Evescape

The power of our mother language Soumya, a student of class two of a government primary school at Borda, near Margao is carefully reading out a small note written in Marathi. The seven year old hails from Karnataka and lives in Gogol with her parents and siblings. Her father works as a daily wage painter. She says she can speak Kannada but can read Marathi. She is preparing to give a talk on the importance of mother language at an event conducted by an NGO in the school premises to observe International Mother Language Day. As I look on to the child with interest (I am invited by the organizers as a guest of honor), her teacher tells me -- Soumya is bright student! In another corner, a group of little children are preparing to enact a skit and sing a song in thethi, a dialect sounding like Bhojpuri. Their teacher tells me that this group of students belong to a district in Bihar. There are more students as well -- natives of Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, ...

A Political Rock Star On January 27, I was glued to the television set watching the live telecast of the inauguration of the third Mandovi Bridge named Atal Setu . Termed as an engineering marvel, this bridge is the third longest cable-stayed bridge in India with a total length of 5.1 kilometers. Apart from the razzle-dazzle of the event, I was paying keen attention to the demeanor of the ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, popularly referred to as Bhayi (older brother). It was his first public appearance after several months and as the camera focused on him, it was obvious that the ailment has taken a toll on the leader. However, despite the physical weakness, a never say die spirit was writ large on his face and the sheer enthusiasm (which his critics termed as 'hunger for power') was inspiring to say the least. He appeared unperturbed by the trials (personal and political) while trying to inspire confidence in others. As he cheered the gathering asking, ...

                                         Gender  stereotypes  in the media  While working with the Goa edition of a national daily, I once had an heated argument with the resident editor for not including voices and opinions of women in news articles on current affairs. Though women's opinions were sought on gender issues, their voices did not matter in the fields of politics, development, finance or economy. Most views came from men thus projecting them as the only thought influences. The fact that there was under-representation of women in news as news-makers, sources of news, news analysts or as experts hugely dissapointed me. Since the media plays an important role in perpetuating or challenging cultural and societal norms, depiction of gender stereotypes in the media influences how society perceive women. As I sought redressal, I realised that the ...

A toilet story With Goa missing ODF deadline twice, it is a worrying situation that a lauded policy like the Swacch Bharat Mission almost never come to fruition on the ground, even in a village like Cola, specifically “adopted” by a parliamentarian.  Ghanne is a ward of the Cola village, in down south Quepem Taluka. The popular Adinath temple is located in this ward. Some 300 people live here. Saraswati Velip, 80 something is the face of the story of this ward. With not a single household toilet, the entire village defecates in the open. In the evening of her life, Saraswati's only wish is to see a toilet in her house. "Iam tired of walking long distance to relieve myself. In my young days, things were better and we never felt bad about defecating in the open. There was lot os vegetation and the population was less. Now things have changed. With education and awareness, there is lot of discomfort doing the routine. The younger women and girls are worst hit by the lack...

Looming water crises in the village of Cola (Khola), Goa   Sisters Mayawati and Chandravati Velip are residents of Matvem, one of the seven wards in the jurisdiction of the Cola panchayat. Both are members of a mahila mandal comprising of 23 members and run a humble eatery in the area. What irks them is the acute water crises faced by villagers. Leela Velip is another member of the Adinath mahila mandal, and a resident of Govonn which faces chronic water shortage. More wards, including Saleri,  Cajumoll, Kudai, Ambdem, Ghanne, Govol and Cabo De Rama too are affected by the dry spell. The most affected ward due to water shortage is Matvem which has a polulation of some 1200 people, the sisters informed. Paucity of water resources in several wards of Cola village has assumed chronic nature with residents flaying the authorities for failing to redress the problem. The village grapples with water paucity, throughout the year, but face acute crises in the months starting F...

This International Women's Day, Kita Devi and her friends had a lot to celebrate! Zhurram, 30 something, hails from Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. Dressed in a salwar kameez, she is sitted on a bench, engrossed in copying some letters written on a black-board. Sitting besides her on the same bench is Indravati Berma (24), a mother of two and native of Basti, a district in Uttar Pradesh. On the bench behind them is Zannathan Nisha Ali, also from Basti and Rukma Saren from Karnataka. In a tiny class room of a dilapidated government school building in Borda, some three kilometeres from the commercial town of Margao, the lives of these women are getting transformed. Thanks to the Chalo School Mega Drive initiative, women in their 30s and  40s, all from the migrant population, are able to read, write and do math. The education of these women is the beginning of a virtuous cycle, for themselves, their families and the entire community. For educating a woman means transforming liv...