aditya kumar's weblog

Archive for the ‘Goa’ Category

Convenient Stereotyping

with 5 comments

One of the things that I fail to understand, and I have asked myself this a few times, is that why is Goa shown in a light so different than what it really is, by the Bombay Film Industry? Before you jump to conclusions, let me say that I did not mean that the movies show Goa in a bad light, I said that they show what is not true at all, most of the times.

It seems people from Goa have been a victim of stereotyping, something that Bollywood does often. Goans are not the only ones which are generalised. The film industry time and again has given in to the temptations of generalisation. A Goan Catholic will be a drunkard, a sardar would eat chicken with a patiala peg everyday and would be ready to break into a bhangara jig at the slightest of excuse, a muslim man would speak impeccable urdu which would be so much different than Hindustani, which we commonly speak in India (sprinkled generously with English of course) and a Tamil Brahman (if you find one in a Hindi movie), would end every line with a “jee” and exclaim “aiyo!” after every couple of sentences.

So if the latest bollywood film claims that Women are cheaper than liquor in Goa, I would say that this is nothing much but an extension of Bollywood’s convenient stereotyping. Bollywood’s relation with Goa goes beyond stereotyping the typical Goan Roman Catholic to a drunkard. Hindi movies give Goa it’s rightful place as a holiday destination. But not all people go to a holiday to get drunk. Not all people go to Goa and get drunk. There are teetotallers in Goa (I am one, though I am not a Goan but hey I have home there). Bollywood takes it’s actors to Mauritius, shows bikini clad women and clear water on the shore, the lead actors get cosy in a song and that’s all packaged in a 15 minute sequence and sold as Goa. Whats more, the audience is naive enough to believe that Goan women are easy, roam around in bikinis while their men booze all day.

I honestly don’t see much in Basu’s dialogue. As I said, it is basically something they have tried to build up on an already existing platform that has been made by generalising Goa over the years. When they have repeatedly marked cheap liquor and drug peddling as Goan brands, could prostitution be too far behind? For them, it’s a complete package. The pity is, there is a section of naive audience out there, who’d believe it.

Bollywood’s breaking free of this convenient stereotyping would help, though.

Written by aditya kumar

April 5th, 2011 at 1:59 pm

Salutes

with 2 comments

About 3 years ago, I think, I had a chance to meet an officer from a lesser known aerobatics team, based in Dabolim, Goa. I had always thought that The Surya Kiran were the only aerobatics team but that the Navy had one too was news to me. They are aptly called Sagar Pawan (The breeze of the sea). A few days back, my family had seen these aircrafts do a fly-by over Dabolim while the Mig-29ks were being inducted in the Navy.

While interacting with the officer that very evening in Dabolim air base, I told him how I was always thrilled to see Surya Kiran’s perform. At the end of our meeting, the man gave me something I would cherish all my life — a poster of the Surya Kirans doing a fly-by over the magnificent Taj Mahal, autographed by each member of the aerobatics team.

Sagar Pawan use the HJT-16 Kiran aircraft — the same aircrafts that Surya Kirans are comprised of. While Surya Kirans are 12 units strong, the Sagar Pawans have only four aircrafts. Understandably, the aerial maneuvers that the team can perform are very limited.

Today, during an airshow in Hyderabad, one of the four aircrafts went down. Both the pilots were killed.

I have forgotten the name of the officer I had interacted with. I hope that he is well. We stayed in the same colony, for my father retired from the Navy. It is certain that we must have crossed paths more than once.

Aerobatic pilots are a different breed. What differentiates them from their counterparts in the armed forces is that their lives are defined by a relentless passion to fly. These pilots are the best of the best. Their duty does not call upon to risk their lives for the maneuvers they perform but still they do it, again and again, day after day. I do understand that some of it is passion but I have no words to explain what calls upon them then, that makes them do it. It is some degree of madness and these aviators are lucky to possess it. Or maybe lucky to be possessed by this madness. If you have ever seen an aerobatic team perform, maybe, only then the intensity of this can be understood.

In the end the truth is this — all said and done, the country has just been deprived of two of its finest aviators. I would like to salute Pilot Commander Suresh Kumar Maurya and Co-Pilot Lt. Cdr Rahul Nair. We may have crossed paths — I can’t say but I can guarantee that there would have been no other way you would have chosen to go.

Written by aditya kumar

March 3rd, 2010 at 6:17 pm

Posted in Aviation,Goa,Personal

Train notes

without comments

On the train to home, Goa, I wake up in the morning to find out that my shoes are stolen.

You ever build stories on what you see while you travel? I mean, I see wide barren land on a dark night and there is one hut with a little light out there and I ask myself, how would it be if I were alone here, on this land, right here, right now. One of the other (and much less horrifying) possibilities that have crossed my mind is of my shoes being stolen. Well, now what.

Well, those were running shoes. Somebody had to run with them.

So I have no choice but to limit my visits to the toilet. I have no luggage but for this backpack which has a Thinkpad and an ipod. I have a Robert Ludlum which warrants some attention.

Sonaulium (actually it’s called Sonaulim) is Goa’s first station as the train enters Goa through Karnataka. The station, or what seems left of it, is in shambles. A deep valley on it’s back and on the outside of the station are lots of, what would have been big rocks and cement blocks, broken down in pieces. Most of the rooms are locked. But as the train passes by, one man manages to come out of nowhere. He’s holding a green flag, as if, signaling to each and everyone one of us — keep going. Rather, leave. And amidst of what looks like silent chaos, I see an empty but perfect flagpole. Maybe I should be back here on independence day. I bet it would be more inviting then.

A few minutes later, as we approach Madgaon, another station passes by. “Curchorem” it is, in English but the Devanagari script tells me it’s something to the effect of “Sanvordem Curchorem”.

Why this discrimination?

A few meters ahead I see a building with “Toilet” written in bold letters over it. On the left side of it is a smaller heading that says “Gents” with an arrow pointing left. On the right side of it, well, its painted white on what I think, in the recent past, would have been “Ladies” (with an arrow pointing right) and the entrance on the right is blocked by an old plank of wood. There is no ladies toilet at Curchorem (or Sanvordem Curchorem — based on your linguistic skills).

Why this discrimination?

Then, as the train nears the end of the station, a freshly pasted (and soaked in the rain) computer printed poster informs us that there is a “Swine Flu Awareness Cell” somewhere around there. This could be the only railway station in the world with no ladies toilet but a Swine Flu Awareness Cell.

And then there is Madgaon station, my destination, with no shoe shops.

Written by aditya kumar

September 10th, 2009 at 9:13 pm

Posted in Goa,India,Personal,Travel

From the Archives : The James Bond Beach

with one comment

From the archives, this post originally written almost 3 years back, in February 2005, deserves a comeback. I am posting it as is, again.

***

“Thats the James Bond Beach”, said my sister.

“Thats the what bond beach?” I asked, my face giving a convincing, confused look not sure about what I just heard.

“James Bond Beach”.

My mind raced back to all the James Bond movies I had seen, the last 4. I could not even recall a single movie scene shot in India. Bond in India? At this place? How come I do not know about it.

“Why is it called that?”, the confused look on my face has transformed into a curious one.

“Oh its not called that. I call it that. Because, you know, it gives a feeling of how a typical beach is, in Bond movies. Blue water, silver sand, no one around, a seemingly private beach. colorful fishing boats beyond the coastline. The James Bond beach.”

She was right. This looked strikingly similar to one of those. It was probably the most beautiful sea shore I had ever seen in my life.

And for the third time in the last few minutes, the look on my face was changed to a convincing one. Yes, the James Bond beach. I was now staring with gleaming eyes on the waves, crashing on the silver sand, as if, in a matter of seconds, a bikini clad Halle Barry would just pop up from nowhere between the waves. The Bond-James Bond, Beach.

I am talking about a place called Karwar, a small town in the northern coast of Karnataka, a 150 km drive from Goa. I have stayed more than half of my life on the coast, and this was, quite easily, the best seashore I had ever seen. The water was bluer than the sky. The sun shone on the white sand, washing it and left it glimmering like silver. The sea was calm, as if pretending to me, that it has always been like this. Like storms, cyclones and the recent tsunami, were strangers to this sailors grave. “It wasn’t me”, as if the sea was telling me. The waves, calm and blue on the surface of the sea. But just before they crashed on the white sand, they suddenly turned green, as if venting some hidden anger only to be released in small quantities at regular intervals so that it goes unnoticed by anyone not paying attention. The anger, it holds inside, I said to myself. Behind me was the Navy establishment giving it the look of a private beach. And no one on the shore. Just the sea and somewhere on the horizon, the deep blue sea and the pale blue sky met. Nothing at all in sight. A sight to remember. It was like a hidden treasure, in the vicinity of the Naval authorities and away from the already little tourist attraction this city receives. It had no name, so we call it The James Bond Beach. The “Bond. James Bond” Beach.

Written by aditya kumar

January 5th, 2008 at 1:27 pm

Rewinding

with 3 comments

There was a time, in this very house in Goa, I used to listen to my walkman when the power used to go off. The “power-going-off” apparently, happens rather usually here. And when its a dark and gloomy evening like what it is now, there was no question of electricity. So, in those days not so long back, I used to take out the tapes from my travel luggage that I used to carry along from Indore. In a way it was funny because I always thought that my walkman would not be of use while I’d be at home in Goa. We had an audio CD player at home and walkman was for students who used to travel in second class coaches in trains and spend their lives in a single room, studying for nights, while during college days.

So the U2s and the Robbie Williams used to come out and since there was no power, saving the power contained in those batteries added to the objective, even if it meant pushing the end of a Reynold’s 045 Fine Carbure pen into one of the tape’s reels and rotate it endlessly, one way or the other, depending on what you wanted to do — Rewind or Fast Forward.

6 years later, nothing much has changed. I don’t do that tape thing anymore. But I do open up my IBM Thinkpad, connect it to my nokia mobile phone, download my email, write on my blog and download a podcast. The power is still not there and its raining heavily outside. It never rains in Goa in November, let alone a day before Deepawali.

This could be the Monsoon’s swan song but it has reminded me of the many days that I have spent here, rewinding the tape with a Reynold’s pen.

Written by aditya kumar

November 7th, 2007 at 7:29 pm

Posted in Goa,Personal,Writing

Happy Feet and Photoblogging

with 7 comments

Many people ask me, how do I find so much time to travel. Finding time is not difficult, if you want to. Okay thats not a practical answer. I have a few of rules I follow. First, Jump at every and any opportunity to travel that comes your way. Second, Take at least one long vacation in the year. Long vacation means far away. Say, from Bangalore to Kasauli; or to Kohima (that trip got cancelled, last year, thanks to whats been happening in Assam). Third, never be afraid to travel alone. I realise not everyone can do that, but I do it. Fourth, feel it big. How many times have you travelled, usually a short 2 day trip, and not really felt it? Short trips appear trivial. But if you observe, look closely, look at the people, the land that lays ahead of you, you will experience a thousand different stories. Be open to it all. And then you learn.

You feel your feet are happy when you travel, longing for more.

About my last month’s trip to Goa. The good thing about going to Goa, my ‘home’, with a bunch of friends, is that I have to show them around. I become almost like a tourist guide. Normally, I won’t go and visit any tourist place, say, a cathedral or so-and-so beach. I mean, going to home for 3-4 days — I’d rather spend time at home with family than look around. But guests change that. I go to places I have gone only with guests. It’s like my own, exclusive, pre-decided ‘package-tour’. So last month when I travelled to Goa with my friends, I ended up taking long walks alone on the sea shore, clicking pictures while the gang played ball in the waves. Lots of quality time spent in solitude and the result? — Some of the best pictures I have ever clicked. I think so, neverthless.

Pictures below. Comments, as always, welcome.

House beside the sea
House beside the sea, Dona Paula

St. Catherine’s Cathedral
St. Catherine’s Cathedral, Old Goa

The Cross, The Sky
The Cross, The Sky

Classic Goa
Classic Goa

The Sun, The Land, The Water, The Sky and a Cosmic nature, common to all
The Sun, The Land, The Water, The Sky and a Cosmic nature thats common to all

Panjim Church, Panjim City
Panjim Church, Panjim City.

Downtown Panjim
Downtown Panjim.

Written by aditya kumar

February 13th, 2007 at 11:28 pm

Posted in Goa,Personal,Travel

The Jan Andolan of our times

without comments

A few days back, were some murmurs about a certain “Goa Regional Plan, 2011”. Since I was too far away from online reading and research, it missed my attention but now that I have learnt about it, I think its imperative that I mention it here on my website.

The Goa Regional Plan, 2011 (We’ll call it “GRP”) is a plan that aims (actually, aimed) to industralize Goa by opening up land for sale (Land in forest cover) and open up industries in the state (again, at the cost of land in forest cover).

Converting the green state into a concrete jungle while claiming to industralize it, was how it was planned. There is a strong link here — the one among politicians and the land mafia. I quote a post from Goa Blog here:

Viswajit Rane, (the son of Chief Minister Pratapsinh Rane), on paper, is Congress general secretary but they claim he is using his influence to make a huge bid for a piece of Goa’s real estate action.

Documents show how between March and August 2006 in just five months 14 real estate companies have been floated, many of them in the name of Viswajit’s wife Divya Viswajit Rane.

The haste with which the companies were floated is evident in their registration numbers that run successively.

The suspicion is that Viswajit used his influence to convert forest or farmland which the companies bought at throwaway prices and then sold to builders at inflated prices.

And that could be just the tip of the iceberg. These builders belong to the land mafia of Mumbai and Delhi, who plan to build multi-storeys there, along the coast.

In fact, an article calims that the deals have already been done. The GRP was just a show to cover it all up. It was expected to be well received, a well scripted plan that would be appreciated all over — just like how it would have been celebrated in cities like Bangalore, Mumbai or Delhi. Greenery, Forest land and environment protection are terms which hold no meaning in our society. It will continue to be so until India’s exemption from the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol comes to an end.

Except of course, the residents of Goa, the strong willed they are, made sure that The GRP didn’t materialise. They came up with “Goa Bachao Abhiyaan (Save Goa Campaign)”, (website, www.savegoa.com), a campaign particularly aimed at demolishing The GRP. This was serious, even Pop Star Remo Fernandes voiced his support for it. As the agitation grew and the public anger apparent, the Government had to scrap the plan.

I can tell you, among all the people that I have come across, the people of Goa have always had a strong resentment against “Indian” politicians. I think some of it comes when they compare their times, not so long ago, with the Portugese. Besides, our politicans are a good for nothing lot. So, I’d say this is the biggest jan-andolan of our times. The verdict of the Junta. It’s an example of what education can accomplish, for Goa has one of the highest literacy rates in the country.

This plan would have been a disaster for the state. Being against this plan is not being against industralization but its being against over-industralization. For once, if I believe that there was not even a single culprit politician involved in it, I’d still say the administration’s greedy. Goa does not need an IT Park. There is ample employment in the state, enough revenue already (and increasing) through tourism. It seems a perfect script, a great place that has been well maintained by the residents and the Government, fishing and tourism being the major revenue earners. People are visiting the place more and more, the focus should be to preserve what we already have, instead of destroying it.

Written by aditya kumar

February 9th, 2007 at 12:26 pm

Posted in Goa,Society