Hello Anthony Veronica,
Excellent article on the recent death of world famous Brasilian footballer Dr. Socrates, I and many of my friends appreciated it for its extremely good and informative quality. I still remember Dr. Socrates up n down running the entire field for the full game without tiring.
Anthony this article as usual has got international standing and I dont think anybody among us in cyberspace can pen down such informative and historical contents. In this obituary you show his past greatness and also of others of his like. To do such review you have to be like an encyclopedia and you are really an encyclopedia on such topics. We are fortunate to have you as a great writer of great knowledge on great personalities like Dr. Socrates. His death is a great loss for the soccer world. May Heavenly God give his soul eternal rest in Heaven.
The other recent article of you was on Goan singer Belino in USA. Thru this review you have brought out hidden talent, hidden not from the eyes of the world but hidden from our eyes. I feel proud of Belino the great Goemkar, he made me and other GoemKar proud.
Anthony your especiality to write on such celebrities is known from long time and you alone from the Gulf can write on such great Goans. I pray to God to give your pen more strenght and wisdom to your mind to write more of such articles. You are the only Goan writer having capacity to write such great articles. Keep on writing more and more. May God Bless You.
Regards.
Jerry.
December 9, 2011
December 8, 2011
RP 2021 A BUNDLE OF MISCHIEF AND CONFUSION.
RP 2021 A Bundle Of Mischief And Confusion.
The notified RP2021 can be summed as a bundle of mischief and confusion by our Authorities and everyone is wondering, why did our Authorities do it ? When the draft RP 2021 was placed before the people there was a huge cry from the people that it was not acceptable to them, so then the Authorities were forced to start the tedious participatory process wherein village by village, ward by ward the draft RP 2021 was scrutinized, anomalies were located and discarded and approved proposals by the Gram Sabhas were submitted to the Authorities. Unfortunately for reasons best known to them the presently notified RP2021 has not only failed to infuse the approved appropriate proposals of the Gram Sabhas but have added even more anomalies to the draft RP 2021.
Now all over Goa, almost every village has sounded bugle of rejection and most Gram Sabhas are asking for the scrapping of the notified RP 2021 altogether. No doubt there are a lot of anomalies in the notified RP2021 but the three major problems being, the width of the roads in villages, the absence of “sensitivity” in the eco sensitive zones and the expansions and extensions of settlement zones onto agricultural lands or eco-sensitive agricultural areas.
A lot of our main roads are not even ten meters so people at large are lost for words and thoughts as to why Goans need ten meter plus roads that could cause extensive and irreversible damage to the ecology and environment of our villages ? The answer clearly points to the Real Estate cartel that our Authorities and the TCP seem to favour for reasons known.
It is also stated that a lot of agricultural land were no development was requested has now somehow been included in settlement zones thus further cementing the fact that the notified RP2021 is a builders based project rather than it being people based. When our people demand that our fields and other Agricultural land needs to be protected and preserved, how can our Authorities Change that land to Settlement zones ? It all points in one direction only, politicians-builders nexus and the TCP headed by our CM as the major player in the debacle.
A lot of Goans are also horrified to note that most of the previously mentioned “Eco Sensitive Zones” have some how been changed to Eco Zones thus getting rid of the sensitivities of the eco zones. Some will say what is the difference, aren’t they still Eco Zones ? If there is no difference why change it, shouldn’t they stick to the same old term ? Let me be specific here, the sensitivity of eco zones cannot be tampered with, they are highly sensitive, so they need extra protection and this notified RP2021 does not provide that protection to eco zones, even the central government is known to play with words, as inclusion or exclusion of a word or two can change the meaning of a term or statement drastically. Let me give an example, does any one have pre 70’s printed Indian Currency notes ? If you have, check it with the post 70’s printed notes, yes, the width will be different, the newer ones are slimmer, can’t blame the Reserve Bank, today size “0” is in fashion, even our notes need to keep up with times. The quality of the paper is also different; the older notes were of better paper quality. May be the print too will be different but the most important difference will be in what’s written on the notes. The old ones will read as “I promise to pay the bearer the sum of (the denomination of the note) Rupees ON DEMAND signed by the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India but on the newer notes the “ON DEMAND” will be missing, it only reads “I promise to pay the bearer the sum of (the denomination of the note) Rupees” signed by the governor.
I was told by an economist whom I once met that “on demand” on the currency note makes a huge difference, when, in case of National emergency, the Government needs liquidity and asks for our notes, we have no choice we have to give, the Government is then bound by the promise to compensate in kind the value of the note “on demand” or else we cannot demand to be compensated, so it’s becomes just a promise to compensate, like the many our own politicians have been making for the last five decades. So a word or two can make a huge difference to a term or a statement. So now if the apex Financial Authority of the Country fiddles with words, why not the local Authorities ? I am now sure we Goans did not have a clue, of what we were getting into when we believed that Goa was liberated and not annexed by India
Getting back to the RP2021, some people say we should not reject the notified RP2021 but demand the changes that we asked for, well, did we not ask for changes after the draft of the RP2021 which was followed by the tedious participatory process, how many times do we have to follow the same process ? The rejection of the people’s demands by the Authorities clearly establishes the fact that they do not want to accept what the people want. So how do we seek a change ? The intensions of our Authorities are very clear; they do not want to commit to the RP so they are just playing a game to delay the process so that mega projects and mining can continue unabated while we try to negotiate.
There is absolutely no doubt that we do need a RP but it should be what the people want and by any language Goans have clearly told the Authorities what they want and even then if they do not seem to understand then the only option is to bring down the Government. In a democracy it is said that the Government is of the people, by the people and FOR the people and if it isn’t FOR the people then it has no moral right to be in power, stop, end of subject. Ek do, ek do Digambar Kamat-ko phek do !
Freddy Agnelo Fernandes.
The notified RP2021 can be summed as a bundle of mischief and confusion by our Authorities and everyone is wondering, why did our Authorities do it ? When the draft RP 2021 was placed before the people there was a huge cry from the people that it was not acceptable to them, so then the Authorities were forced to start the tedious participatory process wherein village by village, ward by ward the draft RP 2021 was scrutinized, anomalies were located and discarded and approved proposals by the Gram Sabhas were submitted to the Authorities. Unfortunately for reasons best known to them the presently notified RP2021 has not only failed to infuse the approved appropriate proposals of the Gram Sabhas but have added even more anomalies to the draft RP 2021.
Now all over Goa, almost every village has sounded bugle of rejection and most Gram Sabhas are asking for the scrapping of the notified RP 2021 altogether. No doubt there are a lot of anomalies in the notified RP2021 but the three major problems being, the width of the roads in villages, the absence of “sensitivity” in the eco sensitive zones and the expansions and extensions of settlement zones onto agricultural lands or eco-sensitive agricultural areas.
A lot of our main roads are not even ten meters so people at large are lost for words and thoughts as to why Goans need ten meter plus roads that could cause extensive and irreversible damage to the ecology and environment of our villages ? The answer clearly points to the Real Estate cartel that our Authorities and the TCP seem to favour for reasons known.
It is also stated that a lot of agricultural land were no development was requested has now somehow been included in settlement zones thus further cementing the fact that the notified RP2021 is a builders based project rather than it being people based. When our people demand that our fields and other Agricultural land needs to be protected and preserved, how can our Authorities Change that land to Settlement zones ? It all points in one direction only, politicians-builders nexus and the TCP headed by our CM as the major player in the debacle.
A lot of Goans are also horrified to note that most of the previously mentioned “Eco Sensitive Zones” have some how been changed to Eco Zones thus getting rid of the sensitivities of the eco zones. Some will say what is the difference, aren’t they still Eco Zones ? If there is no difference why change it, shouldn’t they stick to the same old term ? Let me be specific here, the sensitivity of eco zones cannot be tampered with, they are highly sensitive, so they need extra protection and this notified RP2021 does not provide that protection to eco zones, even the central government is known to play with words, as inclusion or exclusion of a word or two can change the meaning of a term or statement drastically. Let me give an example, does any one have pre 70’s printed Indian Currency notes ? If you have, check it with the post 70’s printed notes, yes, the width will be different, the newer ones are slimmer, can’t blame the Reserve Bank, today size “0” is in fashion, even our notes need to keep up with times. The quality of the paper is also different; the older notes were of better paper quality. May be the print too will be different but the most important difference will be in what’s written on the notes. The old ones will read as “I promise to pay the bearer the sum of (the denomination of the note) Rupees ON DEMAND signed by the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India but on the newer notes the “ON DEMAND” will be missing, it only reads “I promise to pay the bearer the sum of (the denomination of the note) Rupees” signed by the governor.
I was told by an economist whom I once met that “on demand” on the currency note makes a huge difference, when, in case of National emergency, the Government needs liquidity and asks for our notes, we have no choice we have to give, the Government is then bound by the promise to compensate in kind the value of the note “on demand” or else we cannot demand to be compensated, so it’s becomes just a promise to compensate, like the many our own politicians have been making for the last five decades. So a word or two can make a huge difference to a term or a statement. So now if the apex Financial Authority of the Country fiddles with words, why not the local Authorities ? I am now sure we Goans did not have a clue, of what we were getting into when we believed that Goa was liberated and not annexed by India
Getting back to the RP2021, some people say we should not reject the notified RP2021 but demand the changes that we asked for, well, did we not ask for changes after the draft of the RP2021 which was followed by the tedious participatory process, how many times do we have to follow the same process ? The rejection of the people’s demands by the Authorities clearly establishes the fact that they do not want to accept what the people want. So how do we seek a change ? The intensions of our Authorities are very clear; they do not want to commit to the RP so they are just playing a game to delay the process so that mega projects and mining can continue unabated while we try to negotiate.
There is absolutely no doubt that we do need a RP but it should be what the people want and by any language Goans have clearly told the Authorities what they want and even then if they do not seem to understand then the only option is to bring down the Government. In a democracy it is said that the Government is of the people, by the people and FOR the people and if it isn’t FOR the people then it has no moral right to be in power, stop, end of subject. Ek do, ek do Digambar Kamat-ko phek do !
Freddy Agnelo Fernandes.
December 6, 2011
THE GREAT BRAZILIAN FOOTBALLER, THE LATE DR. SOCRATES.
Seen in the first photo Socrates and on the second photo he is seen with team mate Zico.With deep sorrow I received the sad news of the sad death of one of the greatest footballers the world has ever produced, that is the death of Brazilian footballer Dr. Socrates, on 4th of this month. He was the captain of the Brazilian squad of 1982 – the most beautiful team that Brazil has ever fielded, even better than the 1970 Brazilian squad where Pele played the dominant role in helping Brazil to win the World Cup for Brazil for the Third Time.
Normally great personalities and celebrities are afflicted with some kind of vices and sportsmen are more afflicted with certain vices. Footballers all around the globe are many times become victims of such vices namely excessive drinks, rampant sex and drugs. Excessive drinks are the most common vice many of the footballers got affected and Dr. Socrates the world renowned soccer player was not an exception.
Earlier his compatriot the great Garrincha who played with Pele in three World Cup Finals starting from 1958 finally died of excessive drinking habit. Garrincha was such a fantastic footballer with his bended legs he could score goals from any angle. According to some soccer pundits he was very much equal to Pele, if not better than Pele.
The great West German Gerd Mueller known as Bomber because of his powerful right footed shots and played for West German squads first in 1970 World Cup when he won the highest goal scoring award and also in 1974 when his team won the World Cup, was also affected by the vice of excessive drinks. So much so because of this excessive drinking habits, even his wife left him making him desperate in life till his 1974 skipper Franz Backenbeur came to his rescue.
Dr. Socrates had the habit of drinking and smoking while he was playing only while Garrinha and Mueller took to this vice after their retirement because they were desperate for money and honour which they missed after their retirement.
In Goa even during my time as a footballer I saw many of the once great footballers have destroyed their life and their family life also only when they took up to excessive drinking. So many of my colleagues who were great players succumbed to this vice at an early age only because they had no control over their bad habits and no proper guidance in life from the elders and men of wisdom.
Dr. Socrates was not the only Brazilian player having Medical Degree, earlier Dr. Tostao the inside right forward of 1970 World Cup winning Brazilian team also had Medical Degree.
Even in Goa during my time some doctors holding Medical Degrees were ace footballers, one of them was famous goal scorer for Academica’s Dr. Mazarello with whom I played when I started my soccer career in Goa. At least three of my colleagues in Xavier’s soccer team became Doctors and who were ace footballers at College level. They could not pursue further in this field because of their professional studies in medical science at Goa Medical College.
Dr. Socrates as a captain of Brazilian squad was called as Fidalgo – a sort of aristocrat – because of his status on and off the field. On the field because of his intelligent game and right commandership he wielded lot of power over his team mates who voluntarily gave their total allegiance to him. Earlier French Platini and West German Backenbeur enjoyed such aristocrat status on and off the field.
One of the reasons for 1982 Brazilian squad to gain such an exhaustive limelight was the cohesive role played from their midfield by their skipper Dr. Socrates. He was an attacking midfielder and because of his high I.Q. and over intelligence he could read the opponents game rightly and act accordingly. His especiality to backheel the ball to his colleague was something unseen before and after him. His defence splitting passes to his colleagues was very accurate and scoring goals from difficult angle was his speciality. The goal he scored against Italy in that most memorable game in the history of World Cup showed his genius of goal scoring, even Dino Zoff the Italian skipper under their bar was surprised to see the ball in the net, of course to his disappointment.
He was scoring goals but not making show of himself after scoring. He was during that time was the best Penalty taker in the world but to his surprise he missed the spot kick against France in crucial tie in the 1986 World Cup. Though he missed the kick but he was not disappointed and to justify this point, after the match he while briefing the newsmen said, “It is almost impossible to be accurate in kicking the ball after playing at top level 90 minutes of grueling soccer plus 30 minutes of agonizing extra time because in such a situation your body muscles do not work properly nor your mental capacity. Hence I have no regret for missing that important penalty though it was not intentional.
He was very particular of maintaining his mental and body conditioning in right frame before the match by secluding himself alone in his room. Thru this Yogic type of exercise he was attaining highest physical and mental level required for the big match.
He was not only a great footballer and top medical practitioner, but he was also a great lover of Democracy. He was the great admirer of French democrat and writer Voltaire. During the 1982 World Cup he played wearing a Headband with a slogan written there “I am for democracy” which was suffering in his country. He was a fearless man and having strong convictions in his principles.
Later stage he joined Italian club Fiorentina with a condition that Fiorentina allow him to pursue his medical studies in Italy specializing in Foot Injury.
The greatest game he played for Brazil was against Italy in 1982 when Italian Paulo Rossi’s hat-trick knocked mighty Brazilians captained by the mighty Dr. Socrates out of the competition. This match was called one of the best in the history of World Cup. This was such a fantastic Brasilian team that soccer pundits in the beginning itself predicted that this team will win the World Cup and hence it was called in advance the World Champion. The caliber of this team was such that even defenders were moving up field and scoring goals with ease. The defenders of this team were of such a superlative quality that they were as good dribblers as their forwards were.
What a fantastic forward line it had in Zico, Falcao, Eder and Serginho besides midfielders in Junior and Socrates? Will we ever get such a team again not only in Brazil but anywhere in the world? I doubt!! Major credit for forming such a wonderful outfit surely goes to their brainy team manager Tele Santana.
Speaking to one TV channel once, their midfielder of this team Junior said, “ask me any number of questions on this team, I will go on speaking and speaking, never getting tired. It is a pleasure to talk more and more of this dream team”.
Kuwait was televising all the matches that year but only this important match was not televised because the Referee of this match was a Jew. Since Arab boycott of Jews was in existence, Kuwait following this trend boycotted televising this game because of the Jew Referee.
May the soul of Dr. Socrates rest in peace and may God save all sportsmen from the vices such as of excessive smoking, excessive drinks, excessive sex and Drugs.
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.
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