Goa Diary

Tepid Carnival

Goa’s Carnival gets Sarkari every passing year. This year even the odd beer bottles were missing from the 47 floats which participated.

Forget the display of skin like in the Brazilian fiesta, the local girls were clad in jeans and trousers for the most pants. Only one float had some foreigners clad in shorts and T-shirts. No, the public couldn’t interefere with the procession thanks to lathi-weilding cops and 6-foot long barricades.

Perhaps it is time to fill the Carnival committees with creative people rather than politicians.

Beer wars

Liquor companies surely know how to get around laws probibiting the promotion and advertising of booze.

One Australian beer maker whose products were launched in Goa is taking the competition head on by organising workshops to educate beer drinkers.

An export roped in by the company got a group of selected invitees to sample different brands of beer. Apart from a light head the returned to work with tomes of information on beer brewing and allegedly sharp practices employed by local beer makers.

So when is Vijay Mallya going to fire the next salvo?

Tail piece

In Goa, the State Public Service Commission has little powers to most government employees. Every minister packs the secretariat with his or her chosen ones. While most of the oppointments are alleged to be made for monetary considerations, there are exceptions to the `rule’.

One former chief minister was accused of doling out government jobs to his mistresses. Another politician was accused of granting such favours to men who had good looking women friends!

With such liberal laws one in twenty Goans today are government employees!