Prutha Goa

The ongoing controversy about the coconut tree not being a tree but a palm brings to mind Damodar Mauzo’s short story These are My Children , where the main protagonist Rosalina names her coconut trees after her three children who have left home to start a life of their own. The trees are surrogates for her children and she treasures them to the point of crossing swords with the authorities. Her last words in the short story are, ‘No! I won’t let you cut my trees. Cut me first, then cut my children!’ The underlying theme is the importance of the coconut tree is equivalent to that of one’s own children. The scientific fraternity has categorised the palm ( Arecaceae family) in terms of trees, shrubs, and woody vines. Palm trees, in fact, are noted in the regions where they thrive for their productive role in human life. The coconut palm has been labelled as a tree because of its growth habitat. The United States Department of Agriculture definition of a tree says: ‘Perennial, woody pl

The 9 th of February 2019 saw a flurry of joyous activity at  Nirmala Institute of Education. It was time again to celebrate that vibrant flower that is endemic to Goa, the abolim , or firecracker flower, with the Abolianchem Fest . The concept of using the flower as a symbol was integrated into  Nirmala Institute’s own Project Goa, which highlights Goa’s socio-cultural features with a variety of  typical Goan music, games, songs, dances, food, art, craft, etc that existed before 1975. The campus of Nirmala Institute of Education was alive with the abolim abounding in great clusters in one section. Missing in action was Goemcho Festakar Marius Fernandes, the man who suggested the use of the symbolic abolim and has in recent times been a great promoter of Goan culture. His absence was sorely felt. Project Goa was first developed on the basis of ex-English Methodology lecturer Ms Sharmila Veloso’s own English project. The goal of this project, which evolved into Project Goa, was to re

For all landowners lamenting the dearth of coconut pluckers, or padekars , and the plight of their coconut plantations, the solution to the problem is a just a click away now. Suprajit Raikar, a resident of Benaulim, has taken a leap of faith, moving from a lucrative profession in the sphere of IT and starting his own business called Padekar.com. The coconut is a staple in the diet of any Goan, be it the famed fish curry or delicacies for a sweet tooth such as doce , dodol , baath , etc. A quintessential Goan meal without the addition of coconut in some form or the other is unthinkable. Nevertheless, recent years have seen a serious decline in the number of coconut pluckers available to carry out the harvesting of tender and ripe coconuts. Suprajit was the president of the NGO DMD (Desi Motorcycle Diaries)-Youth Adventure Club when he became aware of the plight of the coconut pluckers. ‘It was a natural switch over to move from IT to Padekar.com,’ says the thirty two year old entrepren