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BJP GIFTS CIRCUS INSTEAD OF BREAD TO GOANS!
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BJP GIFTS CIRCUS INSTEAD OF BREAD TO GOANS!

Stray Thoughts October 11, 2025 , by

AND a few stray thoughts and a few observations for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday following the week when supposedly French queen Marie Antoinette-style, the double-engine government of Goa decided that a circus will divert the attention of Goa from bad roads and the assaults on social activists. Minister of PWD Digamber Kamat reiterated that Goa will go ahead with hosting the Formula 4 motor sports event in Mormugoa, and the budget for the Formula 4 event is a whopping Rs127crore.
The first priority of the PWD minister is to get the roads in Mormugao repaired so that the Formula 4 event does not become an endurance test. Interestingly, various tyre companies have been organizing off-road events which test the skill of the drivers in pothole-filled and other difficult terrain. The MRF off-road challenge was conducted during the monsoon season earlier last month. The Formula 4 event is going by the name itself a very far cry from the Formula 1 racing championship, which features concept cars of the top automobile companies in the world.
The Formula 4 is a poor cousin featuring no big time racing champions or automobile companies. Very few Indians have made it to the Formula 1 with Karthik being one of the few rare examples. The formula 4 racing is supposed to be attractive to motoring enthusiasts from all over the world. It is being projected as an international tourism event. This is part of the Tourism Department’s campaign to make Goa an international tourism destination for elite events. This may boost the earnings of hotels and other segments of the tourism industry. The flip side is that it may give Mormugoa world class roads which the organizers insist on. Besides the Formula 4 events, over the last weekend Goa played host to the International Purple Festival targeted at persons with disabilities.
The Tourism Department of Rohan Khaunte inaugurated a ramp at the Miramar beach so that wheelchairs can access the beach during the purple festival. Never mind that many of the events in Goa like the International Film Festival of India are not accessible to people with disabilities. The Entertainment Society of Goa complex is as yet to get any ramps for the disabled of society although IFFI is two decades old. Similarly, at Kala Academy and many other 5-star hotel venues, the powers-that-be are not conscience of being wheelchair-friendly.
On the eve of the Purple Fest the Disability Association of Goa called for the resignation of the Minister for Disabilities who is hosting the event. Since Sunburn has reportedly decided to shift Mumbai this year the Goa government is organizing its own massive electronic event in December and has called for tenders for the same. Incidentally, the forthcoming Formula 4 motor racing is being taken care of by the architect of Sunburn, “Harry” Harinder Singh of Percept Advertising, who is an old friend of the Goa government ministers.
AJEEB GOA
FOR a Saturday following the week when Goa demonstrated again why it is considered a “ajeeb” or unique. It may be remembered that it was the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru who described Goa as “ajeeb” when it rejected the Congress party, which claims credit for the Liberation of Goa in 1961.
MAY THE ANIMALS BE BLESSED TOO!
ON Monday, October 6 the Church of St Francis of Assissi in Chicalim in Mormugoa district saw a huge congregation of every kind of canine species. This ranged from boxers to Pekinese to the more ferocious breed of dogs like pitbulls. The dogs all queued up to be blessed by the controversial parish priest Fr Bolmax Pereira, to remember St Francis Assissi, the saint who was a lover of animals. St Francis of Assissi is the patron saint of animals and ecology, he inspired the Franciscan order which is one of the largest in the world. In fact, the present Pope Francis belongs to the Franciscan order. Needless to say all the canines or dogs barked with discomfort when the priest sprinkled holy water on them. We believe this is the first time in Goa or anywhere in India that dogs have been blessed by a church parish priest. Goa has the largest collection of saints than any other part of India.
On the Feast of St Columbus, automobiles are blessed. At the start of the fishing season, the St Peter’s Church at Candolim which is on the sea front, organizes blessings of the sea to ensure safe voyage for sailors. There is even a saint of lost causes called St Jude. Every year there is a unique procession of saints in Goa Velha where the effigies of over 40 saints are carried in a procession. The church recently canonized a 16-year-old computer nerd for popularizing the word of the lord.
DEADLY COUGH SYRUP ‘COLDRIF’
AND a few stray thoughts on the deadly cough syrup “Coldrif” which has claimed the lives of over two dozen children in hospitals in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The cough syrup was found to be heavily adulterated and the MP government has ordered the transfer of all the doctors who prescribed this cough syrup, reportedly manufactured by Sresan Pharma of Tamil Nadu.
This is not the first instance of cough syrups having toxic solvents like ethylene glycol which is linked to children’s deaths in many African countries also. A batch of cough syrup which has caused deaths globally was made by Maiden Pharma from India. The scam prompted WHO alerts for cough syrups manufactured in India and exported worldwide. The Food & Drugs organization in Goa and several other states have issued warnings against these cough syrups and banned their sale and distribution.
FOOD DELIVERY COMPANIES
THE food delivery companies like Zomato and Swiggy may have made it easier for the sit-at-home types to order in their breakfast, lunch and dinner. In the colony in which I stay the food delivery guys can be spotted early in the morning till late in the night with their bikes and delivery hot boxes. There have of course been a lot of controversies over the exploitation of these gig workers as the delivery boys are called.
Interestingly, they are also considered a cause for many road accidents, as the guys in a hurry tend to step on the accelerator and manouvre their bikes speedily on bad roads to fulfill as many food delivery orders as possible, as they work on a commission basis.
It may also be observed that the food delivery companies are the largest generators of plastic waste, for all the food delivered comes in plastics ranging from boxes complete with plastic spoons, knives, wrappings, etc. Not surprisingly the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) have found that the food delivery and E-commerce companies are adding 1,500 kg of additional garbage every day in Panjim. This is true not only of the food companies but also of other E-commerce companies like Amazon, Flipcard, Myntra.
The flip side to all this is that there is a sharp fall in people visiting not only restaurants, but even malls and the retail showrooms to buy their consumer goods — because the mod con claim is that they can have it all delivered at their doorstep in 20 minutes. From instamarts like Blinkit.
SINDOOR KHEL RITUAL
AND a few stray thoughts on the communities which are relocated in Goa making their presence felt in the media. It may be recalled that all the leading dailies in Goa carried photographs of the “Sindoor Khel” ritual practiced by the Bengali community just before immersion of the goddess Durga “pratima” or image.
On Tuesday, October 7 “The Times of India” issue celebrated the Gujarati Samaj of Panjim and its Navaratri. It is perhaps a coincidence that a leading figure of the Gujarati Samaj is former dyputy mayor Yatin Parekh, he is also a close associate of Babush Monserrate.
The TOI was the media partner for the Dandiya Masti event this year and sponsored the prizes. Mayor of Panjim Rohit Monserrate gave away the prizes. The Dandiya Masti winners were Meethi Chotalia with Priyanka Gangani, neither of the names sound very Gujarati to us. Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte and Rajya Sabha MP Sadanand Tanavade were guests of honor at the dandiya masti gala event. The expatriate communities are asserting themselves culturally not only in Goa but even in distant London where the new mayor of London is Vasco boy Sadiq Khan.
BIHAR ELECTIONS
AND a final stray thought for a Saturday on the elections in Bihar scheduled for the first week of the coming November. The elections in Bihar have been marred by large scale rigging of the electoral rolls allegedly by the Election Commission, as claimed by Rahul Gandhi. The Election Commission has allegedly left out over 20 lakh names during the special revision of the electoral rolls.
Bihar continues to be in the grip of dynastic succession with Tejashwi, the son of Mulayam Singh Yadav who leads the “mahaghatbandhan” against Nitish Kumar, who has extended support to the BJP. The established patriarchs are being challenged by the master election strategist Prashant Kishore, who has entered the fray with his own party. The Prashant Kishore Jan Suraj Party claims it will form the next government in Bihar. The Prashant Kishore magic did not work for the Aam Aadmi Party in Goa in the 2017 election.

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