The Evil Mind With a Creative Plan…!
The expressway, one of the modern marvels has eased people’s lives in many ways, states PETER FERNANDES
The NHI authorities are ready to apply the bulldozer to make way for the proposed four lane highway in Goa. Many families and neighbours will be displaced in this agonizing process. Nevertheless, unquestionably, we do need highways and broader roads in general, to accommodate the growth of traffic, as well as that of the population. Most of our roads are narrow, and can no longer sustain the traffic, which has resulted in the deaths of so many people, both young and old. Some of the fatalities on our roads have been extraordinarily tragic to the families, and society at large. Having adequate, serviceable roads will not only prevent many deadly accidents, but will also help to improve our economy. Having said that, it only follows that the government should be considerate and responsive to the sentiments of the citizens, and above all, be accountable to all affected people by rightly and justly compensating them.
We could call Adolf Hitler the father of modern expressways. Though he was a man with an evil mind, he had a creative plan. Germany was the first country to complete a section of the autobahn, near Berlin, in 1921. Several other countries quickly followed with their own versions of high-speed expressways. In the 1930s, Hitler exploited the autobahn for economic, military, and propaganda purposes. Hitler’s vision for the autobahn was not very noble, but it served the purpose, and created a streamline for a new economic boom for the modern era. The autobahns were built outside the city limits, mainly to move the military quickly, without being noticed by the citizens and to avoid city congestion. The wisdom of the expressway is one of the modern marvels, and is a thing to behold. Additionally, it has eased the lives of the people in a variety of ways. It also provides the opportunity to tour and take in the beauty of creation, as it connects different cities, states, and national parks.
Developed countries have applied this existing wisdom, and creative ingenuity to build expressways to be true to the name, “express.” However, in Goa, our leaders cannot perceive such wisdom. Why? Initially, I was tempted to call it an irony, but then I realized that our leaders are incapable of pursuing such wisdom, because they lack basic education. It is unfortunate for Goa and Goans to be ruled by uneducated leaders, who are making decisions which are counter-productive. Take for example, “Margao Market”, promoted to be the face of the New Millennium. Sarcasm aside, it is frightening to experience the tragedy and adversity brought on by our leaders, as you walk through both the wholesale and the retail markets. The stench that widely emanates, and the surrounding filth, forces us to walk back in time, to the millennium of the past. Shoppers and would-be customers coming to the market have no desire to spend one extra minute there, for reasons well known.
The present PWD Minister, before the election, campaigned on two major issues: “No Mopa,” and “No Six-lane Expressway.” Within 15 days of elections, he made a one hundred and ninety degree turn-around on both issues. What was more disturbing is that the mob that followed him to protest against Mopa, completely forgot about the same, and they are now silent. Whether you like it or not, Mopa will be a reality, even as he continues to be the PWD Minister. At the moment, he is focused on building the expressway, which is the need of the hour. We should ask whether he possesses the wisdom to undertake such an enormous project, which will affect the present generation and generations to come. The project has encountered several snags already; some are unfortunate, but many are the creations of the politicians. The use of the land was frozen years ago for the construction of the National Highway. I ask, why, in the first place was it decided to route this highway through the cities and villages? Would it not be the choice of wisdom to divert the fast moving traffic away from congested areas? Now, even as the required land is not available, our politicians continue to pursue in the same direction. It is the evil mind, with a diabolic plan.
Churchill Alemao unwittingly confessed his sins in the open, as he explained the nature of the project. It is his belief that this four lane widening project could be manoeuvred with just a 35-metre width of the road. This width is now called for because there are new constructions along the marked land. He cited the example of Porvorim, where land was frozen, yet people were still given the conditional NOC, that if in the future the highway should become a reality; they would demolish their buildings on their own. Now, Churchill Alemao says that the government will have to give some crores of rupees to compensate these owners. The politicians take the bribe, and citizens have to pay. What a life! Nevertheless, he made no mention about justly compensating the Goans (therefore, no real figure in his speech) who have lived in their homes for years together, on the other stretch of the highway. Ironically, he is still the saviour of these gullible people, who are being taken for a ride somewhere down a hazardous road where there is no certain destination.
Hitler was wise, but evil were his plans. Our politicians are otherwise, but their vision is still filled with selfishness and destruction. If our government has the audacity to think of building a sea-link, how can they not think of building flyovers, when we are already facing scarcity of land? In many cities in India, flyovers are the only option, as are those similarly built throughout the developed world. Is it such an astronomical concept for Goa to think of constructing the expressway with flyovers? Our politicians have evil minds, with creative plans. However, the creative plans are not for the good of society, but to benefit themselves. They know how to amass wealth from the public fund, and deny the citizens their rightful infrastructure and facilities. The present PWD Minister wanted to build this expressway without the help of the National Highway Authorities on booth bases. You can read between the lines; what could the motive be?
In this day and age, when knowledge and technology is easily available, why do Goans continue to fail? Years ago, such a political fiasco should have filled us with disdain to our core, to reject these leaders. But, given their nature, Goans tolerate these betrayals that have a huge negative effect on their lives, as they purposely give power to these politicians. Time and again, they continue to stumble over the same stone. Even more alarming; it is insurmountable to fathom how this treachery and sell-out of our trust will decimate the generations to come! It is up to us to call for the wise mind to come to the rescue of our state; one who will know that failure is not a life-long option with which to be content. At election time, we have the power to reject the evil mind which gives birth to the ills of our society. Embrace integrity, vote for the wise mind, one that will not disappoint us, but will live up to its promises for a better society.
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My own “Maim”
By Sajla Chawla
An old lady has been working in my house for last nine years. She comes from down the hill, from the village. I call her Maim, “mother” in Konkani. Often I get this feeling that she is my employer, than I being hers. And, that is because she comes and goes at her convenience. She comes only after she has done all her work of feeding her animals, cooking her food and roaming around gossiping with the whole village. Sadly, I know, mine is the only household to be cleaned at night!
Mostly, I am immune to her decrepit sense of punctuality. Rarely do I lose my temper and reprimand her for her late and unpredictable hours. She retaliates with full force. She starts talking furiously in her language, half of which I do not understand. If I ask her to keep quiet, she goes to the other room and keeps muttering loudly to herself for hours. And all of it is for my benefit! She keeps giving me annoyed looks and says, “Because of you I left such a good job, zannai tum?”
“Maim, if you cannot come on time, please go and find that job,” I reply angrily.
Then her eyes moisten up and that is the end of it. We have had exactly the same scene in our house many times over the last nine years. It always ends with me cajoling her with tea and biscuits and speaking in my best soothing Konkani, “Maim, tum rodtta kiteak? Tum boss, ani cha pie”. Then she invariably looks at me as if she is doing me a favour and keeps muttering a bit more. For next three days she comes on time and then slips back to her original ways.
She is a slender woman of four feet six inches, has the face of an imp and the naughtiness of a child in her eyes when she laughs. She is our daily connection to the village, our newspaper, and our gossip columnist. The moment she enters, she starts with a tirade on someone or the other. I try hard to follow her rapid Konkani. But half of the time I am looking at her vivid facial expressions to understand what she is saying. Her conversation varies from the Pancha, to the village simpleton, to the local goon, to her various relatives, to the rich and famous of the village. She knows who is amorous with whom. She knows who fought with whom. She knows where the Panchayat money is being spent. And I avidly lap it all up, knowing for sure, that she must be telling the whole village about the activities in my household, as well!
Last month she slipped down while cleaning the steps and to our shock, she was drenched in blood. I rushed her to the hospital. The doctor said she needed stitches. I held her hand and kept saying, “Maim tum bienaka . I am there”. But the doctor, who did not want any theatrics, sent me out. I saw them stitching her head, from the crack in the door. I tried hard to control my emotions, when I saw my frail Maim lying inert on the table, scared and shaken up. But soon I was bawling into my handkerchief, red eyed and foolish. She came out within few minutes and said nonchalantly, “Roddttai tum? I am ok. It did not hurt me at all. They gave me anaesthesia”. She gave me one exasperated look and got into my car and asked me to drive her home!
Maim and I have nothing in common, no shared language, religion, class or culture-except that we are both human beings-and that is shared identity enough, I guess. We crossed all those silly boundaries and differences long back and became family for each other. I do not have to have intellectual conversations with her. Just the fact, that I see her impish smiling face, everyday, brings meaning to my life.
