Hi Again
I want to bring something to light today. Something that has really bothered me. Kept me thinking: Do copyright laws really exist?
Many will know that I am very confident that the copyright law can benefit a good number of people, especially music composers and writers like me. But lets leave all that for another day.
What surprises me is that the name of my homeland Goa has been misused and literally abused to the extent that makes me angry. Yet we can do nothing. Nobody can do anything. Goa as a name comes under the free zone I guess.
If you walk the streets of Mumbai... If you climb a railway footbridge in Mumbai... If you look at some of the staircases in offices and edifices around Mumbai... You are guaranteed to see one thing for sure. You will see a tiny sachet with Goa written all over it. What is worse, everyone stamps over it while they go about their daily hustle-bustle.
The first time I encountered this was very infuriatingly funny. I was standing alongside a panwalla at one of the stations in Mumbai. The experience was so 'devastating' I cant remember the place, but I do remember the incident! I suddenly heard a man come behind me and say to the panwalla: "Ek Goa de na" Well in Hindi it would mean "Give me one Goa". And another came by and said: "Teen Goa de na". The panwalla had now sold "Three Goas". And it went on... In the 15 minutes I was standing there the man had sold Goa at least 10 times. Well, I am talking about Goa in a sachet, also very popularly known as 'Goa Gutka'.
Being in love with Goa right from my birth, can you imagine what my feelings were at that point of time? Put yourself in my place, what would you feel? Many would feel indifferent, many would share my views, many would have no problems and would actually argue in favor of the sachet.
Wherever you stand, it is your personal opinion. But this really bothered me on two counts: One; the 'Gutka king' was using the name of my homeland for his commercial gains. By using the name Goa, he was making a quick buck. Everybody is in love with Goa and would like to feel they are in Goa. Even by chewing on some disgusting Gutka named after Goa, they would experience the bliss they would feel while in 'Goa'! Talk about the imagination running wild and the 'Gutkha King' making money on someone's wild uncontrolled imagination run!
Two; there was no way I could stop this blasphemy. This made me feel really frustrated and angry too. Can't the name of my beloved land be copyrighted? Well, this is a question I keep asking myself and I intend finding the answer to it very soon, hopefully that is.
And then again I noticed another blatant misuse of Goa more recently. My family loves watching the TV serial CID. Though I find most of the methods used there would put any policeman in trouble, as the serial openly portrays on the screen the slapping an 'accused' or barging into a house without any authority giving people the idea that it is legal . I don't really know if this can happen considering the strict human rights laws, et al.
But what perturbs me is something altogether different. Somehow or the other the scriptwriter for the serial has a fixation on Goa. Almost every 'criminal' who wants to escape the wrath of the CID manage to find their way to Goa. Why is this, I often wonder... Is it to promote Goa as a tourist destination?
Has this serial given an insight to many a criminal? I don't know if we found it surprising that two naxalites from Orissa were recently arrested in Goa where they had come to 'lie low' we are told. What is most ironic though, as in the case of the naxalites, all criminals trying to escape to Goa obviously to 'lie low' from the CID, in the TV serial, are always caught napping!!!
Well, we also know of rave parties and drug orgies organized along the beach-fronts, especially in the North of Goa. I don't know how far this is true, but I am told that Goa is South Asia's hub for the drug trade. In this case it is not only misuse of the name, but also misuse of our land as well. But is anyone listening??? At least not the people in power. "There are no drugs in Goa," they proclaim.
These are issues I have always found disturbing. Maybe it would be a good idea to express it in a place like this, a blog. I have expressed all this because it really troubles me and I feel frustrated because I can't do much about it all alone. Can we get more minds that think alike to think? I am throwing the forum open...
Mog Sodanch Asundi
Colin
I want to bring something to light today. Something that has really bothered me. Kept me thinking: Do copyright laws really exist?
Many will know that I am very confident that the copyright law can benefit a good number of people, especially music composers and writers like me. But lets leave all that for another day.
What surprises me is that the name of my homeland Goa has been misused and literally abused to the extent that makes me angry. Yet we can do nothing. Nobody can do anything. Goa as a name comes under the free zone I guess.
If you walk the streets of Mumbai... If you climb a railway footbridge in Mumbai... If you look at some of the staircases in offices and edifices around Mumbai... You are guaranteed to see one thing for sure. You will see a tiny sachet with Goa written all over it. What is worse, everyone stamps over it while they go about their daily hustle-bustle.
The first time I encountered this was very infuriatingly funny. I was standing alongside a panwalla at one of the stations in Mumbai. The experience was so 'devastating' I cant remember the place, but I do remember the incident! I suddenly heard a man come behind me and say to the panwalla: "Ek Goa de na" Well in Hindi it would mean "Give me one Goa". And another came by and said: "Teen Goa de na". The panwalla had now sold "Three Goas". And it went on... In the 15 minutes I was standing there the man had sold Goa at least 10 times. Well, I am talking about Goa in a sachet, also very popularly known as 'Goa Gutka'.
Being in love with Goa right from my birth, can you imagine what my feelings were at that point of time? Put yourself in my place, what would you feel? Many would feel indifferent, many would share my views, many would have no problems and would actually argue in favor of the sachet.
Wherever you stand, it is your personal opinion. But this really bothered me on two counts: One; the 'Gutka king' was using the name of my homeland for his commercial gains. By using the name Goa, he was making a quick buck. Everybody is in love with Goa and would like to feel they are in Goa. Even by chewing on some disgusting Gutka named after Goa, they would experience the bliss they would feel while in 'Goa'! Talk about the imagination running wild and the 'Gutkha King' making money on someone's wild uncontrolled imagination run!
Two; there was no way I could stop this blasphemy. This made me feel really frustrated and angry too. Can't the name of my beloved land be copyrighted? Well, this is a question I keep asking myself and I intend finding the answer to it very soon, hopefully that is.
And then again I noticed another blatant misuse of Goa more recently. My family loves watching the TV serial CID. Though I find most of the methods used there would put any policeman in trouble, as the serial openly portrays on the screen the slapping an 'accused' or barging into a house without any authority giving people the idea that it is legal . I don't really know if this can happen considering the strict human rights laws, et al.
But what perturbs me is something altogether different. Somehow or the other the scriptwriter for the serial has a fixation on Goa. Almost every 'criminal' who wants to escape the wrath of the CID manage to find their way to Goa. Why is this, I often wonder... Is it to promote Goa as a tourist destination?
Has this serial given an insight to many a criminal? I don't know if we found it surprising that two naxalites from Orissa were recently arrested in Goa where they had come to 'lie low' we are told. What is most ironic though, as in the case of the naxalites, all criminals trying to escape to Goa obviously to 'lie low' from the CID, in the TV serial, are always caught napping!!!
Well, we also know of rave parties and drug orgies organized along the beach-fronts, especially in the North of Goa. I don't know how far this is true, but I am told that Goa is South Asia's hub for the drug trade. In this case it is not only misuse of the name, but also misuse of our land as well. But is anyone listening??? At least not the people in power. "There are no drugs in Goa," they proclaim.
These are issues I have always found disturbing. Maybe it would be a good idea to express it in a place like this, a blog. I have expressed all this because it really troubles me and I feel frustrated because I can't do much about it all alone. Can we get more minds that think alike to think? I am throwing the forum open...
Mog Sodanch Asundi
Colin
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