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DEV BOREM KORUM… FOR SHARING MY JOURNEY OF 43 YEARS IN GOA!
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DEV BOREM KORUM… FOR SHARING MY JOURNEY OF 43 YEARS IN GOA!

July 04- July 10, 2026, Stray Thoughts July 3, 2026 , by

AND a few stray thoughts for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday following the week when I want to thank again the people who helped me most during my journey of over 43 years in Goa, beginning 1983, till today.
AND a few stray thoughts on the people who helped me most during my journey of over 43 years in Goa from 1983 to till now. I should perhaps start with Devika Sequeira, who was my first chief reporter when I started the English version of the century old OHeraldo. Devika had worked in Bombay with the magazine For You and was the only Goan member of the core team. Devika Sequeira was the daughter of the Dr Frank Sequeira, the low-key brother of the more famous Jack Sequeira who played a major role in the Opinion Poll. Devika knew everybody in Goa and plugged me into the Goan ethos. She introduced me to Clube Vasco da Gama where many young Goan professionals used to come after work for a drink and to network. It was at the Clube Vasco da Gama that I first met Ferdinho Rebello, who went on to become Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court.
I travelled all around Goa with Devika Sequeira whenever a major incident happened. I remember going to Cuncolim for the first time, to visit the scene of the crime of a triple murder case, where three senior citizen sisters were murdered for their property.
The local MLA, senior police officer and others were allegedly involved. Devika was my star reporter during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Retreat (CHOGM) in Goa. When 52 heads of state and government were in tiny Goa. I recall that Devika asked the husband of the then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Denis Thatcher, if he was attending the dinner for the spouses hosted by the governor. Devika only got a rude reply. Devika went on to become the correspondent of Deccan Herald and I think she has retired from journalism now although in truth good journalists never retire.
In the early days in the OHeraldo it was Fr Marcos Rui Óscar Coutinho e Quadros who was my constant companion. Fr Oscar had a mini-Volkswagon car in which he drove me around. The OHeraldo management never provided a car for its editor throughout the 20 years I worked for it from 1983 to 2003. Fr Oscar took me to the ancestral house of an aunt of his called Maria Gracious in Loutalim. Fr Oscar happened to be with me the day before I was assaulted with iron rods close to my basement flat, behind the police station (this was late evening on September 16, 1989). The next day he was among the first to come to the hospital to check on me. When Dr Wilfred D’Souza virtually ordered me to move to Mumbai for treatment of my post-trauma injuries, I was not mobile then.

STEROIDS SAGA
IN FACT, I was barely conscious when the then Head of the Department of Medicine Dr NGK Sharma abruptly withdrew the heavy doses of steroids he had put me on. I was shifted on a stretcher tied down to the floor of the Indian Airlines plane all the way to Bombay. To accommodate the stretcher, three rows of seats are removed. Fr Oscar accompanied me on the flight and dropped me in an ambulance to the Jaslok Hospital at Peddar road in Bombay. This was way back in 1989.
 Which brings me to Dattaraj Salgaocar. The then young Dattaraj Salgaocar had come to visit me at the Goa Medical College & Hospital when I was in a critical condition after the brutal assault on me by a local Santa Cruz goons gang (who were given a “supari” by the Speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly Dayanand Narvekar). Dattaraj was there with me at the GMC room when Dr Wilfred D’Souza told me that the GMC would kill me and I should shift to Mumbai. It was Dattaraj Salgaocar who organized my transfer to Mumbai on a stretcher on an Indian Airlines flight. Dattaraj’s brother-in-law Dr MH Kamat was the urologist at the Jaslok Hospital. Through Dattaraj it was arranged for me to be taken care of under the supervision of Dr Noshir H Wadia, the most prominent neurologist in Mumbai if not all of India. Never mind that Jaslok Hospital could not do anything for me and I had to wait five years before a young doctor Dr S Shrikanta, endocrinologist at the Mallya Hospital in Bangalore finally detoxed me from steroids I was on and later I was told I was a victim of what in medical terms is called differential diagnosis, or mis-diagnosis.
Dattaraj has stood by me throughout my 43 years in Goa. He commissioned me to write a book on the “History of Opinion Poll” in which his father VM Salgaocar played a major role. I have had the privilege of attending the wedding of Dattaraj to Deepti and their son Vikram to Shweana which was more recently.

HELLO, DR JINDAL, MY OLD FRIEND!
I MET Dr Vinay Jindal soon after he joined as a consultant in the Neurosurgery Department in the GMC. This is because of the damage that the assault on me had done, there was a lot of spine damage and possibly a head injury. Dr Jindal, who had moved to Goa from the Chandigarh Institute of Post-Graduate Medicine was then living in the government quarters in St Inez with his wife, Manju, who was a gynacologist. I recall that Divya, his daughter, who was then a 10-year-old, used to stand up on a stool to make tea for us. After work both of us used to go out for a drink at Branco’s Bar at Tamdi Mati at St Inez which now no longer exists. Jindal used to be a very close friend who used to come to my basement flat with the then dean Dr BN Reddy for prolonged evenings. Dr Jindal then went on to become the dean of the GMC.
It is not widely known that it was the then Chief Minister Pratap Singh Raoji Rane, who insisted that Jindal should be appointed as the dean of the Goa Medical College. After a budget session in the Goa Legislative Assembly; Rane, who knew I was a close friend of Jindal, asked me to persuade him to accept the dean’s post. Jindal was more interested in continuing his HOD of the Department of Neurosurgery, which he had set-up single-handedly. Dr Pondraj and Dr Jorsan joined him much later. I recall presenting Dr Jindal with a large Ganesh idol on the day he took over as dean.
More recently, when I had visited a few months ago the present dean, Dr Jai Prakash Tiwari, I was happy to see Lord Ganesh still sitting at the dean’s table there and watching over the dean’s office.
I FIRST met Anil Counte at the Panaji Municipal Market. The government had build a new four-storied market adjacent to the old market. Somebody told me that the market had not been inaugurated because the staircase going up to the upper floors was missing. I enquired as to who had built the new market without a staircase? I was told it was Alcon which was a company formed by two former engineers of the PWD, Anil Counte and Victor Albuquerque. I also called Anil Counte, the then collector of Goa Danny Densponga and Bashik Branco, the then mayor of Panaji, to the market site. The collector was very fit and he climbed up the scaffolding to the top of the building and asked the 140 kg mayor to join him. Anil Counte then explained that there was a dispute about the land on which the staircase was to come up. Anil, became a good friend and hosted many of my birthday parties at the O’Coqueiro restaurant later on in Porvorim. Anil Counte was also the chairperson of my 60th birthday celebration in 2006.
WHICH brings me to Anand Madgavkar. Anand Madgavkar was one of Goa’s earliest activist. Madgavkar owned a deep sea diving and salvage company. He was the one who removed the “River Princess” which had been abandoned at Candolim beach by Anil Madgavkar in front of the Taj Aguada beach resort.
Anand Madgavkar was also the one who organized the water sport facility at Dona Paula. Anil and Anand were the pioneers in introducing Mandovi river cruises with their Paradise cruise boat. Anand Madgavkar was the secretary of the Rajan Narayan 60th birthday celebration. Alas, my good friend Anand succumbed to cancer while still in his early 60s. Till the end he was one very courageous man and in fact sent very warm cheerful messages to friends every morning even while suffering. Both the Madgavkar brothers, Anand and Anil were married to two Catholic sisters.

COMING TO CESAR AND MIMI
I HAVE known Cesar and Mimi Menezes of Carter Wallace for more than 30 years. The CMM group which was headed by Pascoal Menezes has always supported me. Cesar Menezes along with Mimi grew Carter Wallace, the pharma company he inherited to over 50 times the entire turnover of the CMM group. Cesar unlike his late grand old father Pascoal Jose Menezes has perhaps not got adequate recognition for his contribution to corporate Goa and deserves much better. Mimi, his wife, who is an educationalist, taught at the Nirmala Institute of Education for many years and has stood by him through ups and downs. The couple suffered when their six years old son came down with blood cancer and passed away. This inspired them to set up Prateek Memorial Trust which set up a home for the terminally ill in Loutalim in south Goa. Cesar and Mimi have always been a great source of support and encouragement for me.
 Vinod Shirodkar, who is part of the Real group of companies, considers me his hero. The first time we met, quite late in my life, he told me that he had been following me since his school days. I knew his father, Gajanand Shirodkar, who came from Shiroda to Ponda determined to set up a big business empire. The first venture was the Real restaurant in Panaji. The group then diversified into soft drinks and fruit juices. Vinod Shirodkar is a great lover of dogs and was grief-stricken when his dog Kane died. In memory of his beloved Kane, he introduced a new pink berries soft drink also called Kane. Vinod Shirodkar has boosted my morale whenever I felt low.
I first met Mukesh Batra, the homeopath of India, when he was a young doctor. Dr Batra who wanted to write a column on homeopathy for the Mirror magazine, which I was editing in Bombay long ago. I told Mukesh that I had a sinus problem and that I would give him the column if he cured me. I was cured of my sinus and Mukesh wrote his first piece, “The Homeopath is Not A Quack” for me which was published in Mirror. The then superstar Manoj Kumar read the article. Manoj was a fan of both Mirror and Homeopathy. I introduced Manoj Kumar to Mukesh. Manoj Kumar opened the doors of Bollywood to Dr Mukesh Batra. Dr Batra now has more than 500 clinics worldwide, including London and Dubai. He has a home in Thivim in Goa.

MANY FRIENDS
THERE are many other friends who have been part of my journey in Goa. The late CS Mirchandani was a friend getting back to six decades spanning both Mumbai first and then Goa. I met Mirchi (as he was popularly known at the Goa Institute of Management later on) when I was a paying guest in 1970 at the Dadar Parsi Colony; we continued to be best friends till he passed away of heart failure a decade ago in Goa. The person whom I entrusted my heart for safe keeping is the world renowned echo-cardiologist Dr Francisco Colaco, to this day he still monitors a million Goan hearts. There is also social activist and builder Datta Damodar Naik, who has always been a part of a successful battle against BJP, which resulted in the defeat of the late Goa chief minister, Manohar Parrikar. Then there is Dr Audumbar Netalkar of the Manipal Hospital and Dr Marian Godinho who deliver the best of medical advice and who will not charge their poorer patients from all walks of life.
Datta Naik is now a treasurer of the Congress Party. I have to thank Mario Sequeira of Tonia Distilleries whose one book the Goan Observer has published. Dr Sidney Pinto Rosario is my eternal boy scout and the owner of the oldest nursing home in Goa, the Dr Antonio Pinto do Rosario Hospital in Porvorim. Even though he is a senior citizen himself, he unfailingly visits me every birthday. Even crossing the Mandovi river from Porvorim in his car. I would also like to acknowledge the help of Reginald Dias, my chartered accountant and his principal assistant Julio Monteiro who helps in GSTN filing of Goan Observer.

IN CONCLUSION
I SHALL conclude my special 79-going-on-80th birthday Stray Thoughts by a word about my present survival team. My continued survival is thanks to my small team which comprises Gauree Malkarnekar, who credits me for her successful career in journalism and a host of other media people including the capable Vijay D’Souza. There is Heena Nawar who joined me a decade ago as a secretary and now handles everything from designing to finance. A confident young Heena joined me when she was 20 years something and is still there with me a decade later, although part-time now, for she is the mother of a baby girl named Hinza. Then there is Jenny, my part-time helpful maid who goes a long way back to some 30 years, from the time we were living at the Aguiar building at Dona Paula, she came back to look after me in the evening or winter of my life. Every morning she checks my legs and my feet to see if I have knocked and hurt myself on my legs wandering around and applies ointment to fresh injuries and wounds.
Last but not least of all there is Jimmy of course, the angel good Samaritan of Dona Paula, who dedicates his life in the care of several senior citizens with or without health problems. Jimmy drives me around in his rocking Indica car to a doctor, or for a weekly shave, or just for a drive when I feel like it. Sorry, for missing out anyone else, but I must acknowledge the major contribution of my physiotherapist Mrugna Prabhudesai who ensured that I walk again, and my present physiotherapist, Jonathan, who is motivating me to walk around the colony where I live and sometimes much further. I also remember my GMC geriatrics ward physiotherapist Atishri Kenkre who got me walking again after I started recovering from spinal TB and from which I have recovered totally now although I’m not sure about other problems.

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