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STRAY DOGS CAN CAUSE RABIES!
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STRAY DOGS CAN CAUSE RABIES!

Aug 16- Aug 22, 2025, Stray Thoughts August 15, 2025 , by

AND a few stray thoughts for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday following the week the 78th year of Indian Independence. For a Saturday following the week when the progress achieved by Goa in the last 64 years since Liberation in 1961. For a Saturday following the week when the Supreme Court passed a judgment on stray dogs.

78th independence day
 AND a few stray thoughts on the 78th year of Indian independence. The country of India, which became independent on August 15, 1947 is one month older than I am. I was born on July 4, 1947 — just a month before Independence Day. I grew up listening to Jawaharlal Nehru’s “Tryst with Destiny” speech, delivered at midnight on August 14 to mark the dawn of independence on August 15. This marked the transfer of power from the United Kingdom to India, with C Rajagopala Chari taking over as the first Governor General of India in place of Lord Mountbatten, who was the last British Governor General of India.
During the last 78 years, India certainly has made significant progress in the economic sphere. But regrettably, the gap between the rich and the poor has grown wider. There may be several thousand more millionaires and billionaires now than at the time of independence. Contrary to the claims of Narendra Modi, over 40% of Indians are still living below the poverty line. Unemployment is higher than ever, even among highly qualified young Indians.
This was starkly dramatized when over a thousand young ladies lined up outside the Directorate of Health Services for just a hundred job for contract nurses. The curious part is, at least in Goa, there are no takers for secretarial jobs or jobs in the media business and especially the dwindling print business. We have advertised twice in “The Navhind Times” classified advertising for media interns and a graphic designer. We have also advertised for a computer-savvy secretary. No response.
I still cannot understand why Goans are so obsessed with government jobs. Careers in media, both print and electronic, pay very well. At the minimum of the scale, newspapers and other print media are pay at least Rs30,000 on confirmation of employees. The sky is the limit for those who have an aptitude and are willing to work hard. Unlike in other areas, even in Goa, we do not need godfathers to get a job in media print or electronic to climb up the ladder.
I may be an example of a successful career in the media. Starting out in Bombay I joined “The Financial Express” about 50 years ago as a trainee sub-editor in 1968 and by1978, I had become the editor of my first publication “The Mirror.” By the time I was 40, I took over as editor of the “Oheraldo” and built it up into a major media brand. Thereafter, I launched my own political weekly Goan Observer.
You can reach for the stars in the media and become an influencer in your own right. Many of the top journalists in Goa in the “Times of India” and other newspapers were mentored by me and are products of the Rajan Narayan hands on school of journalism. I would like to make an open offer to any young person with curiosity and a good command of the language to join us at the “Goan Observer” to become a star of Generation Z.

GOA’S PROGRESS
 AND a few stray thoughts on the progress achieved by Goa in the last 64 years since its Liberation in 1961. For the first 26 years, Goa remained a Union Territory as it did not have an official language. Only after the recognition of Konkani as the official language did Goa achieve statehood in May 1987.
The quality of governance has become worse after Goa became a state. Every successive government has turned out to be worse than the other. Looking back, perhaps Pratapsingh Rane and Manohar Parrikar have been the best and the least corrupt chief ministers of Goa. The present government, particularly the Town & Country Planning Minister, has virtually sold Goa to big builders from Delhi and Mumbai. There is a major threat that Goans will become a minority in Goa.
Already, 50% of the population of Goa comprises migrants from various parts of the country. If the Election Commission conducts a rapid revision of the electoral rolls, it will probably find all the Biharis and the Kannadigas missing from their houses in their own home states. Maybe there should be an amendment stipulating that only native residents of the state and those who have lived in Goa for more than 15 years as permanent residents, should be eligible to vote.
It’s a vicious cycle. Goan politicians bribe and nurse their migrant vote banks to get elected. Subsequently, they have to keep their migrants happy with measures like regulating illegal slums. In is significant that the Goa Legislative Assembly passed a bill to regularize as many as 50,000 unauthorized structures in the recently concluded session. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has announced that within in few days illegal structures will be regularized. It has also been decided to legalize illegal structures on government and communidade land. Goans have to agitate to protect the identity of Goa. This means no more conversions and Goans taking destiny in their own hands, instead of relying on migrants to do all their dirty work with them.

STRAY DOG WOES
 AND a few stray thoughts on the Supreme Court judgement on stray dogs. The SC has in a major judgement directed the Delhi government, including the national capital region, to remove all stray dogs from the streets. The SC has directed the concerned municipality to accommodate the stray dogs in shelter homes. The decision comes in the wake of repeated reports from all over the country, including Goa, over the increasing number of adults and children being attacked and savaged by stray dogs.
In Goa there have been a large number of cases of even tourists being chased and bitten by stray dogs. What lovers of stray dog do not seem to understand is that an infected stray dog’s bite can quickly lead to rabies, which is the very serious, deadly affliction. Surely the lives of humans, including children are far more important than the welfare of stray dogs?
I think it is right that the SC has emphasized that our streets be freed from the menace of stray dogs. Contrary to claims, rabies has yet been eradicated. Even if a healthy dog bites a human being he/she is advised to take the 14 very painful injections for protection against rabies.
I have personal experience and knowledge of what happens in a rabies case which turned fatal. My one time Man Friday Ashraf was scratched by a stray dog while he was delivering milk to residents in Dona Paula. Within a few hours he started manifesting the symptoms of rabies, caused by an infected dog bite. The most common symptom of rabies is that the victim starts feeling very thirsty but is unable to drink or swallow any water. Private hospitals refuse to treat rabies, which can be very infectious.
In the case of Ashraf a senior doctor in the medicine department, Dr Edwin Gomes, refused to accept that Ashraf was suffering from rabies. Doctor Gomes had got Ashraf dumped at the Institute of Psychiatry until I managed to get him transferred to the Campal Hospital. Unfortunately, it was too late and Ashraf died of extensive internal bleeding.
Anyone can be the victim of a dog bite and rabies. People who love dogs should adopt them and stop feeding stray dogs. It is not true that the dog will not bite the hands that feed them.

RESTAURANT FRONTAGE
 AND a few stray thoughts on popular restaurants and eateries which are death traps when you have to climb up to them. Last week on day I ventured out for a shave and afterwards decided to visit an old favorite Tato’s near the Garcia garden to enjoy a “batatvada” and “puri-bhaji.” Tato’s is an old heritage Goan restaurant, and created more seating space on the first floor.
The steps up leading to the narrow wooden staircase are wretchedly dangerous. At peak hours there’s quite a rush to Tato’s for it enjoys a large patronage, many of whom are seniors. There is no space for more than two people and two thin people going up and down the steep staircase and you have to be very careful. People have to wait for one and another to go up and down taking turns. There is every chance of toppling down the stairs. If there is an emergency like a fire due to short circuit or something else unexpected, there would be a rush and a stampede to come down and get out.
But this is true not only of Tato’s but of several other restaurants in Panaji and other urban areas of Goa. Many local eateries have a non-air-conditioned ground floor and an air-conditioned first floor. All of them, including popular places like Kamat’s or Navtara have some of the most terrible frontages outside to negotiate and then there are the narrow staircases to the first floor which may be just attic space cleaned up and put to use to entertain more customers. I have never seen a fire extinguisher in any of these eating places.
Perhaps the safest of the Goan “puri-bhaji, mirchi bhoji” eateries so Café Real, which is spacious and has enough seating space and also customers can move in and out easily in case of any emergency. Before a tragedy takes place, we hope the Panjim Municipality and the fire department will look onto the matter and do something to make going in and out of the popular eateries and restaurants safer. Owners themselves should take the necessary steps.

INSURANCE COMPANIES
 AND a few stray thoughts on both government and private insurance companies refusing to offer any help patients suffering from critical illnesses. Insurance companies will not entertain you if you have a history of diabetes or cardiac problems. Every insurance company, whether in the private or public sector, has a critical illness clause. Which basically means that they only insure healthy people. There is no insurance coverage for patients who become infected with tuberculosis of the lungs or spine. Even though TB is a most expensive disease to treat on a long term basis.
TB patients also suffer huge loss of daily wages if they’re migrant settlers in Goa and find themselves infected by the TB bacteria (it is reported that one in four people have latent TB in them and although they may be immune they can spread the disease easily to others with poor immunity resistance). It is terrible to be struck down by TB for it is very debilitating and it’s a long haul to recovery with medications and regular check-ups before one is totally cured. Relapses can also be fatal.
Just as there is no insurance coverage of patients suffering TB there is none for patients who have serious respiratory problems such as asthma. The most expensive surgeries, like those of open-heart surgery and kidney transplants or even cancer, are not covered by insurance companies. Even in cases where you have some kind of partial insurance coverage, third-party agents hired by the insurance company will try to reject your claim on the pitiful flimsy grounds. If you are down with a serious health problem in India, you will be crippled both financially and physically.

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