Conversantly anti-Goan
Seriously, have you noticed how one in ten persons Goan or, living in Goa is either an author with several prefixes you read about in the local dailies, the most popular being ‘eminent’ because local journos think a linguistic element has to be attached to said word ‘author’ or; is a social worker. Despite there being little or no evidence (visible at least) of their track record, the social worker outnumbers ten-to-one the author. And it has been said brutally that one of these authors has been stridently anti-Goan, though I must confess that I have not read his particular book or books. And though I swear there is no co-relation between that and what comes next; why are so many long-term resident Brits and far too many long-term Non-resident Indians so vociferously anti-Goan?
Proof of ‘their’ Pudding
In fact I am getting quite tired of Brits telling me or rather as they put it, ‘reminding’ me of the way Goa’s tourism industry is heading: ‘for disaster, mind ya.’ Grrrrrr. And here’s their indictment –well, at least the Brits think so, ‘because the Brits are coming in lesser numbers.’ I am also quite tired of hearing of Brits claiming to be experts on tourism, that they have answers, not one, but many, for every problem afflicting the tourism industry. Some of course make it look as if only they have the magic potion, the universal remedy as it were, they claim has been effective the world over. Ahh yes, they always point out to some world tourist destination and yet they live in Goa. To them I say each time: (1) “You don’t like the place, just leave. Why suffer Goa?” Or I slam this gem on home, it’s a real whammer. (2) Why don’t you try Hong Kong where the roads are kosher, the queues work wonderfully, the road discipline is brilliant, you don’t have Goans maids and the tourism minister won’t insult your sensibilities every now and then?” Then I drive in the knife, a double whammy, if you like: “Point is, can you afford HK?” See now, why it works.
Buggers and Beggars
But this pisses me off the most like 10 on the Richter scale which is all (this time) long-term Non-resident Indians and most (this time) long-term resident Brits think they are doing Goa a huge favour ‘by sustaining Goa’s economy with our presence and the money we spend.’ Blah, blah, blah. Poor buggers, they think we are beggars (BTW, I saw an Indian who lives abroad buying an item in Margao’s biggest department store and forking over money and telling the girl “to keep the change”.) There never is a discussion on how terribly boring the English Premier League is, more particular the hit and run play of Liverpool. There will never be a debate on whether Gordon Brown was really a bully as was alleged in the past week. Or, for that matter that murders per capita makes Britain the most dangerous country in Europe, not Estonia? But then it is always going to be Scarlett and the recent rape cases.
Lies broken down
Look around you, 70 per cent of the 3-5 Star hotels are owned by non-Goans who take away all of their profits. Yes, I know it’s so easy for NRI’s in particular to say: “So, why don’t you build your own hotels?” Yeah right, if it were so easy, why don’t you then, huh, huh? Let’s not even get into how many Goans are employed by the industry, which is why a trade union forum is currently discussing the issue of demanding that a 10 per cent service tax be made mandatory and that this be given to hotel employees. That I am told will hike a waiter’s salary to Rs 13,000 and that Mr/Mrs. NRI will make Goans want to work as waiters and not go abroad. I won’t discuss what else makes Goans not want to work in the tourism industry because that has been done many times in the past in this column and I don’t like repeating myself like they do. But here’s food for thought. The less glamorous mining industry, the Goa Mineral Ore Exporters Association tells me, if you consider employment including in the vast spread of allied industries like truck transport, the barge industry, barge repair industry, other ancillaries like truck tyres, spare parts and even the used tyre replacement business (these are used to protect the sides of barges); its work force far exceeds that of the tourism industry. And if you think mining pollutes and it does, the garbage generated by the tourism industry is of greater proportions and affects greater areas in Goa than mining does. There is more to this. GMOEA says the tourism industry could possibly argue that the money generated directly by the industry (which apart from the taxi trade has less allied industries, and an even lesser number based in Goa) matches that generated directly by the mining industry, but GMOEA says if the money generated by the many allied industries is added up, this combined figure is a great deal more.
GMOEA says forex generated is in excess of Rs 10,000 cr annually which means the multiplier effect for each tonne of ore would probably amount to four times more that is generated within Goa in Indian currency. It says the mining industry pays the government an annual royalty of Rs 250 cr. Then there is corporate tax and individual salary tax, service tax, excise and VAT and export duty. I rest my case.
Feedback 2280935, 9822152164 lionroars.goa@gmail.com
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Another perspective
The view from the other side
Some years ago when a friend had gone to Pattaya in Thailand he admitted that his ears burned with the suggestions “to have a good time” made to him from a network of people ranging from a waiter, a taxi driver, the hotel receptionist, to some random guy on the beach. There was just no getting away from the lurid suggestions on offer for a price.
But sad to say, I hear that tourists coming to Goa too are attacked by touts selling sleaze. From seemingly innocuous suggestions to be escorted by a girl to a dance bar where you buy the said girl a drink – say a shot of tequila for Rs 150 – to an oily chap sidling up and asking “would you like a foreigner for the night?” A group from Chennai including a photojournalist are now convinced that Goa is a sex destination. So much for the tourism minister issuing instructions down the line to remove bikini babes from all brochures/posters selling Goa as a tourism destination so that tourists will think it is a family destination.
I’m told that the group was even waylaid on the beach, in their guest house, even a shack where they were having a leisurely beer by someone offering free entry coupons to some nightspots. For those who took the bait, they got shaken down for every rupee they had. Apparently, for those who like arm candy while entering these nightspots, the deal is very clear. One song, one shot and the girl is by your side. You want her company for another song, it will cost you another shot of tequila/whisky/ brandy/ whatever is your poison. The trick is also that while you get steadily drunk, the girl only fakes it – as in every “shot” is actually a peg of soft drink or even water – so that she is fresh to ‘entertain’ the next customer and the routine is repeated. So, do the math on how much she will earn after circulating for several hours. And by the time the shutters come down, everyone involved in the scam has made a neat pile! Mr Tourism Minister, are you reading this?
Maybe it’s also time to acknowledge that the moral fibre of Goa has not only been destroyed by tourism but also that some of the stake-holders in the tourism pie that are responsible for headlines such as “Goa, the rape capital of India” are amidst us.
Say No to Drugs
Our home minister recently declared – after a young girl from Delhi ODed on a cocktail of drugs – that Goa has no drug culture. This ostrich-like attitude by our montris for several decades is what has led to Goa getting a bad name. Again hear it from the other side. The owner of a prominent restaurant serving French and Italian cuisine in Pondicherry that draws tourists like a magnet, declared – “Goa has a drug background, Pondicherry has a spiritual background.” Is Mr Ravi Naik listening? Or for that matter, the tourism minister?
Sartorial Splendour
This reminds me of our Rajya Sabha MP Shantaram Naik who tied himself in knots trying to retract his infamous statement that the rape of a woman “who moves with strangers for days together even beyond midnight” should be “treated differently.” Since that outbreak of foot in the mouth disease, he’s been busy with his job as the AICC’s in-charge of Tamil Nadu. After his recent visit to review the progress of party elections in that state, he was again shooting off his mouth. Frankly, with the contradictory statements coming out from different leaders about the existing alliance, his input that the ties between the DMK and Congress was strong just added to the babel. But since he seems to favour quotable quotes, here’s a gem: “In Tamil Nadu, unless a politician wears a ‘lungi’, he does not get votes. If he (politician) wears a shirt and pants there...he loses.” Even Chidambaram wears a white lungi(btw, they call it ‘veshti’ in TN). Somebody tell him that Chidambaram is not the toast of UPA-2 because of his sartorial sense but because of the sensibility and good common sense he brings to his job. Or maybe Naik was thinking of Chidambaram’s predecessor Shivraj Patil who found time to change his attire repeatedly and did not have a single hair out of place in his bouffant (to look natty for the TV cameras) while terrorists were having a field day planting serial bombs in Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Jaipur ….
Feedback 2280935, 9822152164 lionroars.goa@gmail.com
Some years ago when a friend had gone to Pattaya in Thailand he admitted that his ears burned with the suggestions “to have a good time” made to him from a network of people ranging from a waiter, a taxi driver, the hotel receptionist, to some random guy on the beach. There was just no getting away from the lurid suggestions on offer for a price.
But sad to say, I hear that tourists coming to Goa too are attacked by touts selling sleaze. From seemingly innocuous suggestions to be escorted by a girl to a dance bar where you buy the said girl a drink – say a shot of tequila for Rs 150 – to an oily chap sidling up and asking “would you like a foreigner for the night?” A group from Chennai including a photojournalist are now convinced that Goa is a sex destination. So much for the tourism minister issuing instructions down the line to remove bikini babes from all brochures/posters selling Goa as a tourism destination so that tourists will think it is a family destination.
I’m told that the group was even waylaid on the beach, in their guest house, even a shack where they were having a leisurely beer by someone offering free entry coupons to some nightspots. For those who took the bait, they got shaken down for every rupee they had. Apparently, for those who like arm candy while entering these nightspots, the deal is very clear. One song, one shot and the girl is by your side. You want her company for another song, it will cost you another shot of tequila/whisky/ brandy/ whatever is your poison. The trick is also that while you get steadily drunk, the girl only fakes it – as in every “shot” is actually a peg of soft drink or even water – so that she is fresh to ‘entertain’ the next customer and the routine is repeated. So, do the math on how much she will earn after circulating for several hours. And by the time the shutters come down, everyone involved in the scam has made a neat pile! Mr Tourism Minister, are you reading this?
Maybe it’s also time to acknowledge that the moral fibre of Goa has not only been destroyed by tourism but also that some of the stake-holders in the tourism pie that are responsible for headlines such as “Goa, the rape capital of India” are amidst us.
Say No to Drugs
Our home minister recently declared – after a young girl from Delhi ODed on a cocktail of drugs – that Goa has no drug culture. This ostrich-like attitude by our montris for several decades is what has led to Goa getting a bad name. Again hear it from the other side. The owner of a prominent restaurant serving French and Italian cuisine in Pondicherry that draws tourists like a magnet, declared – “Goa has a drug background, Pondicherry has a spiritual background.” Is Mr Ravi Naik listening? Or for that matter, the tourism minister?
Sartorial Splendour
This reminds me of our Rajya Sabha MP Shantaram Naik who tied himself in knots trying to retract his infamous statement that the rape of a woman “who moves with strangers for days together even beyond midnight” should be “treated differently.” Since that outbreak of foot in the mouth disease, he’s been busy with his job as the AICC’s in-charge of Tamil Nadu. After his recent visit to review the progress of party elections in that state, he was again shooting off his mouth. Frankly, with the contradictory statements coming out from different leaders about the existing alliance, his input that the ties between the DMK and Congress was strong just added to the babel. But since he seems to favour quotable quotes, here’s a gem: “In Tamil Nadu, unless a politician wears a ‘lungi’, he does not get votes. If he (politician) wears a shirt and pants there...he loses.” Even Chidambaram wears a white lungi(btw, they call it ‘veshti’ in TN). Somebody tell him that Chidambaram is not the toast of UPA-2 because of his sartorial sense but because of the sensibility and good common sense he brings to his job. Or maybe Naik was thinking of Chidambaram’s predecessor Shivraj Patil who found time to change his attire repeatedly and did not have a single hair out of place in his bouffant (to look natty for the TV cameras) while terrorists were having a field day planting serial bombs in Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Jaipur ….
Feedback 2280935, 9822152164 lionroars.goa@gmail.com
Montris guzzle
Things go better with …..
Methinks our montris should be poster boys for the cola companies. And everything is official about it, in a manner of speaking! With due respect to Pepsi, Coca Cola and our very own desi Thums Up who have spent big bucks getting Shah Rukh Khan/ Ranbir Kapoor/ Deepika Padukone, Aamir Khan and the energetic Akshay Kumar respectively to sell their product. In fact, I quote here another popular oldie line Coke’s Ad boys scripted: ‘Continuous quality is quality you can trust’. Nuff said about the makers of carbonated drinks, but I couldn’t resist this, because look at the one liner from the point of view of our montris on the Hill (Porvorim Secretariat) and it simply wouldn’t hold water, not a drop of it. Because where is the continuous quality as far as our montris are concerned and also the fact that you simply can’t trust them?
Your montris guzzled an enormous Rs 3,52,417 worth of refreshments and I guess lots of tea (also called the “cup that cheers” or “cuppa” if you are British) as well. Well a lot of undeserved others did consume bottles of it courtesy them and of course your tax bucks came handy. Raise a Thumbs Up to the Minister for Panchayati Raj & RDA who continued to entertain between April 2008-March 2009, as he did with gusto in the previous year (Rs 71,650), this time spending Rs 58,580. Bottle caps continued to pop and cha continued to flow in the chamber of the Minister for PWD, Science & Technology where the cost of the guzzle went up to Rs 44,990. In that year, April 2008-March 2009, the Home Minister spent Rs 37,937. The Chief Minister spent Rs 37,399. The Minister for Education spent Rs 34,227. The Minister for Tourism refreshed his visitors to the extent of Rs 32,321, the Minister for Water Resources & Forest Rs 28,069, the Minister for revenue Rs 24,779, the Minister for Health & Craftsmen Training Rs 23,599. The Minister for Urban Development Spent Rs 15,233.The fizz continued to effervesce in April and May 2009 and your political whiz kids or should we be saying fizz kids spent Rs 40,609 and the bubble cost your tax bucks the most inside the chamber of the Minister for Panchayati Raj & RDA – Rs 8,217. As well as inside the chambers of the Minister for PWD, Science & Techonology – Rs 6,138 and Minister for Education – Rs 10,291. Really, what goes on inside the chamber of the Panchayati Raj Minister? Grassroot democracy or is it just letting grass grow under their feet! As I said before their fizz is your fall.
An aside
BTW, with sugar prices going off the charts, cola companies have been told to import their own sugar. All these years, the aam aadmi went thirsty because water got diverted to make soft drinks. But when the government realised in addition to the aam aadmi’s miserable life, things were turning bitter for itself, it’s moving to plug usage. If nothing, UPA-2 would have the blessings of parents of impressionable children who emulate their role models. But what will our guzzlers on the Hill do? Nada.
Fence Eating the Crop
Whatever happened to the Rajiv Gandhi IT Habitat dreamt up by Dayanand Narvekar whose mental image of it was really to make it a realty habitation at the very least? Everyone thought of it as idle hope because only recently I too met yet another young person from Goa (this time a woman from Divar) who found work at a call centre in Bombay that pays her a monthly salary of Rs 30,000 and health coverage for her family: “Do you think I would ever get that in Goa”. You can’t argue this even in a daydream. Mr. Narvekar pushed through an outrageous scam that nestled between Dona Paula and the Goa University that was as outsized as its physical area of 2,47,525.02 sq. mt. The so-called IT plots of which some clever realtors had already begun to lay their grubby hands on, was planned to be on a sizeable 1,80,868.40 sq. mt or 73.07 per cent of the proposed IT park.
Gravitate in the Habitat
The green areas which the Info Tech Corporation of Goa Ltd made a song and dance about when I interviewed its overpaid director (remember his salary was increased to Rs 1,00,000 per month later?) was earmarked at 37,174.06 SQ. MT (1.91 per cent of the park) and another 2,47,535.70 sq. mt designated as area for ‘circulation, parking and walkway’. Yeah right! Imagine if some of the plotters (oops, plot holders in the Habitat) decided to take that literally and walk(a)way, as is done in most of Goa’s industrial estates, with a bit of extra land with the connivance of the Info Tech Corporation which would have learnt by then from the Goa Industrial Development Corporation that has mastered the art of turning a blind eye on encroachment! Well, ask yourself why 2,47,535.70 sq. mt or, was there sure to be another in-house developed route to encroachment? For now that’s all you and I can ask because as they say conveniently these days there is a status quo on at the Habitat. And so till the guys at the Hill decide, we won’t know the fate of a budding scam that was nipped in the bud.
Feedback 2280935, 9822152164 lionroars.goa@gmail.com
Methinks our montris should be poster boys for the cola companies. And everything is official about it, in a manner of speaking! With due respect to Pepsi, Coca Cola and our very own desi Thums Up who have spent big bucks getting Shah Rukh Khan/ Ranbir Kapoor/ Deepika Padukone, Aamir Khan and the energetic Akshay Kumar respectively to sell their product. In fact, I quote here another popular oldie line Coke’s Ad boys scripted: ‘Continuous quality is quality you can trust’. Nuff said about the makers of carbonated drinks, but I couldn’t resist this, because look at the one liner from the point of view of our montris on the Hill (Porvorim Secretariat) and it simply wouldn’t hold water, not a drop of it. Because where is the continuous quality as far as our montris are concerned and also the fact that you simply can’t trust them?
Your montris guzzled an enormous Rs 3,52,417 worth of refreshments and I guess lots of tea (also called the “cup that cheers” or “cuppa” if you are British) as well. Well a lot of undeserved others did consume bottles of it courtesy them and of course your tax bucks came handy. Raise a Thumbs Up to the Minister for Panchayati Raj & RDA who continued to entertain between April 2008-March 2009, as he did with gusto in the previous year (Rs 71,650), this time spending Rs 58,580. Bottle caps continued to pop and cha continued to flow in the chamber of the Minister for PWD, Science & Technology where the cost of the guzzle went up to Rs 44,990. In that year, April 2008-March 2009, the Home Minister spent Rs 37,937. The Chief Minister spent Rs 37,399. The Minister for Education spent Rs 34,227. The Minister for Tourism refreshed his visitors to the extent of Rs 32,321, the Minister for Water Resources & Forest Rs 28,069, the Minister for revenue Rs 24,779, the Minister for Health & Craftsmen Training Rs 23,599. The Minister for Urban Development Spent Rs 15,233.The fizz continued to effervesce in April and May 2009 and your political whiz kids or should we be saying fizz kids spent Rs 40,609 and the bubble cost your tax bucks the most inside the chamber of the Minister for Panchayati Raj & RDA – Rs 8,217. As well as inside the chambers of the Minister for PWD, Science & Techonology – Rs 6,138 and Minister for Education – Rs 10,291. Really, what goes on inside the chamber of the Panchayati Raj Minister? Grassroot democracy or is it just letting grass grow under their feet! As I said before their fizz is your fall.
An aside
BTW, with sugar prices going off the charts, cola companies have been told to import their own sugar. All these years, the aam aadmi went thirsty because water got diverted to make soft drinks. But when the government realised in addition to the aam aadmi’s miserable life, things were turning bitter for itself, it’s moving to plug usage. If nothing, UPA-2 would have the blessings of parents of impressionable children who emulate their role models. But what will our guzzlers on the Hill do? Nada.
Fence Eating the Crop
Whatever happened to the Rajiv Gandhi IT Habitat dreamt up by Dayanand Narvekar whose mental image of it was really to make it a realty habitation at the very least? Everyone thought of it as idle hope because only recently I too met yet another young person from Goa (this time a woman from Divar) who found work at a call centre in Bombay that pays her a monthly salary of Rs 30,000 and health coverage for her family: “Do you think I would ever get that in Goa”. You can’t argue this even in a daydream. Mr. Narvekar pushed through an outrageous scam that nestled between Dona Paula and the Goa University that was as outsized as its physical area of 2,47,525.02 sq. mt. The so-called IT plots of which some clever realtors had already begun to lay their grubby hands on, was planned to be on a sizeable 1,80,868.40 sq. mt or 73.07 per cent of the proposed IT park.
Gravitate in the Habitat
The green areas which the Info Tech Corporation of Goa Ltd made a song and dance about when I interviewed its overpaid director (remember his salary was increased to Rs 1,00,000 per month later?) was earmarked at 37,174.06 SQ. MT (1.91 per cent of the park) and another 2,47,535.70 sq. mt designated as area for ‘circulation, parking and walkway’. Yeah right! Imagine if some of the plotters (oops, plot holders in the Habitat) decided to take that literally and walk(a)way, as is done in most of Goa’s industrial estates, with a bit of extra land with the connivance of the Info Tech Corporation which would have learnt by then from the Goa Industrial Development Corporation that has mastered the art of turning a blind eye on encroachment! Well, ask yourself why 2,47,535.70 sq. mt or, was there sure to be another in-house developed route to encroachment? For now that’s all you and I can ask because as they say conveniently these days there is a status quo on at the Habitat. And so till the guys at the Hill decide, we won’t know the fate of a budding scam that was nipped in the bud.
Feedback 2280935, 9822152164 lionroars.goa@gmail.com
Only in Goa
Elbowed out in Mapusa
Do you know why locals can never find a spot to park at Mapusa’s paid parking? It’s because the town’s Godfathers have given taxis the pride of place, and other taxi drivers who can’t squeeze in there, as an alternative, park in the remaining areas which you would think should have been reserved for the likes of you and me. Not happening, never going to happen I’ll go out on a limb to say. You see your cab driver here makes as much as his counterpart in New York --well, at least the fares he charges are the same as in the Big Apple-- so he can afford to park there, even if it is for several hours. Another reason you and I can never find parking space is because tourists in their SUVs often treat the car park as a rest and recreation area. Locals going to the Friday Market as a result are compelled often to park inside the Garden Centre building, a fair distance away and have to trudge to and fro with their bags.
28 days of work
Did you notice Panjim’s traffic cops making money hand over fist on February 1st? They descended on the city with a vengeance never seen before and they made a pile and were shameless as only they can be. And all the while as they were performing their sleight of hand tricks, the ‘regulars’ that is, the trucks bringing goods into the city were left alone as they continued like they do every day, to disrupt traffic which often has to wait as entire consignments are unloaded in the middle of a road. February must be a great month for traffic cops –they work for only 28 days but get paid for 31, plus those additional benefits just described.
Only in Goa
It happens only here. Many shop owners are back to insisting on a two per cent ‘levy’ on credit card transactions. Ask them why and they tell you rather audaciously that the banks on the contrary charge them a fee. This self-levied ‘duty’ happened many years ago, but was mercifully withdrawn. But it’s back. Whereas you can migrate to any mobile provider and still retain your old number, all done, at a mere transfer cost of Rs 19. In Goa, Vodofone at least refused me –‘wait till March end’-- when I decided to quit Idea which most times is as dead as the Dodo if not unreachable.
A hush-hush housing project
Pilar is described as a village that is entrenched atop a hill and hence makes available breathtaking views of the Mandovi river. It is the next frontier that will be conquered now that the coast in North and South Goa is chok-a-block with building projects whether they are hotels or houses. It’s supposed to be hush-hush but the paperwork is almost complete. The Radisson or rather Zuri Varca Goa White Sands Resort & Casino Goa is all set to start another project in addition to the two it already has. Pilar is the location and apartments is the project. Those living along the river Mandovi – all the way from Miramar to Old Goa – will be envying the residents in the new project at Pilar because not only is the village untouched so far but the view will be to die for. But why hush-hush? That’s a no-brainer considering Gram Sabhas have been reverberating with outrage from locals about the damage to the environment by rapacious builders. So mum is the word.
The taste of Thanda
It’s back to the Secretariat where all the fun (read: entertainment) takes place. The canteen owner up on the hill must be a happy man. Just goes to show, you don’t need a beach shack license to rake in the moolah. The Hill will do fine, thank you. Between April 2007 and March 2008 your Montris spent Rs 3,68,785 on refreshments only or cool drinks as they are called at any Railway station platform across India. To be honest, not all of them or their thirsty visitors needed to be refreshed. But this one is a real corkscrew -- they consumed the least during the warmest months! Thus, they consumed Rs 13,524 worth of refreshments in April 2007, Rs 4,848 in May and Rs 19,517 in June of the same year. But in November the figure was Rs 59,254, Rs 30,913 in December 2007 and Rs 43,787 in January 2008. Their consumption lost its fizz in March 2008 dropping to Rs 32,159.
The Chief Minister spent a lavish Rs 67,363 entertaining visitors, the Home Minister Rs 35,787, the Revenue Minister Rs 22,196, the Water Resources & Forest Minister Rs 18,751. The Urban Development, bless his kind soul, spent just Rs 7,539. The Panchayati Raj Minister spent Rs 71,650. The Tourism Minister spent Rs 27,510. The Minister for Health spent Rs 30,345, the Minister for PWD, Science & Technology Rs 34,101. The Minister for Transport/SW spent Rs 17,596. Another one liner to add to the shack inference made --if you feel thirsty, simply visit your friendly neighbourhood Montri up on the hill. That’s it for now, more cheer on this next week.
Feedback 2280935, 9822152164 lionroars.goa@gmail.com
Do you know why locals can never find a spot to park at Mapusa’s paid parking? It’s because the town’s Godfathers have given taxis the pride of place, and other taxi drivers who can’t squeeze in there, as an alternative, park in the remaining areas which you would think should have been reserved for the likes of you and me. Not happening, never going to happen I’ll go out on a limb to say. You see your cab driver here makes as much as his counterpart in New York --well, at least the fares he charges are the same as in the Big Apple-- so he can afford to park there, even if it is for several hours. Another reason you and I can never find parking space is because tourists in their SUVs often treat the car park as a rest and recreation area. Locals going to the Friday Market as a result are compelled often to park inside the Garden Centre building, a fair distance away and have to trudge to and fro with their bags.
28 days of work
Did you notice Panjim’s traffic cops making money hand over fist on February 1st? They descended on the city with a vengeance never seen before and they made a pile and were shameless as only they can be. And all the while as they were performing their sleight of hand tricks, the ‘regulars’ that is, the trucks bringing goods into the city were left alone as they continued like they do every day, to disrupt traffic which often has to wait as entire consignments are unloaded in the middle of a road. February must be a great month for traffic cops –they work for only 28 days but get paid for 31, plus those additional benefits just described.
Only in Goa
It happens only here. Many shop owners are back to insisting on a two per cent ‘levy’ on credit card transactions. Ask them why and they tell you rather audaciously that the banks on the contrary charge them a fee. This self-levied ‘duty’ happened many years ago, but was mercifully withdrawn. But it’s back. Whereas you can migrate to any mobile provider and still retain your old number, all done, at a mere transfer cost of Rs 19. In Goa, Vodofone at least refused me –‘wait till March end’-- when I decided to quit Idea which most times is as dead as the Dodo if not unreachable.
A hush-hush housing project
Pilar is described as a village that is entrenched atop a hill and hence makes available breathtaking views of the Mandovi river. It is the next frontier that will be conquered now that the coast in North and South Goa is chok-a-block with building projects whether they are hotels or houses. It’s supposed to be hush-hush but the paperwork is almost complete. The Radisson or rather Zuri Varca Goa White Sands Resort & Casino Goa is all set to start another project in addition to the two it already has. Pilar is the location and apartments is the project. Those living along the river Mandovi – all the way from Miramar to Old Goa – will be envying the residents in the new project at Pilar because not only is the village untouched so far but the view will be to die for. But why hush-hush? That’s a no-brainer considering Gram Sabhas have been reverberating with outrage from locals about the damage to the environment by rapacious builders. So mum is the word.
The taste of Thanda
It’s back to the Secretariat where all the fun (read: entertainment) takes place. The canteen owner up on the hill must be a happy man. Just goes to show, you don’t need a beach shack license to rake in the moolah. The Hill will do fine, thank you. Between April 2007 and March 2008 your Montris spent Rs 3,68,785 on refreshments only or cool drinks as they are called at any Railway station platform across India. To be honest, not all of them or their thirsty visitors needed to be refreshed. But this one is a real corkscrew -- they consumed the least during the warmest months! Thus, they consumed Rs 13,524 worth of refreshments in April 2007, Rs 4,848 in May and Rs 19,517 in June of the same year. But in November the figure was Rs 59,254, Rs 30,913 in December 2007 and Rs 43,787 in January 2008. Their consumption lost its fizz in March 2008 dropping to Rs 32,159.
The Chief Minister spent a lavish Rs 67,363 entertaining visitors, the Home Minister Rs 35,787, the Revenue Minister Rs 22,196, the Water Resources & Forest Minister Rs 18,751. The Urban Development, bless his kind soul, spent just Rs 7,539. The Panchayati Raj Minister spent Rs 71,650. The Tourism Minister spent Rs 27,510. The Minister for Health spent Rs 30,345, the Minister for PWD, Science & Technology Rs 34,101. The Minister for Transport/SW spent Rs 17,596. Another one liner to add to the shack inference made --if you feel thirsty, simply visit your friendly neighbourhood Montri up on the hill. That’s it for now, more cheer on this next week.
Feedback 2280935, 9822152164 lionroars.goa@gmail.com
Friday, February 5, 2010
Going for Broke
The other side of midnight
The last few weeks have been quite an eye-opener. I rave and rant about Goa being sold to outsiders but they are not the only villains if you find a hill being cut or a field which used to have plentiful tamdibhaji now becoming a concrete jungle, or a block of apartments is mushrooming where paddy fields used to be. The bad guys are also the ones who facilitated the selling of Goa. For instance, the head of a financial institution who gives home loans says, paraphrasing the famous poet: “My job is not to ask why but to do and die.” In other words home loans are given on the basis of documents not on whether there was a scam behind the land on which a dream home is to be built.
Brokers are the other villains behind Goa not being a pristine preserve anymore but a state where even highways have been turned into garbage dumps with plastic bags strewn everywhere. The same guys who upped the prices to meteoric heights causing the real estate bubble here two- three years ago -- a well known brokerage firm told me people use to crowd their offices with the result that tables were even put on the balcao to accommodate them-- today are sanctimonious pointing out “quotation is too high” (earlier it was not high enough!!). Goa has not been immune to the recessionary trend in real estate – although a Chennai developer is all set to sell about 5,000 sq ft apartments for Rs eight crore with the piece de resistance being a diamond-studded peacock in the marble foyer of each of the 21 apartments. But what is heart-warming is that Goans – whether they live in Bombay, Bangalore, US, UK, Canada or Kenya – are back as buyers.
The cartelization of brokers
To amend former US President George Bush’s famous one-liner – They are all together or they are at each other’s throats apparently. They are all smooth operators but some hide it very well and confuse you. Like the one who could teach a thing or two to our New Age gurus and throws so much spiritual mumbo-jumbo at you that it is easy to forget that they can give tips to our original Material Girl, Madonna. Actually, the truth is that spiritualism and the business of buying and selling property are oxymorons by definition, but there are smooth operators who straddle both. And brew spiritual BS galore. Some even get you to hand over the fruits of your labour (literally, in some cases) , give you spiritual and real estate fundas (about African and American money, go figure) and nothing else in return for your patient ear. And if you didn’t figure that out, African is black money and American, is white. Who said we aren’t racist?
While some of these smooth operators gang up together to rob Goa of her glory, there are others who get petulant that a buyer spreads a net over large swathes to get the best deal. With land and buildings going abegging – someone very bluntly said “Goa today is a buyer’s market, not a seller’s market – the brokers bring out their bag of dirty tricks. One of them is to telephone a rival and bad-mouth a seller so that the former takes a potential client in the opposite direction. There are other manifestations of these petty jealousies which have the potential to harm a seller. For instance, tracking down the village gossip and getting the low-down on the seller as if his character will have any bearing on his property. After all, if he was a bad guy, it will be good riddance. But if he was a good chap, then he will be a hard act to follow.
Beggars can’t be choosers
You also have the arrogant client whose ego has to be massaged- as they say beggars can’t be choosers. So if he wants to tramp all over your clean floor in shoes that may have walked through a pig sty you have to lump it if he does not have the basic courtesy of removing his footwear. In fact, he refuses to kick off his shoes and says he’d rather give the grand tour a miss and you capitulate. But to be fair, most buyers observe the house rules with no rancour whatever.
Feedback 2280935, 9822152164 lionroars.goa@gmail.com)
The last few weeks have been quite an eye-opener. I rave and rant about Goa being sold to outsiders but they are not the only villains if you find a hill being cut or a field which used to have plentiful tamdibhaji now becoming a concrete jungle, or a block of apartments is mushrooming where paddy fields used to be. The bad guys are also the ones who facilitated the selling of Goa. For instance, the head of a financial institution who gives home loans says, paraphrasing the famous poet: “My job is not to ask why but to do and die.” In other words home loans are given on the basis of documents not on whether there was a scam behind the land on which a dream home is to be built.
Brokers are the other villains behind Goa not being a pristine preserve anymore but a state where even highways have been turned into garbage dumps with plastic bags strewn everywhere. The same guys who upped the prices to meteoric heights causing the real estate bubble here two- three years ago -- a well known brokerage firm told me people use to crowd their offices with the result that tables were even put on the balcao to accommodate them-- today are sanctimonious pointing out “quotation is too high” (earlier it was not high enough!!). Goa has not been immune to the recessionary trend in real estate – although a Chennai developer is all set to sell about 5,000 sq ft apartments for Rs eight crore with the piece de resistance being a diamond-studded peacock in the marble foyer of each of the 21 apartments. But what is heart-warming is that Goans – whether they live in Bombay, Bangalore, US, UK, Canada or Kenya – are back as buyers.
The cartelization of brokers
To amend former US President George Bush’s famous one-liner – They are all together or they are at each other’s throats apparently. They are all smooth operators but some hide it very well and confuse you. Like the one who could teach a thing or two to our New Age gurus and throws so much spiritual mumbo-jumbo at you that it is easy to forget that they can give tips to our original Material Girl, Madonna. Actually, the truth is that spiritualism and the business of buying and selling property are oxymorons by definition, but there are smooth operators who straddle both. And brew spiritual BS galore. Some even get you to hand over the fruits of your labour (literally, in some cases) , give you spiritual and real estate fundas (about African and American money, go figure) and nothing else in return for your patient ear. And if you didn’t figure that out, African is black money and American, is white. Who said we aren’t racist?
While some of these smooth operators gang up together to rob Goa of her glory, there are others who get petulant that a buyer spreads a net over large swathes to get the best deal. With land and buildings going abegging – someone very bluntly said “Goa today is a buyer’s market, not a seller’s market – the brokers bring out their bag of dirty tricks. One of them is to telephone a rival and bad-mouth a seller so that the former takes a potential client in the opposite direction. There are other manifestations of these petty jealousies which have the potential to harm a seller. For instance, tracking down the village gossip and getting the low-down on the seller as if his character will have any bearing on his property. After all, if he was a bad guy, it will be good riddance. But if he was a good chap, then he will be a hard act to follow.
Beggars can’t be choosers
You also have the arrogant client whose ego has to be massaged- as they say beggars can’t be choosers. So if he wants to tramp all over your clean floor in shoes that may have walked through a pig sty you have to lump it if he does not have the basic courtesy of removing his footwear. In fact, he refuses to kick off his shoes and says he’d rather give the grand tour a miss and you capitulate. But to be fair, most buyers observe the house rules with no rancour whatever.
Feedback 2280935, 9822152164 lionroars.goa@gmail.com)
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