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CONTENTS AUGUST 2017
RNI : GOAENG/2016/66434 POSTAL LICENSE NO : G-2/RNP/GOA/28/2016-18 Price ` 100 VOL 2 ISSUE 11 PANAJI GOA, RNI: GOAENG/2017/66434
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12 LO AND BEHOLD – THE WONDERS OF THE WATERFALLS OF GOA
AUGUST 2017
LO AND BEHOLD THE WONDERS OF THE WATERFALLS OF GOA TREND SETTER
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
GOAN TALENT
In association with
FROM EDITOR’S DESK
10
GOAN TALENT ESTER NORONHA
IN FOCUS DEVESH MAHALA
18
Ester Noronha who has her roots in Goa actually belongs to Mangalore, situated on the west coast of India, known as Konkan...
Goa's trafc scenario has gone from bad to worse and its deterioration with time has become a menace in our fast-paced lifestyles...
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT 22 SABINA MARTINS In a male-dominated society, you talk about woman empowerment, but it is always given the second place. The female gender has ...
GOAN CUISINE
26
TREND SETTER ABBAS SHAIKH
28
Mohammedan (another word for Muslim) community in Goa is very much progressive comparatively to the rest of the country...
BUSINESS GOA
32
36
EVENT
40
FEATURE
48
GOA BUZZ
55
YOUNG GOA
52
YOUNG GOA
EVENTS
BUSINESS GOA
CREDITS Editor & Publisher Rajesh Ghadge Business, Finance & Admin Rajeshree Ghadge Layouts & Design Rajesh Ghadge Manasi Kavthankar Photography Credits Aakash Ghadge Help Desk Norma Fernandes
VINITA BICHOLKAR No person is born in this world with perfection. We all lack in some way or the other. That is the way Our Creator molded us with imperfections...
TALK OF TOWN
57
Publisher's Note:– Error is Human, although we take all due care while publishing the magazine to make sure that it is free from all the errors. Any omissions and erroneousness are entirely unintentional. Please do bring to our notice in case if you nd any such things / items published incorrectly and any photography erroneously published, needed to be given credits. We also believe in publishing something which catches our attention and made available for the purpose of information to our readers. We also believe that people will take it sportingly and help us to make this publication even better and useful for our reader. Printed, Published & Owned by Rajesh Ghadge and printed at Printek Printers and published at 608, Unitech City Centre, M G Road, Panaji – Goa. 403001 India. Editor : Rajesh Ghadge
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FEATURE
Circulations Shubert Vaz Ganesh Raj
Cover Page Credit Goa Tourism © All rights are reserved. Reprinting, publishing whole or part without obtaining the express written permission of editor and publisher is strictly prohibited. All the images unless otherwise indicated are used for illustration purpose only. In case you feel that any image/s or content/s should not be there / needs due credits / having copyrights, you may please immediately inform the same to editor / publisher in written format, the needful will be done in the following issue.
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FROM EDITOR’S DESK
EXPLORING THE HINTERLANDS OF GOA CHECK OUT SOME OF THE MOST EXOTIC WATERFALLS IN GOA THIS MONSOON
RAJESH GHADGE Editor, Incredible Goa rajeshghadge@gmail.com rajghadgegoa @goaprismmag rajeshghadge
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There is a saying that change is a way of life, with time everything changes, and we are no exception to it. In passage of time, as you may have noticed we have molded ourselves to meet to the requirements of our readers with qualitative, informative and thought-provoking contents. The team under my stead, strives very hard to bring forth to our esteemed readers the best in content to refresh your knowledge base and in the bargain it may reach a little late on your desk. But in the future, I can assure you I will make things swifter and crispier. And for that to happen, from our forthcoming issue we have decided to incorporate few new topics into out content. Stay tuned for it. Monsoon tourism is the major source of income for the tourism stake holders of Goa. This is due to the fact that the foreigners go away at this time of the year and the entire tourism industry remains dependent on the locals and domestic tourists. In fact, this is the best time to feel the real essence of Goa and hence many domestic tourists prefer to travel to this exotic location from various parts of the country. During the rains, hinterland tourism is promoted by the Goa Tourism Department which gives you a real glimpse of a completely different Goa away from the beaches. Goa's waterfalls play a major role in this. Goa has more than two dozen cascading waterfalls but only a few are very famous with locals as well as domestic tourists visiting these majestic sights during the monsoon. The cover story of this issue will throw more light on this aspect of Goa's tourism. So if you are planning to visit the waterfalls of Goa this monsoon, please read the cover story before heading towards them. The traffic scenario in the State is going from bad to worse and we
intend to enlighten our readers on this grave dilemma under In Focus. Herein we feature the new SP Traffic Devesh Mahala who is working towards various reforms in this sector. Devesh is perhaps the first IAS officer who has personally taken up this most nagging issue for the Goans and tourists alike. We do not have any control over our destiny but we are surely capable of shaping it with our own hands. The case of Vinita Bicholkar will give you the idea as to what extent one can fight with the adversities of their life and come out as a winner at the end. It requires tremendous amount of self determination to overcome the condition that Vinita is going through at the moment. We meet many people in our day to day life that will never cease to surprise us with their endeavours. Abbas Shaikh is one such person who really made me feel that way and I decided to bring his story to you. Abbas who had lost all the hopes in his life after completely losing himself to alcoholism, changed his life completely around. He went on to set a trend that nothing is impossible if one decides to win over the situation. I am sure the story of Abbas will surely inspire you that no matter what the issues you may face, adversities are only the stumbling blocks you overcome as you step towards a successful path. We, as a team, always strive to bring forth the most comprehensive contents in every issue of this magazine to bring to the readers value for their time and money. But yet, we always seek to improve. And we would look forward to receiving your invaluable suggestions and constructive feedback by dropping us a f e w l i n e s o n incrediblegoan@gmail.com. I can assure you that our team with your support will move forward in the right direction. Until then, happy reading.
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COVER STORY
THE BEST WATERFALLS IN GOA, WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU VISIT THEM TEXT RAJESH GHADGE
The monsoon tourism of Goa can also be addressed as 'Waterfall Tourism' since most of the tourists visiting the State this time of the year are here to check out some of the most exotic waterfalls in Goa. During monsoon, Goa has many things to offer, such as, Hinterland Tourism, Trekking, Water Rafting, visits to plantations and checking out some of the most exotic waterfalls. In this issue, we are going to give you a feel of the blessedness that Goa is bestowed within its bounties with the presence of spectacular waterfalls. We will also tell you about the things you need to know before, after and during your visit to the waterfalls.
DUDH SAGAR WATERFALLS
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Goa has over two dozen waterfalls interspersed through the length and breadth of its region. They may have their own charm and thereby vary in height and accessibility. The more famous ones include D u d h s a g a r, A r v a l e m , Savari, Hivrem, Tambdi Surla and Kesarval waterfalls. Amongst these, the most sought after waterfall of Goa is Dudhsagar. The waterfall literally translates to imagery of milk flowing right from the top of the mountain which makes for an enchanting sight. Most of the waterfalls start flowing in full gusto from mid-July, and it goes on till t h e e n d o f O c t o b e r, depending on the amount of rainfall. The waterfalls in Goa are spread across the length and breadth of the State, and reaching to the waterfalls is not an easy task at all, and for the exception of Dudhsagar, most of the waterfalls can be reached by oneself without additional transportation facilities. The most accessible waterfall you can reach without much of a hassle is the Arvalem Waterfall situated in Sanquelim. The waterfalls are usually frequented by the locals and domestic tourists alike in the monsoon and f o re i g n e r s d u r i n g t h e
SAVARI OR NETRAVALI WATERFALLS
season time which begins in the month of October. This feature focuses mainly on domestic tourists who
come to Goa to visit waterfalls. It aims to give the reader an informative impression at a glance on
each waterfall. It also emphasizes on what has to be done before and while visiting those waterfalls.
and Karnataka. The area is surrounded by a deciduous forest with a rich biodiversity, and reaching to the waterfalls needs a good physical condition. But once you reach there,
you are bound to forget all the efforts you took. Dudhsagar is one of the most difficult terrains to be accessed during the monsoon. Amongst all the existing waterfalls in Goa,
DUDH SAGAR WATERFALLS Dudhsagar is one of the most famous waterfalls of Goa. Falling from the height of approximately 1000 feet and having 5 channels, the flow of water gives an illusion of the sea WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.IN
of milk falling from the height into a deep valley. The width of the fall is approximately 100 feet; situated in the Western Ghats. Dudhsagar forms a border line between Goa
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COVER STORY
ARVALEM OR HARVALEM WATERFALL PIC CREDITED :- Trekpedition
this place is beyond the reach of a person who is physically unfit. The journey to the Dudhsagar begins with reaching to the closest point called “Collem” which is nearly 30 km away from the actual fall. To reach “Collem” you need to reach to Mollem station first by rail or road. Once
you reach there, you need to walk for half an hour through the jungle to reach “Collem” which is around 5.5KM away from Mollem railway station. After you reach “Collem”, you will find the rented jeeps or motorcycle pilots waiting for you to take you to Goa's biggest waterfall.
Presently, the jeeps are not allowed to ply on the routes due to the possible danger of water level, but the motorcycle pilots will take you to the nearest point to the waterfall. This would come at a cost of Rs. 1000 (approx.) for travelling across 25 km and through the difficult terrain. The motorcycle pilots will
drop you the closest point to Dudhsagar called “Bhind Fator” which is around two km away from the actual fall, and to reach to the waterfall you need to do trek the remaining distance. After your return from the waterfall back to the Bhind Fator, the pilot will ferry you back to Collem.
SAVARI OR NETRAVALI WATERFALLS Savari waterfalls are situated in Netravali's deep jungles, and hence many locals also call it Netravali Waterfalls, but regardless of whichever name you take, this place is one of the most beautiful places to visit in Goa. The access to Savari falls is not as difficult or restricted as that of Dudhsagar falls, but it
surely is a task which needs one to trek across difficult terrain to a distance of 5 km from the Budbudyachi Tali (Bubble Lake). If you are planning to visit this waterfall, then you have to prepare yourself to venture through rugged terrain. As such, you would need to carry a good pair of shoes and rainwear. You
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also have to ensure that you have the first aid kit handy, as the possibility of casualty cannot be ruled out if you flip on the slippery rocks on your way to the waterfall. The Savari waterfall which is situated at a height of approximately 50 ft, falls into the Kali river. Although many venture into it for the swim, you have to make
sure that you are a good swimmer before getting into the river. The journey to the Savari waterfall will take whole day as the travel to and from the falls takes no less than two hours. You need to go very slow and make sure that you do not slip into the adjoining rivulet. Once you reach at the
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bottom of the fall, you will get a mesmerizing view of the waterfall, and you will
start believing that heaven does exist here. This place is frequented by the locals
on a regular basis and is also considered as a picnic spot. Hence you can make
sure that you would not be alone once you reach there.
150 ft above the mountain will surely give you a good glimpse of the waterfall. The Department of Tourism has ensured facilities such as fencing and barricading work around the waterfall for the purpose of viewing the fall without people risking their lives. You can also take good selďŹ es but have to be aware that use of DSLR cameras near the
waterfall is ill-advised as the fall generates huge moisture of water around. A total distance to the waterfall from Panjim is around 30 km, and it can be reached via one's own car, by two-wheeler or even by bus. Once you reach the waterfall, do not forget to visit the Rudreshwar Temple situated at the bottom of the fall.
ARVALEM OR HARVALEM WATERFALL Arvalem waterfall is situated in Sanquelim which is in North Goa. The fall is very close to the famous Pandava Caves, a n d a c c o rd i n g t o t h e legend, the caves were built by Pandavas during their Agyatvas (Hibernation days). The waterfall is not as big as Dudhsagar but certainly much bigger than Savari and the best time to
visit this place is between August and October. The best part of this waterfall is the easy access leading up to it. You do not need to possess any trekking skills. You just need to be physically strong enough to venture into this place, since it is reachable by two and four wheeler easily, and the cascading fall of water from
HIVREM WATERFALL
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COVER STORY
KESARVAL WATERFALL
HIVREM WATERFALLS Situated in Valpoi village, Hivrem Waterfall is reachable via trekking a distance of 1.5 km up on the hill. But to reach that spot you need to travel around 14 km from the main Valpoi City and pass
through the village called Thane to reached Hivrem. Once you reach Hivrem village, you can take the help of villagers to reach the waterfall which is situated around 1.5 km from the main village.
Hivrem village is vibrant and abound with lush green beauty, and from here you can view 16 waterfalls all packed in tight, into a small viewing area that could be seen from the foothill. But again
this place is meant for the people who love to go for trekking. In order to reach here, you need to pass through arduous terrain. So if trekking runs through your blood, this is just the waterfall trek for you to conquer.
the cliff face near the waterfall. Besides the above legend, this place also has many medicinal properties attached to the water flowing down from the spring. Young and old alike come to bathe here to wash away their ailments and rejuvenate themselves. The origins of these properties are not known. However the algae found in the water are known to have
some beneficial properties. The Kesarval falls have been declared an important tourist attraction by the Government of Goa, and facilities have been provided to attract more people to these reputedly healing waters. These include improving the access routes to the falls and setting up places where people can buy food, water, medicines, exchange money, etc.
KESARVAL WATERFALLS Kesarval is another waterfall akin to the one at Arvalem which does not require any trekking skills or climbing of mountains and it can be reached with the ease of your own car or by two-wheeler. This place is maintained by the Goa Tourism Department. The Kesarval falls are also known as Kesarval Springs which is suppose to have medicinal properties and
many people come here for taking a bath, but the same is not possible during the monsoon. During the monsoon, Kesarval waterfall overflows into the lake below. The word “Kesarval” had been derived from the Indian word for Eagle, and according to the available information, the Eagles used to make their nests in
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TAMBDI SURLA WATERFALL Tambdi Surla, situated in the midst of dense vegetation, with terrain which is at moderate level does not require any advance trekking knowledge. The walk to Tambdi Surla Waterfall goes through the evergreen and moist deciduous forests of Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary. The best time to visit this place is between July and September. The trail to the waterfall is well marked and fairly simple to follow. Adding to the charm of the trek, you will encounter many swift streams gushing down the mountain. The journey to this waterfall is very interesting. The initial trail is quite broad due to the less dense forest but as you advance on your path and keep going deeper into the jungle, your path will get narrow and the forest cover will start getting denser. The only thing you need to worry about on this route is the leeches, and if you are not sufficiently covered then the chances that you might end up having few leeches clinging on to you are high. Though the trodden path to the waterfall goes through the dense forest and is a home to a rich assortment of wildlife, you do not have to worry about the leopards, gaurs or deers, unless you reach the heart of the sanctuary. At the most, you may come across different species of reptiles and some smaller animals. As you approach the waterfall, you will get to WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.IN
hear the sound of a fall and finally, you will be able to witness the silvery curtain of water cascading down from the height of 150 feet down into the recesses of a pond formed due to the continuous fall of the water. Your trek to Tambdi Surla will remain incomplete
with you while going to any of the waterfalls in Goa as it i s b a n n e d . H o w e v e r, people carry and drink at the fall which is again unstoppable and many a time it results in mishaps. Some of the waterfalls such as Tambdi Surla do not allow you to carry non-
People go to the waterfall for having fun, but please make sure that you have it in your limits, and at the end, it does not turn out into any kind of a mishap. Swimming in the fall and climbing on the hills can turn out to be a fatal. The shoes need to be of a
TAMBDI SURLA WATERFALL PIC CREDITED BY : Akash Verma
without a visit to the famous Shiva temple which is at the start of the trek route. This temple is an ancient place carved from the black basalt and is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Now that you have gone through the details of all the major waterfalls in Goa, it is time to understand the Do's and Do Not's when you visit the beautiful waterfalls in Goa First things first. You should never carry liquor along
vegetarian food and liquor. One must take care to adhere to the sanctity of the place as they would a shrine. Littering in the vicinity of waterfalls or en route is not permissible. In case you are planning to party at the waterfall along with your friends and family, and you have carried food and drink with you, please make sure that you do not litter around. And of course, the drinks should be non-alcoholic.
standard that is meant for the purpose of trekking as most of the areas around the waterfall is slippery and wearing formal or casual shoes may lead to unwanted accidents causing severe injuries. Finally, remember that you are here to have a good time, and not to abuse the resources or the privileges. Make sure that your trip becomes a memorable one.
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IN FOCUS
DEVESH MAHALA REFORMING THE TRAFFIC SCENARIO OF GOA
TEXT RAJESH GHADGE
Goa's traffic scenario has gone from bad to worse and its deterioration with time has become a menace in our fast-paced lifestyles. A major indication for this plightful situation is the steady increase of vehicular traffic. Several men in uniform have come and gone but the glaring problem has stayed unmoved. But with the entry of Devesh Mahala into the State Traffic Police, his vision has within a short span of time made him a game changer. Mahala, an IAS officer has been transferred from Delhi to Goa recently. With him, has come a breath of fresh ideas to improve the deteriorating traffic scenario and bring about positive reforms in it.
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The first thing that is needed to bring about any change into the system is determination, followed by the ideas and positive attitude. Goa's traffic scenario which is deteriorating rapidly in the last few years is majorly an outcome of a growing number of vehicles seen plying on the roads. The majority of two-wheelers are used by the youth which affects the system more than anything else. Goa has a population of 2 million (approx.) while more than 6.5 million tourists visit Goa every year which is over three times more the actual population. The ever growing vehicles on the roads take toll on the inadequate infrastructure resulting into increase in number of accidents and fatalities on the Goan roads. There are other problems as well. These include non-adherence to wearing helmets and breaking other traffic rules like wrongful overtaking and speeding by locals and tourists in the State. With the entry of the new Superintendent of Police Devesh Mahala, an IAS officer into the Traffic Police Cell, the traffic scenario has shown healthy signs of improvement. Mahala is perhaps the first police officer in the traffic department of Goa who b r o u g h t t h e implementation of helmets for both the rider and pillion rider in Goa. Although the same could not be continued due to political interference, the reform was suggested by Mahala. When Incredible Goa contacted him, he was queried to what made him
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implement the duel helmet rule for the rider and pillion rider. To which, Mahala who was posted in New Delhi earlier revealed that in the country's capital it is mandatory for both, the rider and pillion rider to wear a helmet. “But in Goa the situation is different from Delhi. In Goa, helmet is compulsory only for the rider and not for the pillion rider. We tried enforcing this for the pillion rider as well, but the situation is slightly different here. In the 'Goa Motor Vehicles Rules, 1991' the rules regarding safety for pillion rider is silent so in such a scenario I could not enforce the rule for the p i l l i o n r i d e r, ” M a h a l a lamented. But the SP Police (Traffic Cell) makes an earnest appeal to this effect. “I humbly request all the pillion riders to wear a helmet which is for their own safety. If I go by the statistics of road accidents in Goa, we have lost roughly around 42% of pillion riders last year itself. Even the riders themselves seldomly wear helmets, they only wear one to get away from the authorities and take it off once there isn't anyone in sight. This endangers their own lives,” Mahala said. Another concern that is faced particularly by tourists coming to Goa is the harassment from the traffic police. They are to deal with issues like not carrying vehicle documents, missing insurance or pollution c e r t i fi c a t e s w h i c h a re irrelevant as far as the tourists are concerned on road etiquette and
maintain the vehicle rented out. In spite of knowing this, traffic police are seen time and again, deliberately harassing the tourists. Observing this disturbing trend, Mahala has decided to bring a reform on the matter. He has warned the traffic police against any tourist harassment. “I have issued a circular to all the traffic police across the State and warned them of strict action if found violating the guidelines,”Mahala said. “My motive behind the entire operation is mobility and safety. With this kept in mind, I had issued a circular that clearly indicates to not unnecessarily harass or stop riders. I have even formed a vigilant squad of my traffic cell with an inspector and his officers who have installed video cameras on their vehicles which will help to supervise and keep an eye on traffic cases in the State. This will ensure no dereliction on duty. I have issued a circular in this regard, to my Traffic Cell to stop only those riders who they feel violate traffic rules. Like in cases where the driver is not wearing a seat belt, or rider is helmet-free or for that matter driving or riding negligently,” Mahala said. With the implementation of this, Mahala has taken action against the erring men in uniform. “Now that we have the traffic vigilance cell in place, action has been taken against the violators. I have already fired two officers due to their conduct not being as per the satisfaction of the service rules,” he said. He has also appealed to the people, especially to the
readers of this magazine to send the details of any violations or harassment of tourists. “I appeal to all the people and readers of this magazine to please bring to my notice any such violations taking place in the form of video clips and I assure you that I will take necessary action against them. You can send all the details directly to me via e m a i l o n sptrafficgoa@gmail.com,” Mahala added. When asked if they have any WhatsApp number where people can send the images or videos, Mahala revealed in the negative but added to say they have proposed the idea before the department and which is pending for the consideration by the seniors. “I am planning to start this facility very soon as several people are already sending us emails and we receive over 40 to 50 complaints on a daily basis. People send it with the date, time and place of offence and we issue the offenders with challans since we have clear evidence of it. The person then cannot refuse and he/she who is been given a fine is sent a notice and then he comes in and pays it. Nothing should stop the people to send me a mail and get in touch even through Facebook until we start the WhatsApp system,” Mahala stated. As far as the parking woes particularly in cities are concerned Mahala said that the problem with Goa right now is that the population is less and the numbers of vehicles are m u c h h i g h e r. “ P u b l i c transport does exist, but
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IN FOCUS
people still prefer to take their own vehicle out. And as income grows, people prefer to go for a fourwheeler rather than a twowheeler which accentuates the problem. The parking is one such issue which exists all over India which the lawenforcers cannot only solve it, thereby making people's participation a must. We are trying to manage it with the limited force we have at the moment. In Panjim, Mapusa and Margao, the scenarios are manageable and the traffic cell is doing its best. But the scene at the coastal belt around Palolem is become a major problem which we are looking into right now,” Mahala revealed. On the issue of growing accidents in the State, Mahala said that his department is working towards it and since his appointment in Goa, statistics show that road
fatalities have reduced substantially in the State. As far as accidents and fatalities are concerned, Mahala has analyzed the data of the last five years. He has accordingly identified the timing and places which are prone to a c c i d e n t s . “ We a re enforcing traffic regulations and vigilance to reduce the road fatalities. We are also working on stopping unnecessary stunts performed by the youngsters on the roads. But then again, I would request the people of Goa to help the traffic police by providing the images and video clips of the violations to reduce accidents,” he said. Mahala believes that good work always gets appreciated. He expressed confidence that he will get complete co-operation from his seniors for the work he is doing in the
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State at the moment. “I am working towards institutionalizing the reforms to ensure that whoever holds my current post, would continue in the same positive vein. We are also working on road safety voluntary programs, traffic educational programs, while people are enrolling with us and perform their duty alongside us. They help us in solving traffic violations and assist in the enforcements. It cannot be stopped once it comes to cognizance of the people. So any good thing started once, people will try to adapt to it voluntarily,” Mahala explained. Mahala is working on new ideas to make sure that people get educated towards the traffic norms and follows the rules. “In the sphere of education, we are coming up in a big way. We are starting on good development and are
now putting into action a bigger plan. The education plan is trying to develop a van, where all traffic posters and signs, accident photos and all educative information will be available for the public to see. Plans in the pipeline also include the start of a projector drive where we will put up educational movies and keep them running on occasions such as 'Shigmotsav' festival. We are also in talks to put up traffic police stalls all around. This year we will adopt three schools within the locality and try to educate them about road s a f e t y, r u l e s a n d regulations and education drive. We are also enrolling people in road safety as volunteers from various schools. I hope this year we will be able to enroll 700 to 800 people as road safety volunteers,” Mahala stated. WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.IN
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
SABINA MARTINS STRIVING FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THE OPPRESSED WOMEN TEXT RAJESH GHADGE
In a male-dominated society, you talk about woman empowerment, but it is always given the second place. The female gender has always been victimized even in a socalled 21st century. Indiscrimination of the female gender may begin from getting education to marriage to harassment for dowry. People in our society bring up their daughters by imposing upon them certain restrictions and all this happens due to our approach towards them.
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That said, it cannot be ruled out wherein in some cases women misuse the privileges available to them which is negligible. But m o re o f t e n t h a n n o t , women and girls are at the receiving end. This is where Sabina Martins comes in to fight for their rights. Sabina Martins is a wellknown name in Goa who is the driving force towards the betterment of women in the State for over three decades. When Incredible Goa met Sabina she was asked what made her start a women's rights organization “Bailancho Saad”. She replied to state that while in college, there were a lot of organizations dealing with various issues related to society. But she could not find any organization for women. “There were a few organizations created for women like the Mahila Mandal but they would mainly deal in getting the g r a n t s f o r t h e entrepreneurs from the women and child department and would prepare items and sell them. It was more like a commercial organization,” said Sabina. Unfortunately, back then there was nothing to address the harassment of women. “Suppose a woman was beaten up, raped or harassed then who would take that up? No one! So that was our concern, and it became my strong reason in starting this organization,” she maintained. The journey of Sabina t o w a rd s t h e c a u s e o f downtrodden women b e g a n r i g h t f ro m h e r college days. According to
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h e r, w h e n s h e w a s i n college, she was a part of the student's organization. “I used to feel that we should take up these issues. But the student's organization was not meant for it and they would only take up the major issues that were concerned with them and pertaining to their collegiate matters,” she said. At that time Sabina realized that there were no organizations to address the plight of women and it was not getting the required attention. With this as a prime concern, she started talking to likeminded people about her idea of forming an organization for the benefits of oppressed women. “I started talking to people about the idea of forming an organization that would solely focus on w o m e n ' s i s s u e s . We contacted our teachers, housewives, or just about anyone who actually showed interest in women's issues. And especially during those days there were a lot of issues happening in Goa,” she said. Speaking further, she added “We follow the Uniform Civil Code, and back in those days the Shah Banu Case came up in the media. The people were discussing all these issues and the Muslim women were also fighting for their rights.” Sabina knew that merely talking on the issue will not change the prevailing situation in the State and that she will have to get the things organized. “I realized that merely talking about the issues would not c h a n g e a n y t h i n g . We
needed to get organized. So we started meeting other people and finally formed our organization back in 1986,” said Sabina. According to Sabina, in the eighties, the trend of Carnival on the commercial level started taking shape in the State of Goa. But the way women were depicted in the floats was not very pleasant. It raised a q uesti on m ark on t he dignity of women. “Here our group objected the entire idea of the portrayal of women in a Carnival parade. The name Bailancho Saad was supposed to be the representation of the voice of Goan women, hence we settled for it. We fought on the issue of women being objectified in Goa during the Carnival. It was not a direct result, but the impact of it was such that from the following year onwards, there was a Carnival committee for the screening of all the floats. We started taking up issues of sexual abuse of girls and women that would generate the people's knowledge. People started hearing about all that we were doing for the plight of women,” she said. Today, Bailancho Saad has completed around 31 years of its successful journey in the State and they are getting stronger with time. “We have completed 31 years of successful journey and we are growing stronger with the passage of time. This organization is very different from other types of organizations as we have no hierarchy nor do we have any President. We a r e e s s e n t i a l l y a 'Collective' and it is a
voluntary organization so people do have a problem in understanding our concept,” explained Sabina. Sabina also stated that the organization does not have any type of membership enrolment or anything. “We are very different in those terms. We have members from various fields and walks of life, who are helping us out voluntarily. There isn't any money involved in it,” she added. Incredible Goa was taken for a pleasant surprise that the organization unlike others does not collect any money towards the membership. Out of curiosity when this writer asked Sabina how she managed to run the organization without any funding, she replied thus. “The organization Bailancho Saad is essentially a non-funded organization and that they did not have even their own premises until sometime back. Most of the meetings that we had, would take place from the one of the member's homes. We were in a way selfsustained. All the paperwork would be done at someone's place and things would be that way. All the things we needed were from our own pockets. It was the commitment of our work through the years,” she said. The journey which started with the dedication towards the betterment of women continues till date with full commitment and Sabina is a soul behind this organization. As times passes by things do
AUGUST 2017 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ 23
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
change, and even Bailancho Saad has also g o n e t h ro u g h s e v e r a l changes. “As the years passed by, we stood the test of time. Most of the members started getting married, some became professionals, I myself became a teacher. But in spite of all this, we made the efforts to take out time for the organization's work. But we survived that period. The fact that we were a nonfunded organization, we had very less staff. We used to have fundraising events from which all the funds would go to the building of our trust. We even collaborated with the Goa State AIDS Control Society in the nineties which helped us build our base in our work for the people.
But in all this, we realized we were deviating from the main idea of our organization so we stopped that. We even collaborated with the Organization “CRY” from Mumbai, for the welfare of children at Canacona,” she said. Sabina opines that the Government now does not support NGOs as they want to do away with it. “Our NGO is such that we do not involve the use of money so they have nothing against us. It is because we raise the right issues, we know we are doing good work for this society. Sometimes the government is supportive, sometimes it is not. When Goa completed its Golden Jubilee from Liberation from the erstwhile
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Portuguese regime, many NGOs were given money to do their work, but our organization was ignored. That aside, we as a group have been healthily critical about whichever Government regardless of the stand and power. We have supported the Government when they do the right things. For example, during the enactment of the Goa Children's Act, our organization and many others got together and supported this. But then again, there are many schemes that haven't been implemented for the women and children,” she indicated. Sabina stated that the Government took constructive criticism in a wrong way and took it personally. “We knew we are criticizing constructively for the betterment of the society. The Government has not supported us financially, but then again we as a group never found the need for it,” she revealed. Sabina feels that there is a
need to train the new generation in the field of social work. “We have students coming in as interns, students from Law College interning at Bailancho Saad. We have also had students from the Clinical Psychology branch of St. Xavier's College, Mapusa interning here. It is not only Goa; people from Kolhapur, Bengaluru and all from other parts outside Goa coming in to be a part of our movement and organization here in Goa,” she proudly stated. According to Sabina, this work is very time consuming and it needs complete dedication and lots of sacrifices. “I get caught up with the work of all the cases, so this ends up leaving me with really less time. But my family is really supportive in all this. But now I've started managing my time specifically. My school time is my school time, my work time is for my work and my family time is my family's. So I have started managing it all,” she conclusively said.
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GOAN CUISINE
GOAN MUSHROOM XACUTI INGREDIENTS FOR XACUTI PASTE:
F F F F F F F F F
5 dried Red chilies 1 tsp Cumin seeds 2 tsp Coriander seeds 10 Black peppercorns 5 Cloves 1-inch Cinnamon stick 1-star anise 1 tsp Poppy seeds ½ tsp Turmeric powder
COCONUT PASTE:
F 1 fried coconut F 2 fried onions
OTHER INGREDIENTS:
F F F F F F F
20 - 25 Goan mushrooms (Almi) 2 Tomatoes 1 Onion 2 Garlic cloves Salt to taste Chopped Cilantro leaves
METHOD Heat the pan. Add 2 tsp of oil to it and fry the onions, tomatoes and garlic until they turn golden brown. Then add the mushrooms and fry all of them together. Add 1 cup of water and bring everything to a boil. Now add the Xacuti paste and cook everything for 2 minutes. Add to it the coconut paste, salt and coriander and cook everything for 10 minutes. Your delicious Goan Mushroom Xacuti is ready!!!
If you wish to be a part of the Goan Cusine Section, Please send us your recipe at incrediblegoan@gmail.com and we will publish the same here in this section with credits to you. The best recipe will be rewarded with a Gift Voucher / Free Subscription of Incredible Goa Magazine.
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TREND SETTERS
ABBAS SHAIKH GOA'S LOCAL WEDDING PLANNER FOR MOHAMMEDAN COMMUNITY TEXT RAJESH GHADGE
Mohammedan (another word for Muslim) community in Goa is very much progressive comparatively to the rest of the country. Especially so, since the uniform civil code is applicable in the State of Goa and the match making and weddings are performed as per the civil code. If you take a look at this particular community in Goa, there are not many wedding planners who could do the match making and the same is done in a very old fashioned and traditional way. This is where Abbas Shaikh comes to the fore. Abbas can be considered as a pioneer of professional wedding planner of the Muslim community of Goa.
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Abbas Shaikh comes from a very humble background where not many resources were available. But accounting to his determination and handwork, Abbas overcame various challenges to become a very successful wedding planner for his community in the State. He may be 46 and successful today, but it has taken him years of struggle starting as far back as 1998 to reach where he i s t o d a y. H e h a s n o w established credentials since the setting up of his organization, Rishtey in 2008. “The journey of my venture called Rishtey began in 2008, but prior to this I had done different kinds of jobs. I can say that today I may have settled in life professionally, but it was d i re c t i o n l e s s e a r l i e r, ” stated Abbas. He further added to reveal that through his late teen years until 30, he had an uncertain future ahead of him. “I took life for granted and used to make merry. I used to take up a day's job just to comfort my alcoholic tendencies. This adversely impacted my health and I used to lose balance while ambling on streets after heaving a heavy round of drinks,” reflected Abbas on his plightful days. But then things tided in for the better when an NGO from his community came to his rescue. He was put into a rehabilitation centre for four months, and from there everything started changing. “At the end of the rehabilitation period, I started showing signs of becoming an independent man. I endured struggles
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doing various jobs to improve my situation and outlook towards life. I was learning from my mistakes,” said Abbas. Abbas may have not had much of an education, and thereby finding a decent job was difficult. After leaving the rehab centre, he took from one job to another to earn his livelihood. He started off as a bread-man, after saving a little money; he changed to a business of selling clothes and supplying clothes. As he was slowly finding his feet and gaining acceptance in society, he found his soul mate and partner and entered into wedlock. He least knew that this would start a new chapter for the better in the story of life. This interesting story of togetherness eventually led him to the
setting up of a foundation, Rishtey which is hugely popular today. According to Abbas, when he decided to settle down in his life, and started searching for a life partner, he had to go through a lot of difficulties. “Settling down in life with a life partner was not easy for me. My mother was working in the Gulf and my siblings had no faith in me and they decided to not to support me because they felt I may slip back into the vice of alcoholism,” he divulged. The predicament in the process of settling down in his life where the status, character and profile of a male suitor is looked at before a girl is given in hand of marriage, enabled Abbas in starting Rishtey using his experience to his
advantage. After settling down, Abbas decided to work in the field of match- making and matrimony. Rishtey began with social work. It eventually started helping people with matrimonial services, as initially the response was very cold. This was because people wanted something professional as compared to their free services and social type. Hence, after a careful thought, Abbas decided to change his concept and started working towards a good level of professionalism. He thereon began marketing his matrimonial services in the Muslim community. “I went to all the masjids in Goa, and I met their heads (Imams). This went on for almost two years. It included a lot of travel with
AUGUST 2017 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ 29
TREND SETTERS no man-power but himself. But at the end of the day, it gave him a good feeling,” stated Abbas. Cut to the present. Abbas runs a very successful offline matrimony called Rishtey from Sanquelim where he lives along with his wife and two young children. As of today, he has completed matchmaking for 177 couples across Goa and the State as well. And barring two matches which ended in divorces, the rest have been successful. To ensure 100 per cent success in match-making, he has enlisted rules and regulations. He gets the terms and conditions signed, after a pair is matched up for a relationship. “ We k e e p e v e r y t h i n g transparent from the start as to avoid any sort of complications for the people entering into a relationship and for us too. We p r o v i d e m a r r i a g e counseling as well where we have experienced counselors to counsel married couples and those couples who are to get married as well,” stated Abbas. Presently Abbas is concentrating only on the marriages in Muslim community, and he does not have any plans to get into any other community as according to him, his community needs more attention at the moment. “As of now, we are only specialized in bringing people together into the sacramental bond of marriage for the Muslim community. But then again, we also have special arrangements for the
Hindus and Christians. We are always eager to reach out to anyone regardless of their religion. When I started Rishtey, it began as a social endeavour. But to be honest, ours is the first p ro f e s s i o n a l m a r r i a g e bureau in Goa to have Government licensing,” a proud Abbas said. According to Abbas, there a re a ro u n d 4 0 a g e n t s across Goa who help his marriage bureau in finding the perfect matches from s p e c i fi c f a m i l i e s . “ We handle everything from the wedding planning to lighting, decorations at weddings,” disclosed Abbas.
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Abbas makes the best use of social media for the purpose of marketing his concept amongst the new generation and his community. With everyone on social media today, his presence on this platform helps him to get around 60% of his total business. A strong presence on the social media helps Abbas to keep in touch with around 70% of Muslims working in Gulf. Abbas makes sure that he remains active on social media in whatever way possible to ensure his growth in his chosen profession. The achievements of Abbas are tremendous
taking into account his carefree past and the opposition he had to face during his beginning of his journey towards a fulfilling career. The secret of his success lies in his approach towards his venture. He has considered his undertaking as a money-making business. “This is not a money-making business for me, as I firmly believe in helping people in finding their soul mates. I desire in connecting people without any conditional means. I never wanted to make this v e n t u re a c o m m e rc i a l entity and I will pledge myself to keep it as it is,” says Abbas.
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BUSINESS GOA
GOA'S LEADING CO-OPERATIVE BANK EXPOSED IN MA JOR FINANCIAL SCAM
In one of the biggest ever financial scams to take place in the State, a leading co-operative bank has been exposed in a sting operation conducted by a local TV channel. According to sources, the erring bank officials have sold prime properties worth crores of rupees for only a few lakhs in an auction that took place not too long ago. It was learnt that many of these properties were sold by the bank to the relatives of their own employees at only a fraction of the actual amount. As per documentary evidence, it is come to light that the bank officials had sold dozens of properties
situated in Panaji and Porvorim at throwaway prices. Citing an example, one of the properties estimated at Rs. 72 lakhs had been auctioned by the bank for only Rs. 12 lakh, six times lesser than the actual cost. The Goa State Cooperative Bank Limited has always been warped in a cloud of controversy and t h e r e c e n t misappropriation is just one among many scams. In the past, there have been several cases wherein the Directors of the State's cooperative bank had to face legal action for the misappropriations. Coming back to the existing scenario, the Goa
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State Co-operative Bank had sold the mortgaged properties worth Rs. 50 lakhs to one crore for an astonishing Rs.4 to 5 lakhs in an auction. The rates of the properties attached by the banks shows the decrease of several lakhs of rupees in the past 10 to 20 years, while at the same time the property market was booming in the State. Shedding further light on the high level of financial fraud, the local channel brought to attention that the Goa State Cooperative Bank officials with Government valuation officers had decided the rates of the hot properties of the bank. The magnitude of the scandal came to the
fore with the bid amount by concern parties was already deposited in the bank account prior to the auction of properties. The following example will give clarity on how the officials cheated the bank. As per the records of the auction proceedings, it has been found that one of the apartments situated at the Immaculate Residency, Panaji was called for an auction on 28-10-2011. However, the bid amount of Rs. 4 lakhs was already credited to the loan account of concern loanee in advance on 30-09-2011. In another case, the notice of an auction was published in a local newspaper on 1306-2009 and the auction WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.IN
BUSINESS GOA was supposed to be held on 18-06-2009. However, it is found that out of accepted bid amount of Rs
date of publishing of auction notice in the f o l l o w i n g m a n n e r. R s . 500,000 on 04-06-2009, Rs.
10,05,000 on 06-06-2009 and Rs. 6,95,000 on 09-062009.
Here is the list of some of the high-value properties that has been sold by the bank ofďŹ cials at a price much lesser than the valuation
If you take into the consideration a bank procedure, mortgaged properties can be sold to recover the loan amount at the prevailing market rates to the highest bidder. And in the case when the the recovery is more than the loan amount, an access amount is be handed over to the loanee. But in the case of Goa State Cooperative Bank Limited, m o r t g a g e d p ro p e r t i e s were sold at much lower rates than the prevailing rates in the market. As a result of which, the bank as well as the property owners incurred huge losses. This is a clear indication of a high-level fraud that has been prevailing at the bank for a considerable length of time. Only a tip of the iceberg has been exposed by the local TV channel after acquiring the relevant documents from concerned authorities. There is a necessity for a high-level inquiry to unearth more such misappropriations that are likely with the bank. At the cost of standard of living, irregularities is leading to the collapse of the real estate industry.
1. 2. 3.
37 lakhs, the bank had received an amount of Rs 22,00,000 in advance installment prior to the
The cost of property at Rs. 72,87,500 sold by an auction for Rs. 12,86,000 The cost of property at Rs. 79,74,000 sold by an auction for Rs. 59,00,000 The cost of property at Rs. 59,97,300 sold by an auction for Rs. 50,00,786
Here is the list of properties that had been devaluated by almost 10 times of the cost at the time of an auction 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
The cost of property in 1996 at Rs. 80,00,000 sold by an auction in 2004 for Rs. 08,04,500 The cost of property in 1997 at Rs. 35,64,000 sold by an auction in 2004 for Rs. 13,00,000 The cost of property in 1996 at Rs. 12,00,000 sold by an auction in 2006 for Rs. 04,25,000 The cost of property in 1997 at Rs. 59,40,000 sold by an auction in 2004 for Rs. 09,05,850 The cost of property in 1997 at Rs. 66,87,500 sold by an auction in 2004 for Rs. 25,00,000 The cost of property in 1997 at Rs. 1,17,40,000 sold by an auction in 2004 for Rs. 46,01,000
Here is the list of properties on which the loans were sanctioned showing higher values but the same was sold at much lower rates at the time of auction 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
The cost of the property in 2003 at Rs. 99,04,500 and property sold for Rs. 25,00,000 The cost of the property in 1995 at Rs. 87,46,200 and property sold for Rs. 65,00,000 The cost of the property in 1996 at Rs. 5,33,00,000 and property sold for Rs. 1,30,00,000 The cost of the property in 1996 at Rs. 29,76,700 and property sold for Rs. 07,00,400 The cost of the property in 1996 at Rs. 1,80,68,250 and property sold for Rs. 95,00,000 The cost of the property in 1996 at Rs. 2,90,11,350 and property sold for Rs. 1,36,52,400 The cost of the property in 1994 at Rs. 14,00,000 and property sold for Rs. 04,50,000 The cost of the property in 2003 at Rs. 39,50,000 and property sold for Rs. 13,00,000
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AUGUST 2017 \ INCREDIBLE GOA \ 33
BUSINESS GOA
MINE OWNER FILES FOR ANTICIPATORY BAIL FEARING ARREST IN MINING SCAM
Make a flash return to the news after four years is one of the biggest ever mining scams witnessed in the State. It has to be recalled that back in 2012, a Rs. 34,935 crore mining scam was unearthed by the Justice Shah Commission. And in this regard, the FIR was filed only a year later. The mining scam had all the major players in the mining State industry involved. Initially, the scandal was all hue and cry in the Fourth Estate but in course of time, the matter faded into the oblivion. With the news of an anticipatory bail application filed by one of t h e p r o m i n e n t businessmen from the State, the focus on the mining scam is back. According to a reliable source, the owner of H L N a t h u r m a l C o m p a n y, Haresh Melwani, had filed an anticipatory bail in the North Goa district court
fearing his arrest in the mining scam. According to his bail application, he pleaded innocent and stated that he has no involvement in the scam in whatsoever manner/ T h e s o u rc e h a v e a l s o revealed that after receiving the notice from the court in the 35,000 crore mining scam, Melwani developed the fear of getting arrested by the police. He immediately moved into the North Goa District Sessions Court seeking an anticipatory bail. “It is stated that the sessions court has issued a notice to the special investigation team (SIT) and the hearing of the same is scheduled on June 12. Melwani was supposed to appear before the SIT, probing illegal mining cases,” said the source. Interestingly, Melwani is not alone who received the notice from the SIT but he
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was the first to approach the sessions court seeking the anticipatory bail. The others who have received the notice from SIT are, the Directors of Talaulikar and Sons Private Limited, Chowgule and Company Private Limited, Bandekar Brothers Private Limited (RNSB Group), Damodar Mangalji and Company Private Limited, Sociedade de Fomento Industries Private Limited, Timble Private Limited and G N Agarwal Mining Private Limited. According to Melwani, he is the only person at the moment who filed for an anticipatory bail application in the sessions court. He told the media that in his application, he has mentioned that, he is innocent, and not involved in any criminal activities. “I do not have any criminal background,” said Melwani adding that he is a known face in Goa's business community and if he gets arrested, it would only tarnish his image and will cast a stigma on his career. It may be recalled that in 2012 the Justice MB Shah Commission exposed Goa's iron ore mining scam worth nearly Rs. 35,000 crore. The voluminous re p o r t h e l d t h e S t a t e Government and Central Government agencies as parties to the scam, along with the powerful mining operators in the State, who according to Justice Shah, plundered natural resource
and facilitated an “unrestricted, unchecked and unregulated export of iron ore to China”, which made the exporters of ore “richer and richer”. I n c i d e n t a l l y, S h a h Commission's report came in, when the BJP government under the leadership of Manohar Parrikar, took over the State's administration and the former Goa CM Digambar Kamat who was also holding the ministry of mines for over a decade (2000 – 2012) was accused of being hand in gloves with the mine owners of Goa. “By taking the average export cost at $60 per metric tonne of iron ore from 2006 to 2011 with a conversion rate of Rs 47 per US dollar, the total loss to the state comes out as (127257400.00 x 60 x 47) Rs 34935,928800000,” Shah has said, pinning down the majority of the scam in the five years, when an energyhungry China aggressively imported ore from Goa. The FIR was filed in the mining scam with the Goa Police in 2013.And the court has decided to issue summons to the parties involved in the scam after four years? Is this how fast our justice system works? When can we expect the actual players, who were involved in this scam, to get punished? For now, only one of the accused has filed for an anticipatory bail. Will the others follow suit? Only time will tell.
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GOAN TALENT
ESTER NORONHA TURNING HER DREAMS INTO A REALITY TEXT RAJESH GHADGE
Ester Noronha who has her roots in Goa actually belongs to Mangalore, situated on the west coast of India, known as Konkan. Ester is a born artist and her mother spotted her talent when she was only nine years old, and that was the time Ester made her entry into the glamour world. With the magical voice that Ester has been gifted with, it made her a qualified performer at a very early age. Ester was born to Velerian and Janet Noronha in Bahrain, but to give her an opportunity in the field of art, her mother decided to shift back to Mangalore along with Ester who continued her education while simultaneously learning music and dance. Ester is a true multifaceted soul.
Ester reveals that although she is a Mangalorean, her roots are there in Goa. “My father's ancestry is in Goa. I was born and brought up in Bahrain. I thereon moved down to Mangalore, where I did my schooling from the 3rd to the 12th Standard at St. Jeruhsa School, Mangalore. Later I moved to Mumbai where I did my higher studies at St. Xavier's College of Arts with Political Science and Psychology as my major Subjects. I completed my Post-Graduation in Political S c i e n c e f ro m M u m b a i University,” said Ester. Currently Ester is pursuing her MBA in Marketing from Symbiosis College, Pune. Ester does not believe in having a one-dimensional persona. According to her, a person is not meant to be limited. When asked as to
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why a well-established artiste is still pursuing so many degrees she said, “I believe that a person should not be onedimensional and just keep doing one thing at a time. We say an artist is like water. Humans are not meant to be limited by one activity. If a person has potential then they should recognize and pursue it. As I believe, that wholesome growth of a person is important than looking at life as a profit and loss statement. Life is not about profits and losses,” she said with a wide grin across her pretty face. Being an actress is a dream of any good-looking girl, but with Ester it is completely different. Despite being extremely pretty and highly confident she claims that being an
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GOAN TALENT actress has never been her first choice. “I always thought that being an actress was never a part of my dream, it was accidental,” says Ester. Taking a small pause she continues “Honestly, I always wanted to become an IAS officer or work in the civil services, or become a social worker. I aspired to be someone instrumental in bringing some difference into the society. I do not believe in living a life for my own self and I never wanted to live a selfish life. So being a social servant would be of some benefit,” said Ester. Interestingly, when she was in Std VIII she got inspired by USA President-elect, Barrack Obama. His speeches, stature and the respect he gained because of the qualifications he had, fascinated her to a great extent and was inspired to become someone like him,” a reflective Ester stated. When Incredible Goa asked her if she also aspires to enter politics and follow the footsteps of her idol, she said at the moment she does not have plans to enter into politics. “I do not think that is what I want. It is more like an inspiration to me. It depends on who you derive your inspiration from. It was that particular thing I felt that I should be doing as he did. I vividly remember the day it came on TV and everyone was saying how well educated he is and where he reached, which ultimately fascinated and inspired me. I felt that I should be doing the same as I aspired to be someone like him,” she stated. Ester may be just 24 now, but the amount of success
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that she has gained in a short period of time has been tremendous and she feels nice about it. “I feel good that I have been able to do all this and with every achievement I find hope for a b e t t e r t o m o r ro w. Whatever it may be, I am always ready for it. The only thing I ask for is courage and curiosity to go deeper, that I find new ways to grow,” says Ester. For Ester, music is her passion, and that is why it comes very naturally to her. Her love with music began as early as nine years of age. “Music is my passion. I am made of music,” says Ester. As stated earlier in the article, Ester is a multifacetted personality. She is an actress, singer, dancer and a choreographer. And she manages everything with complete dedication. “All thanks to my mother. She taught me one thing and that is never doubt on your abilities and she used to always tell me, 'if you think you cannot do it, you won't be able to do it.' So, never question yourself even before trying it,” she said. “I always accepted the opportunities that came in my way and was successful each time. I never thought that one day I would become an actress. I loved music since my mother was an avid music lover. This way, one thing led to another, and I started doing shows, people started approaching me for music, then I started recording albums, and slowly I started getting recognition for my music and my work,” Ester revealed. Ester is trained in classical vocals and she has also
learnt Bharatanatyam at a very young age. “I have trained in “Arangetram” and I was the first artist to have performed an art unknowingly. At that time, I met my Guruji, Saroj Khan, at one of the seminars in Bangalore and from there I got into films.” According to Ester, her first film was Baromas (Twelve Months) in Hindi produced b y l e g e n d a r y choreographer Saroj Khan, whom Ester considers as her Guruji. “The story of the film is based on a farmer's life through the 12 months of a year. It depicts how twelve months (Baro-
Maas), every season affects a farmer's life. The film was showcased and nominated for the 2012 South Asian International Film Festival in New York City and the DCIFF (DC Independent Film Festival) in Washington,” Ester said. It is not that Ester has not contributed to Hindi or a South Indian movies but she has also played her part for the biggest contribution to Goa's Konkani film industry in recent times. This was for her song “Meu Amor” in t h e O s c a r- n o m i n a t e d movie “Nachom-iaKumpasar” a couple of
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GOAN TALENT
years ago. “I got an opportunity to sing in 'Nachom-ia-Kumpasar' when I was at Mangalore. I was shortlisted for a song which they wanted to sound like the evergreen voice of 'Lorna' and since they felt I sounded like her, we recorded for the song 'Meu Amor'. This was the first time I had recorded and sung for a movie, because prior to that I would record only for albums. The movie turned out to be a super success in Goa and I witnessed people literally fighting for tickets. After I saw the movie, I realized that I had become a part of something pretty l e g e n d a r y . To d a y i f someone calls me for a Konkani show or if I get an opportunity to sing a Konkani song, no matter how busy I am, I never decline that,” stated Ester. Ester has already achieved tremendous amount of a success in the South Indian Movies, and She has also done few projects in
Bollywood, hence when I asked her about the opportunities available in Goa in the Konkani film industry, Ester said that she has received several offers from the Konkani film producers, but she prefers to be a little choosy in her selections. “I have already worked in many movies, and over the course of a time I know by now how professional the group is, and how a project will shape out. A Movie Like “Nachom-ia-Kumpasar” started off as something unknown but the essence of the Entire movie was substantial by the approach they had towards me. It was a Movie that introduced me to the Goan Market officially,” said Ester. To t h i s d a y, E s t e r i s engaged into the Konkani i n d u s t r y w i t h a M a n g a l o re a n K o n k a n i movie called “Sophiya – A Dream Girl' directed by Harry Fernandes and produced by her mother, Janet Fernandes. The
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movie recently had its Goa premiere at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao. Ester is also kept busy with shows and has done tours with Lorna to USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Besides doing Bollywood and Tollywood movies, Ester is now dedicating her time towards Konkani tiatr and has presently joined a Goan tiatr troupe which will be touring to UK and France this August. Ester does not believe in chasing the Bollywood or Tollywood film industry but instead in doing good work which has always been her priority. “I believe, 'Where there's a will there's a way'. Like I said, if the work concerns itself with Konkani, I will always make special time for it and go out of my way and do it,” vowed Ester.
Ester always believed in living in the present and she does not believe in settling down on one thing "This is the mantra of my life, “Never Settle”. I like the idea of making myself useful. I love living in the present and my only wish for the future is to do my best in whatever comes my way,” says Ester. “I would like to say that we have a culture for tiatr, people watch and patronize it. We have to realize that it is a local culture which needs to be preserved, cherished and enjoyed. But at the same time, we as a Konkani community need to think that we have to take this talent globally. We need to take this art out of Goa for the people to see and appreciate. It is important for the Konkani-loving crowd to patronize Konkani films. We should never forget our roots and where we come from,” Ester categorically stated. Ester has big plans for the Konkani film industry of Goa and she is working towards it. “I obviously have a plan which will be materialized in the coming future. The main idea is to p re s e r v e t h e K o n k a n i culture and art for the people to see and love for the future to come, just how our ancestors had done. This would be a call out to my generation to help us work towards this i d e a t o g e t h e r, ” E s t e r concluded.
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EVENT
GTDC BAGS “BEST DESTINATIONS FOR RELAXATION” AWARD G o a To u r i s m w a s presented the “Best Destinations for R e l a x a t i o n ” Aw a rd a t Lonely Planet Magazine India Travel Awards 2017 held at the St Regis M u m b a i re c e n t l y. T h e award was received by Mr. D.B. Sawant, General Manager, GTDC at the hands of renowned celebrity Dia Mirza.
EVENT
GTDC PRESENTS A CHEQUE TO SARPANCH VP, NAGARGAON, UNDER CSR ACTIVITY Shri Nilesh Cabral Chairman of Goa Tourism Development Corporation presented cheque of Rs 50,000/- on behalf of Goa Tourism to Mr. Ashok Pundalik Chari, Sarpanch of Village Panchayat Savordem Sattari in presence of D. B. Sawant General Manager Finance, G T D C , M r. D e e p a k Narvekar Sr. Manager Mktg & PRO, GTDC at Paryatan Bhavan Panaji towards upcleaning and maintenance o f W h i t e Wa t e r R i v e r rafting area in the vicinity of Savordem Sattari and as a part of CSR activity of Goa
Tourism for this season. C h a i r m a n , G T D C , M r. Nilesh Cabral extended his gratitude and appreciation to the village Panchayat of Savordem for supporting GTDC's monsoon adventure activity in Mhadei river. The CSR contribution to the village Panchayat will go towards upkeep and maintenance of white water rafting area. Mr. Cabral said “The white water rafting activity has been a huge success since last five years due to the efforts put in by the local body and the operator. He thanked the Savordem
Sarpanch Mr. Ashok Chari and also the Nagargao Panchayat Sarpanch Mr. Parag Khadlikar and their team wholeheartedly for co-operating with GTDC as the new season of the white
water rafting activity is already started from last month. Southern River Adventures and Sports Pvt Ltd. operates White Water River Rafting at Mhadei River in association with GTDC.
EVENT
GTDC CELEBRATES SAO JOAO FESTIVAL ON BOARD SANTA MONICA Goa Tourism Development Corporation celebrated Sao Joao festival on board Santa Monica on Saturday, 24th June 2017. The festival was celebrated with much excitement and enthusiasm. The event consisted of various cultural programmes along with a lot of activities. The
festival was witnessed by a large number of tourists as well as locals. Sao Joao is celebrated in the month of June in the state of Goa as Goa’s traditional festival and Goa Tourism always makes their initiative into the same. The G T D C ( G o a To u r i s m Development Corp.)
organises event every year and the even includes a cultural programmes along with entertainment and fun for the tourists and locals. Also special programmes are conducted during the event such as Acrobatic Jive, Lime dance for couples, black and white illusionary dance, bamboo
Dance, laughter contest, coconut breaking contest, Goan dances such as the F u g d i , Va v r a d d i a n d Dekhni, games and quiz competitions, saree draping contest, splash dance, Goan and Hawaiian dances and selection of ‘Festacho Raza & Rani’.
Mr. Laxmikant Vaigankar, General Manager, GTDC, Mr. Deepak Narvekar Sr. Manager & PRO, GTDC, Mr. Pravin Phaldesai , Manager –Marketing, GTDC, Mr. Prasad Kavlekar, Asst Manager –Marketing, Mr. Anil Dalal, Mr. Surendra Sawant and Mr. Dilip Shetye , Asst .Manager, GTDC, along with other officials from GTDC.
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EVENT
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EVENT
LION RAJKUMAR TAKES OVER AS PRESIDENT OF LIONS CLUB OF ALDONA In the recently held ceremony of the installation of a new presidential candidate for the Aldona Lion's Club, a native entrepreneur, and social worker Rajkumar Gadge was appointed as the president of Lion's Club of Aldona for the period of 2017-18. Rajkumar is a real estate man and a very well-known
personality in Aldona. He has been instrumental in making various reforms while being at the post of Treasurer for the Aldona Lion's Club. Looking at his work and enthusiasm the club members finally decided to honor him with the presidentship of the club. Rajkumar in his small but k n o w l e d g e a b l e
introductory speech, a s s u r e d t h e implementation of various club activities for the improvement of the society standards in Aldona. Presently the Lions Club is more active in the eradication of Rabies with the “Mission Rabbies Goa” drive from the beautiful villages by vaccinating the stray dogs and Rajkumar
has assured that he will take this up to the next level. The meeting was attended by the members and other dignitaries of the club and Dr. Nazareth, was the Chief Guest of Honor for the installation program. The program was followed by a Cocktail dinner at the Aldona Club House.
(L TO R) PUBLISHING THE SOUVENIR - LION DR. VINITA GOMEZ, LION ROMEO COELHO, DR. CARACIOLO NAZARETH FERNANDES, LION PRESIDENT RAJKUMAR GADGE, LION K SASINDRAN NAIR, 1ST VICE DISTRICT GOVERNOR MONICA SAWANT, LION MERWYN FERNANDES.
LION RAJKUMAR GADGE GIVING MEMENTO TO LION K. SASINDRAN NAIR
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1ST VOICE DISTRICT GOVERNOR ADDRESSING THE CROWD
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EVENT
FELICITATION OF SSC TOPPER BY DR. CARACIOLO NAZARETH FERNANDES
LION MABEL FERNANDES GIVING PIN
LION MERWYN FERNANDES GIVING HIS OUTGOING SPEECH
(L TO R) LION RAJENDRA GAGDE, RAJESH GHADGE, LION PRESIDENT RAJKUMAR GADGE, DR. CARACIOLO NAZARETH FERNANDES, CARIDADE.
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EVENT
WINGS OF HOPE A RAY OF HOPE TO CHALLENGED CHILDREN
(L to R ) San Antonio D'mello Founder of Taught to Teach, Mr Pawaskar from Sanjay Centre for Special Education, Dattaraj Salgaocar, Shri Pratapsingh Rane, Aishwarya Rane, Dr. Gaonkar, Dr. Ashok Johari, Chloe Cordeiro, Lisandra Pereira, Saher Nischal, Jeruel Paul, Sanger Serrao, Afreen Velijee and Risa Coutinho.
'Wings of Hope' is an NGO that protects the interests of the physically and mentally challenged children, so that they can be treated with equality and respect. This initiative has been spearheaded and started by Aishwarya Rane and her friends namely, Lisandra Pereira, Jeruel Paul, Sanger Serrao, Saher Nischal, Chloe Cordeiro, Afreen Velijee and Risa Coutinho. The fundraising event was organized by the Wings of Hope at Dinanath Mangueshkar Auditorium on 28th of July, 2017 in the evening and was attended by dignitaries and people from all over Goa. The evening had witnessed brilliant performances by
students from Sanjay Centre for special education, Taught to Teach music school and Sharada Mandir school. The Highlights of the evening were Fado singer Sonia Sirsat and Kingfisher Vo i c e o f G o a w i n n e r Rapper Sabino Dias, synchronizing with these special children. The musical evening also had a wide array of performances by children from Taught to Teach Music School, and Sharada Mandir which included mashups, singing and dance performances. This musical concert was organized to create awareness about special children who are talented, and that they need to be treated with respect and
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given equal opportunities in society. Speaking on the event, Founder Aishwarya Rane said, “I stared Wings of Hope foundation with my friends with the aim of e n s u r i n g e q u a l opportunities for children with intellectual and physical disabilities in society. At the event, Founder Aishwarya Rane released her book 'River of Emotions' at the hands of Dr. Johari. The book is a collection of poetry composed by her. All her p o e m s , h a v e encouragement as her foundations main idea is to make these children feel needed in society. The event was supported by The Child Care
Foundation, curated by Dr. Ashok Johari – a wellknown pediatric orthopedic surgeon who has come forward to help children with disabilities. All the proceeds from this event will be utilized for the treatment of children with physical disabilities. The event had generated 17 lakhs, of which 12 Lakhs was handed over to 'The Childcare foundation' by Aishwarya and her friends, for the benefit of the children, and 5 lakhs was given to 'Sanjay centre for special education' for the benefit of their students. The event attracted around 900 people, who also pledged to support the event's cause.
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EVENT
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FEATURE
YOGA WAY TO HEALTHY LIVING
GTDC FEATURE
This is by no stretch of any imagination that YOGA and GOA have a deep connect! Take a closer look and you will see GOA inscribed in YOGA … and perhaps 'Y' this is inspiring enough for anyone to get their mind and body together to head to Goa to celebrate International Yoga Day on June 21. While the day may be celebrated worldover, Goa celebrates Yoga all-year round.
A YOGA WORKSHOP IN GOA
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FEATURE It is said that Yoga is the most favorable method to connect to nature and it is thus only natural that Goa's beauty attracts tourists to the alternate escapes for exercise and experiences. The perfect crescent of the beach belt, the canopy of palm-fronded trees tilting towards the steady churn of the surf is truly inspiring to say the least. One can strike stylish poses keeping the beach front in the background with the waves crashing to the seashore or simply shut off to the humdrum and din of life atop a mesmerizing hillock. Let nature be the master. When one thinks of yoga‌.one thinks of Goa which is now a home to several yoga retreat resorts and retreat centers tucked away in the cozy crevices of nature with soothing landscapes and scenic shorelines. While it is said that India is growing as a wellness destination with an estimated growth rate of around 20 to 22 percent per annum, the concept of wellness tourism in Goa is g r o w i n g a n d Yo g a i s contributing immensely to this segment. While places like Arambol in North Goa and Palolem and beyond in South Goa are huge on Yoga, other parts of Goa especially the beach front have a fair share of yoga retreats, trainings, workshops, etc. It is also the organic food and rustic accommodation at several of the yoga centers and resorts that make the exercise of a yoga holiday more meaningful. Goa's clean air is also a reason that makes the prayanams more effective for
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FEATURE
YOGA SESSIONS ON THE BEACHES OF GOA
cleansing of mind, body and soul. On the occasion of International Yoga Day 2017, Manohar Ajgaonkar, Minister for Tourism, Govt. of Goa said, “Goa has amazing locales to perform yoga. Today, everybody is health conscious and is shifting to ancient alternatives for healing like yoga. We are seeing a growing trend of travelers opting for yoga holidays and there is no better place than Goa. I am optimistic that in the years to come Goa will be a leading destination for foreign and domestic tourists choosing Goa for wellness tourism and in particular for Yoga.” Goa may be a small State in
India and a young yoga hub in comparison to other cities like Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, etc. However, Goa offers a perfect platform for attaining peace of mind and body with its bountiful beauty.
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Tour and travel operators have also opened up flexible holiday packages which incorporates a yoga tour especially for foreign tourists from Europe. This monsoon season, yoga in Goa will see a holistic growth as never seen before. Goa Tourism is
optimistic that holidaying and healing through ancient Indian methods will make Goa one of India's appealing locations with yearnings for that experience of an eternal youth from travelers in the years to come.
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GOA BUZZ
HOTELS IN GOA FACE LEGAL ACTION FOR NOT SUBMITTING DETAILS OF GUESTS
FOREIGNERS IN GOA
The Goan tourism industry is largely dependent on the foreign tourists, and a small change in the rule makes a lot of difference to the stakeholders of the industry. According to a recent development, FRRO (The Foreigners Regional Registration Officer) has decided to take action against the hotel owners and others who provide the accommodations in their premises to foreigners, without proper registration of their details. A c c o rd i n g t o re l i a b l e sources, it is mandatory by
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law, to register the details of the foreign guests, by the owners of the hotels, and guest houses. “Under the Foreigners Order 1948, it is obligatory on the part of hotel owners, guest houses, individual houses, serviced apartments or any other facility providing accommodation to foreigners, to transmit the Form C to the FRRO,” said the sources. In the case of nonregistration of the same, the defaulters will be p ro s e c u t e d u n d e r t h e order 16 of the Foreigners
Act, 1948, to be read with section 14 of the Foreigners Act 1946,” said the FRRO Superintendent of Police, Bosco George. Recently, a new feature in the Form C module has been introduced in the system for individual house category, which provides a one-time password (OTP) based activation of Form C login details for users, who belong to the individual house category, said a source. It has been learnt that in such cases, after filling up the registration form, an
OTP will be sent automatically by the system to the mobile number of the user which is provided in the registration form. The OTP has to be entered in a slot on the user activation page along with the user ID to receive login details. Once this is done, users can log in directly to a system for submission of forms. “There is no need to visit the FRRO office for the approval of login details in such cases,” George said.
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GOA BUZZ
GOA TOURISM DEPT TO CRACK DOWN ON ILLEGALITIES AND VIOLATIONS
BABU AZGAONKAR
The rules laid down by the Goa Government are not to be taken lightly anymore. The Department of Tourism along with the Goa Police has recently taken a firm stance to crack down on all the existing illegalities and violations going on mainly in the coastal belts of Goa. According to reports, a high-level review meeting chaired by Manohar Ajgaonkar, Minister for Tourism, Goa Government, the Department of Tourism has been directed to formulate new rules and regulations or amend existing laws to give more teeth to the Department to crack down on unauthorized and illegal activities taking place along the beach belt of the State. Ajgaonkar had cautioned the Department of Tourism
of fixing accountability and responsibility on it for ensuring effective and strict implementation of the rules and regulations to crack down and also pre-empt unauthorized activities from taking place whether by shack operators, water sports operators, unauthorized vendors or any other tourism stakeholders. A joint action committee was in course of time constituted comprising of representatives from the Department of Tourism, Goa Police, Captain of Ports and others to study and frame the necessary guidelines needed to clamp down on nuisances on the beach stretches along the coastline. At the time of going to the press, from May onwards, a total of 594 cases had
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been booked by the Goa Police of unauthorized tourism activities along the beach belt as against 484 reported between January to April. The Goa Police had presented this data to the Minister for Tourism as a follow up of action taken from the first review meeting chaired by Ajgaonkar in the first week of May. Reviewing the case on the death of the Jet Ski operator which occurred not too long ago at Varca, Ajgaonkar has directed the Department of Tourism to suspend the license of the
water sports operator pending completion of the hearing and investigation in the matter. He has also directed the Department of Tourism to complete the hearing and investigations in a time bound manner. With regards to the allotment of Shacks for the ongoing season, Ajgaonkar had directed the Department of Tourism to ensure that all procedures are completed and re q u i re d l i c e n s e s a n d permissions obtained from the GCZMA at the earliest so that the final shack allotment process is completed by August 15. Since the contract period of the existing beach cleaning contractor had lapsed, the Minister for Tourism, Mr. Ajgaonkar had directed the Department of Tourism to expedite the t e n d e r i n g p ro c e s s f o r appointment of a new beach cleaning contractor. Officials who attended the meeting included SP North Karthik Kashyap, Dy SP Mahesh Gaonkar, SDPO – Porvorim – Serafin Dias, SDPO – Quepem Sammy Ta v a r e s , Octavio Rodrigues – Dy Captain of Ports, Menino D'Souza – Director of Tourism, Arvind Khutkar – OSD Department of Tourism and others.
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GOA BUZZ
MEET OF HINDU OUTFITS TO DISCUSS FOR MAKING INDIA A HINDU RASHTRA
The meeting of over 150 Hindu outfits reportedly took place mid-June with the main agenda of the meeting said to the discussion over the possibility of making India a Hindu Nation “Hindu Rashtra” by 2023. With the fate of the minority community not taken into consideration, the secular State is understandably not happy about it. According to our sources, the conclave was organized by the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS), the sister outfit of Sanatan Sanstha, which is in controversy all the time due to some reason or the other. The recent controversy was the murder of rationalist Dr. Narendra Dabholkar. “The recent election of Yogi Adityanath, who is a strong proponent of Hindu Rashtra with a brute majority shows that people want a Hindu Rashtra in India,” said Uday Dhuri, spokesperson, HJS. The HJS was established by psychiatrist Dr. Jayant Balaji Athavale, who was also the founder of Sanatan Sanstha on October 7, WWW.INCREDIBLEGOA.IN
2002, and its aim is to establish a Hindu nation and protect Hindu culture. Uday Dhuri, the spokesperson of HJS told the media that the people of India are open to an idea of Hindu Rashtra. “The recent election of Yogi Adityanath, who is a strong proponent of Hindu Rashtra with a brute majority shows that people want a Hindu Rashtra in India.” The conclave provided direction on how to proceed in this mission,” said Dhuri. According to the prediction made by Dhuri, the Hindu Nation will come into the existence by the year 2023 and the HJS doing its job of uniting all the Hindu outfits to work together in this mission. The conclave included various topics of discussion like Love Jihad, Religious Conversions, Protection of Hindu Religious Places, defamation of Hindu saints and change in the demography of population where local Hindus are being shunted out. “We will devise ways to stop atrocities on the Hindu population. Our Hindu
nation will be based along the lines of Chhatrapati Shivaji's rule, where all religions were respected and none were appeased,” said Dhuri. Meanwhile the HJS blamed the ruling BJP government for not doing anything for the Hindus describing the Prime Minister Narendra Modi as their ' own man' “There are so many pending issues like uniform civil code, abolition of Article 370 which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir, as well as construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya which has not been tackled so far,” rued Dhuri. Meanwhile, the Congress did not want lose an opportunity to target the ruling government calling the HJS as the yield of BJP. “These outfits carry out subversive activities with impunity, thanks to the support from the BJP-led government. The government has enough material and proof to ban the Sanatan Sansthan and its sister outfits like HJS, but it turns a blind eye towards them and allows them to take law into their own hands,” said Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant. According to Savio Ribeiro, a Goan, the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) and RSS (Rashtriya Swayansevak Sangh) aka Sangh Parivar h a s b a c k e d t h e government through some
of its 'beguiling communal honchos' and it is increasingly seen consolidating their plan towards making of our great nation a “Hindu Rashtra”. “We have full right to publicly voice dissent, to choose the way and practice of worship and to choose what to eat,” Ribeiro stated. Ironically, India is a nation where the women are being gang raped and killed brutally yet being not given stringent sentences by the Government and cow slaughter is being criminalized with a heavy jail term for the consumption of beef. “Scary and very worrisome as it appears, will we see it resulting to an 'ethnic cleansing' of all non-Hindus in India? Will these supposedly suspected State-sponsored moves stealthily crush and disenfranchise the nonHindus to an ultimate genocide? Isn't every citizen guaranteed of his/her social and religious rights to practice freely as a proud Indian? Are we not all Indians and “Human Beings” irrespective of our faith, our beliefs, our diverse culture and our history? Aren't we all 'ONE' aspiring towards living harmoniously and coexisting together without the other feeling threatened?” asks Ribeiro.
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YOUNG GOA
VINITA BICHOLKAR FIGHTING WITH THE DISABILITY TEXT RAJESH GHADGE
No person is born in this world with perfection. We all lack in some way or the other. That is the way Our Creator molded us with imperfections that we need to overcome and live it through our journey of life. Keeping this in mind one must understand that the differently abled people are not a burden to society or need your empathy. But they are a God-sent with special abilities and know to live a life fulďŹ lling and integrate themselves well into the society. The story of Vinita Bicholkar is somewhat similar to this. Vinita achieved remarkable success in her academics despite being aficted by a rare muscular disorder called Cerebral Palsy. Vinita is among one of the more determined people I have met and is truly a trendsetter who has accomplished her goals by challenging her disability.
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YOUNG GOA Vinita presently pursuing her higher education at MES College, Vasco da Gama, was born with the rare muscular disorder due to which her body movement was restricted to quite an extent and she needed the help of her parents to perform every task which requires physical movement. According to Vinita, her parents faced lot of difficulties due to her prevailing condition. “It was very difficult for my parents, as they used to pick me up and drop me off to school. And especially taking care of me when I was small, it was slightly more difficult as back then as I would not know what was happening,” says Vinita. Life may not be fair to her as she had to face a lot of difficulties in our so-called educated society. In spite of having a sound education, many of us show disregard with those having restricted abilities. “To tell you honestly, I did face that situation many times but I have never given it much importance because it would never affect me. It would never matter even if anyone made me feel so. There have also been other people who have been more supportive, especially my teachers and even fellow classmates, with even the support staff always being helpful,” said Vinita. Vinita further revealed that when she enrolled into college after completing her HSSC, she had to face a few difficulties to begin with which soon became manageable. “Initially when I was new, it was
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slightly difficult for me, but when the people at college came to know about my case that I could not walk, they helped me a lot. The students would take me in the hall if there were any programs. So it has never been a big problem for me that way,” she admitted
now since the academic year of my college has begun I do not get much time and whatever time I get goes into studies,” she narrated. Vinita has always been bright are her studies, and testimony to that fact is her result sheets which mark
though I believe I was doing good in studies overall. I used to feel that I got a less percentage in spite of getting 83% in SSCE. Then later on, I would go on to get 83% in the HSSC Board too,” she remarked. Vinita is aspiring to become
Vinita further stated that she has been doing physiotherapy and exercises to improve her condition and it has helped her to quite an extent. But due to academic workload, she was unable to continue doing so. “Recently, I have reduced my exercises due to the fact that I have been giving my entire time for studies. I was operated recently after which my muscles were loosened up as they became tight because of less exercise, so in a way it is getting difficult for me. I do realize I have to put in more time and effort for my physical activity, but
her scoring over 80 percent when in school and higher secondary. Unassuming as she is, she never boasted of her success. When this writer, asked her about the incredible academic success she achieved in her SSCE and HSCE Board exams, she was humble about it. “I do not feel I have done something very special but I have tried my best,” she simply stated. “I can say that I was good, but there are other students who were definitely better and their IQ level was even higher. So this way I used to feel that I was not up to that level
an IAS officer or a lawyer, and after finishing her graduation she will be going to join either of the streams. But according to Vinita, all her plans are completely dependent on her father as he is her major support system. “Yes, it is true to that I wish to become an IAS officer or a lawyer. But my career depends on my father. In the past, it so happened that I had to miss my classes in the 11th and 12th Standard as my father was posted for his duty at BRICS. But still I would cope up with my studies at home. The reason I would
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YOUNG GOA depend upon my parents is that they would pick me up and drop me off to my classes and there was nobody else to take care of me,” she explained. The fact lies that to become an IAS officer or joining Law college will not be as difficult for Vinita as compared to amount of challenges she will have to face later. The career of an IAS officer or a lawyer demands a lot of physical movements and Vinita needs to get prepared for it. When asked what plans she has to make herself independent she stated “I realize that I need to be an independent person and also learn do things on my own so I can save time and dedicate it to my career. Taking care of myself, which is currently done by my family and friends is what I need to do which currently I am unable to on my own.” Vinita is fortunate that most of her colleagues in college have progressed with her from school and higher secondary. As such, she does not have an issue of interaction as most of the students are aware of her existing condition. “It feels very nice in college, and I am very glad as most of my classmates and colleagues at MES college are from St. Andrews and St. Therese's High School. My college teachers are also very supportive and they encourage the students to interact with me,” she happily said. “Usually we hear that college life is only based on lectures, and that the teachers do not interact much. But here it is completely different. The
teachers wanted me to learn to interact with people. But since I am in a wheel-chair most of the time, I miss out on certain activities as sport with the other students. At times, I do wish I could be like other students, but I never regret what life has to offer. In my opinion, everyone should look at the positive aspect in their lives and not on the n e g a t i v e . Ta k i n g l i f e progressively is what keeps me going,” disclosed Vinita. Just like all of us, Vinita also has many hobbies and among her favourites is reading. Fiction and non – fi c t i o n b o o k re a d i n g keeps her occupied mostly when she has nothing much to do. “I am an avid reader and I love to read books and novels. One Indian Girl by Chetan Bhagat is one of my recent reads. I also like to listen to a music that makes me feel good. I also spend my time in prayers. Watching TV is also a hobby,” said Vinita.
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Vinita has gone through lots of difficulties in life and is dealing with it well while meeting with successes along the way. She is still very young and has a long way to go. Vinita has shared her experience with Incredible Goa so that it helps to reach out to others with similar conditions. Her inspirational story she hopes will become a torch in the dark for those people who feel that there is no future. “One should never give up. They ought to make the best use of what they have or learn to make the best of it. There are people who will discourage you and try to put you down, but never waste your time on them and always make the use of the criticism for a positive impact. Learn to not care for those who just criticize you and put you down. If you have a faith in God, yourself and your parents, it can become your actual strength. In life, some will support you and some will
not, so neglect that negativity and focus on the p o s i t i v i t y. A p o s i t i v e environment should always be positive. Parents should always support their kids and whatever you do focus on it. Do your best and leave the rest up to God, “a philosophical Vinita stated. Vinita is a very spirited girl who despite being as young as she is has a sense of responsibility. In today's youth, this is what is found wanting. She is an example on how we can make the most of what life has to offer as the gift of life itself is rewarding. She exemplifies the courage that one needs to appreciate the gift of life and take the difficulties on the chin as we tread through the journey called life.
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GTDC'S WHITE WATER RAFTING AT MHADEI RIVER IN FULL FLOW It is that time of the year with monsoons at its peak to experience the excitement and adrenalin rush of White Water Rafting in River Mhadei. GTDC commenced its monsoonal adventure activity – White Water Rafting from June 29 on the waters of the natural, yet perfectly designed Mhadei River for the season. With the monsoon showers bursting from the skies, it is the ideal time to get soaked in the rain and refresh oneself. While you take the ride in the rapids of the gorgeously moody river you can enjoy the spectacular forested scenery along the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary. The activity offers not just one but two exhilarating rafting trips each day with the first trip commencing at 9:30 am and the second trip at 2:30 pm. As many as seven rafts are in operation. The exciting trips run for 10 km each, stirring and elating you, along the
WHITE WATER RAFTING
breath-taking landscapes! The big and bouncy River Mhadei ensures a fun-filled trip for you, your family and friends .A minimum of six passengers run a single trip along with trained instructors. The charges for the trip include Rs.1800/per person with GST non-
applicable. Tourists, locals and others interested in experiencing white water rafting will have to assemble at The Earthen Pot Restaurant, S a y e d N a g a r, Va l p o i , Sattari, Goa from where a 25-minute drive and thereafter a 10-minute walk
into the Mhadei river valley will take you to the rafting site. White water rafting activities are carried out in accordance with the internationally accepted norms. The instructors are highly trained and operations run with a 'safety first' policy. Each passenger will be provided with safety equipments like life jackets, paddles following an instruction session from experts. Prior to departure, a briefing is conducted for safety and other procedures. The trip is ideal for beginners and children above 12 years. Secure footwear and proper clothing is mandatory.
WHITE WATER RAFTING
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TALK OF TOWN
GOA TOURISM PARTICIPATES IN TTF KOLKATA 2017
CHIEF GUEST AT TTF KOLKATA’S CONCLUDING CEREMONY TODAY AND GOA’S MINISTER FOR TOURISM, MR. MANOHAR AJGAONKAR PRESENTING AWARDS TO PRIZE WINNING STATES
Minister of Goa Tourism, Manohar Ajgaonkar who was Chief Guest at the concluding ceremony of India's largest Travel and Trade Fair (TTF) in Kolkata re c e n t l y s t a t e d , " G o a Tourism is committed on ensuring safety and security of tourists, providing cleanliness and hygiene at tourist location, especially along the beach belt and also improving and augmenting tourism related infrastructure to meet the increasing demand from tourists to visit the State." A d d re s s i n g a n a u g u s t gathering at the grand finale of the three day mega event in Kolkata, Ajgaonkar said that Goa is a leading holiday destination in India, and
wooed tourists and tourism stakeholders from Kolkata, rest of India and international markets to visit and experience Goa's natural beauty, culture and heritage. Other dignitaries present at the concluding ceremony included Pradeep Kumar Borar, S p e c i a l S e c re t a r y a n d D i r e c t o r, R a j a s t h a n Tourism, Nabadeep Kalita, Vice Chairman, Assam To u r i s m D e v e l o p m e n t Corporation, Sanjiv Agarwal, Chairman & CEO, Fairfest Media Limited, V Suresh, President, Fairfest Media Limited. Ajgaonkar distributed awards to several prize winning States including Goa Tourism which bagged the 'Best Decorated Stall
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Award.' Goa's pavilion at the TTF Kolkata 2017 was a big draw for tourists and Goa To u r i s m r e c e i v e d a n overwhelming response during the three day event. A total of 24 States and six international countries participated in the threeday mega event. Goa was one among the five Partner States for the three-day TTF Kolkata 2017. Other Partner States included Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra. Other participating States included Kerala, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Jammu & Kashmir, Assam, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Delhi, West Bengal, Jharkhand,
Punjab, Haryana, Odisha, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, Te l a n g a n a a n d U t t a r Pradesh. Among international countries who too part were Thailand, SriLanka, Macao, China, Bangladesh and Nepal. During the three-day TTF, Goa Tourism successfully marketed itself as a 365 day holiday destination. Goa Tourism promoted its packages and new tourism services and interacted with travel agents and trade and tour operators from Kolkata and other tourism boards. Several B2B sessions were held where national and international buyers showed interest in Goa and its various facets.
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