INCREDIBLE GOA APRIL 2020 ISSUE by Incredible Goa

VOL 5 ISSUE 6, PANAJI GOA, RNI : GOAENG/2016/66434

APRIL 2020

POSTAL LICENSE NO : G-2/RNP/GOA/28/2018-21

www.incrediblegoa.org Cover Story

COVID-19 & GOA Coronavirus (COVID-19) - is a highly contagious disease, originated in Wuhan, China, in November 2019 and started spreading rapidly across the globe. By the beginning of January 2020, this virus became one of the biggest pandemic the world had ever seen.

Women Empowerment

Shobika Jaju

Nolan Mascarenhas

Nakita Fernandes

Viresh Vazirani

Trendsetters

Goan Talent

Young Goa

sales@sunestates.com www.sunestates.com

www.goaecobags.com

For More Details Contact 92259 03930

89990 85172

GOA

ECO bags

Want to save Nature?? Insist on Paper Bags!

Issued in public interest by Goa Eco Bags

www.saadinfra.com

www.wiyotravel.com

www.ďŹ dalgogroup.com

www.childrescue.net

www.fernhotels.com/the-fern-kadamba.html

CREDITS Editor & Publisher Rajesh Ghadge email: rajesh@incrediblegoa.org

Finance & Admin Rajeshree Naik Ghadge email: admin@incrediblegoa.org

Layouts & Design Creative Concepts Media email: creativeconceptsgoa@gmail.com

Sales & Marketing Team Incredible Goa email: info@incrediblegoa.org

Contributors Norbert Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Souza Anita Athi Shobhika Jaju Dr. Paresh Lotlekar Paul Khawani-Connett Neelam Khawani-Connett

Circulations Mark Fernandes Ganesh Raj email: info@incrediblegoa.org

Photography Gulaksha Kunkolkar Aakash Ghadge email: aakash@incrediblegoa.org

10 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

www.lacabana.in

CONTENTS

Cover Story

Women Empowerment

Trendsetters

COVID-19 & Goa

Shobhika Jaju

Nolan Mascarenhas

Goa, being one of the major tourist destinations in the world, has been severely affected. In particular, the knock-on effect from the disease - rather than the disease itself - is the biggest problem. The effects of this dreadful virus will no-doubt act upon Goa for a very long time. What will be the short and long-term effects on Goa's tourist industry? And how long will Goa take to recover from this setback? .

Shobhika is both a qualiﬁed psychologist and career counsellor. For her, psychology was a passion right from a young age, and she always knew she wanted to become a psychologist when she got older. According to Shobhika, psychology is her 'love at ﬁrst sight'

The hero of this story has also gone through the similar situation and now wears two hats: one of passion and one of profession. Nolan Mascarenhas, an well documented foodie, author and mixologist is also an investment consultant but very few people know about that. This story brings to light, his journey from being an investment consultant to a talented mixologist.

Hospitality

Fitness

Mental Health

Lockdown Series Lunges

Power of Forgiveness

Salada D’Idalina by Chef Urbano Rego

Forgiveness is one of the most important contributors in a relationship, to keep it alive & healthy. It's also one of t h e h a rd e s t t h i n g s t o p r a c t i c e . Forgiveness would refer to releasing the feelings of hurt, revenge, anger, which one is holding towards another person. What is important here to remember is that forgiving someone doesn't mean that you are taking the blame onto yourself, or that you are wrong.

12 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

Strengthen your heart and lungs - Can strengthen your bones, slowing down the process of osteoporosis Helps you move about more easily by keeping joints, tendons and ligaments more ﬂexible - Can help you lose weight (when combined with good eating habits) or maintain ideal weight by burning excess calories - Promotes a sense of well-being

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

44 Goan Talent

Young Goa

Hot Picks

Nakita Fernandes Viresh Vazirani In her own words, “I always had this vision of being a model since I was 3 years old…” but wait, that is not the complete sentence. As the story progresses you will get to know Nakita from much closer. Today Nakita has achieved what she dreamt of in her childhood but all that did not come easy to her and I think her struggle and belief in herself made her what she is today.

Dental Health

Today's generation is different in so many ways than the youth of yesteryear. Today's youth think and act out of the box and the new generation of entrepreneurship has popped up all over the country. Viresh Vazirani is one of the ﬁnest examples of this phenomenon. He began his journey from college days and today has established himself as a Growth Hacking entrepreneur in the State of Goa.

In Focus

Baga Beer Garden Baga Beer Garden is a new concept restaurant project of 'Susegado' one of the pioneer Craft Beer Makers of Goa. Promoted by Aditya Challa who believes that there is a need of giving completely different experience to the customer compared to how they would normally experience the beer at some other establishments.

Oral Hygiene

Casinos in Goa

A healthy mouth is more important than you might imagine. It is not just about prevention of cavity and gum disease. Research has found that there is a correlation between a person's oral health and general health. Good oral hygiene is essential in keeping the teeth and gums healthy. This involves becoming conscious of your daily oral hygiene activities as well as using the right dental care products. Here are a few things you can do at home to keep your mouth healthy and clean.

Nevertheless, several casino operators have been contributing towards government operations and relief measures during this time. As part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) requirements, many operators have donated to the government's relief fund, while they are also helping to manage the logistics of delivery and transport.

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

oﬃcialincrediblegoa

APRIL 2020 / INCREDIBLE GOA / 13

From The Editor’s Desk “this is the time to reconcile our past with the future” Coronavirus, or COVID-19, has changed the way of life for people across the globe. It has dramatically affected the way we live, socialise, and do our business. This is perhaps the ﬁrst pandemic that has virtually shut the whole planet down. The world was not prepared for this pandemic, and it's made us realise that all our power and money have absolutely no value. What is the point of life, when we cannot come out of our house and interact with people? This deadly virus, that originated from the city of Wuhan in China, spread across the world at lightning speed, denying the opportunity for most developed countries to prepare for it. According to reports, the maximum effect of this is seen in First World countries like the UK and USA. India did get affected, but not to the scale of the USA and UK, where thousands of people have died.

therealrajeshghadge therealrajeshghadge rajeshrghadge rajeshghadge rajeshghadge rajesh@rajeshghadge.com www.rajeshghadge.com To err is human. Although we take due care while publishing the magazine to ensure it is free of any mistakes, any omissions or errors are entirely unintentional. In case you ﬁnd any erroneous photographs, language, missing credits or anything else published incorrectly, please feel free to bring it to our notice. We believe in publishing matters that catch our readers' attention and at the same time impart information. We hope all our readers appreciate the content and help us make this publication even better and useful.

Goa, being the smallest state, and a much sought-after tourism destination in the world, seemingly remained immune to the virus, with just seven confirmed cases – from which the patients recovered. But despite immunity from Coronavirus, Goa had no protection from the business losses, much like other states in India. Goa is heavily dependent on the tourism sector, and this has affected the state the most. The collapse of the global tourism industry, coupled with the already existing decline in tourist foot-falls in Goa, has had a catastrophic effect. Forty per cent of Goa's economy depends on travel and hospitality, and with Coronavirus in the air, everything is on hold for at least a couple of months, maybe more. Goa's tourism industry had already begun its decline a couple of years ago due to various factors, and Coronavirus appears to have put the final nail in its coffin. Coronavirus spreads rapidly from person to person, and without any vaccine to date, this makes it even more dangerous, with the only cure being to isolate from others. The whole world went into lockdown for an indefinite period, affecting the entire global business industry, and you can imagine the effect this had on the state of Goa - which is a tiny part of the world. According to tourism industry specialists, business activities in this sector may not resume again until next season, and this is also dependent on how other countries deal with the virus. Goa has many resorts of various sizes, where hundreds of thousands of people work, and it's a real possibility that most of them may lose their jobs if operations are not resumed quickly. As Goa has no active cases of Coronavirus, business will commence postlockdown, but likely facilitated by keeping the state borders sealed. However, Goa depends on Maharashtra and Karnataka for many essentials, and resuming business internally may not help the majority of people, who are dependent on supplies from these neighbouring states.

14 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

www.tangentia.com/india

Cover Story

The Eﬀect of COVID-19 Pandemic on Goa's Tourist Industry Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a highly contagious disease, originated in Wuhan, Chi-na, in November 2019 and started spreading rapidly across the globe. By the beginning of January 2020, this virus became one of the biggest pandemics the world had ever seen. COVID-19 spreads from human-tohuman, although was originally thought to be contract-ed from animals.

16 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

ral calamities, and it has once again proved to be one of the safest places as far as Coronavirus disease is concerned. Goa has a ﬁxed local population of around 2 million, and around a 6 million moving population, which includes tourists and other visitors. The state has had only 7 positive cases, and these infected people had entered Goa from other parts of the world. Ofﬁcially, not a single Goan from within the state has been infected with the COVID-19 virus. South Goa has remained in the Green Zone right from the beginning, giving the appearance that Goans are

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

oï¬&#x192;cialincrediblegoa

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

APRIL 2020 / INCREDIBLE GOA / 17

immune to the virus. Being one of the tiniest states in India, Goa earns its bread and butter from the tourism industry. As quoted by the Calangute MLA Michael Lobo, “forget of butter now, even bread has become difﬁcult to get due to the closure of the tourism industry - due to this global pandemic.” After the closure of mining activities in recent years in the state, only tourism has remained as one of the major sources of income for Goans. Goa gets approximately 6 million visitors to the state every year, and the entire Goan hospitality industry survives on these visitors. The government coffers are also ﬁlled due to the existence of casinos, which have now closed due to the COVID-19 crisis. There is no certainty as to when normality will resume. Goa may never be

A Completely Deserted Margao Market

the same again. If you take a look at the trend in the past couple of years, the state tourism industry was already in steep decline, as many foreigners were preferring to visit elsewhere in the world, dropping Goa as

their preferred destination. This was largely due to repeated is-sues, such as a stiff hike in the prices, lack of infrastructure, stray dogs, garbage and urbanisation of the state. Despite this, the Goan tourism industry

18th June Road, Panaji - Goa.

18 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

CRPF Jawans Deployed outside a Supermarket at Panaji, Goa.

managed to survive on domestic tourism, as well as destination weddings and events; but the fatal blow of Coro-navirus disease has eradicated those lifelines – at least for the time being. Although Coronavirus disease started spreading its tentacles across the globe at the end of February 2020, with major countries like the UK, USA and in the European Union heavi-ly affected - India still seemed unaffected by it - and tourism activities in Goa continued in full swing. Events such as destination weddings – as well as venues such as casinos continued ﬂashing their lights. It was only in the second week of March that the effect of virus starred spreading its tentacles WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

within India. Gujarat, Delhi and Mumbai had numer-ous cases surfacing; but up until that point Goa remained largely disconnected from the pandemic. One report published in the ﬁrst week of March stated that the Coronavirus disease has had no impact on the state of Goa. The port minister, Michael Lobo, while talking to L i v e M i n t (https://www.livemint.com/ne ws/india/coronavirus-has-noimpact-on-goa-tourism11583377945989.html) stated that Goa's heat and humidity are detrimental to spread of Coronavirus disease. “Tourist arrivals had increased after the outbreak”, Lobo told the news agency. "Right now, we are

doing better than before, because people can't travel to Thailand, China, Italy and other destinations. They are coming to Goa pushing the num-ber of Indian tourists up," he said. According to Mr. Lobo, Goa was always safe. "With this weather, I don't think the virus can spread," he said, and then added that nothing would stop tourists from coming here. Given the above statement, you can understand how safe and secure Goa felt, even when the virus had almost reached to its doorstep. By the time mid-March arrived, the situation had changed in the state, and the reported upsurge in visitors declined sharply. This happened within just 10 days of Lobo giving his APRIL 2020 / INCREDIBLE GOA / 19

positive statement to the media about the safety of Goa, regarding Coronavirus disease. Furthermore, by the middle of March, COVID-19 moved its epicenter from China to the USA, and around this time, the ﬁrst two suspected cases

20 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

emerged in Goa. According to a report, published by one of the leading food and travel online portals, the Coronavirus disease pandemic had started affecting Goa's tourism industry severely, with the tourist inﬂow

plummeting- to almost 50% of what it was. The report stated: “Two people in the Goa have been quarantined, as they are suspected of being exposed to the virus. The beaches are empty and so are the hotel rooms. Those who are in the

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

state, are choosing to stay inside and not venture out.” (https://www.whatshot.in/mu mbai/goa-coronavirustourism-down-50-c-20431) GOA UNDER CORONAVIRUS DISEASE As mentioned above, the ﬁrst two cases of suspected Coronavirus disease came into the light in the middle of March 2020, and these patients were swiftly put into the quarantine. By the third week of March the government started installing testing facilities at Goa Airport. It was around this time that the public started being far more conscious of the risk,

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

which then led to tourismrelated activities in the state of Goa falling away. A one-day lockdown was also implemented around this time – i n o rd e r t o g a u g e t h e response from the public – which was swiftly extended to 21 days. This extended lockdown signaled the crashing end of the tourist season in Goa, with all the hotels, big or small, restaurants and food outlets across the state shutting down. People remained indoors, not having a clue as to how they will get their groceries and other important needs. However, that's another issue which I will

take up in another sto-ry. The entire nation came under 21 days lockdown on the 24th March 2020, which was supposed to be over by 14th April 2020, but that did not happen, and the lockdown continued for another 19 days. People eventually managed to get their groceries, but the whole economy had to undergo a complete shutdown, except for some essential services. The most affected by this was the tourism industry, and it became the ﬁnal nail in the cofﬁn. Goa had discovered 2 COVID19 cases to begin with, which soon turned into 4, and then

APRIL 2020 / INCREDIBLE GOA / 21

finally became 7. Hundreds of people were kept in self quarantine, especially those who had a travel history, and had possibly come into contact with other infected persons. Self-isolation was key to containing the virus. FURTHER EFFECTS OF COVID-19 ON HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY Casinos in Goa were always opposed by the general population, but the fact always re-mained that those who came to power in the state always supported the casinos no doubt due to the tax revenue they generate. After the emergence of COVID-19, the gov-ernment had no option but to shut down the casinos. Casinos play a major role in tourism, as most of the domestic visitors from Northern India come to Goa to gamble in casinos. Even the some of the 'elite' Goans spend some of their time in the floating casinos in Mandovi, although the existence of a ro u n d 6 c a s i n o s o n t h e Mandovi river is enough to prove the lucrativeness of the business. The closure of the casinos not only affects the tax revenue to the government, but also the livelihoods of thousands of people working in the casinos. Once the lockdown is lifted, post 3rd May 2020, the casinos may be allowed to function, but it will not significantly help tourism, as stringent restrictions are likely to be in place for the foreseeable future. At least until a vaccine

22 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

becomes available. The nationwide lockdown will be lifted in stages, starting from 3rd May 2020 onwards, after taking the stock of the situation. Goa may well become the ﬁrst state to start easing the lockdown, but the same cannot be said about neighbouring states such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, and many others. These 'Red Zone' states are still in a very critical situation, and hence general industry may not start functioning even after Goa's lockdown is lifted. According to one report, the hospitality industry in Goa may take a year to return to normality, depending on the worldwide situation. Citizens from overseas are likely to take a long time to start travelling again, and their reception in India will be that of a cautious one. According to sources, small restaurants in the state will start operating (with laid down restrictions), post-lockdown, in o rd e r t o s e r v e t h e l o c a l requirements, but it will not be the same for major hotels and in-house restaurants. Tourist inﬂow simply won't be there for them to resume their business. This could lead to the closure of some of the major hotels in the state, which in turn will affect the economy further. “The Goa tourism industry can resume only after the lockdown is lifted, and the Corona-virus situation is completely under control in the country” said state Ports Minister Michael Lobo to NDTV. He added that mass gatherings should be discouraged in the state for WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

next few months, to contain the spread of the deadly viral infection. “Even after the lockdown is lifted, we cannot immediately think of opening our borders. We have to make sure the tourism industry resumes only after health protocols are followed”, he said. Once the government of Goa allows the tourism industry to resume, all those entering the state should be thoroughly checked at the airport, railway stations and all other entry points, the minister suggested. “When they are certiﬁed as negative for Coronavirus, only then they should be allowed to

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

enter the state”, he said, adding that private labs can be assigned to conduct tests of people at these locations. A c c o rd i n g t o o n e re p o r t published by the First Post, (https://www.ﬁrstpost.com/bu siness/coronavirus-outbreakgoa-tourism-industry-maysuffer-loss-of-over-rs-1000-crurges-govt-to-provide-taxrelief-8172151.html) the Goa tourism industry may suffer losses of over Rs 1,000 crore due to Coronavirus disease. Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) held a meeting to review the stringent curbs imposed by the state government, in light of the

COVID-19 pandemic. "The state tourism industry could lose approximately Rs 1,000 crore because of the pandemic. At least 60,000 to 75,000 jobs will be lost if remedial measures are not taken," they said. A c c o r d i n g t o T TA G , t h e chartered ﬂight season ended abruptly due to the central govern-ment's decision to discontinue visas for foreign n a t i o n a l s . T h e T TA G h a s demanded that ﬁnancial institutions provide six to nine months' moratorium on all principle (EMI) and in-terest payments on loans and overdrafts. "Sanctioned loans

APRIL 2020 / INCREDIBLE GOA / 23

should be disbursed and there should be free ﬂow of sanctioned credit to enable ﬁrms to deal with their liquidity crisis," the body said. The industry body also suggested the use of funds from MNREGA to support salaries of employees in tourism and hospitality

24 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

industries, until such time a revival takes place. ”In order to enable establishments to liquidate their assets, stamp duty should be reduced and the registration fees should be capped," the TTAG urged. But the state government is already going through a huge

ﬁnancial crisis, and may not be in position to fulﬁl the demands of TTAG. Travel & Tourism Association of Goa is one of the major tourism bodies in Goa, and their say matters the most. If they are saying the loss will be nearly one thousand crore, with the thousands of job losses, then it truly is a matter of serious concern for the industry.

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

What do the Experts From Tourism Industry Have to Say? We spoke to some of the specialists and stakeholders of hospitality industry in Goa about their views on the effects of COVID-19 and here is what they have say…

According to Mr. Nikhil Desai, M D o f G o a To u r i s m Development Corporation, he is very optimistic about the early revival of the industry. “I feel that we will have a early

A prominent businessman and the Chairman of Dempo Vision, Mr. Rajesh Dempo, who is also an hotelier feels that the Pandemic hit the hospitality industry very

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

revival of tourist season in Goa probably as early as June or July driven largely by domestic tourists,” he said adding that however he feels that the international arrivals will remain subdued till October of this year. “Depending on the situation in those countries and source markets. In the current ﬁnancial year and approaching tourist season Goa will have to be largely reliant on domestic tourism market as international tourism scene is ﬂuid and unpredictable at this stage on account of the pandemic.”

According to him, In addition to the above, a lot of airline companies in Europe and charter operators are also facing headwinds which will be reflected in their performance. “So naturally when the availability of flights go down on account of various reasons, the foreign tourist inflow will be the 1st to get affected. Overall I feel that we should not be in a hurry to open up Goan borders until and unless we are confident that the pandemic h a s b e e n b ro u g h t u n d e r control and that it is safe for domestic travel.”

badly across the globe and Goa's hospitality industry has been the worst hit. “A lot of damage is already done, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought travel industry to a standstill causing massive job and revenue losses,” said Mr. Dempo adding that Foreigners will not travel due to travel restrictions in their countries and also due to health scare, which may go for another 6 months or more. “On the domestic front travel is expected but only after govt and industry takes conﬁdence building measures on medical checks and

sanitization across airports, trains, and hotels in Goa.” According to Rajesh, Food & Beverages industry will suffer as restaurants and banquets will take time to recover. “Ultimately jobs losses and payroll cuts to support loss of business and to survive as industry will take at least a year to be back on track and to see the occupancy goa had seen. Small time operators / hoteliers will have to shut business in the event no support is received from authorities and ﬁnancial institutions.”

APRIL 2020 / INCREDIBLE GOA / 25

According to Azharul Haque, General Manager of Hotel Fidalgo, The impact of the COVID-19 will be huge on the Tourism Industry of Goa. “Goa is one of the major tourism destination

Nilesh Shah, Partner & Founder of Purushottam Bhagwan and Associates a 29 year old Travel and Tour Company operating in Goa and currently president elect of T TA G ( Tr a v e l & To u r i s m Association of Goa) feels that the tourism industry is so sensitive that when someone sneezes, this Industry is the ﬁrst to get affected. “Tourism is a very unique industry and with COVID-19 we are going to

26 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

and it also a hub for corporate clients and MICE Business activities. I feel, as far as business hotels are concerned in Goa, they will recover fast. But the bigger Resorts will take a little longer time,” he said. Mr. Azhar feels that The opening of the skies and removal of all the restrictions across the country as well as globe will certainly bring back the Charm of Goa. “Foreign business specially the European tourist will take the back seat for the time being. At least, six to

eight months. Sooner the COVID–19 vanish, or reduced to the minimal or the vaccine made available, faster the Goa Tourism will back in form. The domestic market will respond fast recovery.” “We are also working on revival strategies, at the same time, we have few expectations from Government like waive off or deferrals of Q1's municipal taxes, property taxes, electricity bill, liquor and other licenses,” he added.

have major challenges in Goa's Tourism Industry. Roughly 1.50 lakh People are employed in this Industry (i.e. Approx 6 lakh people dependent on the tourism for their income in Goa) from segments like Hotels, Tour Operators, Travel Agents, Restaurants, Taxi Drivers etc,” said Nilesh adding that Business has been at a standstill since March. According to Nilesh, due to the closure of tourism business the most challenging part that everyone will have to face will be the expenses. “This will also have a cascading effect on all other industries as people will buy only necessities & will postpone all other expenses like white goods, luxury items or for that matter things that are not essentially required and can be postponed for few months.”

The industry will also have other challenges with no cash ﬂow to bear overheads like electricity bills, Bank EMI's etc. “But I am an optimistic person & I believe that once adverse e ff e c t s o f C O V I D - 1 9 a re reduced and protocols are in place & when Goa opens up, it will be most preferred destination by both Domestic & International Tourists judging by the world scenario,” he added.

oﬃcialincrediblegoa

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

www.megastructuresrealestate.com

instagram.com/happysouloďŹ&#x192;cial

Rajeev Kumar, the General Manager at Hotel Fern K a d a m b a h a s a d i ff e re n t opinion about the entire scenario. According to him, due to Coronavirus crises the economy of entire world is facing a biggest threat. “Due to the outbreaks of Covid-19,

Deepak Gaonkar, Founder and Promoter of Gaonkar's Nandanvan & Rock Valley Goa Resorts & Adventure feels that Covid19 Pandemic has hit the planet Earth very hard in all aspects of human life. Though the Lockdown imposed by the Govt of India has helped contain the spread of disease in the country and Goa in

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

which has been marked as pandemic, has not only given a shock to the Goan hospitality industry but entire world's economy is suffering very badly,” said Rajeev adding that due to the lockdown entire businesses has been shut across nation. Even after 2nd lockdown gets over on 3rd May we are not very sure whether transport and tourism industry will resume or not. “According to my opinion Goan tourism industry would be able to start by June-July and run its business of different sectors with huge downfall till October or November. Even though this pandemic effect would remain on tourism industry for at least

another year or so, but I strongly believe that the tourism industry in Goa would bounced back and will give good productivity from November onwards especially from domestic market in both Corporate and Leisure segment.” “I would like to appreciate and give entire credit to Central and State governments for controlling the spread of this deadly virus by taking immediate prompt action on right time. I am very sure they will also act and support to revamp the industries for betterment of human livelihood as soon as possible,” he added.

particular, but it has broken the backbone of Goa's Economy,” said Mr Gaonkar adding that the COVID-19 crises had hit Goa at the very beginning of the most busy period of Tourist season when lakhs of domestic tourists visit Goa. “There is absolute silence on beaches, temples, churches, spice plantations, waterfall and all the tourist spots in Goa. Entire season is washed out and it might take a long time to return to normalcy. Unless a deﬁnite Medical treatment on COVID-19 is found out, it could be difﬁcult to predict about the future of Tourism industry in Goa.” Although Mr. Gaonkar feels the brunt of the crises on the state and also on his own business but remains very positive about the future. According to him, one should take this calamity as an eye opener to entire mankind. “We need to introspect, revive our thought process, be positive

and bounce back with innovative ideas. Nothing to worry, this phase shall also pass by. Once this is all over, people all over the world would need a change, they would want to travel, relax and rejuvenate. And the Tourism in Goa would also ﬂourish again.” the future. According to him, one should take this calamity as an eye opener to entire mankind. “We need to introspect, revive our thought process, be positive and bounce back with innovative ideas. Nothing to worry, this phase shall also pass by. Once this is all over, people all over the world would need a change, they would want to travel, relax and rejuvenate. And the Tourism in Goa would also ﬂourish again.”

APRIL 2020 / INCREDIBLE GOA / 29

Mr. Anil Chadha, COO of the ITC Hotels has the opinion that during this period of crises the safety of and well being of the guest and associates should be the priority. “We are in the midst of an unprecedented

situation and at ITC Hotels, the safety and well-being of our guests and associates remain our top priority,” said Mr Chadha adding that Tourism industry in Goa is highly dependent on guest travels, for either conferences, weddings or leisure. “Whilst the COVID19 outbreak has brought a worldwide slowdown across most sectors, it has also given us an opportunity to create u n i q u e o ff e r i n g s f o r o u r community at large.”“Our highly motivated associates working from home continue to share great ideas on the way

ahead. Their dedication and support have been truly exceptional during these difﬁcult times. At this phase, we strongly believe in fostering long-term relationships and building new ones that will help us adapt and leverage available resources and respond to our patrons. We are here to make every journey and experience a memorable one,” he added.

oﬃcialincrediblegoa

A senior ofﬁcial of Goa Tourism on the condition of anonymity said that The current Pandemic declared by WHO is unprecedented and has completely brought the modern capitalist world to its knees. “However it's not an alien to us and pandemic like this (The Spanish Flu) had hit the world around one hundred year back (Jan 1918 to Dec 1920) that infected the quarter of the world's population,” he said adding that The economic

30 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

impact of the COVID-19 would b e s i m i l a r. “ T h e g r e a t depression which took place mostly in the 1930s creating a peak global unemployment of 25% This pandemic has given us an opportunity to think of the Capitalistic model Vs Socialistic model of sustainability towards all sectors specially tourism is an mass employer and bread earner for millions.” The Tourism industry in Goa has taken a direct hit and has badly effected all stake holders including the Government and private sectors alike. “Many international corporates and domestic trader's related to the industry's have had to lay off staff, close businesses or ﬁle for the bankruptcy as this was never a serious part of anybody's business / emergency plan.” “However, there is a silver

lining once the curfew and restrictions are gradually lifted including opening of interstate borders and controlled mass transportation, it will open Goa for tourism once again as one of the preferred destination in India,” he said adding that “Our environment ( forests, lakes, marine life etc) will heal itself and regenerate to a health ecosystems giving us all a better quality of life without exploiting or abusing resources but balancing, respecting and working with it.” “COVID19 has impacted us big time and has permanently scarred us, we will probably have to relook and rethink our habits and ways of doing business, but I feel that we will bounce back with better technology, safe practices and tourism will deﬁnitely ﬂourish once again in our beautiful and blessed land,” he added.

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

Women Empowerment

Shobhika Jaju Psychology was my “Love at First Sight” Shobhika is both a qualified psychologist and career counsellor. For her, psychology was a passion right from a young age, and she always knew she wanted to become a psychologist when she got older. According to Shobhika, psychology is her 'love at first sight' and it's needless to say that she became firmly attached to it. Today Shobhika helps many in despair with her knowledge base in the field of psychology. I decided to meet Shobhika to find out about her journey tosuccess and here is her account of the same.

32 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

According to Shobhika she becameinterested in the subject of psychology since she was around 13-years-old, so much so that she calls psychology her love at first sight.“I remember, I was barely 13 or 14 years old when I realised, I wanted to become a psychologist,” said Shobhika, adding that she was also lucky that her school was offering psychology at that time as a 5th subject in the optional subjects in the CBSE Board. “I didn't even know the meaning of the word psychology at that age, but I happened to read about the same in Oxford Dictionary, and with whatever online access we had at that time. You can say that it was love at first sight as I like to put it, and I knew in that moment I wanted to become a psychologist.” Shobhika originates from Varanasi, and she moved down to Goa after she got married.“I pursued psychology, and finished high school at Varanasi, then I moved to Mumbai to study at Sophia College for Women where I did my Bachelors in Psychology. I am happy to say that I passed out as the Silver Medallistfor Psychology final year for my bachelor's degree. “At that time,I was sure I wanted to do my Masters in Psychology, and so I went on to pursue the same in the field of Clinical Psychology from Mumbai University. I was in Mumbai roughly for a period of 6 years.During this time, I did a lot of internships related to psychology as part of course requirements, and that also exposed me to the different aspects of the field,” she added. Shobhika comes from a pretty conservative background, onein which the parents believe that once the studies are finished - the daughter should get married. “My parents told me do whatever you want but first get married. I didn't really start something back then, but my brother was living in Calcutta so I had the chance of living with him, and WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

APRIL 2020 / INCREDIBLE GOA / 33

luckily I became a part of a mental health start-up in Calcutta. I was entrusted with the responsibility of the entire 'Assessment and Therapy Department' of the centre itself,” then adding that while there she learnt most of her craft from the very beginning. “That's when I realised this would be something that I'd like to do, whenever Ihave the time and resources,” she said. In Calcutta, Shobhika was lecturing at La Martinierefor Girls, as a guest lecturer. “I was working with Missionaries of Charity for HIV and schizophrenic patients,and this is where I gained a wide exposure in the subject,” said Shobhika, adding that her journey in Calcutta ended when she got married and came down to Goa. “My entry into Goa was precisely because of my marriage. He is not a Goan, but his roots have been ﬁrmly planted in Goa for the past 25 years. His family has been running the “ Little's PrePrimary & Primary School” for the last 20 years, and this way they have helped shape the minds of many young Goans, I must say,” she said. After moving down to Goa, Shobhika did not immediately start out on her own, andinstead decided to understand the place ﬁrst, gain some experience, and so joined her husband's family s c h o o l a s a c o u n s e l l o r. “Because my training was primarily clinical in nature, I wanted to branch out and I also realised that I wasn't the kind of person who could be in a 9-5

34 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

job. I liked doing a variety of things, but I couldn't just do one thing all day long for the entire year, which is why I ultimately decided to start my own clinic,” said Shobhika. According to Shobhika, her husband's family have been very supportive throughout her entire journey. “In fact, my mother-in-law is an educationist herself, and she's the one who started the school,” said Shobhika, adding that she got married at a very young age. “I was married around the age of 24-25, I loved studying a lot, and I was pretty glad to join the family work as soon as we came back from our honeymoon.” Shobhika was muchimmersed in the social activities right from the beginning. “As a student, I was actively involved in the social programs and all college committees,college feasts, you name it - and I would be a part of it,” said Shobhika, adding, “I managed all these during my college and masters years by striking a balance between studies and extra-curricular. The master's course itself was quite taxing, as we would go on the ﬁeld for 3 days a week, and then attend lectures for 3 days. This then sort of became like a 9-5 job that we would be subjected to.” The study of psychology deals with mental health issues, and unfortunately in our country the awareness of mental health is very poor. Many people consider mental health problems a stigma. Nobody wants to go out and say that he or she is having mental health problems, while the fact is that

every one of us are dealing with some problem or the other. According to Shobhika, compared with other states in India,western states are quite different with regards to this subject. “Goa ismore open to accepting the facts of this sensitive subject compared to the states in Northern India.” She added that the states located on the western belt; Mumbai, Goa, Pune, and Bangalore, are places that are very active on the mental health front. “The people here a re m o re o p e n , p e r h a p s because they are more educated, and they understand more about mental health issues. I wouldn't say that the stigma has been completely removed, with the patient still very worried about what will people say - and how they will be labelled. I knowpeople want to come and talk, want to be heard by counsellors, and I even tell friends and family members that they do not necessarily need to come to me, I can refer them to someone else.” According to Shobhika, people's discomfort with approaching mental health issues doesn't necessarily affect her practice or business. “There is only so much that you can do, you can only take the horse to water, but you can't make it drink. The most important thing is that people are aware, and there are psychologists around just like me, and they can always approach us and reach out to us. I am pretty sure people will eventually come out of their

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

shells, and this is all about creating a particular awareness. The idea is to make people think of this as a normal process, instead of being something stressful or being stigmatised,” she added. “When Silver Linings started, we were the only psychological service available in the whole of South Goa, and prior to that, people had to travel the entire length of the state to visit places of the likethat are situated in North Goa,” said Shobhika, adding that there are few more counsellors besides her, in South Goa. “At this point in time I like to believe there is more than enough work in this ﬁeld for everybody now.” Shobhika has been trained to work with people of all age groups. “I do teach the

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

Master's in Child Psychology course at ParvatibaiChowgule College, Margao. Due to the case workload at the clinic, I do not directly work with all cases, and look after the adults and adolescent cases.I usually do the ﬁrst consultation, make the therapy plans, and then my other psychologists from the team take over,” she said. According to Shobhika, in psychology there are countless numbers of specialties. “We have a psychiatrist, a dietician, and I work as a psychologist in the clinical ﬁeld, on board with adolescents and adults. We also have two remedial educators and we have a trauma specialist. I specialize in working with depression, stress, and I am also into marriage and relationship

counselling. In addition, I am a certified career counsellor, and also a certified Queer Affirmative Practitioner.” Just like every other working woman, Shobhika is maintaining the balance between her personal and professional life. “I am balancing it out, and it does get difficult at times,given the fact that I have a 2-year-old and there are times when it gets difficult, but I do manage. In the clinic, I do not give more than 3-4 hours a day,” said Shobhika, adding that just like many working women, she is also wearing different hats. “I take sessions at Silver Lining, and at the same time I am also associated with another clinic in Margao and take a course at Chowgule, which is twice a

APRIL 2020 / INCREDIBLE GOA / 35

week, and I do a lot of writing for magazines including Incredible Goa itself. I was also an editor for one more magazine at one point of time. I do a lot of online writingand counselling as part of Silver Linings and other committees t h a t I a m p a r t o ff . I a m a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e Ta t a Institute of Social Science in Mumbai,of which I am presenting as a Goan counsellor. These are just a few things that I like doing and I am a part of.” I asked Shobhika while doing all her duties, how much time she manages to take out for her husband. She says that, “I guess when it gets a bit difficult, I manage to cut down on some work. But as of now, I do not see a problem in time management.” The reason she gives for this, is that she comes from a very supportive family. We also have house help to assist with the housework and that takes the load off at most times. I try to not let any minor transgressions affect the flow of my work, as I know I have fought hard for this. My child accompanied me from when he was just 30 days old, and this way I do try to balance out things in my life. Although I can't deny there are difficulties - and I am certainly not superwoman - but the work shouldn't get affected. This way I try to not get things onesided, as the work and family are a priority. My social life does suffer at times, but I try to manage all the same.” Shobhika told me she has a very good presence when it comes

36 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

to personal counselling. “However, now I would like to bifurcate more into reaching out to hotels and corporates, when it comes to conducting sessions in mental health and well-being. There are trainers that these companies have, but they do not come from a psychological background, and the topics they cover are more related to time management and so on. I want to be able to provide a much wider reach to such clients in t h e corporate s e c t o r, ” she said. “There are certain nuances that only a psychologi s t c a n bring to the table, and that is something I believe in. I am a l s o targeting o n l i n e counsellin g , t o widen the reach to people outside of G o a . These will be audio and videobased, as per the client. This i s something we can

bring awareness to right now, and these are the two things I am trying to work on,” said Shobhika.

oﬃcialincrediblegoa

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

www.freedom-holidays.com

Trendsetters

Nolan Mascarenhas

There are Always Two sides to a Coin We o en come across many examples of people pursuing their passion along with their profession and somehow along the way they become successful in both. Most of us start out on a career path but then realise a li le late in life that we've le behind a passion we could have pursued. The hero of this story has also gone through the similar situa on and now wears two hats: one of passion and one of profession. Nolan Mascarenhas, an well documented foodie, author and mixologist is also an investment consultant but very few people know about that. This story brings to light, his journey from being an investment consultant to a talented mixologist.

38 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

Nolan harbours genes of two hospitality professionals: Mr Joe Mascarenhas and Mrs Odette Mascarenhas. Coming from such an entrenched legacy, his parents wanted him to follow their family legacy and graduate from a Hotel Management School but Nolan, a born rebel decided otherwise and he went on to study business and marketing. “MY roots lie in hospitality, let's say had I joined the profession, I would have been the 4th generation Mascarenhas to have worked with the Taj Group of Hotels.” said Nolan adding that his family, right from his greatgrandfather, grandfather the famous Masci of the Taj to his father and mother, have all been a part of hotel industry, “In that sense I am an integral part of the hotel culture. I have been inculcated into the food and hospitality industry since the day I was born, Literally!” Before entering into the food and hospitality industry, Nolan had worked with various corporate companies ranging from Lowe Lintas and Vodafone to Tata Communications with multiple consultations for Microsoft, JSW Steel and ICICI Prudential and ICICI Bank. “Coming into the food fraternity has been a delayed response, because I started my forked journey in the year 2008 when I was still working at Corporate India completing close to a decade across multiple multi nationals,” said Nolan. “I was pretty exposed to the food scene as well because I was primarily in the marketing field, as you had to wine and dine the guests from time to time. Travel was an integral part of the job profile and I had to do so extensively, this way food has been an integral part of my cultural repertoire,” he added. Nolan's journey began in the year 2008. “Having played various roles and designations in corporate in the marketing and financial field in enterprise, I decided to start my own venture in finance. My interest in equity and commodity markets has been at the fore ever since I can remember- first as an investor and next as consultant. What people are unaware of is that food wasn't my original field, and it is quite different from my so called -day job,” said Nolan. Known as a foodie, mixologist and a food and travel writer, what is unknown is that Nolan holds a double Masters degree in Marketing and Finance and runs a franchisee of Edelweiss. “This WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

APRIL 2020 / INCREDIBLE GOA / 39

is something I have been involved in for the past 10 to 12 years of my life. Its naturalpeople in the financial field don't know me as a food writer and the people in the Food world don't know me as a financial consultant. Something similar to a Batman and Bruce Wayne philosophy. Having said that, I have a day and night job!” he adds with a chuckle. According to Nolan, numbers make the world go round, and food makes the tongue go r o u n d . “I h a v e t h i s d u a l personality where I am a food & travel writer by hobby but that has turned out to be more than that. My day job entails my to be present at the office from 9am to 3:30pm, when the market closes. This way I help my clients and make money for them along the way. On a busy day, my night job starts from 5pm onwards where I go to sample some great food and drink and write about itkeeping the creativity alive,” he said. He is currently perusing his PhD in Marketing and Finance. “Let's just say- I am a nerd and bookworm. I have never stopped studying ever since I can remember. Post passing out from Sharada Mandir School here in Goa, I went to Symbiosis Pune and completed my B.Com in Marketing and Advertising. Having got into Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, I decided to work in Mumbai for a few years and then pursued my double M a s t e r s : M a r k e t i n g f ro m Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies and a second Masters in English 40 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

Literature from the University of Mumbai in Victorian Linguistics,” said Nolan. He also holds Post Graduate degrees in Financial Management, C y b e r L a w, Advertising and Media Management

comparison of parents to child is something that can harness undue pressure in an individuals mind, thus not allowing it to nurture and grow.

and a Diploma i n Commodities and Capital Markets from JBIMS and the Bombay Stock Exchange Institute (BSE). He is currently in pursuit of his PhD in Marketing Analytics and is often seen lecturing at v a r i o u s colleges as a guest lecturer. Nolan always wanted to create a niche for himself and that is what he d i d b y c re a t i n g h i s own identity. “The generic WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

Mistakes and hurdles to be crossed are part and parcel of t h i s j o u r n e y. I s t a r t e d understanding and learning the nuances of food from the age of 18 (a later bloomer). But at the same time, it has been a journey of “Self-Discovery” and coming to Goa into the domain of my mother- Odette who is a reputed food critic, became challenging initially. However now, I believe to a degree- the comparison has slowly diminished.” Nolan does not like to criticise anything. “I prefer emphasis on the positives and for me it's all about inclusion and upliftment. When there is a dish that does not meet general expectations, I request an audience with the person behind its creation. This helps me two folds- knowledge dissemination as well as a friendship over love for food. It also teaches me so much in my WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

own kitchen. It is imperative to understand the nuances of negative and positive feedback,” said Nolan adding that this makes him capable of understanding the chef's mind when he/she created the dish. “I understand the time, cost and the effort that has gone into creating any dish.It helps when you are in the kitchen yourself and practice these things yourself.” Nolan's journey from writing to mixology began when he started understating the how ﬂavours in food and drink impacts the person and his entire personality. “It is like a chemical formula when you try to play around with food, especially when you're trying to create a concept. Drink plays an important role as well. My world revolves around Mixology to curation and conceptual experiential dining.

It all started from writing and it has been quite a journey,” he averred. Today Nolan is found behind multiple bars in his free time and loves to mix up some crafty concoctions paried with his food offerings. “I am a Goan at heart and by legacy- a son of the soil, and my favourite thing on the planet is to eat is Prawn Curry Rice (Xit Koddi) along with Kismoor,”. I took this home meal and created a Tapas dish- Xit Koddi Arancini. “The o n l y d i ff e re n c e w a s t h a t instead of Risotto Rice, I made a fermented mash of our Goan Rice, cured with prawn curry. I surrounded that with a prawn and deep fried it. The kismoor was crafted with a hint of wasabi mayo as a dip. The ethos was to give the diner a holistic taste of the three dishes merged into one morsel giving them a feeling of home.” Nolan APRIL 2020 / INCREDIBLE GOA / 41

goes one step ahead and mentions that he also worked on something called an Aphrodisiac menu, which basically enhanced super foods for sexuality considered to have interesting side effects for its patrons. Now you know what Nolan does and what he cooks otherwise you would be surely interested in knowing what he likes and eats himself. Nolan is a vegetarian. “When it comes to my personal indulgence, I am a vegetarian most of the time and something I advocate at heart. In my profession however, I have to sample all format of food and drink- so my re v i e w s a re l i m i t e d o n a monthly basis. As much as a teetotaller myself, in social settings I love to cradle a good scotch or whiskey. Dairy has been drastically reduced from my diet- no milk for starters, although I can't give up my love for cheese yet.” he snickers with a smile. Nolan enjoys learning “Everyday is a learning in the food industry. I shall be learning daily to amass as much knowledge as possible in my time dedicated to this ﬁeld,” Nolan has a few investment plans in the pipeline in the food world. “People say that you can live to eat, or eat to live and this is one of the strategies. When you're a chef, and after a long day there is no bandwidth to come home and cook at times for the family is what the trend we are looking to change. The dynamics of the food industry are changing, especially for millennials- and I am studying patterns to see where the 42 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

trajectory of this leads to. It is currently in its infancy and I don't like to talk much about it but it is definitely a future plan,” he added. Signing off her urges people to ask the question 'But Why?'. It's the floodgate to be creative and disruptive and do things their way. Being curious and hungry, he believes will lead to one having the world as their oyster, pun intended. Rules are meant to be reengineered in this field. And this field is just getting started. Nolan Mascarenhas, an awardwinning photojournalist, is torn between food & travel. Having held multiple exhibitions across he loves to capture the essence of a meal or moment through his lens. His photography skills added vivid dimensions through his contribution to the book The Culinary Heritage of Goa which won the Gourmand Best in the World for Historical recipes in 2015. He is also a prolific writer: his contributions being featured in Lonely Planet Magazine India, Conde Nast Traveller and Upper Crust. He is Goa's Food critic for EazyDiner, an online application showcases some of the best food sources and deals in and around Goa. A juror on the board of Culinary Culture helmed alongside Gaggan Anand and Vir Sanghvi as well as INCA (India Nightlife & Convention Awards) alongside the CondeNast Top 50 Best Restaurants in India 2019, his perspectives are well documented in the food and nightlife fraternity of India. He was the official food and

beverages curator for the Mahindra Open Drive, Goa. Currently his passion involves preservation of authenticity of Goan food through the Goan Culinary Club- a not for profit organisation dedicated to preserve the legacy of Goan food to the world. A mixologist and food curator by passion he normally partners with establishments towards his outlook on Global cues in experiential formats, bringing to life the flirtatious nature of ingredients between food and drink. Nolan is also the recipient of the highest civilian humanitarian awardthe prestigious REX Karmaveer Chakra (2013) and the Karmaveer Puraskaar (2019) award by the United Nations thus documenting his drive and commitment to making the world a better place. He is also the proud recipient for Goa's State Brand Leadership Award in the field of Food & Travel Writing. Post a decade in multinational corporations around India in the field of Finance and Marketing, he decided to branch out on his own with his Edelweiss franchise, thus giving him time to pursue his love for journalism.

oﬃcialincrediblegoa

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

www.goapilatesstudio.com

Goan Talent

Nakita Fernandes Never Stop Dreaming It sounds unbelievable right if someone tells you that he or she had a dream of becoming something big in life right at the age of three? something similar stuck to me when Nakita Tania Fernandes told me that she was just 3 years old when she made a pack of becoming the model. In her own words, “I always had this vision of being a model since I was 3 years old…” but wait, that is not the complete sentence. As the story progresses you will get to know Nakita from much closer. Today Nakita has achieved what she dreamt of in her childhood but all that did not come easy to her and I think her struggle and belief in herself made her what she is today.

44 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

Nakita comes from a background of artists and most of the family members from her mom's side are in the entertainment industry. The girl who dreamt of becoming a model at the age of three was influenced by the people who surrounded her. “I did my first photoshoot at the age of 9,” said Nakita adding that growing up her parents had figured out what she was aiming for, and at the age of 9 she had her first photoshoot done in Dubai. “They liked me, the response was really positive and this increased my enthusiasm.” According to Nakita when she told her parents about her aspirations they felt that she was just kidding and they warned her about the risks involved in this field but Nakita was quite adamant. “I decided to follow my intuitions and at the age of 16 I gave an audition and there I met my Mentor, Monty Sally who offered me my first chance to appear for the Miss Goa pageant:Stella Miss Goa,” said Nakita adding that by the age of 17 she was doing bridal shoots modelling. The real journey of Nakita began when she took part in the Mr and Miss Goa organised by a weekly publication. “I participated in the Miss India Elite in Delhi and Miss World Beauty Queen in South Korea,” she said. There were no pageants that she ever failed to receive a crown, “be it first, runner-up or second, I would never come back emptyhanded from anywhere.” Although Nakita belongs to the glamour industry, when it comes to her education, she is very serious about it. She is currently doing her BBA (Bachelor in Business Administration) from the Saraswat College in Mapusa. “I believe strongly that we owe a lot to society and we need to give back in some way. Modelling is my passion and that is something I will not change no matter who says what,” WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

APRIL 2020 / INCREDIBLE GOA / 45

said Nakita adding that on the other hand, “my education helps me to understand the dynamics of the business industry of modelling which is huge. I am good at marketing and organising the events and even my college has given me the responsibility of organising the yearly event.” Nakita's journey, which began in the modelling world from a mentorship of Goa's renowned fashion designer Monty Sally continued until Miss World Beauty Queen India in South Korea. “After winning the Mr & 46 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

Miss Goa Pageant in Goa I got the chance to appear for t h e Roobaroo Miss India Elite where the company signed me up for a t h re e y e a r contract,” said Nakita. The winning of Miss India Title gave h e r t h e opportunity to appear for the Miss W o r l d B e a u t y Queen at South Korea. “W h e n I heard about t h e opportunity, I was pretty excited to go for the same, and to represent my country as a woman from this place and it was a big deal for me,” she added. Nakita feels very sad that the agency who was handling this didn't help her much and she had to pay for all the expenses from her own pocket. “Travelling and accommodation in South Korea is pretty expensive. I was making arrangements for the travel at the same time I was learning Indian Classical Dance for the talent round with the help of YouTube,” she averred. Nakita received lots of help

from local fashion designers in Goa who allowed her to take their dresses for the International Pageant. “My Indian costume was from Mumbai, and the clothes were sent to me via courier and the person didn't even ask for anything but photos in return,” she added. Nakita believes that she owes a lot to all the people who helped her in her journey to receiving a crown. “I am really fortunate to have these people in my life and it made all the difference since it made my journey much easier and I was able to focus on the crown and nothing else,” said Nakita adding that at the pageant she was competing with 29 models from other countries. “I was the only one representing India. I was the youngest and the shortest model amongst the all. When I first saw all the contestants, I lost all my confidence: they were all so pretty, tall and fair and I was dusky-skinned. I was almost on the verge of giving up thinking this wasn't working out for me,” she added. According to Nakita the worst part of the challenge that she faced in South Korea was the food. “The food is very different in South Korea. I It tastes almost raw and not cooked quite the way our food is. I was even early by a day when I first reached Korea and the other contestants reached a day after. I remember waiting because I couldn't do early check-in. So I went to the restaurant in the airport, but they couldn't understand what I was saying so I had to show WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

them on the phone what I was referring to and that is when they gave me a plate of prawns with shells, and with this, I was really on the verge of breaking down in tears.” There is always a moment when we almost give up in our lives and there is nothing wrong with that because we all have a certain level of tolerance and beyond that, we all break. Nakita is no different but what made her the winner is her capacity to ﬁght with the situation and stand back. “When I told my mother about the situation, she reminded me about how far I travelled with this dream and so much money and energy had been invested and at this stage, I cannot turn back. She told me even if I lost, I should lose with dignity and a smile. I went live on social media and started talking to the Goan people, and that is

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

something I feel that the people of Goa like about me is how open I was and and asked the people of Goa to vote for me. The votes came in really well and India was at 53,000 votes and the highest,” she said. After passing through all the challenges ﬁnally, Nakita reached interview-stage where she was asked a question. “Miss India Nakita Tania Fernandes, you're leading with votes, what magic is your country doing for you?” and she replied, “my country isn't doing any magic but it's genuinely the love of people from India itself as to how they send their love across boundaries”. The day of the ﬁnale came and everyone was in the mood to compete. H o w e v e r, o n e o f t h e contestants pulled out the back zip of my dress while others stamped me with her

heels in the swimsuit round: jealousy was at its peak. But everything ﬁnally culminated in my victory when I heard my name was called out as “Miss India” into the 'Top 6 'and later on as 'Runner's Up', I was literally in tears on the stage and I was thanking all the people from India.. I even heard people in Goa were lighting crackers.” Although Nakita brought the crown to our country and state when she arrived on the Goa Airport it was so unfortunate that no one from the state Government came to welcome her but here also Nakita remained calm and positive. “When I came back to Goa, I read in the media how the g o v e r n m e n t d i d n 't s e n d anyone to pick me up and all I had to say to this was if they didn't come to pick me up, perhaps they were busy doing

APRIL 2020 / INCREDIBLE GOA / 47

something more productive. It isn 't always about picking someone up or something as appreciation can be done in any other ways,” she said adding that “the CM of Goa did put up a post congratulating me, and even MLA Micheal Lobo sent a Brass Band to welcome me at the airport as I was leaving in the Gypsy so I had my moment that day even though it was raining.” Nakita Tania's victory had a lot of media coverage in the state. Various media publications covered her success stories in their respective newspapers. “I also started getting a lot of offers for Konkani Movies, and Tiatr but I couldn't because as soon as I arrived back, I had to sit exams. I'd like to mention saying that my college helped with the entire burden by supporting me through my competition and not making things tough knowing how caught up I was with the matter and representing the country there and I am very happy to say that I am in Sridora Saraswat College,” she averred. Nakita is ﬁnishing her college this year and she has many big plans in the pipeline pertaining to her career. “There are so many opportunities waiting for me with the open arms to embrace me. Since I've recently done my MC'ing, people are offering me work as an anchor also. I personally believe is that if you want to get somewhere in life, you 48 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

need to get out of where you are. I would like to explore the possibilities of working in different places around India and all over the world,” she said. Nakita says that modelling is not all about being pretty and wearing glamourous makeup and dresses. “If you want to be a model, you have to be ready to face criticism ﬁrst as there will be time when people will talk about you but you need to hold your headstrong. Secondly, no matter what you do and what people say you're doing and for me personally I believe in walking the path of dignity and that is the ultimate crown one wears. Modelling is a good career, and you can express yourself. It is a part of

everything that people do today and their dreams, a person who constructs and builds their building they need a model to help sell their property and even in the food industry that's quite the deal with models promoting restaurants and food. It is a blessing but one needs to learn how to carry themselves. People can't sit in one place and expect to become an overnight sensation , but there needs to be work and effort in that direction and no doubt there will be rejection, but the fruit is always worth it. Someday or the other you will ﬁnd success and be happy.”

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

www.tajhotels.com/goa

Young Goa

Viresh Vazirani a NEW-GEN Growth Hacking Entrepreneur

Today's genera on is diﬀerent in so many ways than the youth of yesteryear. Today's youth think and act out of the box and the new genera on of entrepreneurship has popped up all over the country. Viresh Vazirani is one of the ﬁnest examples of this phenomenon. He began his journey from college days and today has established himself as a Growth Hacking entrepreneur in the State of Goa.

50 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

Viresh doesn't come from a business family background, he thinks outside the box & has established himself in Goa's business industry. “My dad comes from a Government background, he works for the PWD and my mom works as an architect in the private sector. I have an understanding of that lifestyle and know what that means,” said Viresh adding that although his immediate family does not belong to the business community, his extended family has a tryst with business. Did you know that most of the big ideas and enterprises have been set up to fulfill market demands and Viresh identified his domain when he finished with college? Like many of the younger generations, once he graduated from National Institute of Technology(NIT) Goa in Electrical Engineering, he did not identify any job opportunities in Goa that matched his interests. “There weren't any great Growth Hacking companies in Goa at the time that I could join or be a part of. I had heard about a few great companies outside India and realised that there is a huge growing gap in Goa in this space. That is what got me into creating this team today,” he said. Viresh may have done his graduation in Electrical Engineering, but he did not have just a single vision in this field while planning his career. “People around me believe that I am doing something completely different from my core engineering background and they are right. I am working in a space which involves Marketing, Creativity & Analytics which is different from my degree,” said Viresh adding that he had an inclination towards enterprising activities since college. “While I was in college, I formed the first NIT Toastmasters club and started working on extensive promotions for the activities in the institute. This is how I created an opportunity within college. This helped WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

APRIL 2020 / INCREDIBLE GOA / 51

me build skills that were extremely critical at that point .” According to Viresh, there are two ways to look at any difﬁcult situation or problems. One way is to accept it and complain about it. The alternative is to change it by diving into it with your own ideas and turn the tables. “I did the same thing. 52 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

When I joined NIT, there weren't any active clubs in college, unlike other established NITs or IITs. I looked at it as an opportunity to create something for my college and that is what prompted me to build Goa's ﬁrst College Toastmasters club at NIT Goa and create history. The club setup back in College

is equivalent to the team I have today at my company,” said Viresh. The formation of the first club by Viresh at NIT Goa paved his way later on in his life when he fished the college and entered into the world of business. “Forming the club was not only the task in front of me then but I had to convince the students to pay their membership fees to keep the club running, extensively promote it. This taught me the PR and Mmarketing skills & shape my communication and leadership skills,” said Viresh. According to Viresh things were not spoon-fed to him but he had to go out and figure out himself as to how these things work. I looked for mentors, so in the end, I think those areas really helped shape what I do today,” he added. Viresh's journey of learning continued and he learnt many things on his journey, he learnt how to drive the people to get the job done, he also learnt how to run the organisation without money in the hands. “I was also a part of an NGO in the education space”, said Viresh adding that the NGO naturally operates without any funding. “Here I learnt how to bring people together for the cause and a mission. If money is the only motivation for working then the team is never going to be passionate about what they do, so once I figured out how to help people identify what motivates them & drives them, I encourage them to double down on that in a way that it adds value to the entire team's output & productivity .” WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

Viresh derives inspiration from different things in life. According to him when he was in college he has driven the formation of the ﬁrst “Toastmasters club” in NIT Goa. “This way I would look up to the people who achieved great leadership, and communication skills. I would seek inspiration from the people who were more reachable to me because if I needed some work done or needed to network with them and in this way there would be growth in terms of knowledge a n d u n d e r s t a n d i n g , I 'd certainly mention few names like Ashley Lobo, Jervis Pereira & Farida Dias from the Toastmasters community in Goa who always helped me & guided me in building my leadership skills” he said. There is no entrepreneur in this

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

world who has always been only successful. Those who fail are the ones who become leaders in the end. Viresh also had to face failures in his journey to success. The name and brand “Growth Gravy” under which he launched a project in the third year of his E n g i n e e r i n g d e g re e h a d initially failed. “I had my ﬁrst paid employee whom I ended up paying salary, however the failure didn't put me down but instead I ﬁgured that one project did not work and I needed to try something else,” he said, adding that after he got out of the college he was approached by one his friend who needed help in promoting her father's local busines. “I decided to take up the challenge and worked on the landing page of their business which resulted into 300 new

inquiries within the first month itself and that gave me the confidence to take them up the more projects and the rest is history,” he said grinning. The Goa Government's MSME friendly policies gave a big boost to Viresh's startup. “I applied for a tender and we won it, and once that happened we realised that it was definitely a big project for us to get onboard, showcase our skills and we ended up totally exceeding the expectations of the clients that we had on that front as well,” said Viresh. Soon Viresh started taking up bigger challenges. The website of IFFI (International Film Festival of India) was created by Viresh's team at Growth Gravy. “Due to the experience of being able to handle large traffic websites, we had our way through the

APRIL 2020 / INCREDIBLE GOA / 53

process.” As discussed at the beginning of this article about how the necessity becomes the mother of some of the biggest inventions something similar happened in the case of Viresh too when he was in the ﬁrst year of his engineering. When Viresh was in the ﬁrst year of college along with his two o t h e r batchmates, Viraj Naik and D w a y n e A l m e i d a wanted to go to the EDM festival but they had no money in their pocket: a gripe many his age have! So they decided to make a website blog around EDM a n d connected w i t h t h e organisers to get the free Media passes. “J u s t t w o weeks before the festival we sat at a coffee shop in Panjim and we launched a website “EDMofy” and we wrote a lot of content on the same and reached out to the festival's marketing agencies,” said Viresh adding that those days there were hardly any EDM blogs out there. “with our content on the website we reached out to the PR Agency and approached them on how we could cover the event and 54 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

share our experience on our blog. We decided to carry on with the same, by putting in more efforts with time.” Today Viresh is running a very successful company but nothing comes easy in life to anyone and Viresh is not different. “I vividly remember that during the lunch breaks, I would sit and ﬁnish the posting

work on the site and Facebook for EDMofy and all my peers and friends from college would ask me why am I always so busy with all these activities, and that I should take it easy. Those were really the times where I pushed myself and made a real effort needed for this hobby project of ours, and we built that blog to a subscriber base of 1 lakh users on Facebook and 4 lakh website visitors.,”

said Viresh. The efforts put into the earlier projects helped in paving way for Growth Gravy, which has scaled up to a big organisation from the small 15 sqm office to the entire top floor of the building converted into the office of Growth Gravy. Today Growth Gravy has a huge client base right from real estate , to automobile dealers to food & fashion industry. “The thing with our generation or the millennials is that a lot of us are m o t i v a t e d enough to start something new or work towards it, but at times due to the excitement or the heat of the moment or lack of results they give up easily too soon. But the key i s t o b e persistent, because I know if I had given up on my first month and walked away I wouldn't have had this talented team today working alongside me,” said Viresh adding that people have a notion that his company is funded some venture capitalist but the fact is, he is self-funded and the only investment that his dad made on him besides providing him food, shelter and education is the investment in the laptop which cost him 80 thousand rupees.” “I would suggest that just WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

because a lot of people are getting into starting up, this is not the only option out there. Everyone needs to identify where they fit in, and it is ideal to be part of a company who you look upto, to see where you fit and how things work. Starting a company requires you to be at it 24/7, and there are huge workloads and this way it is important to understand both sides of the work spectrum, with selfawareness being the key. Even I worked as an intern, during my college before figuring out what I want to do in long term. The earlier you realise where you belong the better you'll be at what you like. There will be a time when you fail, but that is the beauty of it because we all learn at some point in our lives, without the downs the up mean nothing,” he concluded with these words. Today Viresh is a successful young entrepreneur and handles a big team of employees where he spends most of his time (24X7!) towards the development of his business. But many of us want to know how Viresh, being the CEO of a company, spends his time. Let's see what Viresh has to say about this. He suggests that he loves giving everyone in the team big responsibilities, bigger than what they feel they can really handle, as this is something that his clients had done to him. “When everyone is given a big responsibility and you let them work and make the decision as to what would be the best, sometimes it may not be the best but if we give an individual WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

an opportunity to fail at their own decisions, this is where they will learn to make better decisions tomorrow. When they reach that level, they will have automatically reached great learning out of what they have done”. According to him, instead of failing at someone else's decisions, it is advisable to fail on your own decisions. “This is the best way, but as far as me managing my time and schedule, I wouldn't say that I am totally a very organised person. There are times when my calendar is well planned and sorted out and there are also times when it is entirely a day of spontaneous meetings and so on. I personally like investing time on projects; like I would step in and see which areas or which one of my team member's needs assistance, or so on. I believe that relationships are really important, in this space of work or anybody,” said Viresh. Having a good and ﬂexible relationship with your exemployer or teachers or competitors is also a great tip as it builds character and is always a necessary trait to have and this goes a long way. “Someone might give you hell when they talk to you, but that doesn't mean you should do the same to them. You can always be nice to the person and ignore what you feel is not important, and cut out the hate because being positive is the way forward in any sphere of life,” he added.

Get Listed on

Visit www.exploreincrediblegoa.com

Hospitality

Chef Urbano Rego

Lockdown Recipe Series

Salada D’Idalina This current government lockdown period is likely to be extended – and there is no assurance from the concerned authorities when it will end. Under such circumstances, the public has no option but to stay at home. At Incredible Goa Food & Hospitality, we have brought to you some exclusive wellness tips and healthy recipes – created by some of the best-known hospitality ﬁgures from the Taj Group of Hotels. Let's get cooking!

Ingredients

Procedure

Ÿ Sprouted Beans - 1 Cup Ÿ Finely Chopped Fresh Mango/

· Mix all the ingredients with

Pineapple - 1/2 Cup Finely Chopped Baby Corn/Corn Kernels - 1/4 Cup Chopped Green Chilly - 1 tbsp Chopped Spring Onions 3 Nos Chopped Tomatoes - 2 Nos Freshly Grated Coconut - 3 tbsp Lemon Juice - 2 tbsp Salt, Sugar and Olive Oil - for dressing

sprouted beans together. Once mixed well, add salt, sugar, lemon juice and olive oil and mix once again.

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

· Serve with garnish on the side.

Salada D’Idalina

56 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

instagram.com/spicyerestaurant

Fitness

Different Variations of Lunge Exercise Beneﬁts Strengthen your heart and lungs - Can strengthen your bones, slowing down the process of osteoporosis Helps you move about more easily by keeping joints, tendons and ligaments more ﬂexible - Can help you lose weight (when combined with good eating habits) or maintain ideal weight by burning excess calories - Promotes a sense of well-being

NOTE: RULES OF LUNGING: Always keep your head up, shoulders back, chest out and back straight. Never allow the knee to touch the floor Stay in line: you're striding thigh and knee should always line up with your foot. Here are my favorite movements: 1. Front lunge or forward lunge: begin with your feet 6-8 inches apart, torso erect. Take a large step forward. Lower your hips and allow your trailing knee to lower to a point just before it touches the floor. Keep your head up and torso erect. Push off your forward leg to return to start, and then repeat for the opposite leg. A complete lunge for the right leg, then the left leg constitutes 1 rep. 2. Freestyle Crossover: Begin by crossing your right leg across your left leg so your foot is in a 10 oclock position, bending your knees as far as your flexibility allows. Follow the movement of the right leg with your hands or Freestyle poles. Return to the start; repeat for the left leg, crossing the right to the 2 oclock position. 3. Inner Thigh Lunge: Begin with your feet nearly shoulder width apart, torso erect. Take a slow, controlled step forward and out to the side with the right leg, pointing your toes slightly outward (as though they were in the two o'clock position on a clock). Your thigh should not drop further than parallel to the floor, with your knee positioned over your ankle and foot. Your trailing knee should be relatively extended to stretch your hip flexor muscles. The exertion phase of the exercise occurs when you push off your front foot and step back to return to the starting

58 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

position. With a little practice you be able to perform it in one fluid motion. Repeat for the left leg (to ten o'clock position) to complete one repetition. 4. Ballet Squats: Start by standing with your legs apart, feet flat on the floor, slightly wider than your shoulders with your toes pointed out in the 10 and 2 o'clock positions. Keeping your head up and your torso as erect as possible, initiate the movement by bending your knees while keeping your torso upright

holing your hands to your waist or in front of you. Your knees should travel in lines with your toes, descending as though performing a ballet plie. Try to lower your as far as your ﬂexibility allows. Using your legs and resisting the temptation to lean forward push out of the bottom position to return to the start. 5. Reverse lunges: Begin with your feet shoulder width

apart, torso erect. Take a slow, controlled step backwards. When the ball of your foot touches the floor, continue the movement by lowering your hips so that your forward thigh becomes parallel to the floor. At this point your forward knee should be positioned directly over your ankle or foot slightly behind. Your front foot should be pointing straight ahead, and your trailing knee should be extended to stretch your hip flexor muscles. After reaching the most comfortable bottom position, shift your balance forward and then push off with your rear foot while straitening your forward leg. When you have returned to the starting position, repeat the movement with the other leg. LUNGING CYCLE PROGRAM Beginners: 3 Lunge exercises, 15 repetitions each leg2 cycles = 6 sets Intermediate: 4 Lunge exercises, 20 repetitions each leg3 cycles= 12 sets Advanced: 5 Lunge exercises, 20 repetitions, each leg- 3-4 cycles= 15-20 sets Whichever level you start with, depending on your current conditioning, work up to the goal cycles listed above. Do not start with the above program; start with 50% or less until you feel comfortable to increase.

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

www.akbartravels.com

Mental Health

The Power of Forgiveness in a Relationship Shobhika Jaju is Psychologist & Psychotherapist at Silver Linings: Guidance & Counselling Centre, Margao. She is a Certiﬁed Queer Afﬁrmative Practitioner & Career Counsellor. Reach her on shobhika@silverliningsgoa.com

Forgiveness is one of the most important contributors in a relationship, to keep it alive & healthy. It's also one of the hardest things to practice. Forgiveness would refer to releasing the feelings of hurt, revenge, anger, which one is holding towards another person. What is important here to remember is that forgiving someone doesn't mean that you are taking the blame onto yourself, or that you are wrong.

60 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

Forgiveness serves a larger purpose. If there are things which you can let go of for the greater good, in this case, your relationship, wouldn't it be better to do so? To forgive within the context of a relationship implies letting go of the minor hassles and focusing on what's ultimately

important to both partners, involved. Forgiveness becomes essential in every relationship because the people involved are inherently different people, and forgiving enables us to acknowledge these differences. Different people have different opinions, have different ways of doing things and this list can go on. Practising forgiveness within a relationship can enable us to recognize, accept and adjust to these differences. Having said that, forgiveness is a skill, which needs to be slowly built into your relationship. So, here are some suggestions to practise forgiveness in your relationship: · Focus on the positives. When we are upset about something that our partner has done / not done, we tend to focus on all the negatives about them and the relationship. Instead, it's extremely important at this time to focus your attention on WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

their positives. · Practice empathy. Why did your partner behave the way they did? For example, did they wake you up at the regular time during a holiday? Could there be reasons behind it? How would you have behaved if the tables were turned? In the end, it's all about perspectives. When we look at things from the other person's perspectives, it becomes easier to let go of the resentment, hurt or anger that we are feeling in that moment towards our partner. · Accept that apology you asked for & let it go. I often hear my clients say, “He/she apologized but I know they didn't mean it”. An essential part of forgiveness is to take things on an “as is where is” basis. If your partner comes to you and apologizes for something, take it on face value and try to let go of that situation which caused you pain. · Appreciate the changes that your partner has made. Another essential aspect of forgiving is to

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

acknowledge the changes that your partner is making and avoiding focusing on the things they still need to change but haven't. This will not only make them feel appreciated, but also motivate them to bring in more positive changes in life. Whereas, if you continue to keep nagging them about the changes they have not made while constantly ignoring the efforts that your partner is making, it will only demotivate them. · Choose your battles. What are the things which are actually worth ﬁghting about? Focus on the more essential aspects of your relationship

and talk it out with your partner. But does it really matter if your partner wore the same t-shirt twice? Focus on what's more important. · Finally, focus on new & happy memories. Forgiveness is about moving on, and about focusing on the positives. One way to forgive would also be to focus on creating newer & happy memories. Remember that it's not an easy task to practice forgiveness. Being forgiving doesn't make you weak. If anything, it will make you stronger and more resilient to deal with the more difﬁcult challenges.

APRIL 2020 / INCREDIBLE GOA / 61

Dental Health

How to Maintain Good Oral Hygiene Dr. Paresh Lotlekar is a leading dental practitioner specialising in Periodontology & Oral implantology and the founder of STUDIO32 (studio32india.com), a chain of super speciality dental clinics in Goa.

1. Brush your teeth with ﬂuoride toothpaste twice a day: Most people are conscious that brushing teeth twice a day is important for keeping teeth healthy. Nevertheless, a few of us still neglect to brush our teeth at night. Brushing before bed is one of the most effective methods for eliminating the germs and plaque that collect d u r i n g t h e d a y. I t i s recommended to brush at least for two minutes using a softbristled toothbrush. Equally critical is the way you brush. Place your brush at an angle of 62 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

45 degrees to your gums and use small back and forth motions over your teeth's sides and tops. It is also advised to

2. Flossing is as important as brushing: Unlike a toothbrush that cleans the top and the outer surfaces of the teeth, a dental ﬂoss is an inter-dental cleaner intended speciﬁcally to clean tight spaces between the

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

Cleaning the tongue daily will decrease harmful bacteria in the mouth which cause bad breath and other oral health problems. Use a tongue scraper gently to clean your tongue. Eat a healthy diet that restricts snacks and sugary beverages. Drink more water. Try to quit smoking and use of other tobacco products. teeth. Do ﬂoss your teeth at least once a day, either in the morning or before bed at night. If there are gaps in between your teeth, you can consider other inter dental aids like inter-dental brushes. 3. Consider using a mouthwash Mouthwash is usually recommended for people who are at an increased risk of cavities or gum disease. A

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

mouthwash is not a substitute for brushing and ﬂossing, but it does complement these habits. Antimicrobial mouth rinse decreases bacteria and plaque that cause gingivitis and gum disease. Fluoride mouth rinse helps to limit the incidence of tooth decay. Ask your dentist for guidance in selecting a mouthwash.

Practicing good dental care will help a person maintain healthy teeth and gums. Nevertheless, even the most obedient brushers and ﬂossers ought to see a dentist regularly once in 6 months. It is vital that the right steps are taken every day to take care of your pearly whites and to avoid problems.

4. Other oral care tips: Don't forget your tongue.

APRIL 2020 / INCREDIBLE GOA / 63

EAT, DRINK, STAY

HOT PICKS

Baga Beer Garden Live Music, Sports and much more! Baga Beer Garden is a new concept restaurant project of 'Susegado' one of the pioneer Craft Beer Makers of Goa. Promoted by Aditya Challa who believes that there is a need of giving completely different experience to the customer compared to how they would normally experience the beer at some other establishments. “Having a restaurant, i realised is a very different concept from what we had earlier with our brewing business. There are challenges with this endeavour as well, but there is also something that we need to understand that is how a consumer experiences their beer,” said Aditya adding that “The way a customer experience beers at some other established is different as compared to how they would experience our beer here. We also found that there is no real place where we could showcase what Susegado is as a beer, and this is how we came to this

64 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

concept.” The Beer Garden also provides the live music experience during the day time. “We have bands playing here 3 days a week as well and in hindsight most places in this area are not even open until late evening. We open up at 10am and close up at 11pm and we want this place to be a sort of casual hangout zone for our customers or whoever comes here. Even our menu is crafted around that ideology, we also serve breakfast and that way

everything is available here. Even our music isn't that loud, as there are houses around our area as we wouldn't want to disturb that ﬂow or for that matter even our guests.” Aditya devised this concept of the live music during the daytime after he saw the absence of activities in the places around Goa during the afternoon time. “This is where we wanted to do something different,” he said adding that this can still be called a work in progress and it is

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

www.incrediblegoa.org

deﬁnitely heading towards that area with the Beer Garden and Susegado. “We want it such a way that someone can walk in at 7am and have no reason to leave until 11pm. There are activities like pool, listening to live music, trying out the food and drinks.” Another thing that will drive your attention is the food menu which is not the typical style menu that is served in the pubs and restaurants and when we asked Mr. Aditya about the same he said that Their food r a n g e s f ro m a v a r i e t y o f Chicken wings all the way to

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

Onion Rings and even Dosa's for that matter. Can you imagine the Dosa being served with the b e e r, d o e s t h a t sounds b i t weird? “When it comes to bar food, people t h i n k that it's a l l western

but that is also something that we are changing here by providing a taste of southern Indian cuisines as well. We have stuff like the chicken and the vegetarian stew that nobody else has,” said Aditya. Aditya says that he take a slightly different route with respect to the Goan food as they did not want to be the same cuisine as every other restaurant in the area with the Goan ﬁsh curry and so on. “People are already experience that in Goa and we wanted to be different in our own way by giving them a slightly unique

APRIL 2020 / INCREDIBLE GOA / 65

WWW.GOAMILES.COM

t a k e o n o u r f o o d . We h a v e something called as the Spinach Empanadas, and this way we have kept a vey diverse take on our menu and crafted the same with that in mind.” Truth to be told, Aditya does not belongs to the food industry but despite of that he has a great knowledge of the culinary art. “The secret behind this is, I eat out a lot and from that I have collected the knowledge from all over the world. Even the relationship that I share with our customers here helps keep things quite simple as well when they visit us,” he averred. The process of putting together the menu of this place came with the help of his Chef Joaquim, there is the element of classic food with a local touch and Indian touch as well. According to Aditya, his business targets the audience from diverse set of age group. “The availability of different activities and things to do at our place makes it a hot spot for everyone to come visit. We are also

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

t h e ofﬁcial screeni n g partne r for FC Goa in t h e north G o a region and we screen all the match es here with a good turnou t o f f a n s comin

g here.” “Our ideology is to make this place great again which is evident in our hash tag #MakeBagaGreatAgain. As

there might have been this stigma with coming to this part of North Goa, and this is something that we are

APRIL 2020 / INCREDIBLE GOA / 67

l o o k i n g t o re v i t a l i s e a n d change with our take on this place. We want the people to come visit us here, bring their families along, or even their pets for that matter as we are a pet-friendly place. We have three zones, the lower deck side, the upper deck and the AC zone which will be functioning soon,” he added. When we asked Aditya about his signature dishes he said the Chicken 64, “As we don't add the additional food colouring and we make our stuff as organically as possible; there is no usage of microwave ovens and all here at this place. We make everything in-house, right from the sauces to the fries. Even our Mustard sauce, is made in house by buying mustard and then preparing it from scratch. There are something's that go a long way,

68 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

a s i t d o e s n 't a f f e c t t h e stomachs of the people eating in a bad way too.” The other dishes severed at Beer Garden includes 4 types of chicken wings that they serve, namely grilled schezwan wings, korean bbq wings, wings in jerk sauce, then we have the Mangalorean Kingﬁsh fry, Chicken Wings in Jamaican sauce, the Prawns Ghee Roast, Crispy fry Bhindi, the Mac and cheese jalapeño poppers, the beer battered onion rings, or even the fried chicken which is done in the southern American style of preparation. “We are also starting our very own take of Pizzas here at the Beer Garden and that would also go really well with the whole idea of Pizzas and Beer Combo,” said Aditya. Our team also spoke to the Chef Joaquim who takes care

of the mouth watering menu at the Beer Garden. According to Chef Joaquim, “Our take on food here is to maximise the taste, the touch of the food itself, and also at same time be true to the dish. We also utilise a really organic approach to cooking and in that way we do not utilise any external ingredients as we make our own masalas from scratch and there is literally no addition of preservatives or colouring in our food whatsoever. Even making use of green chilly instead of chilli powder goes a long way with our take on the food. Our crispy fried bhindi is something that goes really well with the beer here and when we talk about our sauces, we make all of them in-house so the taste is always consistent with what we make here.”

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

www.sarovarhotels.com

www.dessertsnmore.co.in

In Focus

Casinos in Goa oﬀer to help towards ﬁghting the Coronavirus The coronavirus crisis has led to a number of problems all across the world, especially due to the lockdown measures introduced by many governments. In the absence of a vaccine, there is little choice but to enforce lockdown and social distancing norms to try and control the spread of the virus; h o w e v e r, t h i s h a s caused a lot of inconvenience and suffering as well.

72 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ APRIL 2020

The coronavirus crisis has led to a number of problems all across the world, especially due to the lockdown measures introduced by many governments. In the absence of a vaccine, there is little choice but to enforce lockdown and social distancing norms to try and control the spread of the virus; however, this has caused a lot of inconvenience and suffering as well. Nevertheless, several casino operators have been contributing towards government operations and relief measures during this time. As part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) requirements, many operators have donated to the government's relief fund, while

t h e y a re a l s o h e l p i n g t o manage the logistics of delivery and transport. The Casino Pride group, India's largest VIP casino, has also h e l p e d o u t 2 5 G e o rg i a n nationals who were left stranded in the state after the government banned all flights in and out of the country. They h a v e b e e n g i v e n accommodation and food by the group, who have stated that they will take care of them till the lockdown is lifted and they are in a position to fly back. The group has also opened its kitchens to provide meals to on-duty policemen. Similarly, the Deltin Group contributed over five million rupees to the chief minister's relief fund, WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

while employees are also helping to source and distribute essentials like medicines, medical devices, and food to people who have not been able to venture outside their homes due to the lockdown. While Goa has only reported only seven cases of COVID-19, with six of them having

WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.ORG

recovered, its status as a tourist hub meant that there was a huge potential for an outbreak of cases. All of those cases came in from North Goa, which is the tourist hub with the most famous beaches, restaurants, and nightlife spots. Further, the state is mainly rural and semirural, with only the capital city and certain other tourist areas having good transport and

logistics. Therefore, it has been a challenge for the state government to ensure that people in more remote areas do not suffer or fall short of provisions, and thus the efforts of casino operators towards these aims are extremely important and could ensure that people do not suffer from starvation or hunger.

APRIL 2020 / INCREDIBLE GOA / 73

www.stylebu.in

www.nrbgroup.biz

Need a Website?

Your website is your Identity, Make sure you have one! Microblogs E-Commerce Restaurants / CafĂŠ Hotels Fashion Fitness Secure SSL 99.9% uptime Flexible Storage Clean Code Modern Design Mobile Friendly

Creative Concept Media L-5, Alfran Plaza, M G Road, Panaji - Goa. 403001 Tel: 96233 19547 Email: creativeconceptsgoa@gmail.com

Scan Me

www.exploreincrediblegoa.com www.exploreincrediblegoa.com/blog

explore@incrediblegoa.org

Goaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s First Food & Hospitality Magzazine

FOOD & HOSPITALITY COMING SOON

For More Detais Visit Incrediblegoa Food & Hospitaity Portal Here

INCREDIBLE GOA APRIL 2020 ISSUE

Articles inside

INCREDIBLE GOA APRIL 2020 ISSUE