The Big Goan - Goa Holiday Blog

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.