill itself was passed is pretty disgusting. The opposition party, the BJP which cries hoarse at every flimsy opportunity aimed at nailing the ruling combination chose to have a token protest, lest it not be said that they were supporting the bill. Simply exposes how powerful the builders lobby in Goa is.

Manohar Parrikar and his band of boys, instead of a thorough dressing down of the bill and the government, decided to concentrate on the purview of the miniscule issue of the panchayat secretary's boss and his creator of commands as being ambiguous in the bill. With the answers not fulfilling his satisfaction, the BJP stalwart decides to stage a walkout with his men, which facilitates the bill to have a safe passage .While leaving he makes sure that the world hears his words of protest as he shouted " we will not be a party to this bill". There could not be a better tiatr, could there?

However in doing the above, the wily politician may believe that he satisfied everyone while probably helping himself to a good laugh besides other things. One, he ensured that the bill was passed without much of his protests which should satisfy all stakeholders in the passing of the bill. Two he lived upto the reputation of opposition parties (and his own) to atleast oppose a bill come what may. Third he ensured that the general Goan public opposed to the bill, find it difficult to club him and his party with the supporters of the bill. However while he may have fooled some Goans, most will surely see through his actions and I am sure those voices will be heard sooner than later.

Can you imagine a law intended to deny Goans their right to speak against the rampant development of land with concrete jungles emerging all over? All powers vested in the bureaucracy of Goa? In short all powers vesting in the ministers, their accomplices, their henchmen and their greedy wolves who can decide what, how ,when and why your village needs thousands and lakhs of new inhabitants with more garbage, rationed water, more floods, lesser greenery, more migrants and more crime?

With such a dangerous situation on hand, our opposition party has lived up to their reputation of opposing trivial issues and ignoring the more important ones. While the whole of Goa and every panchayat in the state is gearing up for an agitation against the draconian bill, our opposition party has chosen to shift focus and agitate against some inconsequential , pedestrian issues such as the Shimnit Utsch number plates . Are vehicle number plates more important to the welfare of Goa? Or has Shimnit failed to satisfy the aspirations of our political class across the whole spectrum which the builders lobby may have smartly managed?

As if we didn't know!

Patolleo, for Goans rings a bell. It is a sweet dish prepared in most Goan homes with a touch of the real Goan feeling. Patolleo and its effervescent flavour has the potential to take you down the Goan memory lane and leave you dreaming for hours. A mere bite into the sweet dish is very satisfying and Goans look forward to the turn of the patolleo every year on 15th August, it being the feast of the assumption, and patolleo seem to be wedded to this feast for the catholics in Goa.

The village of Salvador do Mundo in the north of Goa goes one step further and has been known to celebrate the whole feast as the 'patolleo fest' which is to be celebrated this year on Sunday, 16th August 2009. For the villagers of Salvador do Mundo, the festival is not merely the making of patolleos but it does seem that there is a genuine concern to revive and maintain good old Goan traditions which have somehow rusted over the years and mostly forgotten.

So the elders of Salvador do Mundo also engage in teaching the youngsters the methods and means of preparing the old Goan sweets thereby ensuring that the tradition continues without being corrupted by the modern times. Besides the Patolleo, the villagers from this area also get their act together to prepare "pudde" or 'Kholle' which are similar to patolleo but are covered with a jackfruit leaf instead of turmeric leaves and are shaped in the form of a cone. Jaggery sannas also form part of the festivities here.

The festivities are normally  accompanied with music and song and an eco friendly set up is maintained to add the lustre of the old Goan setting. The festival is celebrated outside the St Sebastian Chapel at Baddem and food is served on banana or jackfruiit leaves and the traditional rice kanji is served in large coconut shells. Thus the festival is meant to showcase the essence of Goa and the organisers avoid any sponsors for the event in a bid to de-commercialise the festivities.

The event surely is a tribute to Goa and its rich cultural traditions and the rest of Goa and its villages must try and emulate this effort to ensure that Goa and Goans take their traditions forward for the sake of posterity in the least.

While people in Goa look for all kinds of avenues to cool themselves in the Goan summer, the air-conditioner is still considered a small time luxury in most Goan homes.

Come April - May and Goans make a beeline for the picnics and outing spots far away from home and mostly located near Goan springs, beaches and water bodies such as lakes and pools. It is a desperate attempt to cool oneself from the blistering heat thumping down in Goa at this time of the year. The springs, lakes, pools and beaches of Goa in the summer are therefore filled to the maximum with revelers frolicking to get that extra stream of coolness.

The air-conditioners are however still not looked upon as a necessity in Goa despite the fact that the humidity in the summer can sometimes be very uncomfortable. In the good old days the summer in Goa was quite bearable with lesser humidity levels and it was considered that air-conditioners were the belonging of the gulf and the more extreme weathered countries. However with the passage of time, air conditioners have come to Goa to stay and there is a gradual transition in the mindset of Goans to install an air-conditioner at least in the bedroom of their homes.

The increased demand has resulted in better models, lowered prices and a greater choice for the consumer in Goa. For residential use, there are basically two choices the Goan has to make.

The Window AC : These are so called because a convenient and suitable opening is made in a window. Often a separate opening known as AC window is also made beside the main window as is provided by all the major reputed builders today in Goa. Ideal height is 5 to 6 feet since cool air sinks downwards. Today many brands of the window air-conditioner are as silent as the split air conditioners and are available in both manual as well as remote version. It is pertinent to note that home consumers should not opt of the “simple remote” which is suitable for restaurants and offices but not for homes since it does not have a timer or “bio-sleep” function.

The Split AC “ The split ACs are divided into two parts. The hotter portion of the AC unit is kept outside the room and only the cold evaporator is installed inside the room. Popular splits are the high mount type mounted on a wall at ceiling height and piped outside to the outdoor condensing unit. The drawback of these units is felt most often in high rise buildings where such units if installed outside are serviced diligently by the air-conditioner dealers or company servicemen as these units are dangerously mounted at tall heights. The better option for such high rises is therefore to install such units in their balconies or outdoor units and open terraces or over a wide ‘catwalk” so that technicians can safely work on them.

For large rooms, living dining or showrooms, the best solution is the floor mounted tower AC. It has the silence of a split air conditioner combined with the air throw of a window AC along with side to side oscillating fins for ideal distribution of cold air. For mounting of the outdoor unit, the same recommendations of the high mount wall split unit are applicable here.

Nowadays in Goa there is also an attractive option and that is to rent out an AC be it window or split. For those living in rented premises, this is a good option where the rentals are at around Rs 700 per month per unit. The Air-conditioner however seems to have come to Goa to stay more as a necessity than as a mere luxury.

With the heat and humidity mixing up to undesirable levels in Goa, the directorate of health services has launched  an awareness campaign to prevent possible cases of heat stroke in the state.

The meteorological department has already predicted that the temperatures could hit around 40 degrees Celsius in Goa and this has prompted the health authorities to advise people in the state on measures to prevent the occurrence of heat strokes in the state.

People are therefore advised to drink plenty of water, avoid tea, coffee, soda and alcohol. They should wear lightweight, loose-fitting clothing in light colours. Wearing a hat, sunglasses and carrying an umbrella is also very helpful in order to protect oneself from the sun.

Some first aid measures have also been suggested by the department such as moving the victim from the heat and getting him  indoors.

The victims clothes should be loosened and he/she should be kept down lying in a cool place with the feet elevated by about 12 inches. Cold compresses can also be placed on the victim's neck, groin and armpits. The victim can also be wrapped in cool wet sheet and fanned vigorously.The patient should also be given cool water or beverages to sip ( specially with electrolyte).

Just when you take a breather about a certain issue folding its back on the devastation of Goa, there comes another. Goa's political abyss which has been left with the littlest of credibleness is desperate to prove that it has got much in its armour to take itself into the bottom of a hole. But it seems that the bottom is an unending pit.

The promulgation of the ordinance to save a portion of a hotel in Dona Paula is just another case where our law makers are showing their prowess in bending the law to suit their fancies. It is a matter of great shame for Goans that we have elected such leaders who have no qualms about turning jet black into crystal white. Overnight.

The disgracefulness with which this act was executed with scant respect to the orders of the honourable Supreme court shows the sense of disregard for the rule of law. The government made a mockery of the 17 long years legal battle waged by the Goa foundation in public interest which was recently disposed of by the apex court in favour of the Goa foundation.

The twist and churn of the law by promulgating an ordinance the effect of which comes retrospectively, is therefore a travesty of justice for the common man of Goa. It only proves that the high and mighty in Goa are above the law of the land. And it is unbelievable that the government of Goa helps to inculcate this sense of belief.

The befuddling part is that none of the 40 legislators actually opposed this ordinance vehemently. There were some feeble voices from the opposition party grumbling a bit, lest it not be said that they didn't resent the move. However their wanton and lazy mumbles were soon lost in the ink of the governor who whetted the ordinance with his most desired autograph.

The issue wasn't without an interesting sideshow which provided the government the much needed fodder to substantiate such a shameful act. A strange " staff welfare association" of the hotel was constituted with claims that the hotel was ready to divest them of their jobs, should the demolition come through. It seems all labour laws and all employee rights are tied down to pillars and structures of hotels which have been built through questionable means and which are ordered to be axed by the highest court of the land. Many would wonder if the government fell for the bait of the 650 odd employee jobs.  Rather in this case, it seems that the government was itself the bait, the rod, the hook, the sinker and the catch.

The effect of this ordinance is so loud and deafening that it has hit many ear drums. Goa is fortunate to have many citizen organizations such as the GBA( Goa Bachao Abhiyan) and the GGRM ( Ganv ghor rakhon Manch) as also "the council for social justice and peace" among many others, who have sprung up to checkmate every dirty move that our politicians have on their mind to deface Goa. In times like these, they are our only hope. Our only pride. Our only strength. If not for them Goa would have been battered long ago. With them in charge, all that we need to do as Goans is support them in every way possible. We owe it to ourselves.

The next few weeks, months and the rest of the year will be quite interesting. With Lok sabha elections in April-May 2009, the ordinance will be coming into effect only after the next assembly session in Goa meets up and ratifies it. Will all the 40 legislators support it? Will even 20 of them support it? Why will they support it? Will their conscience be so hollow and deprived? Will the supreme court of India be a silent spectator to the subversion of its order?

This ordinance has the potential to open a can of worms. Hopefully it will.

Goa ushers in another day of Valentine's. The first morning sign of Valentine having set  in today is the splash of messages in the morning Newspapers. Every message was an outpouring of love and romance. Leading newspapers in Goa had already launched a competition weeks in advance, which is a regular feature year on year to speak out feelings of love for Goans to capitalise on their emotions and that too for good prizes at stake.

Valentine's day has therefore been hugely accepted in Goa as the rest of the world, as a day that celebrates romantic love and everything associated with it and in modern times has expanded its theory to include all kinds of relationships - friends, family, schoolmates, college pals, colleagues at work etc and is generously expressed through wishes, cards, dining out, dance occasions, and simply doing the theme thing that Valentine's day is so well known for - DATING.

Over the years Goa has seen the Valentines' spirit soaring year after year and adding more and more commercial sense into the establishment of Goa.. Fluffy hearts tend to greet you at entrances of many shops while also hanging out from ceilings and doorways. the shops are mostly lined with Valentine memorabilia and decorations adorn the insides of shops to give the feeling of a Valentine festival. Also card shops are not the only ones to fall victim to cupids favourite dressing. We do have confectionery shops, music stores, coffee shops, theaters, jewellery and watch shops etc gleefully sporting the Valentine look.

Card shops however take the cake while decorating and sprucing up the shop with the most extensive decoration and also painting the exteriors including the transparent glass doors and stuffing the entire shop with Valentine merchandise. Lip-smacking offers in all kinds of other shops have also made this day and the previous evening ( 13th february) a busy day for commercial establishments.

The state eateries are normally packed with couples gazing deeply into each others eyes as if they were eye specialists, while the ordered food is given the least importance. holding hands and playing toey-toey are a few other liberties freely expressed in the light of the romance brewing quite often.

In schools and colleges Valentine's day has caught up to stir the imagination of students and exchanging cards and wishes is part of the campus drill. Many often find love at a very young age and therefore need to be more careful though. Valentines' day should not be the reason for any untoward experiences.

The media as pointed out earlier has pitched in fully into this feverish feeling that the world of Goa is savouring and radio is not far behind either with dedications pouring by the thousands.

All in all, the day is going to be a hectic one for many in Goa indeed. happy valentine's day to one and all.

Its been a while since I made my last post here. The end of the year has rather been a bit hectic and the resolutions of the New year took most of my time trying to grapple with the fact that I actually resolved to do a few things.

Arguably it wasn't one of the most eventful years for in recent times  but it did have a share of the good and the bad times. The bad overshadowing most of the good.

Political tamasha was the main ingredient like always and was full of plots and counter plots and revolts that the current government of Digambar Kamat survived virtually by the skin of its teeth. Only to live another day.

The year began with a plotted coup which went horribly wrong. The opportunistic party that it is, the BJP was thick in the toppling game and cobbled up all old enemies and never-to-look-at foes in early January 2008 to come up with many permutations and combinations but failed to cook the final tally.They had to therefore bite their own lips and stay put in the opposition benches while hopelessly watching some of their old foes turned friends turning foes again and joining the ruling combination to reap the shameless fruits of their failure turned success.

Indeed after three days of political brinkmanship the coup fizzled out. The new friends of the BJP went back to work with old foes and backstabbing reports and mudslinging habits came to the fore. It was like as if they were all treading a honest truthful and sincere path of politics and one rotten apple among them played spoilsport,when actually the truth is all were completely rotten and have been beating the drum too loudly at the end of the shamelessness pit.

There was another short lived coup staged backdoors and stayed there when there was uncertainty over the regional party SAVE GOA front which merged into the congress while some of its remnants claimed that the merger was illegal and demanded disqualification of the MLAs concerned.

January 2008 also saw the celebrated Konkani literateur Ravindra kelekar being awarded the Padma Bhushan award by the government of India for his contribution to the Konkani language.

The month of February 2008 rocked Goa with the strongman of Taleigao being manhandled by the Panaji police and subsequently arrested after allegedly pelting stones at the Panaji town police station while leading a morcha in support of some of his party people being kidnapped.

In the same month the police found the body of British national Scarlette keeling on the Anjuna beach who apparently dies under mysterious circumstances. The case had all the sleazy elements of a dangerous plot including sex, alcohol, drugs and late night revelries. The case was almost ignored by the Goa police untill the national as well as the international media resurrected it to a level where the Goa authorities were forced to enforce damage control and take action. While a barman and several others were apprehended and interrogated no breakthrough in the case seems to be in sight till date. The CBI is however in charge of the investigations and the mother of Scarlette has still been fighting a battle to get justice for her daughter.

The transport Minister Mr Pandurang Madkaikar cried foul when he lost his cabinet berth in the Goa assembly to make way for Mr Ramakrisha Dhavlikar inviting the wrath of the ST community to which Mr Madkaikar belongs.

On the 4th of  June 2008 a young legislator representing Pale constituency, Mr Gurudas gawas passed away leaving behind many expectations from him.

In the same month a parking fee racket was brought to light in Panaji in which a councillor of the Corporation of the city of Panaji was arrested by the Police.

In July Mr S.S sidhu was appointed the governor of Goa in place of the outgoing governor Mr SC Jamir who had a troubled relationship with the BJP in goa. Mr Jamir was posted as the Governor of the state of Maharashtra

Mr Dayanand Narvekar was forced to quit his ministerial berth to make way for Mr Atanasio Monserratte in the Digamber Kamat Cabinet leaving a fuming Narvekar to nurse his wounds.

EMRI the emergency service was launched in Goa with 18 state of the art ambulances to cater to emergency services in the state where the citizen has to dial 108 to avail the free service

Rohit Monserratte the son of Mr Atanasio Monserratte the MLA from Taleigao found himself in deep trouble when he was booked for allegedly raping a minor girl of German origin in Goa. Mr Aires Rodrigues the lawyer of the German girl vociferously campaigned against the accused and then after succeeding in arresting him, suddenly dropped the case citing his clients' disgust with the system failure of the Goan establishment to seek justice. Mr Aires Rodrigues was therefore in the eye of a storm for his alleged backtracking on the issue amidst suspicions of questioning his credibility which the lawyer vehemently denied.

Mr Pratap Gawas beat the BJP to claim the Pale constituency on the congress ticket, thus succeeding his brother to the seat in the Goa assembly.

Law and order saw a strange uncharacteristic Goan turn in Margao when there was an unusual communal clash between two groups over a small brawl in the city market leading to a complete halt and a bandh in Margao.

The global meltdown reached Goa and had its effect on various economics of the state. IFFI was held in Goa for the fifth successive year in 2008 amidst the usual fanfare but had the curtains came down unceremoniously without any closing ceremonies due to the Mumbai terror and the death of the former prime Minister Mr V.P. Singh.

Mr Swapnil Asnodkar brought laurels for the state with his heroics at the Indian Premier League.

The year however has to go down as the one which had the people's movement to the fore. The Goan people in general maintained their surging mood for agitations against haphazard development and opposed mega projects in almost every nook and corner of Goa. From Benaulim in the south to Pilerne in North Goa, gram sabhas began vociferously vocal and citizens were demanding answers to illegal projects being granted licences by flouting rules and in complete disregard to available infrastructure to sustain such huge projects.