IN DEPTH
THE GREAT LAND GRAB
By Rajan Narayan
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AMBEDKAR AAWAS YOJANA
YET ANOTHER DECEITFUL BLUEPRINT!
By Diana Pinto
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BEHIND THE NEWS
VANDALS HAVE THEIR WAY?
By Jonquil Sudhir
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MARKETING
THE VIRTUAL WORLD
By C. S Mirchandani
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FESTIVALS
DEEPAVALI-
INDIA'S FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS
A Goan Observer special.
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PARRITLER'S TRAVAILS
By Aravind Bhatikar
SHOCKINGLY INSANE!
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EATING IS FUN
A variety food column
By Tara Narayan
CATCH THE 'MANDOVI BLUE' ONE OF THESE DAYS!

HOME & HEARTH
NEVER MISS A KHADI SALE!
By A Shopaholic
Plus, Cheesecake, by Sidney Libano
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IFFI
FESTIVAL SANS HOLLYWOOD STARS
By A Goan Observer Correspondent
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HEALTH
DOCTORS ILL-EQUIPPED
IN COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS
By Dr. V. N. Jindal
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SHORT STORY
NICOLE AND OTHER WOMEN
By George Menezes
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BOOK REVIEW
‘Five Point Someone—What Not To Do At IIT' by Chetan Bhagat
‘The Old Devils' by Kingsley Amis
By Manohar Shetty
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TIATR SCOPE
TONY – A SENIOR TIATR LEGEND
By John Gomes
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SPORTSTRACK
By Irineu Gonsalves
SANTOSH TROPHY DEBACLE PROBE COULD UNRAVEL ‘MYSTERY’
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GOENKARANCHO AVAZ
Readers write...
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REQUIEM FOR TREES

WAS IT ONLY LAST year that all the environmentalists and the artists and the poets and the writers and the cartoonists hugged the rain trees at Campal? Was it only last year that Santa Rita Vaz of the Mustard Seed Company staged a street play dramatising the impact of cutting down rain trees on the environment? Was it only last year that all the bold and the beautiful and the rich and the powerful came with their children to defend the rain trees of Campal? And was it last year that Nandakumar Kamat who, headed the committee appointed by the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to study the impact of the four-laning on the "senior citizens of Campal", gave a verdict in favour of the rain trees? Was it only in December last that an anguished former judge of the Bombay High Court, agonised over cruelty to trees which were literally crucified, persuaded the High Court to suo-moto take cognizance of the Goa administration's wanton cruelty to trees?

But all that was before IFFI in a jiffy. Everyone, as it always happens in Goa, became complacent. And over the last few months when the GSIDC contractors were cold-bloodedly and cynically choking the trees to death yet nobody raised a voice over the horticidal maniacs who are going about annihilating the senior citizens of Campal. Indeed, the assault on the trees is reminiscent of the Nazi pogrom against the Jews! To add insult to injury the GSIDC and the Chief Minister has been claiming that the magnificent tree next to the Bal Bhavan was brought down by a gust of wind. And not because the GSIDC has been systematically abetting and aiding the murder of the trees by cutting the roots and depriving them of oxygen. We were shocked and grieved and appalled to see the corpses of another four trees when we walked down Campal on Friday.

It is a convention for all good Catholics and even all good Muslims to visit the cemetery on their respective version of All Souls Day. We strongly urge all those who love nature and love life to walk down whatever is left of the Campal and pray for the souls of the trees which have been killed by Manohar Parrikar & Co. And while they are about it they should consider inviting the Director of the Diocesan Centre for Social Action to give extra unction to the rest of the trees which will soon give up the ghost. And we hope that nature lovers and all those who believe that IFFI in a jiffy is an act of fascism will attend a meeting convened by NGOs to highlight the trauma caused to Panjim, on Tuesday, November 9th, at the Menezes Braganza Hall. Unless, of course, you share the views of Manohar Parrikar and his consultants that old trees are useless and should be put to sleep. And a logical corollary will be that Manohar Parrikar can also someday decide that old people, particularly those who still have the will to protest against his many acts of despotism, should also be put to sleep. Amen.

MOG ASSUM RAJAN NARAYAN