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‘I wish I were Goa’
Published on: December 9, 2011 – 23:16

Carol Gracias, the name that’s synonymous with style, attitude and obviously fashion, is here in Goa for the India Resort Fashion Week.

In a candid chat with NT BUZZ she spoke about her roots, fashion and the secret behind her figure
Carol Gracias, your name that sounds very Goan. Do you have any Goan roots?
Actually many people believe that I have roots here but that’s not true. I am actually East Indian Maharashtrian Catholic and, unfortunately, have no root here. I wish I had, then I would have had a beautiful bungalow here (laughs). But, I do come here quite often.
What type of holiday you prefer in Goa?
For me coming down to Goa means lying on the beach, reading, swimming and having yummy food. I love to visit Morjim, Ashvem and some quite corners of Candolim area.
Coming back to your career, you are termed ‘supermodel’. And there is a buzz that there is no supermodel after you. Your comment.
There are many girls who are doing really well. When I started, at that time there were Madhu (Sapre) and Ujjwala (Raut) who were supermodels and there was a buzz that there was no one after them. So there is nothing like that.
There are perceptions that a modelling career has a shelf life. What’s your take?
I am in this industry for more than 15 years now. So I can’t say that it has a shelf life.
How easy or difficult is a modelling job?
I think what we require is really lot of patience. I think 90 per cent of our time goes in waiting – waiting to do our hair, waiting to get our make up done and then waiting for the show to start. In a day we actually have just 10 minutes of fame, when we walk the ramp. All the remaining time goes in preparing for those 10 minutes. So, this actually drains you physically.
You are one of the few models who made a mark in television as you were featured in Big Boss. Has this fame helped you in anyway?
It did help me to a certain extent. I got another television show, ‘Fear Factor’. I should confess here that these serials did offer me good amount of money compared to my shows. It did help me to get a roof over my head.
How was the experience Big Boss experience, when you were practically cut off from the world?
Initially I hated it as it was emotionally and mentally very taxing. But then when I came out of that house I realised that my morals are in the right place. Also I thought it was a good idea to keep myself busy with household work rather than indulging in gossips. Also that’s what I do when I am at home.
What are your plans for the future? Does Bollywood figure anywhere?
I just can’t do movies (laughs). I just did a music album with Abhishek Bachchan for the film, ‘Bluffmaster’ where I was featured with more girls. But, funnily people noticed me more. But frankly speaking I didn’t get many offers from Bollywood.
Coming back to fashion, what does fashion mean to you?
For me fashion means taking little effort to dress up elegantly. It may not mean following a trend. I personally follow a classic look. Also I wear a lot of black or white, basically more solid colours like grey, blue, etc. They are easy to mix and match also.
What is your opinion when you hear that nowadays models are anorexic? Do you think it is the trend?
Let us first understand that we are Indian girls; we have to have little bit of hips and waist in order to look good in sarees and ghagra cholis. I think this issue of models being anorexic is blown out of proportion by the media and there is nothing like that. I am not size 0. According to UK size I am a size 12.
How you maintain your figure?
I eat everything in limitation. I have a complete meal. But, I don’t workout at all. I used to, but now I have stopped. I think I do enough work at home and the usual rehearsals of the fashion show keeps me fit. Also I thank my parents each and everyday for this (smiles).

3-day international conference on ‘Goa: 1961 and beyond’
TNN Dec 8, 2011, 04.46AM IST

PANAJI: Over 65 papers are scheduled to be presented at a three-day international conference on the subject ‘Goa: 1961 and Beyond’ to be held at the Goa University (GU) from December 18.

This was announced at a press conference by former GU professor Peter Ronald D’Souza, who is currently the director of the Shimla-based Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS). The conference is being jointly organized by the IIAS, GU and the Centro de Estudos Sociais (Coimbra University).
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D’Souza said the conference will be organized around the following themes: ‘Decolonisation and the imagination of Goa’; ‘The beginning of the end’, where the date 1961 is seen to mark the unraveling of the Portuguese empire; ‘The loss and afterlife of the metropolis in the colony’ and the ‘Dynamic of post-colonial Goa’.

D’Souza said the objective is not to reduce 1961 as a mere event in the history of India but to focus on the end of the ‘ultra colonialism’ of the Portuguese in Goa and the subsequent impact on the world.

The key conceptual framework is to map the afterlife of a territory where colonization first set foot in 1510 and how 1961 marked the beginning of the end for the Portuguese empire, he said.

Vibha Puri Das, secretary of higher education, government of India, will be the chief guest and professor Basudev Chatterji, chairman Indian council of historical research, will be the guest of honour.

The conference has received overwhelming response from scholars from across India and also from countries such as Portugal, UK, Australia, USA, Mozambique, Canada, Brazil, Macau and Japan.

The conference has accepted 35 papers from the international scholars and 34 papers from India.

Apart from the presentations of papers, there will be prominent scholars for the plenary sessions, which include Vishwanathan, Shahid Amin, Boventura de Souza, Rukmini Bhaya Nair and others. There will also be book releases and an exhibition of books.

On December 18, there will also be a public programme on the theme ‘The struggle for liberation: Aspirations and testimonies’ from 6.15pm to 7.30pm at the Macquinez palace hall, Panaji. The programme will include poetry recital on freedom and also talks by freedom fighters.

Panaji : A day after the Goa government admitted to a specific input about a potential terror strike in Goa during the tourist season, Home Minister Ravi Naik Tuesday said the state was prepared to “counter any eventuality”.

“Two platoons of the central security forces are already in Goa. They will be marshalling the beaches and other places of tourist interest,” Naik said.

“All police stations are on alert. Even the coastal security is in place,” Naik said.

The government has issued prohibitory orders in north Goa, which is home to the state’s most popular beaches, including Calangute, Anjuna, Arambol and Baga, apart from several other places of religious interest like the Bom Jesus Basilica, located in Old Goa about 15 km from here.

A statement by the government said that the terror alert was issued “due to the prevailing situation in the country and intelligence inputs regarding terrorist threats to the western coast of India” and threats of anti-social elements planning to commit crime in Goa.

Naik said that advisories had been issued to hotels, bed-and-breakfast lodge owners, religious places and restaurant owners.

Nearly 2.5 million tourists visit Goa annually, out of which nearly half a million are foreigners.
IANS

Tuesday, 6 December 2011 5:11:24 AM by IANS

Panaji, Dec 5 (IANS) Balancing Goa’s sex ratio is one of the major health related focus of the Goa government as it prepares its approach document for the 12th Five Year Plan from 2012-17.

Official sources said that at a high level meeting in the state secretariat Monday headed by the chief secretary Sanjiv Srivastava, provisions for a gas based power plant to meet the growing energy needs in the fast developing state, were also being made in the document.

“On health sector efforts are being made to reduce infant mortality rate and to keep balance on sex ratio,” an official said.

According to central government statistics, Goa’s female sex ratio currently stands at 968:1,000. The Goa government has already initiated several schemes including the Dhanalaxmi scheme where the government deposits Rs.25,000 in a fix deposit in the name of every girl child born in the state. As per the scheme the money can be accessed by the girl child at the age of 18 years.

“In infrastructure development stress will be laid to build adequate power infrastructure including gas based power,” the official said, adding that the National thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) was studying a feasibility of gas base power projects in Goa.

Baking bread in Goa was an art quite alien to the non- Goan. From crisp katreache unde, to the softer pau or the poie made out of wheat husk, there were Goan podder- families who specialized and excelled at it. But with Goan lads turning to easier options to make more money, it is non- Goans who are entering the trade. Smitha Venkateswaran finds out

A cold December morning.

The chilling weather, strong winds, come with the familiar hooting of the podder’s horn… I scramble up to the balcony and shout… “ teen pau aadd re”. The podder a young lad, barely out of his teens gives me a toothy grin… “ abhi laya” he replies in perfect Hindi.

As I have my breakfast, I am struck by the irony… A traditional Goan custom of delivering fresh bakes home… now served by a complete non- Goan.

I dug a little deeper and found out that even the boys baking the bread are Goans no more.

In the past couple of years some twenty- odd bakers in South Goa are said to have shut shop, while the ones in North Goa; especially along the beach belt have let it out to others.

Lack of cheap wood, escalating costs of inputs, competition from factory- made sliced bread, are among the reasons cited for the decline of traditional bakeries here.

“ Our profit margins have dropped.

The biggest problem is lack of labour, we just do not get boys to work for us,” said Salom who owns a bakery at Britonna and has been delivering freshly baked pau for over twenty years now.

With six hands to help… all people from neighbouring Karnataka, Salom rues that manpower costs along with inflationary prices is ruining business.

Add to this the lack of skill up gradation and we have a perfect recipe for age old traditions to meet a slow and painful end.

An average podder is paid a monthly Rs 2,000 plus a 50 paise incentive on every sale. This is in addition to food and stay costs. The average monthyl profit for a bakery owner ranges between Rs 8,000 – Rs 10,000 per month adds Salon.

But today Goan lads with their fluency in English get paid better working as drivers, waiters at restaurants DYING ART: One of the last standing Goan podder or stewarding on ships. “ So who wants to be seen as a podder?” asks De Souza a senior member of the All Goa Bakers Association.

More than 1000 tonnes of bakers’ yeast is annually sold in Goa. It is a vast quantity for a small population.

But it shows the high consumption of bread in Goa.

But, as competition rises, Goa’s podders are likely to be affected. Some traditional bakers already complain about facing excessive competition, shrinking markets and losses “ making Pau is very easy, anyone can learn it.

As our markets shrink it is becoming difficult for podders to peddle long distances for want of consumers” said Malcom from Thivim.

It may not be a staple food but the pau is an essential item in many households. Many items like the Chicken Xacuti, Caefreal will not be as tasty, if not without local pau.

For some time now Goan podders have been sounding the warning bell… if ignored, this unique cyclemounted boys tooting their horn at the break of dawn could be a story of the ‘ good old days’.