Prutha Goa

By Shruthi Bhandary Chodankar As a counselling psychologist, I have encountered many children who avail of counselling for various reasons. Some children are not scholastically inclined and have trouble catching up with the rest of the class. Others have anxiety and anger issues. Victims of bullying and children with behavioural problems come to seek counselling. Children with suicidal thoughts, who cannot speak to anybody else of their fears and sadness see a counsellor as confidant. A few children even confess about problems in their relationships with family as well as friends (as commonly observed in students of Std VIII, IX and X). Recently, I found an emotional love letter with a child who is in Std V. Disconcerting as it may be, who is to take responsibility for this sort of behaviour in such young children? It is easy to begin blaming the media and technology, but it must be accepted that many of our young children go astray due to the wrong approach of the parents to handling

It requires some amount of courage, determination and a touch of madness to throw away what most would consider a normal life. Merwyn Coutinho felt there was certainly more to living in this world than the humdrum routine of existence with a corporate job, house, car and other requirements that determine the good life. He gave up the reality of the dream that most Indians chase after to bring light to the remotest corners of India, becoming what he calls a ‘dedicated traveller’. It began with vacations that increased in length as time went on. ‘Every time I stepped out, I wanted to stay there. I did not want to come back. So I went back to work and I said let me save some more money so next time I can take a longer vacation,’ says Merwyn. He consolidated his days of leave to be able to be away for longer periods of time. It was on one of these trips that Merwyn set off travelling to the north east region of India. The spark for the Batti Project was not lit until Merwyn came to a place

It is much easier to hold on to a job that brings in a considerable salary than to take the plunge to allow your creativity and your passion to be your guiding light. Joachim Haider is an architect, originally from Germany (but holds a PIO card at present), who came to India in 2006 after answering an advertisement to be a branch manager at an architectural company in Goa. After spending sixteen years in architectural work in Berlin, Germany, Joachim spent another five years and two months employed in the same field here in Goa. Twenty-one years of stifling one’s creative potential is bound to push an individual to the threshold of adhering to conventionalism. Joachim had a moment of enlightenment when he found himself stranded in Doha for around thirty-five hours in a hotel room. He had just lost his father to cancer and his thoughts went to the time his father had asked not to be force fed as his cancer was terminal. Remembering his father fondly and calling him a remarkable man, Joa

By Maya Lin Noronha (Counsellor) Children spend a considerable amount of time (about 14 years) of their young lives in school. Therefore, it is important to understand the environment in which they learn. The school system includes children, parents, teachers, community and school administration of which teachers and students are the two major players. A school environment conducive to learning, helping a child make a smooth adjustment to the system and bringing about the all-round personality and mental development of the child, is the need of the hour in this time and age. Young adolescents need a nurturing and secure environment at school, accompanied by adult guidance. If problems are not prevented in these years, there may be significant social consequences. As they move into middle-grade, students experience school competition, social comparison, and self-assessment. The school emphasis on discipline and teacher control, and its limited opportunities for student decision making,

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

Referring to globalisation in terms of time-space compression, a term first used by British geographer David Harvey, Professor Yudhishthir Raj Isar began his talk on Globalisation Versus Cultural Diversity at Goa University. The modern age has seen swifter movement of products, services and finance from one country to another; the arts, languages and culture have found a universal arena in the same way. So also, the connectivity between people across regions has increased. The innovations in telecommunications, transport and media, and the expansion of multinational corporations that are culture sensitive and their worldwide marketing strategies, etc, have all contributed to narrowing this time-space compression, in effect leading to globalisation. There are arguments that attempt to strictly classify globalisation in the brackets of positive or negative. Proponents idealise the concept, believing it to be solving the world’s economic problems, creating a platform for equality and enco

It is common knowledge that in Goa, having your artistic work plagiarised, be it literary, music, photography, etc, is not an unusual phenomenon. Often people are completely unaware that they have violated somebody's intellectual property rights. Supreme Court Counsel Jamshed Mistry, who is an authority on media, entertainment and corporate law, and Advocate Laxmi Maria Jenkins from Mumbai spoke on Intellectual Property and Copyrights in Media & Entertainment doing much to dispel misconceptions and provide a wealth of legal information to entertainment and media representatives. The talk was arranged by Ethel Da Costa’s PR company Think Geek Media. During the talk held at the International Centre Goa, it became clear that the root of the problem is the omission of entertainment law from the curricula of law colleges. Naturally, artists remain ignorant too and ignorance has no scope for bliss in this case. The entertainment industry remains fraught with issues that seem to have