AGM OF GULF GOANS HOTELS CO.

By Special Correspondent.

As scheduled, the Annual General Body Meeting of Gulf Goans Hotels Company was held at Hotel Mandovi, Panjim, on Saturday 27^th of this month at 10.30 AM.

 It was a very chaotic meeting from  the start itself when the ageing chairman Justine Fernandes from Saligao failed to control the proceeding because he is crippled physically and also crippled vocally. Cannot walk freely and cannot talk freely and yet shamelessly sticking to the chairman’s chair. The way he was seen at the dais it looked he lost his sanity.

When there was a chorus in the House for the resignation of chairman, like a typical Saligao Fox he handed over the Mike to Alex Wilson Coelho and escaped from his seat.  Was it right on his part to hand over his responsibility to Coelho when he is present?  If he is unable to deliver the goods then why he accepted the chairman post?  There was no proper person even to take down the minutes of the meeting.

It was a very pitiable scene to watch the directors seated at the dais arguing and fighting – not fist fight – like Cats and Dogs, shouting and howling abuses at one another at the top of their voices.  This showed that there was no unity in the Board and it was proved to be in total disarray. The Board looked to be devided into two factions, one faction owing allegiance to  Alex Wilson Coelho and both the factions without any shame and decorum were accusing each other of lies, cheating and robbery. It was a scene where you saw people without  caliber fitting to be the Directors.  They have lowered the dignity of the term “Director”.

The meeting erroneously ended without completing the Agenda and election for the Board members was conducted fraudulently allowing the Proxy votes even much after the end of the meeting officially.  Proxy votes of over 35,000 were disqualified on technical grounds as per the acting chairman but how and on what ground was not properly explained and by which legal authority. It looked it was done purposely by the acting chairman to lower the upper hand gained by the opponents of his faction. The chairman and also the acting chairman Mr. Coelho totally failed to maintain the required discipline and system and procedure.  The election was a total farce, the meeting was a total joke.  According to  the information to create unruly situation in the hall even some Bouncers were brought but fortunately no untoward incident occurred.    The whole meeting was contestable.

The election results are not declared yet since counting of votes will be completed on Monday as it was too late last night to complete this job. The question now comes: Were the Ballot Boxes sealed officially and kept in safe place where there is no room for tampering?  Since there are two mastermind crooks around to grab the company affairs, everything is possible.

More news will follow.

"DADAGIRI" OF NON-GOAN HOTELIERS.

At the time of the construction of Taj Hotel at Sinquerim falling under Candolim Panchayat, it was agreed by the Taj Management to provide maximum number of jobs in the Hotel to the locals and to the Goans as well. However, when Hotel started functioning, it was brought to our notice that locals as well as Goans were ignored in employment there though a few of them were appointed in the secondary and tertiary jobs while outsiders and non Goans were employed in greater number and also on important positions. This was somewhere in 1974. That means I was then 40 years younger with full of energy, knowledge, daringness and youth eager to fight for justice for locals and Goans.  Since I was very active in local affairs, locals expected me to fight for justice for them against Taj Management.  

Alex Pinto from Candolim Ximer was my friend having vast potentials to fight for justice, joined me to wage a war against Taj Management for ignoring the locals in the employment. Candolim Panchayat and the prominent bigwigs remained silent because they got their quota from Taj and hence they decided to accept the injustice meted out to the locals and to the Goans by the Taj management. However, myself, Alex Pinto and very many like minded locals refused to accept this injustice to the locals.  Alex Pinto had vast influence in Goa and elsewhere and thru his contacts he got the news that the big boss of Taj, JRD Tata is scheduled to pay his first visit to Goa to see his Hotel at Sinquerim built on Candolim Communidade land;  this was the first 5 Star Hotel of Goa.  As an intelligent planner, Alex Pinto nicely put his trap to catch Tata at the entrance of Sinquerim while on his way to Taj Hotel and submit a Memorandum of our demands to him. Our main demand was employment in greater number to locals and to Goans.

As planned, we both stopped Tata’s Mercedes Car, greeted him with welcome to Goa and handed over to him our Memorandum explaining to him our disappointment over injustice to the locals. Knowing this, Tata felt very bad and showed his disappointment to his Taj management asking to satisfy the locals first.  Immediately then the Taj Management changed its policy in favour of the locals including an offer for me to go to UK for further studies in Hotel Management which I politely turned down.  When this news started spreading far and wide, many politicians and political parties started approaching me to join them some even with an offer of election tickets but this too I declined politely.

If Taj Management had not to change its policy in favour of locals, we devised one more strategy which means to stop all the vehicles taking guests to the Taj and informing them not to patronize Taj because Taj is anti – local.  Then we would print pamphlets to ask everyone not to patronize Taj Hotel and distribute the same to all over Goa starting from the Airport, thru our contacts.   Then we would ask everyone to give total non-cooperation to Taj and its non-Goan staff.  Somebody suggested even to stone their vehicles but we declined such methods.

Our other plan was to organize Rallies right up to the Taj and for this we thought of creating an army of like minded locals.  In this fight we were firm to keep the local Panchayat out of our circle because members of Panchayat were cunning and as such we could not trust them.  If you want to organize any strong movement then you must try to keep the politicians away because they have their own political and money making agenda for which sake they will at your movement cost pursue their own agenda.   

Panchayat is the nursery of corruption where most of the members of ruling faction make money thru illicit means and because of this almost everywhere Panchayat members headed by the Sarpanch amass wealth beyond one’s imagination. If one sees below and around his nose, till yesterday a person coming from poverty stricken family background suddenly today by joining Panchayat becomes crorepoti.  This can be proved from the lifestyle they live with Bunglows, posh cars, sophisticated wives and huge Bank Balance. How is this possible?  Only thru looting and on top of it they move in society with their heads high of course shamelessly and act like Saints in the Church even by receiving holy communion.  And unfortunately, all the rascal Pe. Vigars in their respective villages support them of course against Christian doctrine. The greatest Devils are some of the Pe. Vigars.

In our locality we are suffering from corrupt political  leadership. Our so called leaders are not static in their fight for justice, they are only interested in their own personal goals and secondly because they are selfish the locals  in general don’t trust them.  They are not sincere to the cause of justice.  In every village there should be a group of movement makers for the good of the villagers without involvement of the politicians. If such groups exist with dedicated members, in every village there would not be injustice to the villagers. Such groups are imperative in the coastal belt where the leadership of some of our villages is gone into the corrupt hands.  Can in my village first somebody come forward to Bell the Cat because upright villagers have lost their faith in the current leaders and also in Panchayat to do justice and real good? All those local politicians coming from Ladru-Pedru type of background will amass looted wealth not only for them but also for their children and grand children.

In view of what I wrote above, it is very  easy to handle the injustice done to the locals by the non-Goan Hoteliers (as described in my previous article) who got no right to dictate terms to us and to act with us as our landlords. The non-Goan Hotliers and their non-Goan employees are looting Goa.  

 

A.     Veronica Fernandes,
Candolim.

 

  

TOURISM SEASON-MESSY ROADS & ANTI-GOAN HOTELS.

IS THE COASTAL BELT OF GOA GEARED UP TO COPE UP WITH THE COMING TOURIST SEASON?

Definitely not, at least Candolim where you find a mess on the road without proper personnel manning the road to control the excess flow of traffic especially at the crucial places and not erecting Speed Breakers at the very important busy spots mainly  at the Tinto Junction and in front of the Primary School near Panchayat Ghar.   No doubt the local MLA Michael Lobo is doing a good job of widening the roads yet there are lot of hurdles on the road due to rough and immense traffic flow by the irresponsible Indian tourists who ignore the road safety rules. Most of the injuries happen to the Two Wheelers not because of the non-wearing of Helmets but because of the bad roads.  Even in Sinquerim on way to the Light House in front of Vijay Malaya’s private Jetty the concerned authority erected the Speed Breaker to please Malaya but failed to erect the same at the required places.   

The vehicles parked on the main road for the  guests of Hotel “Grand Mercure, Goa Shrem Resort” in Pintos Vaddo Candolim, opposite to the Asilo and next to the well-known miraculous Holy MAND were  till yesterday a hindrance to the smooth traffic flow on the main road. These cars belonged to the locals and being so they should have been given preferential treatment by the Hotel management by also accommodating them along with that of the Hotel’s cars where especial place is provided in front of the Hotel. Or it was the duty of the local Panchayat to provide a suitable place for parking these cars to avoid  hindrance to the smooth flow of the traffic on the main road.

As per the available information, one portion of the property where this Hotel is built was originally the property of Candolim Communidade.  But I am not aware that this part was sold by the Communiidade and neither I am aware that Candolim Communidade is selling its land. Now, the question is: How did this land reach into Hotel’s hand?  Will the Communidade answer  this question?

This Hotel is a big inconvenience to the Holy MANDD located since a century back, next to the Hotel.  Also its loud music is creating disturbance not only to the neighbours but also to the surrounding areas.  Secondly the Hotelier must know the piercing power of the Mandd and its Miraculous Cross.  According to the tradition if any inconvenience is done to this Holy Mandd’s sanctity or any sinful and vulgar acts are performed in its vicinity, the Mandd maintaining its ruthless tradition liquidates not only the persons responsible but also the venue where the sinful and vulgar acts are committed.  If the Hotel is going against the sacred tradition of the Mandd then it surely is going to face its doom with the effect of the mighty Sunami created by the mighty traditional power of the Mandd.  Even those who are involved in assisting the wrong doer directly or indirectly will not be spared of the Mandd’s punishment.  This is as per the tradition and history of the Mandd.  And as we know, history repeats itself and surely it will. Time alone will justify this statement.

It is nice to know that big chain of Hotels is investing heavily in Goa that creates job opportunities to the locals.  As per my information this same Hotelier earlier has also constructed one more Hotel in Candolim and in that Hotel locals were hired but within a few months most of them were retrenched.  Now, my question to the local Panchayat is this:  Did it not put the condition to the Hotelier at the time of issuing license to employ more locals in that Hotel? By replacing the locals with outsiders the Hoteliers are upsetting the demographic structure of Goa in favour of outsiders. This anti-Goan trend must come to an end and every local must raise his voice against this anti-Goan trend.

Finally, is this the same Hotelier constructing one more Hotel in Candolim in  CRZ belt?  If yes, which authority gave license for constructing this Hotel in CRZ belt? The local MLA Michael Lobo must immediately investigate this incident if he is interested in the wellbeing of Goa.  I also request the concerned NGO’s to look into this matter without any further delay.

A.     Veronica Fernandes,

Candolim,

Goa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

HOTEL GOAN HERITAGE - AGM.

By Special Correspondent.

On 27^th of this month, the AGM of Gulf Goans Hotels Company (Hotel Goan Heritage – Calangute) is scheduled at Hotel Mandovi, Panjim.  This company and its Hotel Goan Heritage is the brainchild of Kuwait Goans and it contained the blood and sweat of Kuwait Goans. 

However, some people are trying to misuse the facilities offered to them by the company thereby trying to take personal advantage of the company for them by infiltrating into the Company Board when they don’t deserve a place into the Board.  They don’t deserve a place into the Board because they are corrupt. 

For example, two of the contestants for the coming Board election are Wilson Edmundo Rodrigues and Ramakant Loximan Verlekar. According to the available information both were considered as corrupt and as such they were thrown out from the Board in the last AGM.  Mr. Rodrigues was deeply tainted in corruption when he was a leading man in duping the Kuwait Goan Evacuees Society in the aftermath of the invasion and liberation of Kuwait. He was one of the persons responsible as a member of KGES to collect funds from Kuwait Goan Evacuees.  Up to now there is no accountability of this fund which according to one source was in lakhs of Rupees. Can any sensible shareholder rely on this corrupt man to do good for the Hotel Company?

The second man of questionable character is Verlekar who according to the available information was responsible to broker the deal to purchase the Orchard land at Dhargal possibly with the intention to corner a huge commission for him thru this deal.  Purchasing of Orchard land is like dead investment which means a big loss for th company ultimately a great loss for the Shareholders.  In this scam according to inside source he was ably supported by Mr. Rodrigues. 

Hence, both Rodrigues and Verlekar should not be voted into the Board.  Those Shareholders who submitted their proxies – votes – for these two persons must now review their decision and withdraw their proxies and instead support Mr. Ferdinand and Mr. Tiburcio (Jerry Cal) whose records are clean and both are beneficial for the development of the Hotel, both being uncorrupt.

Those who wish to support Rodrigues and Verlekar are going to make a big mistake because by doing so they will destroy their own Company.  The affairs of the company will never be in the safer hands if these two corrupt shareholders are elected in the Board.  All the Shareholders must take note of this caution especially Kuwait based Sam Alphonso who has highest stake. If he is really interested in the development and protection of this company, Mr. Alphonsoo will act rightly by giving his proxy to the uncorrupt candidate otherwise he will be treated as the promoter of corrupt candidates for the destruction of this company built by true and genuine Goans.            

HOTEL GOAN HERITAGE & CROOK IN THE BOARD.

By Special Correspondent.

What for the cause of Goa the Goans from Kuwait have done, none other expatriate Goans have done.  Two big experiments Kuwait Goans have performed, one in support and promotion of Konkani mainly thru the establishment of “NOVEM GOEM DAILY” movement and the other thru business venture by erecting  “HOTEL  GOAN  HERITAGE” at Calangute.  One experiment of Novem Goem has failed not because of the fault of Kuwait Goans inspite of giving  a huge donation for this project in lakhs of rupees in late seventies and early eighties but it failed because of the irresponsibility of the members of Novem Goem committee comprising learned Goans such as Doctors, Lawyers, Journalist and Social activists.  The management of Novem Goem with  excess of  money at their disposal beyond their requirement, sent as donation by Kuwait Goans not only failed this project but they have also failed the Kuwait Goans and other donors as well.

The second experiment is the huge Hotel Goan Heritage project which is in existence and functioning almost since last three decades.  It looks shaky now in the hands of board of directors comprising some impotent directors including corrupt ones.  Vincente D’Souza then a highly dynamic and a prominent Goan working at Kuwait Customs was the initiator and the founder of Gulf Goans Hotels Company that built the Hotel Goan Heritage at Calangute.  Flav  Pimenta was the first Chairman of this company who left Kuwait by leaving his very lucrative job in the Oil company in Kuwait to take care of this company and in fact he did so till his retirement. Because of his sincerity, knowhow and dedication with hard work the Hotel came up.  He was supported well from Kuwait by the entire board based in Kuwait including the Managing director Mr. Vincente D’Souza.  

The early Board based in Kuwait was very sincere and dedicated to the development of the company.  The board members worked tirelessly even by spending money from their own pockets to develop this project. They worked sincerely because everyone had a genuine interest and a high stake as directors in the company, none had peanuts as his stake. Because they had high stake they worked responsibly, some of them not even taking any personal benefit for them, on the contrary they made lot of sacrifices for the sake of this Hotel.  Service to the company was their goal. Their main motto was the unity of the board and collective responsibility. But now the situation is totally different and the board is a devided lot. There are factions now in the board, one of which is allegedly working under the direction of Alex Wilson Coelho who is based in Canada but was involved when in Kuwait in scandals and corruption.  It looks he doesn’t like upright persons in the board for this reason he is as informed, from behind the curtain implanting his own tainted candidates against good and productive sitting directors in the forthcoming board election scheduled on 27^th of this month.

Hotel Goan Heritage is the baby of the share holders around one hundred who originally came forward to form this company to erect this edifice of Hotel Goan Heritage. It is a symbol of expatriate Goan entrepreneurship.  These shareholders were all based in Kuwait though many of them are now permanently settled in Goa and in the West. All these shareholders have great responsibility to save this project from going into the hands of rogues supported by Coelho who otherwise as a resident of foreign country has got no right to be in the board because by being abroad he cannot contribute in anything for the development of the project.  So too the other two board members based in Kuwait.  For this reason since last 25 years there is not much development.

It is a pity that all the three board members stationed outside Goa are not showing any concern for the company.  If they had any concern they would voluntarily abdicate their chairs in the board and allow somebody more productive from Goa to replace them. Theirs is the attitude of the shameless Goans who are crazy after power and honour just like our cheap politicians.  Ultimately what great one can expect from the persons coming from the “hoi polloi”  background and intellectually backward tribe?  Their association in the board is detrimental to the development of the Hotel Company because they are useless in the board.

As given to understand, two of the persons contesting the forthcoming election allegedly backed by the Coelho panel are Wilson Rodrigues and Verlekar who earlier were both thrown out by the AGM for not being upright in their dealings as directors. Since their antecedents were bad and yet they are contesting again that means they have their eyes on something else which they can acquire for themselves only by entering into the board because the board is become very lucrative for some to gain financial benefits and cheap prominence.  Hence, the Shareholders must make a point not to elect such defective candidates and instead elect the good, efficient and productive sitting directors one of them is Filipe Ferdinand the second highest stake holder and the other Chef Jerry Cal who is the greatest asset to the Hotel as he is the only director having vast knowledge of Hotel line.

There is a sizeable number of shareholders settled outside Goa, some of them are in the West  while a few of them in Kuwait.  When they send their proxies they must make sure that their votes do not go to the corrupt and to the rogues who are all out to devour for themselves the financial benefits meant for the shareholders.  One of the perfect examples of the loot was the purchase of Dhargal property with the initiative of Coelho, Verlekar and Rodrigues. This property falls into the Orchard land category which means useless for development. 

 

 

THROW WILSON COELHO OUT OF BOARD.

Further to the write-up in this column on 10.09.14 on physical assault on Wilson Coelho in Calangute at Hotel Goan Heritage,  it is nothing but a disgrace for the Directors to behave like animals.  Coelho is the real animal for acting like a bull.  He wants to dominate the board but the new directors are not yielding an inch and for this reason he resorted to the fight, as I was told.

Regarding Dhargal property, as per my information, it was purchased under the pushing of Coelho for a very heavy price and a part of it was pocketed by Coelho and Chairman?  This is a true habit of Coelho since he was working in Kuwait where he was nicknamed as "Commission Coelho'  because of his greed  to get commission for any transaction he does.

Dhargal property purchase was a waste of over 50 Lakhs because it falls into the category of “Orchard” land, this means it cannot be developed.  I CANNOT understand how the other members of the Board approved this deal.  Are they too not partners in crime?  Share holders must hold the entire board responsible for this wrong move. 

Moreover, it is wrong and dangerous to make Alex Wilson Coelho the Vice Chairman  of the Board when he is such a corrupt man. 

In view of this, the question comes now is, why it was purchased without doing proper home work?  Who is responsible for this waste of money?  Surely Wilson Coelho and his partner in crime the Chairman Justin.  Both these persons must be sacked from the board before they do more financial damage to the Hotel Company.   

 

 

ONE CONCERNED SHARE HOLDER.

 

SHAMELESS WILSON COELHO ASSAULTED.

By Special Correspondent.

Alex Wilson Coelho from Curtorim and ex Kuwait presently settled in Canada while on vacation in Goa, yesterday attended the Board meeting of Gulf Goans Hotels Co. (Hotel Goan Heritage), at Calangute.  As per the available information from the confidential source, during the heated Board Meeting argument,  one of the directors threw the glass of water on Coelho’s face.  Unable to bear this humiliation, Coelho got up from his chair whence his opponent threw 3-4 heavy  punches on the face of Coelho while Coelho retaliated with 1-2.  The other directors attending the Board Meet with a surprise to witness such an ugly scene first time in the history of this company, separated both the fighters.  The meet then abruptly called off and immediately thenafter Coleho fled from the scene fearing further  assault on him while all other directors waited.  This was at the Hotel premises at about 11.30 AM.

Alex Wilson Coelho who was a PT Master in Goa before going to Kuwait was also once assaulted by his own PT student as per the information gathered by this correspondent. While in Kuwait, he created a very bad image of himself by demanding Sex from one young Goan girl in exchange of a job.  The mother of the young girl then publicly in one of the meetings Coelho attending disgraced Coelho who had no choice other than to put his head down in shame in total surrender.

The worst crime of Coelho against Kuwait Goan community was to be a part of the gang that looted the heavy sum of money collected from Kuwait Goan evacuees on behalf of Kuwait Goan Evacuees Society. This Society was formed to make arrangement to send Kuwait Goan evacuees back to Kuwait after the liberation of Kuwait in February 1991. Up to now there is no account of this money.

Coelho was also involved in withholding about a crore of rupees from Goan Welfare Society, Kuwait,.  This fund was collected with the help of the Kuwait Goans to use for the welfare of the Kuwait Goans. 

Coming back to the fight yesterday, according to my source, Hotel company has purchased a plot at Dhargal for “X” price but actually  as alleged the bill given to the Hotel management was heavily inflated giving a suspicion that the mastermind of this deal Coelho and current chairman Justine Coelho are responsible for this loot. This was the topic that resulted in the fight.

The share holders of this company established by Kuwait Goans about 35 years back and who are settled in Goa, Kuwait and elsewhere in the West must know how corrupt Alex Wilson Coleho is.  Such a fraud man does not deserve a palce in the Board and if given an opportunity he will loot the entire Hotel from top to bottom. 

On 27^th of this month in Panjim there is going to be an Annual General Body Meeting of the shareholders scheduled to re-elect some Board members. There is as per my information a panel silently initiated by Coelho to field his own candidates to support his corrupt ways.  If the Shareholders are interested in this Hotel from disaster, they must defeat the candidates pushed by Coelho’s panel. Alex Wilson Coelho means corruption.

 

 

WHO IS THIS IDIOT DOCTOR?

Who is this Idiot Doctor? Asked me by a renowned Kuwaiti Cardiologist once in Kuwait when I went to him to check my cardiac problem. Then he went a little further and again asked me, “since your doctor in Goa is a Psychiatrist, why he interfered in your sickness of Cardiology?” Then he asked me one more question, “is this the normal medical system in Goa?”

It all happened because during one of my vacations in Goa a few years back I went for my check-up to one doctor who happened to be a Psychiatrist and while checking me he noticed some flaws in my heart beats for which he prescribed some medicine.  After returning to Kuwait, I showed that prescription given to me by  the Goan doctor to my regular Cardiologist in Kuwait.  Reading the prescription of my Goan doctor he noticed his designation as Psychiatrist and got annoyed for handling cases not pertaining to his speciality. Hence, he remarked saying “Who is this idiot Doctor?”.   

In Mapusa till recently there was one Orthopedic doctor/surgeon practicing at one of the Private Hospitals but he was handling any type of patients including Cancer patients and unfortunately every Cancer patient he operated died.  Yet he was not changing his dirty habit of not sticking to his specialty. 

In Salcete there was one doctor/surgeon whose speciality was TB but again like our Mapsencar doctor, he too was handling patients suffering from any type of sickness including Cancer and thus instead of curing the patients he was killing them.   

In Calangute constituency there are two Private Hospitals where patients of any sickness are admitted even though there are neither competent doctors there nor proper facilities to handle all types of sickness of the patients but they admit in their hospitals any type of patient.  Finally when they realize that they are unable to cure the patients, they either shift those patients to GMC at the last minute or silently allow the patients to die in their own hospitals.  Even the patients they shift to GMC at the last minute do not survive forcing the doctors to ask “Why did you not bring the patients earlier so that appropriate medical treatment could have been provided”.

In government hospitals most of the Nurses are become Curses and most of the Private hospitals are become money making rackets because many of the doctors there are acting like butchers who for the sake of money butcher their conscience and medical ethics by doing things which are not appropriate for their noble profession. These doctors do not care for human life but care only for money in which direction they will do anything because they are so corrupt.  In fact many of them are more corrupt than the corrupt politicians.  In my constituency the two hospitals as indicated above are already named by the people as “Killing Hospitals” because of this Tag patients have started to boycott these hospitals. According to my latest information some constituents of this Constituency are gearing up to campaign against these hospitals thru the printed leaflets which will be distributed in the locality indicating the flaws existing in these hospitals.

The most important tactic some of the money making doctors are making is to instill fear into the minds of the patients and their relatives saying “the sickness is serious and requires immediate operation” costing not only thousands but lakhs of rupees.  For this reason before going for major operation a second opinion must be sought because many of the current doctors are not sincere to their Oath. Many people have lost their trust in the present day doctors.

There are some doctors in private hospitals who by referring their patients to certain hospitals for specialized treatment when it is not necessary, get hefty commission just as corrupt politicians do. Some of the doctors are so corrupt that their corruption is worst than that of corrupt politicians.

In view of above, I feel, the government must enact a legislation to restrict the doctors to handle patients only those who come under their specialization.  Also, one more legislation to prevent private hospitals from admitting patients whose cases are beyond the capacity of those hospitals.

A.    Veronica Fernandes,
Candolim, Goa.
Tel: 7507394349.

TEACHERS DAY OR MODI DAY?

 

The Teachers  Day on 5^th of this month was finally for the first time converted into a Modi Day thereby ignoring the memory of the great educationist Dr. Radhakrishnan on whose birthday this day is celebrated to honour this great educationist.  Dr. Radakrishnan was the giant of an educationist and a very tall philosopher who taught the great Hindu philosophy even at Oxford where even the great President of America, John F. Kennedy during his short stint there attended Dr. Radakrishnan lecturers and got himself educated on Hindu philosophy. Dr. Radakrishnan was the world renown philosopher whose thoughts were very lofty and because of this even Nehru as premier of India was very cautious with him.  In fact Nehru was afraid of him.  India was very fortunate to have such a president because of whom India’s ratings internationally had gone up.

 

On this day teachers are rested and their duties are taken over by the senior students. However, this year premier Modi bypassed all the traditional exercises and as a Hitler by usurping power in his hands imposed his unwanted lecture on the students, this lecture was understood only by the students who had a perfect command of Hindi. In this case almost half the number of Indian students failed to understand the contents of Modi’s lecture. It was a big tamasha of Modi to wield power to impose on the nation his meaningless lecture.  It was a shame on Modi to ignore the memory of Dr. Radakrishnan and instead foist his own memory on the nation.  In the bargain Dr. Radakrishnan was totally forgotten.  Modi of BJP just like Goa CM Parricar are showing clear signs of Hitlers in the making. 

 

A. Veronica Fernandes,

Candolim, Goa,

Tel: 7507394349.

TRIBUTE TO THERESA FERNANDES.

                    
                                                              Born Date: 14.08.1950
                                                              Died Date:  08.09.2011

It is now three years since Mrs. Theresa Fernandes died as shown in the photo above.  She was known to me as a young pretty looking and good disciplined girl when she was schooling at Little Flower Convent High School, Calangute, Bardez, Goa. I was then schooling at Arpora and we both passed our SSC together by answering our Board exam together in the same hall at St. Britto’s High School venue, Mapusa.

After completing her SSC, she went to Bombay and later on got married to her husband Jerry Fernandes (Cal), also from Calangute and who was my colleague at Arpora for a long time.  Jerry Cal was a very well known young boy at Arpora School and in his locality as well excelling in sports. He was Table Tennis Champion of Arpora School as well as of Calangute and Carrem Socorro.  Besides, Jerry Cal was number one in Cycle Race both in Cross country 25 kms and in 1500 metres.  Additionally, he was a very popular amateur Tiatrist in his locality and in surrounding villages.   After finishing his SSC he too went to Bombay where he studied Hotel Management and migrated to Abu Dhabi where he worked as an Executive Chef in prestigious 5 Star Hotels.  From here he was sent to UK, Germany and Holland for further studies in Hotel Management.

After getting married to Jerry Cal, Theresa joined her husband in Abu Dhabi and got herself employed at The British Bank of the Middle East later on known as HSBC (Hongkong Sanghai Bank Corp.) where she worked for 27 years till her voluntary retirement.  While in Abu Dhabi, she was involved in lot of extracurricular activities and social work.  She was one prominent lady in Abu Dhabi along with her husband to help raise funds for Konkani movement such as for Novem Goem, Konkani Martyrs, KPA etc.

She along with her husband was instrumental in bringing Tiatro troupes to Abu Dhabi from Goa, namely of M. Boyer, Fr. Fredy J.D’Costa, Menino de Bhandar, C. Alvares, Rosario Rodrigues and Pascoal Rodrigues. In some of the Tiatros she also acted along with her husband and earned a good name for herself.

By using her personal influence and spending money from her own pocket, she brought many poor Goans to Abu Dhabi for employment besides providing some jobless Goans with suitable jobs. She was instrumental in organizing the Feast of St. Francis Xavier in Abu Dhabi for over a decade. Also she was helping to sponsor priests in Goa. 

She as a wife and as a mother was very responsible person towards her mission and goals. A woman of very good character she performed her motherly duties very well by bringing up all her 4 children – three daughters and one son, all are married except one daughter - very well,  discipline wise, character wise and educationally. One daughter after completing her BSc did the course in Pharmacy and settled in Abu Dhabi; the other daughter an MBA also working in Abu Dhabi and the third one a spinster after doing her graduation, BBM in Bangalore did her MBA at Cardiff University, UK and currently employed in Abu Dhabi as well.  The son after completing his Hotel Management started his own business in Calangute.

She loved Goa, she loved Konkani and she loved Goan causes and all these attributes she displayed openly while she was working in Abu Dhabi.

In her death three years back, Goa lost a great woman who was ever ready to help any Goan cause. Also, in her death my friend Jerry Cal lost a great supportive and faithful wife and her children lost their great and loving mother.

MAY HER SOUL REST IN PEACE.

 

A.    Veronica Fernandes,

Candolim,

Goa.