Prutha Goa

There are times when non-fiction books read like fiction, only because of the incredible events that unfold in them. The House at 43, Hill Road , written by Brenda Rodrigues, is one such book that hits home with its forthright and visceral description of matters. It offers insight into the abyss of corruption that prevents India from progressing in any way. In Goa, it is difficult to find anyone who is not embroiled in a legal case dealing with property. As commonplace as property disputes are, the level of corruption exposed in The House at 43, Hill Road is astonishing and unspeakable. Brenda reveals an insidious rot within our legal system and the nexus between builders, the police and politicians without mincing her words. The first part, ‘Early Days’, takes us back to the history of the house at 43, Hill Road and traces the ancestry of Brenda’s husband, Joe Rodrigues, with family stories thrown in. The plot (number 36) that was originally purchased by the prosperous Braz R

The students of Don Bosco Primary School at Odxel shone in their respective performances in the school’s Annual Day function on the 5th of February 2018. The school that began in 2011 has 187 students enrolled and has a pre-primary section too. The occasion presented the skills of the bright youngsters with themes that centred round religious tolerance and unity in diversity – concepts that are extremely pertinent in these times of communal and religious strife, taking place globally as well as at home in India.  The children enacted a skit that showed that the innocence of childhood knows no boundaries of caste, class, creed or race. A Hindu boy called Shivam makes friends with some Muslim children, but the friendship is frowned upon by his father Mr Sharma who bears prejudice against them for belonging to a different religion. In the course of the play, the Hindu boy has an accident and it is Mr Sheikh and his family that come to the rescue. Mr Sharma’s eyes are opened to the kindnes

By Richard Lees, MD of Volunteering Goa LTD and International Consultant for Prutha Goa Any observer of the media today, be it newspapers, radio, TV or online media, could be forgiven for thinking that we are living in a very terrible time for humanity. We are fed with endless stories of war, corruption, natural disasters, terrorism, suicides and more. Even our modern obsession with celebrities seems more often than not to focus on their falling from popular favour, be it sporting heroes who are found to be taking drugs or politicians, singers, actors, etc who are caught having affairs. We even enjoy our stories of bad luck – the millionaire who lost everything in a stock market collapse seems to be a popular news story too. Is it true that the world is just getting worse and worse? Surprisingly, actual data does not support this view at all. Max Roser is an economist at the Institute for New Economic Thinking at Oxford University. He makes his data available freely through the website

6 Assagao appeared on the scene in Goa three and a half years ago as a confluence of art, intellect and social activism. Nilankur Das, who is part of the team that makes the events at 6 Assagao a reality, reflects on a social awakening birthed by the turbulent atmosphere of Assam in the '80s. Marked by political unrest, student agitation, secessionist movements, the Indian Army’s combing operations and the President’s rule, this time period shaped his motivation to work in the development sector, and later in outreach and communication programmes. People Tree, which was founded by Orijit Sen and Gurpreet Sidhu and functions as a space for products of unique design, began as an alternative bookshop in Delhi housing textile products and accessories. Far more than an ordinary store, People Tree boasts of having been the nurturing ground for social movements and the mentor of 6 Assagao. Nilankur says of People Tree, where he once used to have his activism T-shirts on display, ‘People T

In 2014, as former president Barack Obama launched a task force to prevent sexual violence against women in colleges in the USA, he said, ‘You can judge a nation and how successful it will be, based on how it treats its women and its girls.’  And how true this statement rings as we find our nation, India, among the top five countries in the world deemed unsafe for women as per a Thomson Reuters Foundation expert poll report. Culturally regressive behaviour and the gender divide has tainted us with atrocities in the multitude committed against women. Indian women on their part tend to cower in the face of rape, molestation, sexual harassment and other sexually charged crimes. This is an automatic reaction to the ingrained fear of social stigma. Yes, there is a need to change the mindset of society, but it can take a while before anything happens in that direction. Nevertheless, there are other infrastructural changes we can make in our villages, towns and cities as an immediate measure

A person upholding ethics is a rare experience in the world today. Finding an individual investing time, money and expertise solely towards promoting social causes is an even rarer occurrence. Lynn de Souza has achieved all that a career woman could hope to gain in life and has now devoted herself to giving social causes momentum through her media company Social Access Communications. Lynn, who is originally from Goa, has had a successful career spanning 25 years as a media person. Her versatility covers business acumen, sports (she has been a tennis champion), veterinary nursing, and women’s empowerment. With an MBA in Marketing, Lynn has been employed by prestigious advertising firms such as Ogilvy, Grey and Lintas. After a four year term as chairperson and CEO of Lintas Media Group, Lynn quit in 2012 to set up Social Access Communications in 2013. Lynn is no stranger to humanitarian works and has been instrumental in setting up an animal hospital and shelter (Socrates Oliver Veterin

Incredibly confident and light-hearted in her manner, Kanan Tandi is an advocate of understanding people through their body language and, very significantly, detecting and appreciating different types of intelligence. She posits her own case where she began with the sciences, although she despised mathematics, and switched to the arts and humanities for her undergraduate degree. She says, ‘Because I wasn’t good at maths, I was told I was dumb.’  Earlier, mathematics held her back, but as an arts student she was able to fulfil her potential in history by earning a 2nd rank at the Utkal University BA examinations. This impressed Kanan’s father to such an extent that he shipped her off to Delhi to prepare for the IAS examination.  Delhi had different plans for Kanan as she wandered into radio jockeying but had to give it up owing to lack of funds. She began dabbling in tarot card reading and numerology. Her tarot mentor piqued her interest in body language as she was guided to adjust her

Education has become the means of producing inept, unhappy, unimaginative and directionless individuals. This statement would be very true of the present educational system in Goa and India at large. Albert Einstein said: ‘Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.’ So just what is our educational system doing for our young people besides undermining and suppressing any category of intelligence and skills it does not include in its quota of valid abilities and intellect? Mr Manguirish Pai Raiker, who is a prominent businessman and the former president of Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has much to say about the educational system in its current avatar of leniency in examination corrections and promotion to higher classes. It is evident by the quality of students that pass out of university every year that all they ever do is learn enough by rote to pass exams. Since they lack the understa

The architect of the Indian Constitution, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, while addressing a group of Dalits in a speech, exhorted them to understand that though education is the future, land is our present and our future. The Dalit activist and Tamil writer Palanimuthu Sivakami explains B R Ambedkar’s ideas about land and its vital presence in India. The former IAS officer has made it her mission in life to alleviate the deplorable condition of low caste individuals in our country. The land issues in Goa have not escaped her attention and in her estimation the lecture, Ambedkar and the Land Question, at the Goa Arts and Literary Festival 2015, was one most pertinent at this moment in time. It is an undeniable fact that there is a link between the IAS and land. P Sivakami says, ‘Look at my case: if my father hadn’t had any land, I would not have become part of the IAS.’ A survey of IAS officers from Dalit and tribal communities would reveal that 99 percent of these officers have had land to su

The story of the Goan diaspora began long ago when natives left their land in search of better prospects, journeying to British India in the 18th and early 19th century under Portuguese rule. In the latter part of the 19th century and the early 20th century Goans migrated to East African British colonies and Portugal. The 1960's onwards saw Goans moving to the Gulf countries and emigrating to countries in Europe, North America, Australasia and elsewhere. It would not be incorrect to say that if one travelled to most parts of the world, not discovering a Goan community there would be highly unlikely. There is something about the Goan spirit that creates an indelible bond; one that will not be diminished by time or distance. It is to our credit that Goans are inherently able to integrate with the country they adopt and still maintain their distinct heritage. The necessity to continue to be linked with their homeland led these diasporic Goans to institute what is known as World Goa Da

Corruption is at an all-time high in India with no respite in sight. Every day the newspapers carry depressing stories about the way justice is subverted. This is not to say that we do not have people who are willing to take a stand against this gross perversion of ethics. In Goa, a small group has come together to make the effort to bring about a change. They call themselves Generation Next. A small group of individuals have come together under the presidency of Durgadas Kamat, who is the state secretary and chairman of the Information and Technology Cell of the Indian National Congress in Goa. The executive members are Chander Mohan Bhatia, Raymond Pereira, Yemane D’Souza, Angela Naik and Felix Goes. There is a host of young members who are geared up to carry on this crusade against corruption to the next generation. The group has no political affiliations but uses its connections to see that justice is meted out albeit on a small scale. There have been other groups that have been fo