Old boys' networks
An old boy network usually refers to social and business connections among former pupils of male-only private schools. It has an elitist, if not self-centered, ring to it. In India, such prestigious networks include the Welham Boys School in Dehradun, or the Doon School alumni (ex-Doscos) that span the influential echelons in both India and Pakistan.
Goa may have got into the game a bit late in the day, but currently a number of initiatives seem to be underway to promote alumni networks here. Janata High School of Mapusa launched its own network recently. Founded by Raghunath Anant Tople, Mapusa's first MLA, this school has worked to give the weaker sections access to education.
Other schools too have kept busy building their alumni networks, built by either the institutions or former students. The latter have taken initiatives, building organisations brick by brick - or cyberbrick by cyberbrick, if you wish.
Bosco_Net was built in cyberspace by alumni quite many years ago. It went on to link Salesian alumni not just from Panjim or the rest of India, but even other parts of the globe, such as the Philippines.
GIM and Goa University have their own networks. Dempo Commerce is planning to build one. Mapusa-based schools like Britto's and St Mary's have theirs, as does Loyola's in Margao, People's in Panjim, St Anthony's Guirim, and others. Ex-Principal Newman Fernandes made attempts to build a St Xavier's Mapusa alumni network. Young BITS Goa and old GMC have maintained their networks. Some are active, some less
so. St Xavier's College of Mumbai knows it has a number of alumni from Goa, which is why it worked to set up a branch here in recent years. And this list is far from complete.
With Goan scattered across the globe, some in influential positions, it makes sense to tap the goodwill of former students to build current-day institutions. Even if it takes time, such initiatives would be worth it. One can't expect immediate returns, or huge
donations alone. IIT-Bombay, for instance, has been investing many years to build up alumni networks, writing to students via the humble post-card. They're reaping the returns now.
Goa has some good educational institutions, but resources are always short. Governmental funding goes mainly to pay teachers' salaries; the money for expansion and upgradation has to come from elsewhere. Instead of pressurising parents of current students - which is unfair too - the alumni could lend a hand.
More than just money and donations, alumni can be tapped for their skills and inspiration. They can be role-models for the current crop of students. Efforts are needed to build such networks. Past-pupils should not made to feel they are simply being used; they should feel privileged to pay back in small measure to the institutions that helped build them.
Lacking flexibility
What happens when a volcano in Iceland disrupts your holiday in Goa, and you can't return back to Europe because flights are blocked globally? As far as officials in Goa go, they are apparently quite unconcerned over this. If one goes by feedback coming in about tourists whose travel plans have been disrupted - by what would be termed an "act of god"- the situation is indeed bleak.
Leave aside having to face nature's fury, the tourists have to cope with the idiocy of officialdom too. Complaints received here say some British tourists were refused minor visa extensions despite facing a genuine problem, brought on by the volcanic eruption. "Just what are they supposed to do in a crisis like this?" as one concerned citizen drawing attention to this pointed out.
Given the inflexibility- and even the inconsistency - of the bureaucracy here, it's no wonder that foreign visitors are often in a quandary and feel helpless. This is true of the many Goan expats, who might be technically "foreigners", as they hold foreign passports.
Transparency and flexibility is needed on policies implemented here. If Goa's requirements are different from the rest of the country – no other State has such a high proportion of long-staying tourists - then a case needs to be made out as to why Goa needs to be treated as an exception.
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A Forgotten Goan Christian Painter
Was Angelo Fonseca a victim of Indian nationalism and anti-colonial trends of contemporary art? asks Teotónio R. de Souza
On July 30, 1946 Tristão Bragança e Cunha was awarded eight years of exile and fifteen years of suspension of political rights by the Territorial Military Court of the Estado da Índia. One of his alleged crimes was the publication of a booklet on Denationalisation of Goans. Also in a speech to the Goan Youth League in Bombay in April 1946, T.B. Cunha denounced the lack of political consciousness among the Goans who seemed proud to be Portuguese, and quoted from an electoral speech of Dr. Froilano de Mello who had just then been elected to represent Goa in the Portuguese parliament.
These were developments in the wake of the notorious Colonial Act of the Salazar regime. It had reduced the Goans to a second-class citizenship. During this entire period the Church and priests of Goa were indoctrinated by preachings and writings of the Archbishop D. José da Costa Nunes. In one of his 60 and odd monthly letters to the Goan clergy, he sought to convince them that without the Portuguese, they would be nothing! T.B. Cunha became one of the first Goan freedom-fighters to be sent to Fort Peniche jail until he was granted amnesty in 1950 with restrictions on domicile and obligation of reporting regularly to the Police Department. His escape from Portugal is a different part of this saga.
The Indian independence movement and the overall world pressure against Colonialism posed challenges to the Indian Christianity linked to the Portuguese Padroado and the English church denominations. It is not surprising if some in the Church leadership foresaw the need for making concessions to the Indian nationalism to secure a less troublesome future for the continued links with the colonial Church.
It is against this logic that I tend to view the artistic performance of Angelo Fonseca and the patronage he experienced from the European Jesuits in India, more particularly Marion Batson S.J. of Patna Mission, H.. Heras S.J. of Bombay, and M. Lederle S.J. of the Goa-Pune Province of the Jesuits. I had the opportunity of knowing Angelo Fonseca while I was a novice of the Jesuits in Deshnur in 1967, and much later, as Director of the Xavier Centre of Historical Research obtained through Fr. Joe Ubelmesser, S.J. the Jesuit procurator of missions in Nurnberg a dozen of Angelo Fonseca’s originals for the Xavier Centre. That was the beginning of a collection which more recently has grown sizably with the help of Mrs. Ivy Fonseca, the widow of the artist. The housing of this sizable collection of a pioneer Indian Christian painter is a privilege, but simultaneously a challenge to the Xavier Centre of Historical Research and its intellectual mission.
Despite a Vatican promoted international exhibition of his art, and despite some parallel exhibitions elsewhere in Europe, including Lisbon, this talented Goan painter remains ostracized from the family of better-recognized Indian artists in India and worldwide. The prominent Portuguese Art historians, such as José-Augusto França, a contemporary of Angelo Fonseca, and probably aware of his exhibition in Lisbon in 1948, or Pedro Dias, who includes illustrations from the paintings in the Xavier Centre of Historical Research, do not make any reference to Angelo Fonseca. Pedro Dias did not forget the Moghul miniatures and the Jesuit connection, but failed to discover the parallel in Angelo Fonseca’s paintings and his Jesuit connection as depicted in his inclusion of Fr. Heras in the Moghul court.
There is much to be researched to help us understand why so little is known about Angelo Fonseca’s links with Lisbon at a time when T.B. Cunha was languishing in the Peniche jail. The patronage of the exhibition by the SNI chaired by António Ferro, a cultural propaganda machine of Salazar regime, needs to be better known. Probably, the post-doctoral research grant of the Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology (FCT) to the director of the Xavier Centre of Historical Research, may enable Fr. Délio Mendonça to provide us some answers. There is also a doubt raised by Fr. M. Lederle, S.J., whose talks and writings, furnished interesting details about the life and work of Angelo Fonseca, but there is a blank about the Lisbon visit and exhibition. Was that to avoid any political embarrassment?
It could be interesting to analyse the above mentioned ostracism of Angelo Fonseca in the context of the recent Hindu revivalism in India and the rough treatment meted out to Christian minorities in some parts of the country. Was Angelo Fonseca a victim of the Indian nationalism and the anti-colonial trends of then contemporary art? Would Angelo Fonseca be suspected of playing a game of the Christian church leaders who sought to indigenize Christian art as a political strategy? How would one compare Angelo Fonseca’s ideology with Sadhu Sunder Singh?
We should not forget that in Europe, including Portugal, the period in question is marked by modernist trend in art. This trend was heavily marked by anti-establishment feelings, and was obviously opposed to the political marriage of the Church with Salazar’s New State. But then as later, the Portuguese of all political colours saw themselves differently from the colonial natives. While they could fight against their oppressive regime at home, they failed to understand the right of the Indians or Africans to reject their colonial rulers and their impositions. This and other ambiguities of Portuguese modernists need further study.
To conclude, one final reflection: If any Tagore ever advised Angelo Fonseca to go and paint churches, was that a helpful advice, or did it condemn Angelo Fonseca to the ostracism we have laid bare? We need a much more documented study of Angelo Fonseca than any so far in existence. This is my challenged to the historians of the Xavier Centre of Historical Research or to any other historians in Goa or elsewhere. This is also a special challenge to art historians to define better what they understand or we should understand by modern art.
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I.P.L. - INDIAN PAISA LEAGUE
By Adelmo Fernandes
Like the millions of cricket fanatics out there, I have been a die-hard cricket fan for donkey’s years. Even though I never played the game at any level, other than playing with the neighbour’s children during my childhood, I enjoyed listening to the radio commentary during the years when Bishen Singh Bedi used to bowl those top-spinners, Eknath Solkar and Abid Ali used to take those splendid diving catches at forward-short legs and the little master Sunil Gavaskar made the best bowlers in the world like Dennis Lilee look mediocre. Cricket was indeed a gentleman’s game in those years. It no longer seems so. The happenings in this great game over the years, and especially in the past few days, has saddened me like nothing else has. I am sure many cricket lovers feel the same. Over the years the game has been maligned by allegations of ball-tampering, match-fixing, betting and the like. But the news that one hears these days in connection with the Indian Premiere League is enough to make every Indian hang his head in shame. Three years ago, to be precise, when the IPL took birth, it was like a breath of fresh air for the game of cricket.
The sole person to give this high voltage entertainment to the world was the IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi. People had no time to watch a five-day test match. People did not seem to have the patience to sit in the stadium for an entire day to watch a one-Day match. So the T20 format of the game was the right prescription for short-and-sweet entertainment. That is probably why this format gained popularity in the shortest period of time. Lalit Modi, the showman that he is, brought world-class entertainment to the game with splendid Opening day and Closing day ceremonies, not forgetting the cheerleaders. Team owners like Dr. Vijaya Mallya were seen gulping down beer and Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Priety Zintas and Shilpa Shetty were seen cheering their respective teams. DJs were playing music and Shivammani was also seen displaying his talent on the percussions. Too much was happening too soon. It was all high voltage drama. Lots of money was being pumped into the league. International players were being auctioned as if they were works of art. It is understood that the IPL is now a 15000 crore empire. With so much money around, you just cannot keep the Bollywood stars and the politicians away for long. Everyone wanted a piece of the cake. And when politicians enter the scene, it can mean trouble. The Income Tax officials cannot remain a spectator to all the money that is exchanging hands. So things have now started happening. With allegations of tax-evasions, money laundering and even the role of the underworld being mentioned in certain circles, the game of cricket has been relegated to the sidelines. IPL now seems more like “Indian Paisa League”. One no longer talks about the on-field exploits of Sachin Tendulkar or Jacques Kallis. Everyone seems to be discussing Lalit Modi, Shashi Tharoor, Sharad Pawar, Arun Jaitely, Shashank Manohar.....oops I almost forgot …Sunanda Pushkar.
These are the new ‘players’ of Indian cricket. Players who probably have never hit a cricketing shot but are now calling the shots. It is sad indeed that the game had to see this day. One politician even went to the extent of saying that Cricket is a foreign game and should not be played on our soil. On second thoughts he could be right. Maybe we have given too much importance to the game of cricket. It is probably time to shift focus to Hockey - our national game.
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Sagging IPL ship
Michael Vaz, Merces
Who says IPL is the acronym for Indian Premier League? That might have been the case when the tournament was first mooted. But today it is only Indian Paisa League, Indian Politics League, Indian Power League and so on. The saddest tale is that we talk of all things other than cricket.
Behold, the gentlemen’s game is losing its sheen, getting lost in the maze of all sorts of controversies; ranging from allegations of malpractices in the bidding process, betting worth thousands of crores placed on the league, missing documents of bidding, nepotism and favoritism in the deals, disproportionate rise in assets of the bigwigs, unfair auctions, sex scandals, allegations of death threats to the top brass, resignation of ministers etc. People from different sections of society have dubbed IPL as an organized gamble and a gateway for laundering black money. It has been rightly said that IPL neither has a global audience nor a genuine league culture. When people acclaim IPL as a global cricketing event where does our sports ministry figure in it? Is there a single team that is owned by a sports power? It is only the money power that is dictating terms in the IPL auctions?
When we have Test matches, the World Cup and Champions Trophy in the shorter versions of the game, it literally packs the cricket calendar to the brim. What was the need for any cricket league? In this backdrop the ICC has played a vital role by not providing any window to it in the FTP of the game. With all our tall talk of projecting ourselves as the superpower of cricket, we have only succeeded in cutting a poor picture of our country internationally. Let cricket remain a game, a sport and nothing beyond that, not even as wild entertainment.
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Flouting rules
S Kamat, Alto Betim
The problem in our country is that rules and due processes are bent depending on the wealth and/or clout that the intercepted person enjoys. Take the case of Lalit Modi, the beleaguered head of the glamorous IPL that is ongoing now. There was an IT raid on the IPL offices and as reported in the press Lalit Modi was questioned extensively on the financial matters related to the IPL. But at the same time he was allowed to travel abroad and attend the ICC meeting in Dubai. Standard procedure is understood to be that when there is an IT raid on an organization or an individual, the head of the organization and/or the directors are asked not to travel abroad until the preliminary investigations are completed and even then to take the permission of the IT authorities before leaving the country. In the case of Lalit Modi one does not know whether these procedures were followed since from Dubai he could have conveniently flown out permanently from the country, thus getting himself off the hook of any wrongdoing in the IPL matter.
Scams indeed
Augusto Pinto, Moira
Apropos to Orlando da Silva’s letter (Herald 22 April) ‘In the name of the aam aadmi’, while opposing huge projects such as the sea link; Ravindra Bhavans etc. asks “whether any economic/ viability/urgency study is conducted before undertaking such huge projects”.
I fear Mr Silva has not quite spotted the scam. It’s doubtful whether these fanciful projects will ever see the light of day. But when the estimated cost of the projects run into hundreds or even thousands of crores of rupees, how many crores will a study cost to prove what any schoolboy can tell is uneconomical, non-viable and infeasible? Get it?
Ah what wondrous ways our politicos and babus can dream up to make moolah! Verily the Poet wrote of our suffering tax-payers relationship towards them: The trembling public purses/ Interminably feed / But never truly satiate / Their bottomless greed.
Drowning all politicians
SND Poojary, Miramar
The inimitable, singer Remo Fernandes is reported to have suggested one-point solution to the ills of Goa, ‘The only thing that can make a difference to Goa is putting all politicians…in a ship and sink it in the middle of the Arabian Sea…’ The suggestion merits serious consideration.
However, there are practical difficulties. Some of these politicians know to swim; when the ship is about to be sunk, they may jump off and surface somewhere else. They cannot be drowned again because an accused cannot be punished twice for the same offence. Further, they are politicians; they would bribe the captain of the ship to drop them en route and sink the empty ship. Therefore, we need an agency specialized in drowning people and also the one which has proven credentials.
In Goa we do not have that expertise; here we save people from drowning and not drown them. A global tender may have to be invited; there may not be any qualified bidder in the first instance, and the tender may have to be floated many a times. Politicians may rig the tender process. In the bargain, the cost of the tender process (if we remember the saga of the River Princes) and the cost of the ship and the facilitation fee, service tax etc. would be much more than the cost of keeping these politicians on shore. Till a more cost-effective method is found, Remo’s panacea may have to be kept on hold.
Unnecessary expense
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
One way to relieve the burden on our cash-strapped exchequer would be to try and curb the whopping, over Rs 30 lakh a month, which is splurged by the Goa Government on 434 policemen providing security cover for our politicians, other VIPs, their kin and their property.
The latest addition to the long list is the former Governor of Punjab, General Sunith Rodrigues. After retiring as Chief of Army Staff in 1993 General Rodrigues was seen moving without any security cover. So it is presumed that the mega security cover which includes two escort vehicles he now enjoys is as a former Governor of Punjab. I am told the security entourage even accompanies Gen Rodrigues inside the Porvorim Church where he goes for Sunday mass.
Why should the tax payer bear these astronomical costs of security of VIPs once they are out of office? They can very well afford to pay for the same from their very deep pockets. If every former governor and other political VIPs decide to retire in Goa, the Government may have to recruit thousands of security personnel as is being done by UP Chief Minister Mayawati. The only difference would be that in UP they will be protecting sculptured elephants while in Goa it would be to provide security cover to white elephants.
Corrigendum column
Tony D’Cruz, Dubai
Herald has been an excellent source of information on regional news as well as international to Goans abroad including all the obituaries.
However I felt Herald being a Goan daily and being a part of informative media source, your columns on land where the deeds of succession come, there are columns for corrigendum which should be a part of the online media on daily basis as a lot of land frauds are being carried out while the owners/members to the public deeds are basically working overseas and there is no clue whose fleecing and robbing whose property through fraudulent and nefarious ideas given to fraudsters by brokers and greedy lawyers and the constables at the courts.
I would highly appreciate if you could consider my thought and save a lot many true Goan owners properties.
Special status
Arwin Mesquita, UAE
I fully agree with the recent statement by Remo Fernandes that our corrupt politicians are the main obstacle to Goa obtaining special status. These tainted politicians are all out to sell Goa, so as to realise their huge illegitimate fortunes.
We need a statewide and overseas Goan movement, to get rid of these anti-Goans in order to save Goa and its identity; for which Goans have to rise over their political, religious and other differences.
New world order
Samir Khan, Mapusa
This is in response to Mr. Caetano article “keep religion to yourself” (Herald, 20 April).
If we look at the Muslim countries, from Palestine to Iraq to Afghanistan to Chechnya to Xinjiang to Mindnao they are overwhelmed with illegal occupations and oppressions. It’s this sense of political injustice and deprivation that’s fuelling militancy in Muslims. The essential motive, intent and action in the recent Muslim militancy are hidden in the political oppression and humiliation that Muslims suffer at the hands of occupiers, usurpers and tyrant governments. It’s the despair and indignities, oppression and dehumanization, predictable outcome of social and political injustice that breeds and nourishes and provides fertile ground for violence. The key in understanding Muslim militancy does not lie only in religion but also in politics. Any approach to the solution of Muslim militancy without first recognizing and addressing the political injustices faced by the Muslims around the world is bound to fail.
As to the question why people are killing their own brethren in certain Muslim countries, one has to understand that killing of innocent people no matter to whichever faith he belongs is condemnable. Secondly, most of the Muslim countries were earlier colonies of Europe. Before leaving their respective colonies they sowed the seeds of dissensions among the people on various basis, be it on ethnicity, sectarian, linguistic and cultural differences. They have succeeded in their ploy and are still reaping the benefits as we are witnessing sectarian violence all over the world, people killing their own country-men be it in Iraq, Afghanistan, or in countries like, Rwanda, Congo, Uganda, Italy Spain, Ireland and in our own country. Earlier it was direct Colonialism now it has reappeared in the form of neo-colonialism (New world Order) in these and other countries, forcing their imperialistic policies on the government and the people. People like Saddam Hussein, Parvez Musharraf, Hamid Karzai, and all the monarchs of Gulf countries were and are stooges of US implementing policies framed by the West widely protested by the people for the loot and plunder done by the imperialist, and for eroding the moral values, cultures, and destroying the sanctity of human life.
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Letter to the editor
Prof Robert Castelino, Mumbai
The detractors of Lalit Modi may be legion, but the runaway success of Modi’s IPL puts him in the same league as Dhirubhai Ambani’s Reliance Industries. Single-handed, Modi converted the BCCI into the Board for Commercialisation of Cricket in India. The business acumen of Modi has resulted in the creation of wealth and jobs for young cricketers, current cricketers and old and\or retired cricketers, many of whom have come out of retirement to earn more than they did during their hey-days. Others are gainfully employed as coaches, managers and support staff . Old and retired players have grabbed the opportunity with both hands, so much so that one may be forgiven for calling this the Indian Pensioners League (IPL).
Purely from a business point of view, Lalit Modi deserves commendation as a very successful CEO. His business expertise needs to be harvested for creating wealth, improving standards and generating interest in other sports. Football has a huge following of fans and players in India. All it requires is the golden touch of Lalit Modi. After all, we have nothing to lose with our FIFA ranking, hovering around 140 or so. Cricket’s loss may well turn out to be football’s gain—after he pays his tax dues.
Many persons will not agree with my view-point, as the methods employed by Modi are questionable. I agree. But my point is that we have thousands of politicians who make much more money than Modi and are never caught. The only difference is that politicians are very discreet and do not flaunt their wealth, as was the case with Modi. Moreover Modi delivered the goods, unlike most of our politicians who deliver nothing, except perhaps to their own family members!
Letter to the editor
Soter D’Souza, Socorro
Remo as a true and concerned Goan has once again created waves by hitting out at Goa’s politicians(HERALD, 22/4/10). But suppose the present bunch of politicians are put in a boat and drowned, will those who replace them be any better? The politicians are encouraged and enabled by a fairly section of the community that conceals itself in the flanks of this wide expanse of corruption. It is not only the politicians who point out people’s right to settle anywhere in the country. Some activists of Save Goa fame have also been cheering the arrrival of migrants and hailing their contribution to the economy of this State.
We get the leaders we deserve. They are produced and nurtured by the very society that repeatedly elects them to power. The problem is not only the politicians but that of a society intoxicated with a culture and economy of self-centredness and avarice.
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Jesus, the Real Vine
(John 15; 1-14)
I am the real vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He breaks off every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will be clean and bear more fruit. 3 You have been made clean already by the teaching I have given you. 4 Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it can do so only if it remains in the vine. In the same way, you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 I am the vine, and you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me. 6 Whoever does not remain in me is thrown out like a branch and dries up; such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, where they are burnt. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, then you will ask for anything you wish, and you shall have it. 8 My father’s glory is shown by your bearing much fruit; and in this way, you become my disciples. 9 I love you just as the Father loves me; remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My commandment is this: love one another, just as I love you. 13 the greatest love a person can have for his friends is to give his life for them. 14 And you are my friends if you do what I command you.
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24 April, 1910
l The Press Agency Havas reports about the decision of the Arbitrary Tribunal of Berne over the indemnity to be paid by Portugal to the old grantees of Railways from Lourenco Marques.
l The Pages of History underlines the discovery of Brazil in 1500 by Pedro Alvares Cabral.
l The Court of Bombay sentenced the brigands who were lately nabbed from Ahmedabad, to two years of rigorous imprisonment.
l During this week the High Court Judge of Goa will propounvd to fill the vacancies for the posts in the Municipal Judiciary.
l This year a huge quantity of coconut oil was exported from Goa via the railways to India.
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