(27 Aug ’06)
So Goa’s had its first
kidnapping-killing. Maybe it wasn’t the first, but this one has grabbed the
headlines. I must say, I appreciate the father’s refusal to pay the ransom. Was
he brave? Silly? I think I’d like to believe the former. Had he paid, the matter
wouldn’t have been resolved. There would have been more kidnappings, more
killings in any case. Now what will happen? The rich will employ guards.
One outcome will be that the rich
will be reluctant to show off their wealth. Fancy cars, necklaces of gold,
lavish parties, will attract the wrong kind of attention.
The second outcome is that Goa is no
longer considered safe. Recently, I visited Alibag, Murud and Janjira on the
Konkan coast near Bombay. There’s no doubt that this shoreline is as Goa’s was
several decades ago. What’s noticeable is that the locals have planted areca,
coconut, mango, tamarind, banana and other saplings in very large numbers. So
far….so far….there are few garish structures and even those are restricted to
pockets. The road is so beautiful, it goes along the sea, undisturbed by
anything blocking the view. The people, wherever we stopped, were still rustic
and simple. I hope it doesn’t go the Goa way. We had a non-veg thali by the
beach in a fairly big ‘khanavali’, for Rs. 30/- I spoke to someone who owns a
farmhouse there. He’d earlier decided to buy property in Goa, then changed his
mind. Why? Too many cheats around, he said frankly. Apparently, he’d been
cheated in small things in small shops and word had got around that it’d get
worse the higher he’d go.
The word is out, Goa’s no longer as
it used to be. Not a paradise, certainly.
It’s not surprising. We still say
so-and-so is a ‘big’ man if he’s made his money through dishonest means. And we
allow him to park where he pleases, build what he wants, sell or buy what’s not
allowed by law, then complain in the comforts of our homes that things aren’t
as they should be. Youngsters have discovered that the best way to get rich is
to be born thus. Second best? Steal, cheat, forget hard work. Don’t blame them,
they’ve seen their elders get away with just that. They’ve seen that steadfast
hard work isn’t always the sensible, pragmatic thing to do. Our ‘freedom
fighters’ have a lot to answer for. They got into politics, not governance.
Our Press, our educated lot, must
now keep questioning those in power about water, electricity, education,
healthcare, garbage. Each one buying a flat must insist on good roads, running
POTABLE water 24 hours a day. In the colony where I own a flat, the well stands
next to the sewage pit of the neighbouring ‘colony’. The plans were passed. Did
no one make a spot visit? Did someone
actually go through them or just stamp them blindly? Small things, but unless we
citizens act strongly, unless we get involved, things will get worse. And not
just on the kidnapping scene. Goa is still small enough for plenty to be
undone. And redone.
Someone told me, non-Goans are the
ones who commit crimes. Catch them, hang them….and do the same for our own
criminals. Criminals are criminals. A friend’s home in Porvorim was burgled.
The police said they knew who did it, they were from the same village….and
laughingly added, keep your house locked. Then, another’s home was burgled.
This time, the thief was an ‘outsider’. The cops actually took the effort to
trace out the person and thrash him. Not right. Equal punishment for all.
The saddest thing, I think, is that
the clean, honest types are staying away from politics. We’re a small state. If
we had better participation, we could do so much, be an example for other
states. Pity we’re frittering away our chance.
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