(2 Dec ’12)
The road from Porvorim
circle towards Calangute is named after a famous event that happened in Goa,
yet few know its name, CHOGM, and even fewer what that stands for. When the
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting happened in 1983, this road wound
through the sleepy villages of Sangolda and Saligao. The latter was famous and
rich, what with a CM who belonged to the place, but Sangolda was “Where’s
That??” until a handful of years ago. Sangoddkars gave each other lifts on
scooters since the two buses that stopped by it were inconveniently timed at
early morning and late evening. Even today, in spite of the crazy traffic that
leads to snarls at Porvorim circle and two-wheeler ‘victims’ to GMC with
helmet-less head injuries, few public transport vehicles halt here.
The two or three shops
that existed on it were terribly expensive: Saudade, Rust and a now overrun by
weeds Kashmir Emporium. Suddenly, in a couple of months, I’ve noticed that the
world’s getting closer. Dreamscapes has come up to give the above shops
competition, towards Saligao. Branches of HDFC and SBI face each other, their
ATMs being the cause of many a traffic jam.
From the Porvorim
circle, there is a posh gymnasium, a BATA showroom that’s bigger than any I’ve
seen in Mumbai or Delhi, and better loaded, too. With parking space!! The
eateries here are attracting locals and tourists alike. Why, there’s even a
paan-wallah so we can add spitting to our garbage woes. The signs of our
civilization. Fruit-stalls, sugarcane-juice vendors and bhelpuri sellers have
shown enterprise and I don’t need to depend on Mapusa/Panaji for those goodies.
Thanks to the horticulture department, the CHOGM road boasts of a vegetable
outlet, too. The little ‘bars and restaurants’ flourish as do the egg-curry and
bread stalls, as indicated by the clusters of two-wheelers around them.
Still, in spite of the
activity, few know the road’s name nor its historical significance. It’s not
yet been given a heritage tag.
It’s high time roads
like these had pavements/footpaths. People walking along them are at risk of
being hit by cars. And drivers sometimes have a difficult time manoeuvring out
of a difficult driving situation because of the narrowness of the road at
places. It can only get worse. The only alternative is to have an efficient
public transport system to bring down the number of vehicles. This government
had mumbled something to that effect, let’s see what happens.
Like the CHOGM, few
people on the streets hereabouts know about IFFI although the papers have been
covering it a lot. I take the bus from the national highway, and then the ferry
to commute to and from Panaji. I asked fellow passengers about IFFI, and those
who had heard of it confidently told me that one could see ‘cinemas’ there.
Correct, but they were few. Considering that many well-wheeled people travel
along CHOGM road to IFFI, as they do from Margao/Vasco/Ponda/Mapuca, perhaps
for future festivals, some indicators should be put here about the event so
that the aam junta knows what’s happening. And of course, somewhere, something
should be put up about what CHOGM is… and make sure no one pastes a poster on
it.
IFFI, as always, has
been a nice experience. For me, it’s armchair travelling, to see how people
live in other countries, how film-makers represent events (like wars, religious
atrocities) and human interactions (“Sister”, “Elles”). That people travel year
after year to Goa not for the beaches or temples but for this festival, from
India and from abroad, has shown how popular IFFI has become.
If it wasn’t for IFFI,
I might not have met Anushka, possibly Goa’s first woman conductor in a private
bus. Plump, pleasant, usually dressed in a black sari, she guides people
politely and happily on bus number 4470 that runs from Miramar to Porvorim. She
doesn’t let me know what drove her to this job, only says that she didn’t see
why she couldn’t do it, so she took it up. Ten hours of hard work, and
surprisingly not much curiosity from the passengers. Only one other woman
besides me asked her anything at all. Shows that Goans (of a certain strata and
outside their homes) really do accept gender equality quite easily.
The next exciting thing
that’s going to happen in Goa is the Litfest at the International Centre.
Waiting eagerly for it.
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