GOANVOICE DAILY NEWSLETTER SUN 25 JULY, 2010
Photo Gallery | |||
| Selma Carvalho's Book Launch at the UK Goan Festival | |||
25 Jul: Selma Carvalho writes: The Gods decided to bless us with one of those
rare days in the UK without rain for the launch of my book, Into the Diaspora
Wilderness. My thanks to everyone who came and wished me well. Our Goan community
is truly warm, loving and united. My special thanks to Eddie Fernandes, Flavio
Gracias, Mervyn Maciel, Dr Cornel DaCosta, Tony Luis and Tony Fernandes. I apologise
we ran out of copies sooner soon after the launch and also for not being able
to meet those who arrived a little later in the day. Your kind thoughts are much
appreciated in making the effort. The winners of the book competition draw are Romeo D'Mello, Oscar Monteiro and Ivy Nazareth. To order the book via my website, click here. For 8 photographs of the launch and book signing, click here. | |||
| Selma Carvalho’s Book Signing Queue | |||
Those who could not walk, came and others began reading it eagerly as they walked away ... | |||
| Charles Correa: A Place In The Shade | |||
 2 Aug. Outlook. Book Review: A Place In The Shade. By Charles Correia. Penguin. Rs 1,199. ... architect Charles Correa’s sensibility has not only survived for more than half a century, but has in fact thrived in the mess. The secret of his success is the single-minded determination to make a difference... For an architect who has spent so much time under the Goan sun and in the breathless tumult of Bombay, his book will raise enough questions to realign our thinking... 788 words. | |||
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| Auction: A Goanese Ivory Group | |||
27 Jul: Christie's, London, South Kensington. A Goanese ivory group of St. Christopher and the Christ Child
Late 19th Century. 7 in. (18 cm.) high... Estimate: £1,000 - £1,500. | |||
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News Summary | |||
| UK Goan Festival: 12 Preliminary Photographs Select the link belowmore info... | |||
| Elderly prefer old age homes run by charitable institutions 26 Jul: Navhind Times. The old age homes managed by the Institute of Public Assistance (Provedoria) account for only 25 per cent of the elderly living in such homes in the state... A recent survey revealed that tedious entry procedures and poor quality of care at old age houses managed by government are making the elderly prefer old age homes run by religious and charitable institutions... 736 words. Full Text. | |||
| Goa to be an International Arbitration centre - Moily 25 July. Digital Goa. Goa is all set to get Paperless Court, and an International Arbitration Centre to make it foremost destination of arbitration cases in India. Union Law Minister Dr M Veerappa Moily announced this whilst taking to media persons in the city on Sunday... 339 words. Full Text. | |||
| Pacheco admitted to GMC for chest pain 25 Jul: Digital Goa. Former Tourism minister Micky Pacheco was admitted in GMC late evening on Sunday after he complained of chest pain... 74 words. Full Text. | |||
| Girl poisoned and kidnapped by aunt breathes her last 25 Jul: Digital Goa. Utkarsha Parab who was struggling for life after being kidnapped and poisoned by her very own aunt finally breathed her last at Goa Medical College (GMC), Bambolim on Sunday morning. The 16-year-old girl from Valpoi, was allegedly forcibly fed food laced with Ratol (rat poison) by her aunt who earlier kidnapped her over family disputes... 185 words. Full Text. | |||
| A tale of three women 25 Jul: Diss Express (UK). Documentary film-maker Bob Edwards is bringing his tales of three charismatic women to Wingfield Barns next month as part of the Harleston and Waveney Festival... The second film, Ma Faiza, is about a six-foot tall Indian lesbian who Mr Edwards met during a trip to Goa. “She was a great seducer and obviously a great lover – the women she was with looked very happy,” he said... Text 721 words and photo. Full Text. | |||
| Scarlett Keeling Threatened By Love Rival 25 Jul: The People (UK). Tragic Scarlett Keeling, 15, was threatened before she was murdered, her boyfriend told a court. Julio Lobo, 27, said a love rival menaced her and her mum Fiona so badly they switched resorts. But he also told the court in Goa the teenager had a taste for drink and drugs... 91 words. Full Text. | |||
| Tourism dept's survey to study efficacy of ads placed 25 Jul: Times of India. Goa has spent Rs 23.86 crore on advertisements promoting itself as a holiday destination since 2007, and the tourism ministry has finally decided to conduct a survey on whether putting out those ads has really worked... In the last financial year alone, the tourism department paid the BBC around Rs 4.46 crore, while Zee TV was paid around Rs 1.69 crore.... 449 words. Full Text. | |||
| Win a luxury hol in super Goa 5 Jul: Sunday Mirror (UK). We've teamed up with Shana Foods so one lucky reader can win a 10-night luxury holiday for two people to gorgeous Goa. For your chance to win, correctly answer this question: Which of the following is not an Indian dish? A:Tandoori; B:Vindaloo; C: Chow Mein. Closing date: 30 Jul. visit the link and enter online. 486 words. Full Text. | |||
| WHO THE BLEEP CARES. Weekly column by Selma Carvalho. 91. Who the bleep cares about Water-cooler boy? As a child I was rather scrawny. Having inherited the "thin gene" from my mother's side of the family, I was a sad collection of bones loosely knit together by skin. I was the punch-line of every thin joke in school and often the victim of cruel and unusual punishment. euphemistically labeled as childhood pranks by parents and teachers alike. In the 1970s, Goans in the Arabian Gulf were not rich. They were first generation guest workers in a land that was mostly inhospitable. A dry arid desert, a few decrepit buildings and cantankerous bosses were what they had sold their bodies and souls to. Neither were the schools in the Arabian Gulf particularly well established. They were usually small flat structures either attached to a religious institution such as a Church, or a social organisation. Some classes were held in makeshift sheds of asbestos. Not the sort of thing parents would tolerate today but in those days schools were not subject to rigorous codes of maintenance, health, safety or sanitation. My school had just one water-cooler catering to the needs of almost 500 overheated children. I was somewhat fearful of this blue and white monstrous tank that could make guttural noises and pour forth water from rusted taps. On most days I would will myself to survive the thirst but on one particular day, the sun had been out with a vengeance and so had the Physical Education Trainer . The school had chained plastic-cups to the cooler and we were strictly prohibited from putting our mouths to the taps as children often do. If making one's way to the cooler was difficult, securing a cup to drink from was an even more Herculean task. Children have little understanding of fairness or the formation of queues. They crowd around the things they want and will fight like alley-cats to get them. Being the scrawniest kid in school I was easily jostled and elbowed out of the way. My chances of getting a cup of water to drink were quickly ebbing, as the last minutes of recess ticked away. Just as desperation gave way to despair, a tall dark boy bellowed from the crowd around the cooler, pointed to me and said, "My cup goes to her". He handed me his cup and then he vanished. As an adult I often think of this boy, whose name I certainly didn't know and who I affectionately refer to now as water-cooler boy. With the passing of years his heroism has been elevated to mythological proportions. In certain scenarios, water-cooler boy is endowed with great physical strength enabling him to fight school bullies and play volley-ball simultaneously. At other times, he is remembered as helping the handicapped school kids, winning relay races for his team, becoming a bi-partisan class monitor, running the school newspaper, exposing salmonella poisoning in the school canteen and saving elementary schools from the effects of global warming by recycling his text books. Since then I've always been on the lookout for water-cooler people. Seemingly ordinary people who engage in extraordinary acts of kindness and heroism. I'd like to believe there's a little bit of a water-cooler person in all of us struggling to get out. The one that extends his hand across the din of humanity because it's the right thing to do. The one that chips away at the malaise that engulfs and embitters communities, with unseen and unsung acts of courage. In doing so he becomes part of the social consciousness, the superhero of our collective psyche. He becomes us . I never met water-cooler boy again. Perhaps our paths crossed but I was too young a child to have inscribed his face to memory and wouldn't have recognised him. I like to believe he lives somewhere, still handing out cups of kindness to the weak, the needy and those that least expect them. Visit my website, http://selmacarvalho.squarespace.com/ to view excerpts from my recently released book, Into the Diaspora Wilderness. Do leave your feedback at carvalho_sel@yahoo.com | |||
