Prutha Goa

It does take a special person to fulfil a challenge that might well lead to loss of life. Commander Dilip Donde, who resides in Goa, is one such individual who stands apart as the first Indian to circumnavigate the world on his own. In a continuation of the 'Leadership Lectures' at International Centre Goa, Cdr Dilip Donde spoke of his adventures on board his sailing boat, the Goan built Mhadei , regaling everyone with his humour infused anecdotes and honesty. The story begins when the Indian Navy approached Cdr Donde in 2006 to volunteer in its solo expedition project Sagar Parikrama-1 in circumnavigating the world. There were 170 solo circumnavigators and not one of them was an Indian. Cdr Donde jumped at the opportunity that his colleagues had declined. He was called a fool to venture into uncharted territory where his fate would be decided solely by the whims of the sea, but that did not deter his resolve. He recalls his mother’s reaction to his decision was one of support,

The internet has the power of the Big Brother of George Orwell’s 1984. What was once predicted to happen twenty years ago has already become a reality in the present day and age. ‘We always thought it would be far off, but we are being surveyed right now,’ says Baishampayan Ghose, the co-founder and CTO (Chief Technology Officer) at Helpshift, a company that offers web and mobile customer service software. He goes as BeeGee and has taken it upon himself to create awareness about the perils of the internet and how we can safeguard our anonymity. Anonymity is important to avoid providing an Achilles’ heel that can be wounded. The internet, however, preys on our vulnerability by placing us at the whim of government agency scrutiny, and much darker, predatory forces. At its least dangerous position, the internet subjects us to targeted advertising. Whenever we like a post or article it is carefully monitored, along with our internet searches and so on, and information connected with our on

What are the qualities of a leader? Is leadership about wielding immense power and controlling people? Vijay Crishna gives us quite an interesting picture of a true leader, one that challenges preconceived notions and puts to rest ideas of demanding subservience. Vijay Crishna, at his talk 'Leading from Behind' at the International Centre Goa, Dona Paula, presented the audience with a story of courage and endurance to inspire and motivate. He did not lay down specific rules but recounted the life of a man. As Crishna says, ‘He failed every objective set in life, but when tested to the length of his endurance, he came up trumps. This is the greatest survival story of them all. Something we can all learn from.’ The man Vijay Crishna is talking about is Sir Ernest Shackleton. Antarctica, the world’s seventh continent, is not only as precarious and lonely as it was in Shackleton’s time; it has become significant in the climate change phenomenon with its capacity to hold 70 percent

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

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

Rahul and Shobhana Chandawarkar are very much a power couple who decided to move from to Goa for a life of a better quality, and the freedom to have control over decision making in their careers. The latter was achieved by starting their own event management company called Cashewrina Events. Rahul was involved in sales and marketing for ten years after acquiring his MBA degree from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management in 1987. He changed his career pathway to journalism in 1997. Since then he has worked for The Times of India and has been the editor of Sakal Times at Pune. He has been editor of Gomantak Times in Goa as well for a few months. Being in media for about eighteen years has allowed Rahul to build a network of contacts, especially performance artists, which in turn made the idea of starting an event company viable. Shobhana, who has been part of the IT industry for most of her life, has now transitioned to a different role in the partnership she holds in Cashewrina Ev

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