Home / Feb 07- Feb 13, 2026 / Stray Thoughts / KIRAN THAKUR RECLAIMS MARATHI IN GOA!
KIRAN THAKUR RECLAIMS MARATHI IN GOA!
No Comments on KIRAN THAKUR RECLAIMS MARATHI IN GOA!

KIRAN THAKUR RECLAIMS MARATHI IN GOA!

Feb 07- Feb 13, 2026, Stray Thoughts February 6, 2026 , by

AND a few stray thoughts for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday following the week when owner and editor of Marathi daily “Tarun Bharat” — Kiran Thakur – reclaimed Marathi in Goa. For a Saturday following the week when on the frenzy of students and parents with the shifting of the academic year which has been pre-poned to February. For a Saturday following the week when on the increasing harassment of foreign women tourists on the beaches of Goa. For a Saturday following the week when on the increasing harassment of foreign women tourists on the beaches of Goa. For a Saturday following the week when on double standards when it comes to ordering demolition of illegal structures.
 AND a few stray thoughts on when owner and editor of Marathi daily “Tarun Bharat” — Kiran Thakur – reclaimed Marathi in Goa. Ironically, the largest book fair since Liberation organized in Goa, is not by the State government or the Konkani Bhasha Mandal, but by Kiran Thakur in collaboration with the National Book Trust of India. Or maybe it is the other way around with the NBT aligning with Kiran Thakur who is the chief patron of the ongoing mega book festival at Bandodkar grounds in Panjim.
The book festival itself is ecliptic and not only covers the entire range of books published in India and abroad, but even Konkani translations and original works published by the NBT. The NBT has been holding exhibitions in several state capitals with the exception of Goa until now. This is because nobody from Goa approached the NBT or was willing to sponsor such an exhibition.
But having said this from the sound of it the book festival is largely a Marathi books and literature festival. It is not a coincidence that the chairman of the NBT, Prof Milind Sudhakar Marathe, is a well-known literary figure from Maharashtra. Speakers during the much delayed inauguration of the book festival by chief guest who was Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant spoke in Marathi.
Students had been bussed down but most of them had to leave before the formal inauguration because it had became too late for them. The 4.30pm finally started off at 6pm when the CM arrived. And in any case the timing of the book festival is not right as it comes in the middle of the ongoing exams for the 10th and 12th standard in Goa. So much so the student community cannot really attend the book festival happily.
There is a separate section for children with many activities chalked up but we wonder whether today’s children are addicted more to their books or to their smart phones, or they will ever return to books as before. It is not the fault of the children. They are just imitating their parents who too have given up on books. Though the book fair is also touted as a celebration of Sardar Vallabhai Patel (India’s first home minister) and Vande Mataram, there were several cut-out of Narendra Modi and none of Sardar Patel. Which is not surprising as for events organized by Central bodies Modinama is compulsory.
This book festival is in competition with the literature festival to be held later in February by the International Centre Goa for there are also literary events with authors. The choice of speakers is far more varied and eclectic. There is only was India’s only astronaut Sintinshu Shukla who is the first Indian astronaut and air force officer who has been to the international space station. There is also Avika Gor of Balika Badu fame who has now all grown up into an adult actor.
I feel nostalgic because I used to watch Balika Badu which is on the theme of child marriage very assiduously. What surprises me is that a large number of IT professionals and even senior lawyers seem to be taking to literature and writing books. There is Sam Batra too who is a leading bankruptcy lawyer. And of course as with everything else in Goa no festival is complete without a food court and dance and music. Eyebrows are raised over the fact that one of the few food stalls is by a lady from Sawantwadi. Are the Sawants of Goa from Sawantwadi? Mercifully, there is no sale of liquor at the food court. The inauguration evening entertainment program started with a Kathak dance centering around Lord Ganesh.
The revival of Marathi comes at a time when the language is waning. The principle bastion of Marathi were the government primary schools of Goa, started by the first chief minister Dayanand Bandodkar. Goa’s first CM started over 2,000 Marathi medium primary schools to make up for the neglect of education by the colonial Portuguese. In the colonial era education was limited to the equivalent of 10th standard in Portuguese and there were no schools in Marathi, let alone Konkani. But the Marathi schools are closing down one by one as everyone is opting for private medium schools.

SHIFTING ACADEMIC YEAR
AND a few stray thoughts on the frenzy of students and parents with the shifting of the academic year which has been pre-poned to February. This follows the shifting of the academic year beginning April-May from the traditional start in June. Till last year the exams were held in March, providing for a vacation in April and May which are the hottest months in Goa and India. Never mind that the opening of schools coincided with the arrival of the monsoon rains.
With the academic year pre-poned to February now, understandably the exams, including the crucial 10th and 12th exams, have also been pre-poned to February. So much so that February, the traditional carnival month which was a relaxed time for students and parents, has now become hectic. I know of several friends who have taken leave to hold their children’s hands while they appear for the crucial 10th and 12th standard exams. A high percentage of 99% is needed to get admission to the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology or in government medical colleges.
Though the pressure does not reduce even if you get admission to the IIT or to the prestigious technology colleges like the Birla Institute of Technology, indeed, the pressure intensifies as dramatized by the mounting number of suicides at BITs Pilani. The latest was a suicide by an undergraduate girl who was studying electronics and communications engineering at BITs Pilani. This is likely to increase the anxiety of parents from outside Goa who have never been keen on admitting their children to institutes in Goa. This is because of the fear that they will become alcoholics or drug addicts. This leads to colleges like BITs virtually keeping students as prisoners within the campus. At BITs the curfew time for students is 7pm, after which they may not leave the campus.
Meanwhile, the competitive pressure on young people has seen as quantum leap. From this year there will be board exams not only for 10th and 12th but from the 5th standard onwards. No time for guitar or karate lessons let alone sports. The days of leisurely schooldays are over as today’s kids will be subjected to competitive pressure.

DESI & FOREIGN TOURISTS
AND a few stray thoughts on the increasing harassment of foreign women tourists on the beaches of Goa. Social media posts show a group of domestic tourists and migrants employed surrounding a foreign tourist attired in a 2-piece bikini on Calangute beach. Our desi tourists are not merely content with looking but are seen trying to touch the young foreign woman tourist inappropriately and forcing her to take selfies with them.
There are other images of domestic tourists going into the sea water under the pretext of having a swim and then while enjoying their swim clicking photographs of foreign tourists. Problem is most of our desi tourists come from small conservative towns where they see women more or less fully covered from head to toe and in Goa they will not admit that foreign women tourists do not respond to their overtures . On the contrary they will boast of their mythical conquests back home. This triggerS the passions of more domestic tourists from the hinterland and it reinforces Goa’s image as a sin destination where everything goes or “chalta hai.”
But it is not just domestic tourists who pose a threat to Goa’s original culture. There are an increasing numbers of so called “intimacy workshops” conducted by foreigners in various parts of Goa and particularly in Arambol and Morgim beach side properties. Most of them are just thinly disguised call girl rackets offering tantric massages and something called intimacy training. There are dozens of social media posts inviting people for such fancy workshops to work out disoriented relationship traumas and these come with a huge price tag.
Despite the “Goan Observer” exposing them it doesn’t look the government or the Tourism Department is interested in taking any action to spoil the now full blown image of Goa as a sin destination. It’s not just curious domestic tourists but also bold and the beautiful and rich and powerful who seek Goa to get away with anything.

And a few stray thoughts on double standards when it comes to ordering demolition of illegal structures. It has been acknowledged that the Nizari Beach Resort owned by Calangute MLA Michael Llobo is illegal. Despite orders from the high court for demolition of the resort’s illegal extensions nobody has yet dared to bulldoze the illegal extensions. Recently, Michael Lobo himself approached the high court and promised that he would be a good boy and demolish the illegal structures himself. But he has asked time till end-May by which time it would have ensured that the resort will have enjoyed the best of the tourism season.
This is not the only resort with illegal extensions against which demolition orders are pending. Lobo and his son have also been accused of putting up an illegal wall all around their property in Vagator.

NEVERENDING TAXI WOES
AND a last stray thought for yet another Saturday. Goa’s tourism taxi mafia is at it again. Imagine having to pay Rs3,000 as fare for a short ride from Calangute to Candolim just next door. This is how much a taxi driver charged a foreign couple on a holiday in Goa. A lot of foreign tourists like to split their holiday between the Candolim-Calangute beach belt and Palolem down south Goa or Canacona beachsides. The taxi ride from Candolim to Palolem can cost anywhere between Rs5,000 to Rs7,000. For that amount a tourist may go to Mumbai and come back.
It is the taxi mafia which is driving tourists away from Goa. There is no political will to introduce a trustworthy App based taxi service and Goa Miles is not permitted to operate by the private taxi drivers mafia. The biggest friend of the private taxi mafia is of course Michael Lobo, his argument is that foreigners paying in British pounds or American dollars and dollars can well afford the cab tariffs as cab tariffs are much higher back in London. Which is actually true because a London a trip from Heathrow airport to the business district can set you back to the equivalent of Rs.10,000 in Indian rupees.
Of course the tube services are so efficient that you don’t have to take a taxi from Heathrow airport. Heathrow is directly connected with all parts of London by the excellent underground tube railway service.

No related posts.

Search

Back to Top