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Celebrating Narkasur
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Celebrating Narkasur

Stray Thoughts October 17, 2025 , by

AND a few stray thoughts for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday preceding Diwali which falls on Oct20. For Goans Diwali is more about burning the effigy of the demon Narkasur than a festival lights. Traditionally, Diwali is generally celebrated to commemorate the victory of good over evil. Preparations for the festival of Diwali amongst the Hindu community starts almost two weeks before Narak Chaturdashi, the next day is Laxmi Puja, Diwali, Bhaubeej and so on for a lot of north Indians.
Last Sunday a group of very young boys in the age group of 10 to 12 years came knocking on my door asking for donations to create their effigy of Narkasur. At the time of writing this groups of young and not-so-young are busy putting together their various effigies of Narkasur across smart city Panjim and elsewhere in Goa. As usual it is the politicians in Goa who compete with one another to sponsor these monster and ferocious giant effigies of Narkasur. Not surprisingly Panjim MLA Atanasio Babush Monserrate is the chief patron of Narkasur effigies in Panjim.
There was a time when the late chief minister of Goa, Manohar Parrikar, sponsored the Narkasur effigy at Mala near the Mahalakshmi temple year after year. Parrikar believed that the demon Narkasur was his lucky mascot because the young boys of Mala ensured his first victory in the Assembly election from Panjim. Parriker came to Panjim after he was defeated both in the Mapusa constituency and the north Goa parliamentary seat.
Then there are the Narkasur competitions in all major urban areas and even in the villages of Goa compete. The Narkasur effigy competition rivalry and revelry is accompanied by ear-shattering crackers going off in the early hours after midnight around 4am (Dhanteras morning). Never mind that there is a Supreme Court judgement suggesting that everyone switches to “green fireworks” whatever they may be.
Every year the Sanatan Sanstha people raise objections to what is wrongly or rightly perceived as the glorification of the demon Narkasur. Indeed, we remember the time when some of the Sanatan Sanstha folk allegedly lit a few bombs very close to where the then chief minister, Digambar Kamat, was presiding over a Narkasur effigy burning event in the heart of commercial capital of Goa Margao. Come this Diwali Goa will go up in flames anew with the competitive burning and noisemaking various Narkasur effigies. It is not surprising perhaps that the burning of Narkasur effigies is celebrated with the imbibing of several doses of good old feni.

CADBURY DIWALI ANYONE?
AND talking of Diwali, Cadbury is giving a new twist to Diwali gifting. The UK-based giant chocolate multinational is offering what it calls “fusion mithai” for Diwali. This Diwali Cadbury chocolates will be available in the flavors of “crispy rabri, badam barfi, kesar badam.” Diwali is an occasion for sharing sweets and savories in true Indian tradition and spirit. Now not only traditional mithai shops but even the 5-star hotels enter the fray offering designer or artisanal mithai. The Marriott Resort Panjim for one has been offering festively designed mithai boxes with an array of exquisite designer dry fruit mithai for the last few years. The only problem is the prices for Diwali hampers in the 5-star hotel bakery cafeterias are beyond the reach of aam aadmi budgets for Diwali.
A much more affordable option is the wide range of Amul mithai which has entered the market. The largest milk producer in the country is offering a range of traditional Indian mithai at all its outlets. For Diwali decorations visit the Goa Handicrafts Corporation outlets where you’ll find some very real finds. Nowadays of course the kids do not have the patience to create their own kandeel at home, this used to be an adventure in my childhood. Now kandeels come readymade in local shops including grocery outlets. Help a good cause by buying Diwali diya and kandeel from special schools like Disha — which is having a sale in the Panjim Gymkhana over the weekend.

CYBER SCAMS
AND a few stray thoughts on Cyber scams claiming new victims everyday in Goa. These are now going beyond mere digital arrest threats. The digital arrest scams involve a faje policeman calling you on your mobile and claiming that drugs have been found in your baggage or parcel and you will be arrested unless you pay the bribe. We are told the latest in cyber scams is the marketing of fake shares of companies . You must have read in the newspapers about the senior citizen in Mapusa who was cheated off almost Rs4 crore in the guise of a company inviting purchasing of shares offering very high returns. It has now been established that it was a fake company. Even otherwise very responsible adults fall prey to digital scams despite repeated warnings from the Reserve Bank of India.
The smart mobile phone has become the tool of scamsters. Forget about images of top industrialists and even sportsmen and singers trying to persuade you to invest in get rich schemes. You cannot get two minutes of peace on your phone without a pop-up offering you a gambling opportunity. Whenever I open my smart phone I get a message to have a go on a roulette wheel, spin and win Rs5,000 instantly. The moment I spin the wheel I’m told I’ve won Rs25,000. This is followed by a request to download a gambling app from the internet. Never mind that the Finance Ministry claims that all online gambling has been banned.

PORVORIM HIGHWAY CHAOS
AND a few stray thoughts on the continuing chaos in Porvorim following the ongoing work on the elevated six-lane highway. There was a trial run on Monday, Oct 14 for the closure of the main CHOGM road and diversion of traffic to facilitate early completion of the highway. The trial run was a huge failure with traffic on the highway coming to a halt, since the narrow service roads could not take the load of traffic. The Google geographical index warned that it could take up to three hours just to cross the Porvorim stretch for passengers travelling in either direction, to Panjim or Mapusa. The highway stretches which are proposed for shut down are the road by Holy Family Church junction from the famous restaurant “O’Coqueiro.” This arterial road is the main approach for the north Goa tourism hub of Calangute, Candolim and Baga.
With the tourism season getting off to a big start into the festivities this Diwali weekend the blocking of the Porvorim highway would be a major inconvenience to both residents and tourists. It is unfortunate that fueled by MLA Rohan Khaunte more and more projects are being planned for Porvorim, all far beyond carrying capacity. Originally, Porvorim was conceived as a counter magnet to ease congestion in Panjim city. Porvorim has now become bigger and larger than even Panjim although it does not even have a firm grounding in basic infrastructure. A twin square is proposed in Porvorim although it has yet to be given the status of a city.

PORTUGUESE ENGINEERING SKILLS
AND a few stray thoughts on the growing perception that whatever was built by the earlier colonial Portuguese regime has proved to be stronger and far more durable than whatever made in India and Goa in the post- Liberation period. Some of the most iconic structures in Goa were made during Portuguese era and this includes the Ribandar bypass from old Goa to Panjim, which came up in the 18th century after the Portuguese regime decided to shift the capital from old Goa to Panjim. The causeway has stood the test of time for over 400 years. So have the GMC buildings at Ribandar and Panjim.
Ribandar was the home of the maternity wing of the old GMC before it was leased out to the Goa Institute of Management. The magnificent old GMC complex at Campal promenade has been taken over by the Entertainment Society of Goa. We recently discovered that one of the oldest filtration and water storage projects was commissioned by the Portuese in 1907. The lake in Chimbel used to supply water to Panjim from the purification plant which is now lying in ruins. It is not widely known that the Opa Waterworks and filtration plant was actually set up by Portuguese engineers over a century ago. Portuguese roads and places like the Mapusa market and the Cabo Raj Bhavan are over a 100 years old.
The Mapusa market came up during the tenure of the patriarch Dr Pinto Rosario, who was the mayor of Bardez at one time, apart from being the father of Dr Sidney Pinto who is widely recognized as the “godfather” of the many babies he delivered in the Porvorim areas. The Mapusa market was constructed by the late industrialist VM Salgaocar if we remember right. Given the fact that post-Liberation structures like the Junta House are crumbling today, it is clear that pre-colonial structures were built to last, unlike the post-Liberation buildings.

GOA, PARADISE FOR PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES
AND a few stray thoughts on private universities given permission to set up campus in Goa in recent years. The so called Peace University has been given a huge plot of land in Morjim. The latest land grabber in the name of education is the much advertised Parul University from Gujarat. Goa has long since been colonized by elite educational institutions, including the Zee group and the Sunshine group, which offer high end education facilities of course at a price. There are even proposals for English public schools to set up campuses in Goa.
Everyone wants a piece of Goa real estate. They seem to be encouraged by the double engine BJP government with Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant insisting that they will offer Goans a wider choice in learning. And the best quality education in the world if not in the country. Obviously, there is a lot of money in Goa as people are deserting government schools and even government-aided schools for these elite educational schools and institutions.

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