M Boyer truly a complete artiste
I call M Boyer (Manuel Santana Aguiar) a complete artist or tiatrist because in spite of not having any formal education or training in the field of acting or performance arts, he as a self-made artiste rose to highest pedestal of fame and glory as one of the most renowned and award winning tiatrist that Goa ever produced.
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Being from the same village of Raia, I knew him well from my childhood. Being an acquaintance of my elder brother he would often visit my house on Sundays to join in for a game of carrom board. He was an excellent board player and a pleasant company to be with.
Right from his younger days he was simple, well behaved and decent in dealing with his friends and acquaintances. Besides he also had a rare but unique personality which made him popular and likeable among his friends.
It’s important to note that in spite of being a very successful tiatrist and winning several prestigious national awards, these achievements never changed his behaviour and attitude towards people and fellow colleagues. So as the time passed by, he turned out to be not only famous on the stage across Goa and elsewhere in India but also his popularity and fame soared. However, he continued to be a true gentleman with humility and dignity.
Those who watched his Tiatrs or listened to his songs or unmatched comedies, will vouch for his non-controversial compositions and decency, both in Tiatrs and songs. He earnestly believed that quality, class and innovative performance on the stage would judge his work and determine his success. His unparalleled fame and popularity never went to his head as it does to many, who achieved unexpected success in their lives. This aspect of his life made him a darling of not only Tiatr lovers but all Goans everywhere.
Finally the request to have one of the auditorium either Ravindra Bhavan or Kala Academy or some other such auditorium of high repute be named after the late Maestro of the Konkani stage, a well deserved gift on his 92nd birth anniversary is fully justified.
Indeed it has to be made into a strong demand from the people of Goa, so that the memory of M Boyer as a famous doyen of Konkani stage can be perpetuated forever and passed on to posterity.
Antonio Diniz, Fatorda
Drunk driving and aggregator app
Of late our Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho is hogging the limelight in promoting the contentious App based taxi service to cater to the needs of air flyers once the Mopa Airport becomes operational. In a related incident to curb drunk driving by motorists during happy hours the Minister while speaking on the sidelines of the 11th State Road Safety Week has put the onus on the bars and restaurants to ensure that the tipplers use Goa Miles once the aggregator service is relaunched, citing it as a new normal in the prevention of road accidents.
The minister would also do well to explore the possibility of providing valet attendant service by using the patron’s own vehicles to reach their destinations as is prevalent in cities like Mumbai and Delhi where the valet retrieves guest vehicles on arrival and departure. Most of the tipplers are tourists and holidaymakers who visit the state on a short sojourn and go on a high on cheap liquor in lieu of substance abuse now that the Narcotics Control Board has tightened the screws on psychotropic drugs after the high-profile BJP leader Sonali Phogat’s substance abuse case. These imbibers of alcohol come with shoestring budgets who do not contribute to the State exchequer and hence do not deserve the State’s largesse of safety bestowed on them at taxpayers’ expense.
Needless to say that our locals do not frequent the town and city pubs but remain confined to village taverns for a ‘cuppachem’ as an appetizer before meals and you will very seldom see them of unsteady gait violating traffic rules.
Everette Assis Telles, Margao
India need to address shortage of nurses
India has 2.5 million registered nurses and midwives who are responsible for the country’s 1.3 billion population, which is grossly inadequate. According to the experts India needs more than 4 million nurses by 2024 to meet the prescribed WHO norms. Since many more of these health workers may have relocated abroad for lucrative pay packages or retired. Nurses are the most significant asset of any healthcare facility.
The key importance is to implement a live register replacing the Nurses Registration and Tracking System (NRTS), pass of the National Nursing & Midwifery Commission (NMMC) Bill and the repeal of the India Nursing Council Act 1947. The nursing and midwifery profession is witnessing a large-scale brain drain from the country due to poor salary, working conditions and absence of a proper career pathway, and out-dated systems of professional governance.
Despite forming a large part of the healthcare force, nurses and midwives continue to be short-staffed across the nation leading to poor nurse-patient ratio, increased workload, long working hours, double shifts which eventually lead to poor quality of treatment. The optimum Nurse-Patient ratio recommended by the Centre and the Indian Nursing Council has not been implemented and as a result, one nurse is looking after 20 to 25 patients. It is adversely impacting the credibility of India’s healthcare system.
KG Vilop, Chorao
Russian aggression is a misadventure
It is now abundantly clear that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine was a complete misadventure. With all the latest sophisticated weaponry at their command, Russia was unable to subdue a small country like Ukraine.
This brings to mind, how David a small man killed the mighty Goliath, with a sling. Clearly, they underestimated their opposition. The President and the people of Ukraine must be commended for the resistance, commitment and dedication they have displayed in protecting their motherland. Anger against Russia has been growing around the world as is evident again from this protest at Prague in the Czech Republic.
Russia on their part, is now pushed again the wall and have lost face, and are threatening to use chemical weapons, thereby perhaps, engulfing the world into yet another mindless world war. Of course, it is not just Russia who is responsible for this situation, the United States of America and their allies are also responsible. It’s time Russia realises their folly and stop their evil designs. It’s the same with all of us. We need to be contented with what we have rather than crave for more, especially material possessions. This is all temporary!
Melville X D’Souza, Mumbai
Russia violating human rights
The Russia-Ukraine conflict is of grave concern to the world and UN security council. The launch of barrage of fatal bombs across Ukraine, killing people in which UN human rights office describes as shocking attack. Russia seems to be violating human rights by killing Ukrainian civilians.
Russian president Vladimir Putin even warned the use of nuclear weapons amid Russia Ukraine war. G7 nations warned Russia of several consequences if it uses chemical or nuclear weapons on Ukraine as it strikes latest missile on civilians in Kyiv and other regions.
What is ‘biscuit’ in US, nuclear weapons launch process. The biscuit contains codes also known as Gold codes by which the US President can identify himself and allow the use of nuclear weapons. The biscuit is about the size of a credit card. The US President Jeo Biden recently said, the risk of nuclear Armageddon is highest since 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
Is future awaiting nuclear war is a big question for the world?
Sarvashi Naik, Curchorem
