BY OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

SOME INTERESTING dilemmas of the literary kind came up at a reading of Damodar Mauzo’s short stories in Konkani at an “Art Lounge” session of the Sunapranta Centre for the Arts at Altinho in Panaji on January 13, 2010. The award-wining writer Damodar Mauzo needs little introduction for he’s a familiar name in Konkani literature. Mr Mauzo has been writing for well over 40 years and his sensitive short stories and novels have won many hearts and minds.

THE COST of production of potatoes, or the price which the farmer gets for a kilogram of potatoes, is Rs. 3. By the time it reaches the wholesaler, the price of potatoes goes up to Rs. 14 with the middle man’s margin contributing Rs.11 to the wholesale price. By the time the kilo of potatoes reaches you at the Panaji, Margao or Mapusa market, the price shoots up to Rs.25 with the retailer adding his own margin of Rs. 11 per kg. In the case of cucumber, the price at which the farmer sells a kilo to the middle man is Rs. 4. The middleman adds Rs. 16 as his margin. So much so, by the time it reaches the wholesaler gets it, the price is Rs.20. In the market, a kilo of cucumbers costs you Rs.40 because the retailer adds his margin of Rs.20. In the case of ginger, an essential ingredient in cooking even though it may be used in very small quantities, the difference between the price the farmer receives for a kilo and the retail price is as much as Rs.95. While the farmer gets between Rs. 2 to Rs.3 per kilo of ginger, the price you pay for it at the market is Rs.100.

THE TUMULT over its poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls has left the BJP in tatters. In retrospection, where a collective responsibility for the debacle would have saved the day for the party, the search for scapegoats has resulted in a clash of egos. This is primarily a result of individuals overgrowing the party.

Call it ‘Cabo Raj Niwas’, ‘Palacio Do Cabo’ or ‘Raj Bhavan’, the 86-acre property in Dona Paula is the subject of a recently-released book simply called ‘The Raj Bhavan Goa’. Reproduced below is an excerpt from the introduction to the informative book published by the Department of Information and Publicity.

WHAT DELIGHTED me most in reading Heartbreak Passage by Lambert Mascarenhas comes from the recognition of the author’s voice, a cultivated voice tempered with humour, grace, warmth, gentleness and good breeding. It’s a voice I recognise well, having read a couple of times Lambert’s first novel, Sorrowing Lies My Land, published in 1955, and subsequently his column Musings, Moods and Memories first in the Goan Tribune (1956-1961) in Mumbai and later in The Navhind Times (1963-64) where I worked as a reporter.

DO YOU know that it takes 21 days to drop a bad habit (which brings us nothing but pain and heartbreak) and replace it with a good one? At least that’s what new age guru and author, Leo D’Mello, told family, friends, well-wishers and media people who turned up for the release of his book “Fuller Life, The Book, A Journey” (published by the Goa-based Academy of Self Actualisation, paperback, Rs.300) at a function held at Leonoras Restaurant at Verna, on August 18, 2009.

WITH HIS nine books of poems, besides his collected volume, Keki N. Daruwalla is a pivotal figure in the rarefied zone of English poetry in India. Besides his prodigious output of poetry, this retired senior officer of the Indian Police Service has produced a novella, three volumes of short fiction and two collections of poetry for children. For Pepper and Christ is Daruwalla’s first novel, and quite befitting his prolific output and expansive outlook, this is an ambitious work set at the end of the 15th century and a few years later in Europe, Africa and India against the backdrop of the voyages and conquests of the great Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama.

THE CLERGY, too, was known for its tendency to trade. Interestingly enough, the wealth thus acquired by the religious orders was not shared with the Crown. The nuns of the Covent of Santa Monica at Old Goa were accused of conducting commercial activities in competition with the official trade. One of the charges levelled against them was that they lent money to foreign traders.

THE WEAVE of My Life by Urmila Pawar is more than a Dalit woman’s memoirs; it’s a bold yet intelligent critique of casteism coupled with feminist politics in Maharashtra towards the last quarter of the 20th century. And to think that a woman from the Mahar caste could rise above her poor and deprived environment in the Ratnagiri village and survive to tell her story is nothing short of remarkable.

DOSTANA IS no Brokeback Mountain. It’s not a serious take on homosexuality either. On the contrary, it’s a madcap comedy where two straight men pretend to be gays. Love triangles in Hindi movies often centre around two guys falling in love with the same girl or two girls choosing to love the same guy.