What is happening in Goa? In most villages along the main roads you can see these “do not dump your garbage here” signs and people seem to dump their garbage only in those places.

I had to check on one of our Linux servers the other day and since our server room is next to the store room I got a glance at the current state of our store room.

Damn!!! That’s a lot of LCD monitors and desktops stacked all along the wall. Seems most of them are in need of repair. Guess its cheaper to just buy a new monitor now days.

This scene reminded me of a client I worked with in Goa. They had a similar wall, except that theirs had all brand new computers stacked together. Some 100 of them if I remember correctly. They got pretty excited with the decision to move from paper to spreadsheet.

Bing has a new slideshow called the ABC’s of Travel. They have put together the top destination for each alphabet of the English letter. It’s a nice attempt and was interesting to know that Xi’an was the top destination starting with a X.

The only problem I could see was that cities and countries were mixed. Chicago was the top destination in C but India was the top destination in I. Nice that India got in the list, but hey, India is such a huge country with quite a few distinct tourist destinations … like Goa. They could have knocked off Greece and put Goa there.

And all the people from “God’s Own Country” will definitely want Kyoto moved off that list too.

After some feedback from the site members, I’ve updated the site to improve navigation. I’ve also included some extra help in there. Its good to see all the positive feedback coming in from members.

Found this video on YouTube. Reminded me of when I used to roam around on the 2 wheeler around Goa.

Ro made bread at home. Takes about 1.5 hour to make and it tastes way better than anything Kuwait Flour Mills has to offer Reminds me of the buns our Podere used to bring to the door in Goa.

“Fishing in the river water by illegal methods such as using explosives with detonators is on the rise in Bicholim and Sattari taluka. The environment activist and chief of Animal Rescue Squad(ARS) Bicholim, Mr Amrut Singh on last Wednesday recovered about one kg of explosives with detonators near the bank of Vathadev Bicholim river at Vhavati. Mr Amrut Singh has lodged a police complaint in this regard.

The local youth, who were involved in the illegal activity however fled from the scene, informed the sources. Misuse of such crude material for fishing results in less fish and it also damage the riverine ecology and environment to a great extent. Mr Singh opined.
He has urged the government to act tough against this cruel method of fishing, which damages the ecology and environment.”

Now that I’ve compelted all major updates to Goan.name, its time to focus on rebuilding my favorite site, Goenkar.com. I took down the site a few months back since the scripts were not compatible with the new server. Work has kept me rather busy but I’m gonna try to have this site up and running this month.

Goenkar.com, like goan.name has been a free-for-all website, but the focus has been on open (unbiased) forums for all. It also has a rather large information section with content about Goa and its culture.

I need to come up with a nice clean design (UI) as well as plan out the new key features for this community site. Ideas / suggestions / comments are always welcome.

“Since they are not traditionally classical, we have a special day for them,” said Paulo Varella Gomes, delegate of the Fundacao Oriente, the main promoters of the festival. The four-day festival will feature Indian musicians like Prabhat Kumar on the Sarod, Anuradha Pal on the Tabla, the Calcutta Chamber Orchestra Quartet, The Chamber Singers, a 18-member ladies choir from Pune and soprano Joanne D’Mello with the Goa String Orchestra. There will also be a Bharat Natyam performance by Kshitija Barve from Goa.

From overseas will be the Reed Flute Duo from Macau and the Coro Alma de Coimbra a choral group from Portugal. A special performance, on the added extra day, will be a Portuguese guitar recital by Antonio Chainho and Tiago on guitars, along with Chhote Rahimat Khan on the sitar, Mayuresh on the tabla and Sonia Shirsat singing. They will be followed by the Portuguese choral group. The performances will all be held at the chapel of Our Lady of the Mount, Old Goa, with those at dusk being held in the courtyard, with the setting sun as a backdrop. The evening’s second and third performances will be held inside the 16th century chapel, where natural acoustics do not require the use of a sound system. Vehicles will not be allowed at the chapel, and will have to parked at the foot of the hill, from where a shuttle service will ferry the people to the chapel. “We take care not to harm the site and it’s a way to preserve the site and make it more enjoyable,” said Varella Gomes.

Organised by the Goa Tourism Development Corporation Ltd. (GTDC), the 4-day extravaganza in coastal Panjim aims to project Goa as a lifestyle destination. “The idea is to encapsulate the vivacity of Goan lifestyle by highlighting its multicultural influences and artistic passions, thus branding Goa as a lifestyle destination,” said GTDC vice-chairman Lyngdon Monteiro while talking to the media last Friday.

Chairman of the GTDC , Shyam Satardekar said, ‘as always, the festival promises to be a unique cultural experience as it brings together international wine makers and local patrons, hoteliers, restaurants and professionals from the entertainment, food and beverage and life style industries under one roof.’

Billed as the off-season promotional events, the festival would present culinary delights from across the globe, international fusion cuisine and exotic deserts apart from the wine tasting sessions.

Several wineries including Four Season Wine, Big Banyan, Diageo and Indage are reportedly taking part in the fiesta. Last year Sula, Indage, Nine Hills, Chateau de Banyan etc. had taken part.

‘ This festival is the biggest wine platform provided in Goa where not only expats and tourists but Indians rush to enjoy the cultural programmes, fashion shows, live music and to taste wines from various participating producers, all without charge. Of course, wines can be purchased at the spot too,’ informs Kawaljeet Singh, Head-Sales and Marketing of Big Banyan, the Goa based winery that is a regular participant in the festival. It is a big promotion for the Indian wineries by the tourism department, he says, adding that about 4-5,000 people come to have a good time.

The fiesta is organised at the huge courtyard of Inox Theatre in Panjim.