Memories of Goa

We are just back from a fantastic trip to Goa. For those who missed 3 issues of Neighbourhood Times, we extend our apologies but we desperately needed a break.

Driving to Goa was a last minute plan. Since most of our staff wanted a vacation we gave them the go ahead and decided to take a summer break ourselves. Since it was too late for tickets we just threw some clothes in a bag, jumped into our car and zoomed off. The drive was relaxing. We took National Highway 4 which has less ghats but takes longer.

We stayed at a resort near Calangute, Castle House, which was highly recommended by a friend.

Castle House is a picturesque gleaming yellow and white villa/resort with cute little balconies and a pool. The tariff was so reasonable, I couldn't get my husband to stop grinning.

The swimming pool got all the kids excited. The rooms were spacious, clean with excellent service. The bar was fully stocked with all kinds of booze with ludicrously low rates eg a bottle of beer was 55 and a shot of whiskey/rum was Rs 20 only. The sea food was very nice especially the fish steaks and garlic butter prawns. The service was so good we ended up making friends with all the employees.



To any body who wants to stay at a hotel in Goa and get complete value for their money, I'd highly recommend Castle House. The owner is Dev (a very friendly chap).



If you visit North Goa and want to eat out, try Britto's at Baga beach. The portions are huge, the food is delicious and the prices are cheap. Just avoid it on Sundays as it gets too crowded. Try booking the deck chairs on the beach which cost around Rs 100 for a couple,lie back,and the food from Britto's will come to you, at no extra charge.

If you want a foot rub ask around for a guy called Rajesh and he will haggle at first but give you a nice foot rub for 20 minutes if you pay him 100 Rs. If you want your nails painted and decorated with little crystals you can get the Nail paint women (who constantly roam the beach) to do some fancy nail art for Rs 110.

Another place bang on Calangute beach is Souza Lobo. They are very popular and always very crowded on weekends.They have a dance floor and have live music every day.. The food is good, the portions are generous but watch out as the service is very iffy. They have a talent for botching up orders. Over and over again. Be careful coz if you order rice and get noodles instead ,they will make you eat the noodles no matter how much you protest and make you pay for it too.

Another place at Calangute is The Flying Dolphin.It's nice and quiet with a great 180 degree view of the beach, which is not crowded at all.It's the perfect place to go with a book,lie back,order a cocktail and watch the sun go down.The food is pretty ok too and worth a try.

Calangute Grande also has good Chinese and Continental food with big portions. Another place which I was told is good, is David's for their seafood platter but I didn't get a chance to go there. Oh and do, do visit Infentaria for their all day dining. Their pastas and cakes are delicious. I spotted Director Sanjay Gupta kicking back and enjoying a relaxing brunch with a large group of friends.

Which brings me to some of the friends I made. I ran into an absolutely lovely British couple, Janet and Graham at my hotel bar (where I had become a permanent structure). We hit it off almost immediately and hung out after that, almost every day. Once they learned I was a writer they told me about a strange predicament they were in...



Now ever since Janet and Graham came to India, they fell in love with our country, our weather, our people, our food......in fact everything. It is for this reason they decided to make India their home and bought a house in Goa.

Cool.... ..right? Wrong! What happened soon after is unbelievable. According to them they did every thing by the book. In October 2001 Graham Goodburn went to the Indian Embassy in London and declared his wish to retire in Goa. He got a One year Ex-Visa,under which, he and his partner were allowed multiple entries, they could stay longer than 12 days AND buy property..

Delighted,they arrived in 2001 October and registered with the Foreign Relation Officer. They viewed a property and made a sale agreement. Their advocate made proper papers under FEMA ie the Foreign Exchange Management Act, which meant within 182 days in one financial year, they could apply for the sale deed, which they did and received. They got the deed stamped the by the Registrar in Maupsa and received the No Objection Certificate for Electricity and House tax.

At the end of their 1 year visa,they went back to UK and were issued a 5 year visa. After 5 years in India,they returned to UK to renew their visa but were shocked to learn that they would receive a visa for one year only and would be required to leave the country every 182 days, for at least a day and then only would they be allowed to return.

Irritated and upset they returned, only to have their their advocate drop another bombshell: The rules had changed further. They could sell their house to an Indian national only AND There was a new diktat …...even though they owned a home in Goa, they could only stay for six months at a time, then they had to leave the country not for a day but for at least 2 months.

Soon came another set of rules, they were now forbidden to sell their house to anybody, not even an Indian.

So here they are, stuck in a country where they own a home, but cannot live in it for more than six months and have to get out for at least 2 months and they cannot sell their home either!!!

Quite understandably, they feel helpless and outraged. It seems Graham and Janet are not the only ones. “This is happening to all the foreigners” informs Janet.

Why don't they just leave? “I love India. This is my home now and I won't leave”says Graham Goodburn passionately as Janet nods vigorously. I feel so bad for this couple, despite all this the poor things are still in love with India and want to stay.

Pfffft !!! Atithi Devo Bhava indeed!

For their sake I hope the Indian Government is listening.

Simon Says.....

Baba re Baba!!

What a week! First Baba Ramdev decided to go on a 'Me Too' Anna Hazare fast, and despite leading all that healthy yoga lifestyle promptly buckled under starvation within day six, and had to consume honey and lime (And in my opinion, technically broke his fast) Looks like yoga and a satvik diet do not a strong system make.

It is a little difficult to believe that a fitness guru can collapse after fasting of mere five / six days.

On the other side a much older 73 plus Anna Hazare who follows no such diet or exercise regimen hung on resolutely surviving quietly on plain water till the government gave in... (technically, that is.)

The support that Anna enjoyed though was tremendous and spontaneous. People, especially, young educated professionals got shaken out of their insulated lives and sat up and took notice. Comparisons to Gandhi were made. Over and over again. There were frenzied texts, face book messages, tweets, singing and marches by the youth. Everyone who was young and optimistic was there for Anna and his cause.

In Baba's case the youth were not so charged. In fact not at all. I wonder why? Maybe because many saw /accused him as the mask for the RSS. Plus shots of him trying to flee in a white ladies outfit broke the saffron spell.

Baba Ramdev should have let the cops take him. That would have have gotten him more sympathy. And his call for arms, was shocking, desperate and unfitting for a Yogi Baba. Personally for me Baba has lost his magic. I kinda feel bad for the guy. He used to be almost worshiped and look what this has done for his image. He should have stayed out of politics and stuck to what he was best at, teaching yoga.

Then came the sad news of the passing away of Mr M. F Husain.

Almost every paper I picked up had devoted pages after pages of eulogies, praises and quotes of grieving celebrities. Where were all these people when he was alive? If only these newspapers had devoted the same amount of space to convince the govt to provide him enough security and confidence to get him back, the poor man wouldn't have died in a country that wasn't his own. Let’s own up, we just didn't do enough to fight for his safe return.

Barely had this sunk in, I heard horror struck, as a news reporter gave the news about a Senior crime reporter from Mid-Day being riddled with bullets in broad daylight.

I had to pinch my self, didn't these atrocities happen in countries like Pakistan or Afghanistan? Was this the beginning of a crime wave against reporters? Were we Journalists going to be used for target practice? Should we start applying for gun licenses? (More important since I cover crime, was it time for me to hire some one else to do my crime reporting?)

The government and the police should get cracking as they would, if this had happened to one of them. Forget killing a reporter,even hitting a journalist should be made a non bailable offense.

There has been talk about a legislation like this in the making for quite some time but it seems, that it has been put in the deep freezer. In fact some media reports say that certain parliamentarians are against passing such a law against attacking journalists. Someof them even want the term 'Journalist' defined. No prizes for guessing why, eh?

It is imperative that the bill against attacking journos is passed ASAP. If not, then it can only be interpreted as a tacit consent to freely attack or kill members of the media. Take away the freedom of the press and our country will be on the verge of collapse.

The killing of Senior Reporter, J Day is shocking, abominable and has no place in a civilized democracy like ours. The authorities should not drag their feet about this. The real killers should be nabbed and tried in a super fast track court. This is not Pakistan, for Pete’s sake folks. THIS IS INDIA! You just don't kill a Journalist and get away with it.

(Pssst....Heard that Baba is a millionaire. Maybe he could donate those millions to his country whilst the struggle to get back all that black money from abroad goes on.)

Simon Says

Watching the Cricket World Cup finals, was a first for me. I have never been much of a cricket fan but this year was different.

There was a sense of anticipation, a feeling that something great was about to happen. The excitement was palpable. Every time a run would be made, the crowd (not only the one on the screen but the one around me) would roar in joy.

As Dhoni shot the winning sixer the spectators erupted in ecstasy. I knew I was witnessing history. This was the first Cricket world cup I had seen India win (the last cup, I was too young to understand anything) and I was proud, so proud that I thought my heart would explode.

The people were screaming, yelling and cheering themselves hoarse. Each yell louder than the other, each decibel like a declaration of patriotism. Fire crackers were going off.....

Groups of young men roared up and down the streets on their bikes waving flags,hollering their love for India. It seemed every single person was shouting out their love for the country.

What we did not know then, was that we were going to witness history again, very soon, the very next week itself.

A quiet, simple, Marathi manoos, Kishen Baburao Hazare, better known as Anna took on the government of India and went on an indefinite hunger strike.

His empty stomach shook the conscience of the nation. He reminded us of Gandhi. This man made people walk out of their schools, homes and air conditioned offices and make a statement against corruption.

Hoards of people converged and meetings, demonstrations and candlelight marches were held not just in Delhi but all over the country.

Mumbaikars did their bit and organized candlelight vigils at Juhu and The Gateway of India. The Motormen of Mumbai pledged their support. But some of the suburbs were silent. We were witnessing history again for the second time this month and the same crowds were conspicuous by their absence. Their silence was deafening.

Where were the patriots? Those who had shouted out their Desh-Prem at the top of their lungs. Wasn’t this fight against corruption, a patriotic struggle too?

Wasn't this movement a unifying attack against the sickness that was eating into India's flesh?

Was their patriotism only limited to cheering for their country at a game or taking pot shots at neighboring countries?

We have to realize, just applauding and cheering for our Cricket team at a game is not patriotism.

The real patriot is the one who decides that he or she will no longer aid and abet corruption or any such evil that hurts our country, in any manner.

The real patriot is the one who pledges his support for activists like Anna Hazare and their cause.

The real patriot is one who embraces the values of Gandhi instead of mocking his teachings and his followers.

Gandhism is neither out dated nor dead. Anna’s victory just proved that.

If you love your country, you must do your bit against this evil of corruption. Look at yourself in the mirror and swear that no matter how hard it is, you will not support this sickness at any level. Make a promise to yourself that you will not buy even movie tickets in black.

Don’t pay bribes to anyone, no matter what the consequences.....

Report anyone who asks for one, because even if you don't indulge in corruption, but remain quiet when others do, you are giving your tacit consent and are as guilty as they are

. Remember - 'All that is needed for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing' (Edmund Burke)

Anna and his supporters have managed to make history without shedding a single drop of blood, without burning down a single bus and without throwing a single stone. People who ridicule Gandhians and non-violence must rrealize that it is the only way to bring about the change our nation needs.

No amount of bandhs could have achieved what this soft spoken Maharashtrian's starvation and his peaceful supporters have.

Political parties should take note of this and change their modus-operandi to peaceful movements and hunger strikes instead of indulging in threats, violence and vandalism.

If you love India, stand up for India and be counted. Support patriots like Anna and stem the rot in this system that is destroying our beautiful Nation.

I studied this poem as a child and it moves me as much now, as it did then.

(Thank you Mrs Pamela Sinha,for this!)

Written by the same poet and patriot who penned our national anthem, these words say it all.

Where the mind is without fear

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high

Where knowledge is free

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls

Where words come out from the depth of truth

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit

Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

- Rabindranath Tagore

Not without my husband!

“Humein Pati chahiye” (I want my husband) wailed Rajni Devi, wife of abducted cop Abhay Prasad Yadav “Get me back my husband or give us some poison” she begged as her scared, terrified children wept with her...

Rajni Devi's husband a Sub-Inspector along with 3 other Policemen,Sub-Inspector Rupesh Kumar, Assistant Sub-Inspector Lucas Tete,and Havildar Ehtesham Khan, had been abducted by the Naxalites in Bihar. They were demanding the release of some of their comrades in custody.

Later as the Maoists declared they had killed Policeman Abhay Yadav, I shuddered to think about his frail wife, Rajni Devi, sitting outside the CM's house with her children, almost faint with horror, pleading for negotiations with her husband's captors.


What followed was like an unbelievable movie plot... Even though the Maoists declared they had killed Rajni Devi's husband Abhay Yadav, the body of one of the other abducted Policeman surfaced along with a note in Hindi.

His name was Lucas Tete and he had been posted in that area just days before being taken hostage.

As the pictures of the unfortunatete cop were splashed across the media, I kept thinking of poor Rajni begging for her husband's life...

Where was he? Was he dead or alive?
What would happen to his poor wife?

And then... a miracle happened …... it seems Rajani's heartbreaking cries rang through millions of television sets across the country and reached the ears of her husband's captors who had a miraculous change of heart/strategy and decided to release her husband and the other two policemen.

On the 5th, a man claiming to be a spokesperson of the Maoists got in touch with her and assured her of her husband's release. He said they were touched by her cries for her husband and had
decided to set him free!!

Today the policemen were indeed released and I sat glued to the T.V... just to see Rajani's joy on seeing her husband.

I saw her fall at her husband's feet.
Wash them and... drink the water that she had used!! (God! I don't know what to say about that!!)

And I wondered, if her husband would ever, EVER realize, that his it was his wife's tears and prayers that brought him back from the jaws of death ... LITERALLY!!!

Couldn't help remembering the story of Savitri who got back her dead husband's soul from the clutches of Yamraj (the Hindu God of death).

Sub-Inspector Abhay Prasad Yadav is one helluva lucky man..... he has a wife like Rajni Devi.