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Romance in the Rain

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 11:32:00 +0000

There! Forsaken on the road I was
When it began to rain cats and dogs;
Neither an awning nor oak to pause,
But only a hazy expanse swarmed with bogs.

But Ah! Up ahead, a glimmer of hope -
A petite belle with an umbrella over her head;
I whistled, praying with me she would cope
Under the colourful canopy of her shade.

And lo! I was thither, my arm around her
With raindrops from my head gliding onto her nape;
From her, just a sweet and delectable purr
As we mooched about under the romantic cape.

Blimey! The rain is only an exotic cacophony,
But underneath the umbrella, it's Holy Matrimony!

(written during my college days many years ago)

Chandor Ganv Vhodd Zaum!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 17:40:00 +0000

In an earlier post, I had written about how villagers in Chandor (Goa) have put together a proposal on how the village should develop over the next few years. It is considered to be the first such initiative in Goa.

The plan titled Chandor Ganv Vhodd Zaum! is now available online. Click to read the comprehensive plan.

Virtual Tour of World Heritage Sites

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 11:28:00 +0000

WHTour.org creates and maintains a documentary image bank with panoramic pictures and interactive virtual reality movies for some sites registered as World Heritage by UNESCO.

You just need QuickTime on your computer to view the excellent 360 degree images of the heritage sites.

For example, have a look at the world heritage monuments (churches) of Old Goa.

Community-Driven Village Development

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 17:25:00 +0000

Say "community-driven village development" and what immediately comes to mind is Anna Hazare's hugely successful initiative in Ralegaon Siddhi.

Now, in what is considered to be a first in Goa, villagers from Chandor (my native place) have put together a "Five Year People’s Plan for the Sustainable Development of Chandor (2007-2012)."

The development plan is a comprehensive document (titled Chandor ganv vhodd zaum) that lays down a proposal on how the village of Chandor should develop over the next few years. The plan was put together "with the active participation of all the people for whom it is intended."

Being the first such substantive community-driven initiative in Goa, it has got a fair amount of media coverage in Goa:

After going through the plan, it is obvious that a lot of thought and effort has gone into putting together the plan (unfortunately, the plan is not yet available online).

The Chandor team that led the development plan movement deserve unqualified kudos!

Keep it up folks! I feel proud to be a Chandorkar!

More on Nike's Cricket Ad

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 08:36:00 +0000

This is a follow-up to my earlier post on Nike's cricket ad that's currently shown on Indian television.

Agnello Dias, Senior Vice President and Executive Creative Director, J Walter Thompson, is the creative mind behind the ad. The Goan music and Konkani lyrics were also his idea. It looks like Agnello is a Goan.

The song in the ad is rendered by Ella Castellino (another Goan?). The lyrics of the song (translated into English) are:

Wait, partner, wait
First let me play
If you don't play, I'll keep chasing you all day
Our game is like this only
Where we have no time to think
It is the game of cat and mouse
That I have begun to love
And in the falling running breaking
My destiny is entwined

Rediff has a story containing the above nuggets and other details on how the ad was made.

Quotes on Goa

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 06:01:00 +0000

In a recent post on Goanet, FN pieced together some quotable quotes on Goa. Here are the quotes...

This town was very large, with goodly edifices and handsome streets and squares, surrounded by walls and towers. There is a very good fortress in it, and in the environs many gardens and orchards of fine trees and fruits, and many pools of good water.

- Duarte Barbosa describing Goa, centuries ago.

Goans are a tolerant, informal people, team-oriented and people-oriented and supportive of one another's work. They are both individually and socially responsive.

- Fr Romualdo R De Souza, founder, Goa Institute of Management and former Director of Xavier Labour Relations Institute, Jamshedpur. Also founder-director of Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneswar.

Goa has achieved a remarkable level of social cohesion since its liberation in 1961. It is relatively free of the communal and caste tensions which have vitiated (the) investment climate elsewhere.... A sense of relaxation which every visitor feels in Goa is a product of its life-style, which is in consonance with mother nature, and a sense of fulfillment which the people of Goa exhibit in their day-to-day life.

- V. A. Pai Panandiker, economist, earlier director of Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi.

Most of us are aware of 450 years of European dominance and the institutional, religious and legal imperatives resulting from it. Some of us are aware of a change-over in the last thirty years from a predominantly Christian to a symbiotic Hindu-Christian society, where the Hindu element has supplanted the Christian in numerical terms. Very few of us are conscious about the impact that the overlay of a globalised-homogenised dominant culture has and continues to have upon the manifestation of an indigenous culture.

- Cho Padamsee, former principal, Goa College of Architecture.

Before the 16th century, Goa was a languid Elysium, a remote province on the periphery of large kingdoms, ensconced in the wooded foothills of the Western Ghats. In the 16th century, it was suddenly elevated to the status of being the eastern metropolis of the Portuguese empire, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It then became the seat of a Christian imperialism whose influence, in the east, encompassed the area between the Cape of Good Hope and the Sea of Japan.

- Jose Pereira, Professor Emeritus of Theology, Fordham University, New York.

[Goa's] metropolitan dignity was embodied in structures of an appropriate grandeur during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Then, as the Portuguese empire decayed, Goa sank into political insignificance, becoming again a soporific paradise, but retaining a sense of the former grandeur in its edifices, now enveloped by the land's idyllic landscape.

- Jose Pereira, Professor Emeritus of Theology, Fordham University, New York.

Konkani in Nike Ad!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 10:05:00 +0000

Have you seen the new Nike "cricket" ad on Indian television?

The audio track for the ad has a Konkani song. Konkani? Yes, Konkani! (Konkani is the pre-dominant language of Goa; it's also spoken in other parts of the Konkan region).

The original Konkani song Bebdo (drunkard) was written and composed by the inimitable Goan music maestro Chris Perry and rendered by Goa's nightingale Lorna.

Though I couldn't figure out why the ad makers have used the Konkani song (the original lyrics are modified), I have no complaints. One rarely gets to hear Konkani on national television! Of course, the pulsating rhythm of the song does make heads turn towards the ad.

Oh My Love!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 06:19:00 +0000

Indeed, It's a mystique smile
Everyday as I walk the mile
Alongside your cottage on the scenic isle.

Looking at your glowing self, time just flies
Striking fire from my captivated eyes
As my mouth emits faint yet sweet sighs.

You always appear gorgeous in the red,
But, I know not whether you are glad or sad;
Nonetheless, you have made me mad.

They say that your father is a potter,
So, someday I'll come to your house to ask for water
And rob your parents of a charming daughter.

Then, the world can only watch us carve
A beautiful image of our Love.

(written during my college days many years ago)

101 (Cyber) Goans Honours List

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 10:07:00 +0000

Earlier this year, Frederick Noronha, an independent journalist based in Goa, compiled and released a list of 101 "cybergoans" to acknowledge the contributions by people of Goan origin, regardless of where they are located, and in what field they work. The list is largely based on information emerging in cyberspace.

Undoubtedly, I believe it's a great effort by FN (as he's known in cyberspace). The list throws up quite a lot of interesting tidbits about the successes of Goans around the world.

Of course, FN himself admits that the list is a subjective view, and certainly not the last word on the subject. "But we do need to start recognising the contribution of people from this small region... where ever they are located, and in whichever field," adds FN.

Click to view the complete 101 cybergoans honours list.

The Gazelle from Chandor

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 08:50:00 +0000

Quiz question.

In 1962, who was the supreme sprinter in the whole of the Commonwealth?

No kidding, it was someone with roots in Chandor (Goa): Seraphino Antao.

In 1962, at the Commonwealth Games in Perth, Seraphino (running for Kenya) won the 100 yards and 220 yards golden double. It's reported that Seraphino still remains the only Kenyan to have ever won gold in the short sprints at any world level.

Fondly known as "Gazelle" in his youth, we can perhaps call Seraphino the fastest Goan in the world!

Seraphino was born in Chandor; he grew up in and ran for Kenya; he currently resides in the UK.

The Goan Voice UK has a link that includes articles about Seraphino in the media.

For a detailed list of Seraphino's athletic feathers in the cap, see the Sporty Goans blog.

The Hutch dog is from Goa!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 08:34:00 +0000

A silly-face pug follows a boy in the playground, the room, the road, up the stairs, over a bridge, back into the room and the tag line reads: ‘Wherever you go our network follows.’

Simple, effective. And quite spontaneous.

If you haven't guessed it as yet, that's the Hutch television ad for mobile services.

But why am I so interested in the ad? It's just that the dog in the ad is from Goa!

The creative team at OgilvyOne wanted a cute mutt and they found ‘Chika’ with a couple in Goa. The boy in the Hutch ad is the son of a filmmaker. The duo got along so famously that the film was shot spot on! No retakes.

Read the story about four-footed models in The Financial Express.

Goan Stories from Around the World

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 09:23:00 +0000

The Goan Voice UK is one of the best sources for "Goan" news stories emerging from around the world. Eddie Fernandes, who runs the service, has the uncanny ability to unearth stories about Goa and Goans appearing in the vast expanse of cyberspace.

While many of the news articles may not interest Goans outside the UK, a lot of the other news stories highlight different facets of Goa and the achievements and successes of Goans around the world.

Keep up the good work Eddie!

(Cyber) Networking Chandor

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 15:17:00 +0000

We now have a Chandor Cyberforum. Chandor, of course, is my native Goan village known for its scenic beauty. The cybergroup is intended to be a mailing list, discussion forum, and newsgroup for current and past residents and lovers of Chandor from around the world.

The group is still new; so nothing much is happening there right now. If you are interested in the Goan village, do join the group and help make it vibrant.

Jinelle on the Web

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 17:18:00 +0000

I started thinking about doing it a long long time back. Just over two years later, I have finally made a start! Some of my lovely little princess's camera moments are now shared on the Net. Have a look at Jinelle on the Web.

Those Were the Days

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 17:01:00 +0000

Crocodile was the name of the game. Entrenching our toes from one corner to the other was the aim of the game. I cannot remember how the game (of Four Corners) got that name. But then, in those days our home was a veritable cornucopia of games with rules of their own.

Every morning during the holiday season, almost the entire neighbourhood of my age group assembled in our front porch. Thence, till evening, a noisy buzz prevailed as we launched ourselves into the vigorous pastimes. From football to cricket, we had it all.

I still remember one of the rules of our cricket. Dare to hit the ball high in the air (say five to six metres), and the batsman was declared out. Perhaps someone from our clique had heard a radio commentator say, "…the ball is up in the air and he’s out." No one, then, possessed a television set in our neighbourhood.

Once, we even organised an individual cricket championship among ourselves. A very tiny winner's cup was up at stake and I had won it by scoring some seventy odd runs. I must have had been legally out on, at least, seven occasions during that innings. Obviously, no one from our band knew much about cricket then.

We had an interesting penalty rule while playing football. If a team conceded three corner kicks successively, then a spot-kick was awarded against them. Many times, arguments lingered on whether it should be just one spot-kick or seven.

But the game which held the pride of place was Hide And Seek. We played it only on occasions when the gang was sufficiently big and the holiday mood was palpable. The game came to be referred as "Tantiani" which in the local parlance (Konkani) means "with eggs." I do not know how and why the game got its name.

The fun and frolic during this game was tremendous and, unfortunately, at the cost of the seeker. But then seeking everyone from their hiding places was quite an achievement. And this too without anyone getting near the seeker’s post without his knowledge.

My mind travels back to one specific incident. There was one particular rule to the effect that if the seeker identified a hidden person wrongly, then he had to start all over again. As such, a tested trick in our bag was to exchange our clothes while hiding and, thereby, confuse the seeker.

But the essence of the trick lay in the hidden person’s ability to conveniently show a part of himself in the exchanged dress and goof up the seeker. Once, I too went about this task. I intelligently chose someone of my size and interchanged t-shirts with him. To add to my luck, our t-shirts bore contrasting shades.

Then, all set to carry out the trick, both of us crept behind a low wall so that only a part of our hunched backs could be spotted by the seeker. Expectedly, the seeker called both our names that we were traced. Our tricky euphoria lay punctured when we realised that we should have been at two different places and not behind that same damned wall.