Category: Popular Essays

Popular Essays

विष्णू वाघांच्या जाण्याचे काही संदर्भ

‘विष्णू मामा गेला’ हे फोनवर टाईप करताना क्षणातच अनंत युगांचं पोरकेपण नशिबी आल्याची जाणीव झाली. ह्या वाक्यात महत्वाचं आहे ते ‘गेला’ हे क्रियापद. त्याच्यामाझ्या सहवासातले ठळक टप्पे आठवण्याचा प्रयत्न केल्यास तो सतत कुठेतरी ‘गेलेलाच’ असल्याची जाणीव झाली. १९९४ मध्ये तो मगो सोडून काँग्रेसमध्ये गेला. तेव्हा मी तीन वर्षांचा होतो. ते त्याचं चुकलेलं पहिलं पाऊल असं मी लहानाचा मोठा होईपर्यंत ऐकत आलो आहे. तो ज्या दिवशी काँग्रेसमध्ये गेला त्या संध्याकाळी आमच्या घरी एक वादळी बैठक झाली. त्यात विष्णू मामाबरोबर वावरणारे, अगदी आदल्या रात्री व त्या दुपारपर्यंत त्याच्याबरोबर असणारे त्याचे सहकारी उपस्थित होते. तो काँग्रेसमध्ये गेलाच कसा ह्या प्रश्नावर माझे आजोबा विश्वनाथ नाईक ह्यांनी सगळ्यांनाच फैलावर घेतले. त्यातल्या बऱ्याच जणांना तो काँग्रेसमध्ये जाणार असल्याचा काहीच सुगावा नव्हता. (more…)

Popular Essays

So what are Goans aspiring for?

By ALBERTINA ALMEIDA

 

Our lifestyles are already at stake, they are further threatened. The cultural setting, to which the outmigrating Goans hope to return to in their old age, will be erased. Goans will be a museum piece like Native Americans are in the United States, to dance ‘hanv saiba poltodi vetam’ on the tourist boats. Reduced in numbers, robbed of lands, relocated, governed by governing systems that are not in conformity with their way of being. Sometimes through the propping up of sold-out individuals who claim to ‘represent’ the same communities.

 

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Popular Essays

The Case of the Missing Temple

By AMITA KANEKAR

 

This article is about the temple of one of the most widespread and important deities of Goan village society, which is also however almost invisible as well as unknown to many Goans. The deity is Maharingan, and the reason for the invisibilation is because Maharingan is a Mahar deity, and Mahars are a community that would be openly called ‘untouchable’ in the past. Today, although such terminology and behaviour are banned by law, they are still treated as outsiders in not just many Goan villages but also in urban Goa. And their temple is a witness of this unspoken but persisting discrimination.

 

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Popular Essays

Cops and Sentinels

By DALE LUIS MENEZES

 

The ‘Traffic Sentinel’ initiative by the Goa Police has divided public opinion. While both sides, that is, those who support and those who oppose the initiative, have their reasons, most miss the forest for a few trees. Many do not seem to notice the larger issue at stake, which is, public law and order, due process, and the efficient functioning of the state. While there is no doubt that traffic violations need to be curbed, it appears that the authorities have abdicated their role in the maintenance of law and order. And yet, it should also be highlighted that the citizens cannot be expected to fulfill the duty of the state and its agents.

 

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Popular Essays

Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas? (Progress of All with All?)

By ALBERTINA ALMEIDA

 

Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas is a poll slogan apparently coined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi which, according to his website, translates as Collective Efforts Inclusive Growth, and is supposed to be at the core of the functioning of the present Government. However, if one were to assess how Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas is being applied, one would need to look at two factors: one, whether bland unity or bland equality measures, can succeed in contexts that are ridden with power imbalance; and two, to consider if the State’s vision of progress is a progress that is accessible to the marginalized sections of society.

 

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Popular Essays

Big Corporates and their Political Minions need the Boot

By AMITA KANEKAR

 

Monkeys are taking over village roofs across Goa, from Pernem to Canacona. According to Rama Velip, environmentalist and anti-mining activist, this is just one of the ways his village of Colomb has changed over the last decade. Most of the paddy fields and coconut plantations were damaged by mining run-off. Water availability went down; with heavy pollution of the river and wells running dry, the winter paddy cultivation was stopped. Increasingly erratic and unseasonal weather changes routinely cause crop failures. On top of all this are unwanted visitors: hoards of monkeys, along with leopards, wild boar, and bison. In fact, with bison attacks becoming common in the talukas of Bicholim, Sattari and Sanguem, some villages have demanded a drastic change in the classification of Goa’s state animal from ‘protected’ to ‘vermin’, which would allow them to be killed.

 

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Popular Essays

Past and Present for 2019

By DALE LUIS MENEZES

 

Our political condition becomes worse with each passing year. The nature of public debate (rather the absence of it), the deteriorating condition of public infrastructure, and unscrupulous bids have plunged Goa’s into chaos. Thus, taking stock of the bygone year, or reflecting on the past on any anniversaries (such as the recently concluded 57th Liberation Day of Goa), appears to be an exercise in futility. However, can we really afford to ignore the past? If we do, we run the risk of subjecting ourselves to the same political manipulations of the past. It is only by considering the past errors that we are able to avoid blunders in the present and future. However, making sense of our present in relation to the past (thereby charting a vision for the future) is not as easy as it seems.

 

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Popular Essays

Need of the hour: English MOI and reservations for all

By AMITA KANEKAR

 

The Dr B R Ambedkar Memorial Lecture Series this year saw both the distinguished speakers, Advocate Martin Macwan and Prof Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd, speak, among other things, of the same two issues in their speeches. One was about English-language education – a subject of burning debate in Goa – and second about the need to expand caste-based reservations – a subject which is like the proverbial elephant in the room, i.e. always ignored.

 

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Popular Essays

Fishing in Troubled Waters: Markets and Laborers

By DALE LUIS MENEZES

 

Six months after the shocking revelation came to light that fish imported into Goa is preserved in the carcinogenic formalin, the issue is nowhere close to a solution. Recently, health minister Vishwajit Rane announced that the ban on imports will be in place for six months, except for those traders who comply with health and quality regulations. This apparently unstoppable poisoning (or adulteration) not only brings the governmental authorities under the scanner for being unable to stop such malpractices, but also highlights the manner in which the fishing industry operates in most parts of coastal India. It is important to discuss the labor practices and potential policy decisions that would address allied issues, including the issue of formalin.

 

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