GOA NEXT IT HUB of INDIA -- A Reality or Just a dream

So we just had the polls and we have visionary idealist Mr. Manohar Parrikar become the CM of the state. So he decides to make the Goa the next IT hub of the country. Let us look at some of points that might go into the favour of this decision and somethings that might not...

An IT industry in Goa seems reality why....

1. The resource Wealth - Goa has always mantained excellent standards of education. We have a large crowd of IT professionals working outside Goa who are eager to come back home. So in terms of resources we can provide this industry with people having excellent skills. Importantly we have a good English speaking crowd which certainly proves a great boon to this industry since most IT projects originate from America or the Europe and the work involves constant communication.

2. The Location - Goa lies at the centre of three major IT hubs of India, Mumbai, Pune & Bangalore. A lot of It work involves a constant travel between two locations and having a center at Goa might well work for the IT companies. Another major benefit of having an IT center in Goa is that it would be that it would ease the pressure off which the IT industries have created on these cities in terms of housing and commutation.

3. Human Developement - Goa has mantained high standards in terms of urbanisation and human development which certainly would attract people to work here.

4. A sustainable industry - IT industry certainly scores over the unreliable tourism industry and the exhaustive mining industry. The need to shift focus from these two tarditional industries replete with drawbacks to a more sustainable industry has always been felt. An economy dependant on the IT industry appears a much more stable economy. It generates a much greater employment and is also a much cleaner alternative than the mining industry.

An IT industry in Goa still a distant dream....

1. Unstable Politics- Politics is still a considerable headache to this plan. We have one party supporting it and the other opposing this move. To make matters worse most the politicos are still either directly or indirectly connected with the mining industry. A stable IT industry would soon diminish the over dependance of the mining industry on the the economy and most political big wigs and the mining barons may try to lobby against this move. Their method is sure fire, they would certainly indoctrine the people with the ill effects of this move and we might see a tremendous back lash from the people of Goa opposing this move.

2. Traditionalism - Goans have always mantained a very sussegad approach to their lives. This may prove a disaster to the IT industry. Well you may ask me how. Consider living in Pune, we always mantain very high levels of professionalism by being on time to work, by always completing work on time, by working under high levels of stress etc. I am not sure whether Goans would forego their very lazy habits to embrace the fast paced world of IT. Another very disturbing aspect of the Goan life are the number of social gatherings and family functions one has to attend which puts a huge pressure on professional commitments. ( I had personally faced this facet of life when i worked in Kolkata, just like the Goans the Bengalis too do not miss their social commitments and that strains their professional output).

3. Regionalism - Sadly even though we are highly liberal in our thinking we have still not embraced immigrancy in the right way. We still refer to non goans by derogatory terms like bhingta, bhiknakar, bhaile etc. In fact we too are planning a an IT industry with just Goans in mind. We need to understand that having a IT industry requires a more rational thinking and the success of this industry depends upon how much regionalism we can do away with.

4. Infrastructure - Infrastructure in Goa does not seem adequate enough in terms of housing and commutation required by the IT industry.The sever scarcity of land still appears a major problem. I am unsure how Goa would tackle a major inflow of people.


The Verdict

When i first started writing this article i struggled to find points that might support the idea of Goa as the next IT hub. The drawbacks were far too numerous to list down. There are far too many dead ends we might encounter while making this plan work. In my opinion this idea still appears a distant dream for all Goans. Though the IT industry appears a far more beneficial then the other flourishing industries of Goa but the Goans have still been too pessimistic about the benefits offered.

Rantings!!!

So cool we just had another Indian win the Miss Asia-Pacific. That takes India's medal tally to 5 miss worlds, 2 miss universe and 3 miss asia pacific. They have certainly changed India, made tall promises only to tell the women of india how ugly they look and how using the cosmetics they endorse would make them beautiful. Made some stupid films and in fact hardened our beliefs that women in a cinema are nothing more than a glamour object.

So what am i ranting about. It was May 14th, 1931 when a Albanian woman of the same age as the women who won the pageants decided to denounce the material world. It was the same woman clad in cotton sareewith blue border and armed with determination started serving the destitute. She made India her home and the sufferings as her own.Lepers from Calcutta, Siege of Beirut, Spitak Earthquake of Armenia, the droughts of Ethiopia and the woman proved how much strength she has.

True she did not have the beauty of a nymph but she had the heart of a God. True she does not live on the hoardings selling fairness creams but lives in our heart realising dreams.

The hunter who killed the lord

I had mouths to feed, and woodlands to wander,
I felt tired as longed to sleep like a log.
I had nothing left and could here the rumblings,
mocking birds laughing at me as i stand not to collapse.

And i see a foot of the deer as i look through the shrubs,
i turn my eyes to the lord above.
I lift the bow and point the arrow,
with determination i would never miss.

I shoot and i see a human falling,
As i clear the mist from my eyes,
i see the human with the blue skin,
curse and i have just shot the lord.

With the i fulfilling the prophecy,
of a hurt woman who lost her hundred sons,
in a war which the lord could have saved,
for i am who just started the age of darkness.

Miss you Miss Fonseca

“Be gentle and sympathetic to me today Miss Fonseca … I’ve just paid my taxes”

So was born Miss Fonseca the sexy and the buxom secretary to a temperamental boss. Probably the best creation of  Mario João Carlos do Rosario de Brito Miranda affectionately known to the world as Mario Miranda or simply Mario. Mario was born on 2 May 1926 in Daman, the erstwhile Portuguese colony, to devout Goan Catholic Parents of Saraswat Brahmin origin. His ancestral surname was Sardessai before being converted to Christianity in the 18th century and the Miranda’s had a ancestral house in the picturesque village of Loutulim in Goa which was featured in Shyam Benegal’s cult classic Trikaal.

As Mario remembers the blank book his mother gave him to stop him from sketching on the house walls and he fondly calls it his “Diary”. His early cartoons displayed a penchant for the Goan life with sketches of “Carriera” (Public Buses in Goa during the Portuguese time), “Tavernas” , “Busqabeatas”(The gossiping spinster), the awestruck pig carried on a horizontal pole to be roasted for the Fest, Mestre Santana and his choir, Babali Borcar the barber with a cynical expression and the ofcourse the Goan Fish market with the bosomy “kharvins”(Fish-sellers).

Mario had no formal training in art. Though he tried architecture at one point in his life but lost interest every soon. He joined architecture just to please his parents.

My early memories of Mario started with an decrepit copy of “Mario’s Goa” published in 1965 that I had in my home. I remember watching the blue shirted gentle man sketching a cartoon on beachside in Goa in the iconic Doordarshan song “Mile Sur Mera Tumhara “ and my father saying “That’s Mario, Mario Miranda”. Little did I understand the significance yet after I grew up and saw his cartoons on Economic Times I understood the talent. That’s where my love for Miss Fonseca began.

Mr Miranda recalls about Miss Foseca , "People thought I made Ms Fonseca too buxom”and I loved the sexy Miss Foseca clad always in her black dress with white polka dots.

In his life time came a lot of recognition. He was awarded the PadmaShri in 1988, the Padma Bhushan in 2002 and All India Cartoonists's Association, Bangalore, honoured him with a lifetime achievement award.The King of Spain, Juan Carlos, conferred on Mario the highest civilian honour of "la Cruz de Isabel la Catolica’ which was presented to him on 11/11/2009 at his family home in Loutulim by Don Miguel Nieto Sandoval and on 29/12/2009 Portugal, under the President of the Republic Aníbal António Cavaco Silva, made him "Comendador da Ordem de Infante D.Henrique", a Portuguese National Order of Knighthood. Mario Miranda was posthumously awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award in the Republic of India, by the President on 4 April 2012.

Finally the time came when we had to bid adieu to this great gentleman. On 11 December 2011, Mario Miranda died of natural causes at his home in Loutolim. With his great murals drawn on lot of Goan Buildings including the great mural on Konkan Railway Station in Margoa and also one of personal favourite the mural drawn on the entrance of Wipro at the Electronic City campus in Bangalore, his memories would still remain forever in my heart.

“A cast of characters who could be counted on to raise a smile and make a tiresome day at work a little less tedious. Mario Miranda's strip on the office had a stellar run in The Economic Times. It was one of the first attempts made by a serious business paper to have a more light-hearted take on the workplace and the strange assortment of characters who populated it.”