Konkani Fundays

First off, Best of wishes to all for Diwali. This year too forgetting that we are still in a pandemic, we celebrated Diwali with great gusto. It was a great day with people visiting the temple, the customary puja at home, great food and visiting relatives. Goa has a unique tradition of Narkasurs. This year too saw a whole lot of great quality narkasurs around goa specificaly around panaji, St Inez, Bhatlem and Taleigao. In the last 2 years, the only good development in panaji its seems has been with the improved quality of Narkasurs. But somehow i feel the true meaning of building narkasurs is lost. It looks like we are celebrating narkasurs rather then Krishna killing him. The old unwritten rule to have a kid Krishna is no where to be seen. Young kids are just blaring loud techno or other music which has no connection to the festival celebration. There could be a limit to how loud the music could be played and the time range. Also probably the music could be improved. Secondly, Since the main thing is burning the narkasurs, the committees building the narkasurs should ensure the effigies are properly burnt. Till 2 days later, there were many remnants of effigies not properly burnt or cleared from the road side cause inconvenience to travelers. Lets understand its not the municipalities responsibility to burn the narkasure of clear it. They can collect the remains after they are sorted properly in the side. Lets ensure we spread the true meaning of Diwali, ensure old traditions are maintained and mainly understanding that it symbolizes the spiritual "victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance".

The roads in taleigao, bhatlem, mala have been mended for the time being and this has resulted in the traffic congestion to some extent being reduced. Although work still needs to be done to improve the roads at patto. Not sure what it will take to improve that? Secondly i have seen that since the roads have been fixed, new work to dig the roads has already started at a couple of places. So the time and money spent to repair the road looks like a waste. Again money needs to be spent to fix the road again. I assume there would be more coordination in the planning and approval if such works. Lastly there needs to be more accountability of the contractors, reviewer and authorities to ensure the roads built lasts longer, the fixes done also are not done for a short term. I have not seen any action taken against anyone for worsening road conditions. Please send in your thoughts or comments on this subject at [email protected] #Konkani #Goa #roads #PattoPlaza

Today we rant about the stupid, useless people who senselessly use mobile phones while driving or riding their vehicles causing risk not only to themselves but also to the public at large. Their acts should be punishable and strict action needs to be taken against them. Please send in your thoughts or comments on this subject at [email protected] #goa #konkani #stupiddrivers #mobileusage

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to one and all. Today we talk about a couple of stories of why we are told to avoid looking at the moon on Ganesh Chaturthi day. There might be more stories to this or there may be more stories related to chaturthi. Let us know such stories at [email protected]. #GaneshChaturthi #AvoidTheMoon #Goa #Konkani

Atal Setu is in news for being closed for 100days for maintenance. It was touted to stand strong for 100years, but only after about 2yrs, it have required maintenance. Hopefully govt and concerned authorities will investigate this situation. But the good news is that a brand new sandaas has been inaugurated at the joggers park at altinho. The best cement, tiles etc. are used to have a sandaas that will last for 100 years. Sure!!! Yes, what we need is not a strong bridge but a strong sandaas(joke). Anyways, anyone visiting joggers park, please make full use of the sandaas, and let us know your experience at [email protected] #sandaas #joggerspark #atalsetu #goa #konkani

The Corona pandemic might end(hopefully soon), and can become as casual as a common flu in the future with vaccinations and herd immunity. But the pandemic of spitting on the roads might never end. What can be done to stop this menace? Is educating such people, publicly shaming them or better law enforcements needed? I talk about this in todays podcast. #Goa #Konkani #Spitting #SwachhBharatAbhiyan #SwachhBharat # Let me know your thoughts/suggestions at [email protected].  You can also follow us on twitter @konkanifundays.

India have done fairly well till now w.r.t to medals but could have done even better if some of the favorites had won their events, But we are trending upwards. Greatest news is with our men's and women's hockey teams reaching the semis and Men's team finally winning a medal after 41yrs. But many sports in the Olympics are American/European like sailing, skateboarding, canoeing etc where Indians don't have any presence. So that makes me wonder if we can have some India specific sports like Kabaddi or Carrom to the Olympics. These are an expanding sports with World cups etc. held and many countries now participating. So why not? From Goans perspective why not add road riding/driving as an exhibition sport. In Panaji, the administration have been good enough to give us some challenging roads with potholes ridden all over, roads with cracks, difficult to see speed-breakers, which have made us Panjikars and definitely Goans expert riders. We can surely teach the world who would be shocked at our skill level, hand-eye-leg-heart coordination. Bring on the next Olympics, lets add these sports there. #Olympics #TokyoOlympics #Goa #Konkani #Kabaddi #Carrom #RoadRiding #potholes Let us know your thoughts on [email protected]. You can also follow us on twitter @konkanifundays.

In this podcast I rant about: 1. CM failing to meet his promise of 100% vaccination of eligible people by 31July 2. HM Rane going back on his earlier words and saying there were no deaths due to oxygen shortage. 3. Some stupid people throwing garlands used in rituals while travelling via bus over mandovi bridge. Let us know your thoughts on [email protected]. You can also follow us on twitter @konkanifundays #vacinnation #O2Shortage #corona #StupidPeopleOnBus  #Goa #Konkani

We started off well with Mirabai Chanu winning the silver in weight lifting. But as the days have progressed our archers and shooters have disappointed. Before they left for the games, many were touted as sure shot medal winners, but performances have not supported the claim. There is still some way to go in these games with boxing, wrestling and badminton to go which may bring in some good news. But the questions still remains if we are putting too much pressure on these athletes to win that they buckle under the pressure or the pre tournament ranking performances are giving us false hope which need to be checked. I see that some of our less watched/followed sports like fencing, swimming, sailing have done better than expected, which backs my theory of undue pressure bring down the athlete. Let me know your thoughts at [email protected]. You can also follow us on twitter @konkanifundays #tokyoOlympics #konkani #goa #olympics2021 #mirabaichanu

In this podcast, i just rant about the constant calls for car servicing. In these times of pandemic and lockdowns, our cars anyways are not running that many miles. But still the service centers keep calling for car servicing, even after the free servicing is done. Looks like they too are seeing slowdown in business. But i feels keeping car active, tires checked should be fine, and servicing can be done once a year. Also ensure you confirm what all things are added in their package and price, because they have tendency to add things to fix after you have delivered the car for servicing. The other irritating thing is the number of times they keep calling after servicing requesting to give 'Excellent' rating. Why do they expect such high ratings for routines servicing. If someone has feedback to be given they should give it. If you also face such issues, let me know my sending a mail on [email protected].  You can also follow us on twitter @konkanifundays #carservicing #goa #konkani #ratingrequest