The belief is that you need to have Goan genes to make and love the Ros-Omelette. Made with any of the gravies that go on a typical Goan meal, especially if they have been made the previous day draped around a freshly made omelette with onions and chilies, it’s a go-to comfort meal at any time.But now the Ros-Omelette is destined to do bigger things. Big. Yes really big, and that too for the sake of many small businessmen, including those who earn their living by making Ros- Omelettes. Promising young Goan actor Poonam Karekar Govekar has decided to do her bit for the thousands of small businessmen and entrepreneurs, particularly Ros-Omelette vendors, motorcycle pilots, and tourist guides who have been most affected by the lockdown and closure of tourism related businesses. She has decided to rig up the world’s biggest Ros-Omelette to highlight the plight of small Goan businessmen and set a new world record. Scheduled to be held on July h at a venue to be decided depending on permissions from the specific authorities, the event is expected to be held either in Candolim or Mapusa. Rajesh Kamat who is involved in helping her said they were looking at two venues and the logistics would be handled by the organisers. Govekar, he said, would focus on the cooking. “She makes very good omlettes and her mother makes very good xacuti. We decided to combine both and come up with this event. We will be making the Xacuti made both by the Hindus which has a lot of herbs and which is vegetarian and the Salcette version which is the Christian version which is non-veg”.He went on to say that there were around 500 vendors of Ros-Omelete in the state and some of them had their entire family involved in the business. The women he said made the curry and the men went out and sold it. Now with this ban, he said everything had come to a standstill.
Govekar empathized and said, ” I remember eating Ros-Omlette during the rains. It was just fantastic and it brings back great memories. Now so many of them are without jobs. One has to also look at the pilots many of whom take the bikes on rent and have to pay Rs. 300 odd per day. What will they do now in this lockdown? How will they be able to feed their families”. She ended by saying that it was the duty of everyone to help the less fortunate. They expect around 500 families to be present who will be fed the Ros-Omelete once it is made.
The effort is initiated by the Indradhanush Forum, a group focused on reviving Goan economy, which has signed on Poonam for the campaign. We intend to set up a new world record or a new entry for the world’s biggest or largest Ros-Omelette, which is Goa’s traditional snack and is more or less unique to Goa, said Flynn Remedios, one of the activists involved with the Indradhanush Forum. The Ros-Omelette will be later cut up, packed and distributed free to families of motorcycle pilots and other Ros-Omelette vendors. More than 10,000 eggs will go into the making of the world’s biggest Ros Omelette, Remedios informed.
One hopes this will be the first of many such public initiatives aimed at helping people affected by the lockdown and who are struggling to live from day to day.
