“Where are our youth today” may seem like a rather simplistic question. But if asked in an implicit manner, it is probably a question that should get each of us thinking. More so as the YWCA works with young women of all social strata to address issues that surround their lives.

According to some estimates 51% of the Indian population is under 25 years of age and the figure goes up to 66% if you include those less than 35 years.  India is positioned as a nation of the youth, waiting to flood the world labour market in every industry possible, and it is rather ironic that we should ask this question.

I especially experienced the absence of our youth during the recent recession. Companies were firing their employees with one hour notice. Flouting every labour law and the young people in these companies bowed their heads and accepted the verdict on them.

During this recession our youth displayed disempowerment, lack of knowledge about their rights, individualism, ignorance, low self esteem and low self perception. And yet, till a few months earlier these were the very same young people who were poised to be the pillars of future India.

No thanks to the recession friends, the pillars of the country seem to have been shaken, and while I completely believe in the tremendous resilience of our youth, there is still a task ahead for the YWCA, as an organization working with the community, working with women and working with the marginalized.

Finding Our Youth

Where are our youth today, is a question probably asked in pondering and yet it reflects a certain amount of disconnect. Because our youth are very much around, very vocal, interacting and connecting, but perhaps you know not where.

I have 240 friends on Facebook, 68 friends on Orkut, 300 followers on twitter, 70 connections on LinkedIn, 18,000 people have visited my blog on wordpress, I have two other personal blogs I write on, and this is just me! There are lakhs of young Indians like me out there who are much better connected, who have a much wider network, who are speaking and engaging at complex, higher levels.

Our youth my dear friends are very much there, albeit in cyber space, using digital media and networking through social media. Talking, making friends, discussing, thinking on very many serious issues, including social issues. They are on, and promoting groups like ‘People against cruelty of animals’, ‘People Against Child Abuse’, ‘People against Torture’, ‘People against Violence on Women, ‘Against Discrimination of People with Disabilities’ and so on.

The question now to groups like the YWCA, who are working with youth, is,

• Are you on these ‘Online Spaces’?
• If not, do you plan to get on to these ‘Online Spaces’?
• Do these spaces really hold an opportunity for advocacy of social issues and long term empowerment?

Having spent 9 years working with NGOs and a year and a half with Social Media, I think Cyber space offers

• A brilliant opportunity and platform for engaging youth,
• For introducing youth to a pro-people, pro-community culture, and
• For harnessing their time and potential for social change.

At the very onset let me assure you that I do not wish to glamorize the online social interaction spaces.

It comes with its own paradoxes of ‘virtual connect and physical disconnect’, but these spaces are growing in importance. They are the comfort zones and ‘hang outs’ of our youth today. It is where our youth interact, speak and be heard, listen and lobby, and the youth on the internet have the potential to leverage their time, intelligence and internet access for social good, to lobby for issues, to advocate for the disadvantaged.

While the real work may still be offline, in a physical space and in the generation of ‘opportunity’ for less privileged youth, the support group, your potential volunteer base, your lobbyers, spend hours in a ‘virtual world’, online and you need to meet them there.

Are Young Indians Really on Social Networking Sites

• India – is the worlds 7th Largest Internet Market and growing at 11.2% a year.
• An estimated 21 million Indians are active on Social Media Sites. This is 60.3% of the Active Indian Internet Audience.
• More than 90% of Indian Online Users belong to the 18-45 age group.
• On an average, an Indian spends 110.4 minutes a day on a Social Media site and makes 10.4 visits per month.
• Social Media Websites in India are growing by almost 100% year on year.

What are some Social Networking Spaces Your Organization needs to be present on?

• Facebook – Fan Page / Cause Page
• Ibibo, Bharat Students Orkut – community
• Twitter Page
• Blogs
• Photograph sites – like Flickr / Picassa
• Video Sharing Sites – Youtube, Metacafe etc
• Document Sharing Sites – Slideshare, Docstoc, Scribd
• Forums
• Question n Answer sites – like Yahoo Answers, Rediff Answers, etc

What are the Benefits of an Internet Presence to the YWCA?

As a Social Justice Organization,

• Social Networking sites are a great place to create awareness on your social issue / campaigns
• To attract volunteers
• Excellent way to document your way
• Get feedback on your work
• Raise funds online

And all this comes at a very little cost and a lot of volunteer time!

Getting Started on Social Media

OK, now you’ve convinced that social media could hold some benefit for your organization and you want to get started. You sit before your computer and then realize, why? I don’t know a thing about how to use this. Well there is an easy way out, get one of the young people in your organization to start up a blog, a twitter page, a fan page on Facebook, create power point presentations on your programmes and campaigns and publish them on the internet. Get them to teach others in the group, so that they can hold out for each other.

There is also a PPT to go with this and it can be accessed

http://www.slideshare.net/lilliandcosta/ywca-where-are-our-youth-2435354

This article was written for the YWCA South India Pre Convention held at Bangalore on 7th-8th of Nov ‘09

Football is in the blood of every Goan and the high that comes only with this racy sport can be seen as people gather at their village grounds every other day. Some of these football fields are mere flattened paddy fields, but the thrill of watching the ball race around can be got just about anywhere if you’ve a Goan.

Came rain or shine, week days or weekends, there are matches happening almost every day in some parts of Goa or the other. And many a young athletic boy dreams of taxing his muscles, getting his adrenaline going, covered in the sweet smell of excited sweat, all to be playing for a local club.

With people fanatic about football, most villages have their own football clubs and the inter-village tournaments can be fiercely fiery ones.

“Goans have the potential to lead the country in football” says Aldrid DaCosta, English FA-qualified football coach, who left the UK and followed his passion for football, all the way to ancestral Goa. “Countries all over the world with Portuguese or Spanish influence make up the best football teams in the world, some examples being Brazil and Argentina. Goa needs to exploit this heritage”, he continues.

Aldrid DaCosta walks his talk and has set up the GOA Learning Soccer School which conducts football camps for young students all year round. Aldrid has tied up with numerous schools and trains their football teams too. Many of these schools have gone on to win inter school championship trophies too.

Sport, as a vital part of education has been diminishing in value. Burdened by school, travel and tuitions, children have become couch potatoes, preferring to unwind before the TV or computer than go out and exercise their muscles.

Sports, help young boys and girls grow to their full potential, make them physically strong and athletic.

Sports, especially group sports like football, instill young boys and girls not just with a competitive spirit, but gives them faster motor- eye co-ordination, enhancing their instinctual abilities, helping them understand the importance of team work and co-operation. All these are invaluable learns which will help young boys and girls get ahead in life.

Thankfully some school and parents are beginning to recognize the importance of sports in the development of their child and going by the large turn outs for the GOA Learning Soccer School Camps, Goa may well retain its dominance in the football arena after all.

If you would like to contact Aldrid DaCosta,

Cell number  +91-  9823 281781   Email – atdmdx@gmail.com

My experience with Social Media is pretty recent and so I spend as much time as I can reading. It helps me understand these hugely popular online spaces that are part of Social Media and how they can provide companies an opportunity to meet and sell to customers in a virtual world. As a budding content writer, it also helps me refine my writing skills.

Recently while browsing the net, I stumbled upon this word called ‘Astroturfing’. A company in the US offering a facelift was hauled up by the office of the Attorney General of NY for Astroturfing and in a first of its kind in US history was fined $ 300,000!, yes you can let out a low whistle like I did. Gosh, did the facelift company go bust? Apparently not, and quiet a few people felt that $ 300,000 was a small price for Astroturfing and the company had actually got off lightly!

What is Astroturfing

So what is Astroturfing, even my American English MS Word shows it up with a red line under it. No, its not synthetic grass, as most of us thought. According to Wikipedia Astroturfing is “formal political, advertising, or public relations campaigns seeking to create the impression of being spontaneous “grassroots” behavior”. “The goal of such a campaign is to disguise the efforts of a political or commercial entity as an independent public reaction to some political entity—a politician, political group, product, service or event. Astroturfers attempt to orchestrate the actions of apparently diverse and geographically distributed individuals, by both overt (“outreach”, “awareness”, etc.) and covert (disinformation) means. Astroturfing may be undertaken by an individual pushing a personal agenda or highly organized professional groups with financial backing from large corporations, non-profits, or activist organizations. Very often the efforts are conducted by political consultants who also specialize in opposition research.”

Ah, now I understand. In Social Media, we work with a range of channels, like, Social Networking sites, Micro Blogs, Social Bookmarking sites, Video sites, Picture sharing sites, Blogs etc. The internet offers an excellent shroud of anonymity, and it is rather easy for marketers to participate in these channels under pseudo names.  Pseudo names give both the Social Media Company and their Client more leeway to promote their products or engage in Online Reputation Management, with much less responsibility, should they so desire.

The Absence of Legislation regarding Astroturfing in India

Since I work in India, I have had the opportunity to see Indian companies vying for clients in Europe and the US, with the pressure to outbid competitors the marketing managers may sometimes promise the client results that are not quiet possible to achieve within a short duration of time, and so the strong urge to Astroturf ones way to targets.

Secondly, Social Media is still a new concept in India; it is yet to be professionalized with a strong set of ethical guidelines. Here, the internet still has an ‘unrealism’ associated with it, such that it permits marketers to do activity with the feeling that they are not being watched, or that they cannot be tracked. Thus when an outsourcing company gets unreasonable with its requests, managers in a Social Media Company may not accurately understand the consequences of their commitment and thus may not lay out the right arguments against Astroturfing.

Yet, as the internet begins to penetrate through India and Social Media is making waves, it is time for social marketers, both in their corporate and individual capacity to come together and determine the parameters of their work. While I understand that Astroturfing is a fairly well defined concept in countries like the US, it is important to bring the debate around it to India so that as a practice and ethical concept it develops deep roots.

Why Astroturfing is a Bad Idea

Astroturfing and ethical parameters need to be discussed and adopted in the Social Media sector in India for numerous reasons

• Astroturfing harms the outsourcing company – I was reading an incident wherein a marketer was discovered as representing a company and that he was Astroturfing. The website immediately took down the article posted by the marketer and a discussion ensured online on the ethical lapse. Obviously this made for poor publicity, not just for the company written about but the Social Media Company too. Such negative content (like positive content) remains on the internet; it is accessed and referred to for years to come. Obviously the Social Marketing effort proved counterproductive and a huge waste of resources in this case.

• Astroturfing harms the Social Media Company - Social Media companies are already known to engage in a certain amount of Astroturfing, and this shadow follows them.  Being singled out and discussed online for a lapse of ethics can only adds to their problem. Social Media companies in India are already facing stiff competition if not from other countries then definitely among themselves. Taking a stand against Astroturfing can give a company an edge over competitors.

• Astroturfing reflects a poor understanding of the Social Media space –Social Media is a way to meet potential clients on their own turf. Companies are online because their customers are comfortable with the online space and spend a lot of time there. Companies are online also because it is becoming increasingly cheaper to advertise online than through traditional methods. The online space allows for dialogue and discussion. If a company produces quality products and is known for that, their clients will invariably be speaking positively about them online, if not they wont. So it may make sense to go back to basic, “focus on your core areas”.

• It’s unethical – Astroturfing is misrepresentation and misleading and so the lack of ethics in this practice cannot be disputed.

What are we looking at by way of Solutions

OK, as mentioned in the beginning of this article I’m only just beginning to develop an understanding on Astroturfing and still have limited experience with Social Media and so, these are just my amateur ideas of possible solutions. Please feel free to correct me and add to the suggestions below

Some ways to avoid Astroturfing

• Go as a Company Representative– instead of using pseudo names, it is best for Social Media companies to go in as Company representatives. This ensures that both, Social Media Companies and their client act responsibly. There is no scope for temptation to Astroturf here.

• Set Realistic Expectations with the Client – Social Media Companies in India must set realistic expectations with their foreign clients. What is not achievable and ethical in the US or Europe is not achievable and unethical else where. The rule is as simple as that.

While some companies can come to India and engage in unethical practices like Astroturfing, it’s only a matter of time before laws are put in place and the system catches up with them. Till then, the best solution would be to PLAY FAIR.

I lean my tired weight against the seat of a crowded bus and watch. Lap crossed, a plastic bag full of Jasmine buds, a roll of thread, one bud to the left, another to the right, the thread wrapped around them once, then a quick knot. Another bud to the right, one to the left, the thread wrapped round again, a quick knot. Every few flowers a couple of green leaves are added, then a couple of tiny orange flowers. I don’t know what they are called here in Bangalore, in Goa they are called Aboli. They are the state flower of Goa. There are two kinds of Aboli, the sadi or simple ones, these are a lighter shade of orange, and they bloom. The Ratan Aboli is a darker shade of orange, and they remain buds. While the Sadi Aboli is common because they grow easily and proliferate fast, the Ratan Aboli is difficult to grow and those who have a few plants don’t easily share a cutting.

Back in Goa women no longer ware flowers as widely as they do here in South India. In Bangalore, it’s not uncommon to see women sitting at a little foldable table with long yards of flowers curled in a heap. Jasmines are most commonly worn, besides these there are the chrysanthemums in yellow, pink and purple, and another light pink flower that grows as a large bud. These women before me had no time to waste, an hour ride in the bus gave them time to put together a real long garland and probably spare them more time with the family. For the sale of flowers begins early, as women head to work, they would buy themselves a bit of the garland.

There are 4 types of Jasmines that I have seen, they’ve all white though, and all give off this excellent fragrance. One is the many petaled flower, I’ve seen these only in Goa and even there I don’t think they are made into garlands and sold. The second are the buds, the thin, long, narrow buds; these are commonly worn in Goa. This Jasmine plant is a creeper and so a wooden 4 poster is created so it is free to run.

The Jasmines commonly worn in B’lore are a mix of these two. A tiny plump white bud that when it blooms is a multi petal flower. Another type of Jasmines that I have seen growing in gardens but not really sold is a real tiny bud of Jasmine. It would be a real arduous task to make these into garlands, but women do wear them and when they bloom they are a thick white garland. They give off a really strong fragrance, and the only way one could get to wear one is if ones mother in law or mother, after her busy day, went out into the garden and collected these tiny buds, weak eyes and dexterous fingers would then spent hours making them into a garland. Wouldn’t that make these Jasmines the most perfumed gift of love?

I remember a friend from Kerala telling me about the export of these beautiful scented flowers. It seems his family had a couple of acres of Jasmine and the whole family would have to wake up at 3 O’Clock every morning to pluck flowers before they bloom. They would wear tiny headlights and rush out into the garden. By 5 O’Clock the flowers would have to be rushed to the airport, where they were sold, packed, passed through security and on a flight to the Gulf. I’m not sure what they were used for there, whether they were worn as garlands like in India or used to make perfumes and Ithar.

Come the first rains and most people in Goa would begin the process of plucking off the leaves of their Jasmine plants, making them bold and as the plant burst into leaves along came the buds. We believed that this way the plant gave more flowers. We had a Jasmine plant at home and what glee it gave me to could the buds as the sprung forth.

Until recently, wearing flowers were an integral part of a women’s head gear. Few would leave their home without a flower in their head, much of that is still seen in Karnataka, even Bangalore.  Flowers were such an important part of a woman’s dressing in Goa that they even made flowers of gold. If you attend a Hindu wedding in Goa, you will still see women wearing these gold garlands around their coiffed hair.

However unlike in the South, flower selling is no longer a profession that can bring you a steady income in Goa. If you go to the market, the women who sell flowers are elder, and need to earn their own keep; they grow a few plants and every other day make a few garlands and bring them to the market. Why did women in Goa move away from wearing flowers?

Every few months I get this I-R-R-E-S-I-S-T-I-B-L-E urge to change the way my blog looks.

Something new always makes me want to come back and relook at it…… admire the colours.

For the last couple of months, the posts on my blog have been pretty scarce…… yes, time has been an issue, but I’m wondering…… is it also that I was tired of the look?

I’m finally over the blues  (if you remember the old template) and got myself this lovely soothing cream, little twirls showing off in the corners.

The titles of the posts are actually in a bright pink you might think that feminine, I think it subversive!!!

Let me know if the new look of my blog tickles you too

In Utah, a modern-day caveman has lived for the better part of a decade on zero dollars a day. People used to think he was crazy

DANIEL SUELO LIVES IN A CAVE. UNLIKE THE average American—wallowing in credit-card debt, clinging to a mortgage, terrified of the next downsizing at the office—he isn’t worried about the economic crisis. That’s because he figured out that the best way to stay solvent is to never be solvent in the first place. Nine years ago, in the autumn of 2000, Suelo decided to stop using money. He just quit it, like a bad drug habit.

His dwelling, hidden high in a canyon lined with waterfalls, is an hour by foot from the desert town of Moab, Utah, where people who know him are of two minds: He’s either a latter-day prophet or an irredeemable hobo. Suelo’s blog, which he maintains free at the Moab Public Library, suggests that he’s both. “When I lived with money, I was always lacking,” he writes. “Money represents lack. Money represents things in the past (debt) and things in the future (credit), but money never represents what is present.”

To read the rest click here

Frogs in Goa: Frequently Asked Questions

Are frog populations in Goa really on the decline?
Yes they are. Bio-indicators as well as studies conducted by herpetologists and amphibian specialists in Goa confirm that frog populations are falling, just as it is in the rest of the world. Globally, frogs are disappearing at an increasingly rapid rate than creatures have ever done in the past 65 million years.

While studies in 1999 and 2002 were conducted by amphibian specialists in coordination with International agencies like the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), basic surveys and compiling of checklists have also been done by researchers at the Goa University’s Department of Zoology, the Goa Forest Department and others.
There is however, a need for long term monitoring of Goan frog populations as frogs found in Goa.

What are the reasons for this decline?
A number of threats to frogs exist, however, in Goa the chief threats are:
1. Catching, killing and consumption of frogs at the onset of the monsoons. Frogs end their aestivation after the first rains and come out to breed. This is when they are at their most vocal, and hence easy to track down and catch. And as most of the frog-hunting is done before the frog can breed, this has a drastic effect on the future populations of frogs.
2. The widespread use of fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture. Flooded paddy fields are a hotspot for frogs, and since frogs absorb water through their skin, they are particularly vulnerable to the toxic effects of residual chemicals in our fields.
3. Habitat destruction – filling of fields, clearing of forest cover are a few of the main reasons. Encroachment of forests by human activities such as mining, construction, etc have caused entire resident populations to disappear within a short period.
4. A significant global trend that is threatening frog populations as a whole worldwide include climate change, global warming, introduction of invasive species and spread of disease from farmed to wild frog populations.

Are some species more vulnerable than others?
Yes. In Goa, the Indian Bullfrog (Hoplobatrachus Tigerinus) & the Jerdon?s Bullfrog (Hoplobatrachus Crassus) are the ones most prized for their meat due to their large size. The Indian Pond Frog and Grass Frog are also occasionally hunted.

Burgeoning demand at restaurants illegally serving frog dishes have ensured that a pair of frog legs can fetch as much as Rs. 65-70 for the poacher.

Due to their falling populations, the Indian Bullfrog and the Jerdon?s Bullfrog are now on the Government of India?s Schedule-I list of threatened species as well the international IUCN Red List of animals that are facing a high risk of global extinction.

Ok, but why do I have to stop eating frog? What?s in it for me?
A lot more than you think?
Eating frog meat is very dangerous to human health. Due to the massive toxic pesticide residues that accumulate in the fat deposits of frog meat, consumption of frogs can trigger paralytic strokes, cancer, kidney failures and other deformities. Besides frog meat being contraband, frogs are usually killed in unsanitary conditions.
Frogs are like the pulse rate or the blood pressure of the Goan environment. Frogs are a crucial part of the ecosystem and a vital link as predator and prey in the food chain. If frogs go extinct, the ripple effect on the ecosystem will be felt by us all.
Frogs and tadpoles are voracious eaters, and consume millions of mosquitoes and mosquito larvae every year. One of the suspected reasons for the increase in cases of malaria and other vector borne diseases in Goa is the decline in the number of frogs.
The increasing incidents of snakes being found in urban & semi-urban areas is also being linked to the decline of frogs, their natural prey, and their subsequent shifting to alternate prey like rats that are more readily found in populated areas.
In Goan mythology frogs are believed to bring prosperity and good rainfall.

Are frogs protected by law?
Yes. The Government of India in 1985 declared a ban on catching and killing of wild frogs under the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972. This means that any person or restaurant found catching, killing, selling, serving or eating frog meat violates the provisions of the act. This would attract stringent punishment with a fine of Rs 25,000 and/or imprisonment upto 3 years. In 2008, 10 persons were detained and fined under this act.

So what can I do to help save the frog?
Firstly, stop eating frogs yourself and discourage others from doing so. If there is no demand for frog legs, frog-catchers simply won?t catch them. Secondly, if you come across people hunting frogs or restaurants serving frog meat, report it to the police (100/108) or any of these Forest Department officials, preferably the one closest to where you are ?

ALL GOA
9423 889 890 (DCF Panjim Devendra Dalai)
9422 437 333 (CCF Richard D’Souza)
9422 388 188 (ACF Dr. Francis Coelho)
9422 437 237 (CF Yogesh)
NORTH GOA
9422 437 137 (DCF North Goa Shambhu)
2374 406       (FTS Valpoi)
9423 316 280, 2228772, 2220736 (RFO Campal Amar Heblekar)
EAST GOA
9423 314 824, 2935800 (RFO Bondla Deepak B)
9423 055 919, 2612211 (RFO Mollem S. Gawas)
9422 059 237 (RFO Bhironda Prakash Salelkar)
SOUTH GOA
9822 587 607 (ACF South Goa Anil Shetgaokar)
2750 246       (RFO Margao)
9822 157 139, 2965601 (RFO Cotigao Paresh P)

After reporting to the authorities, contact WildGoa volunteers at 9823-171-312 or 9890-936-828 (South Goa) and 9922-642-059 or 9822-522-119 (North Goa) who will record and follow up your complaint with the forest officials.

Who is Involved with the campaign
Save the Frog Campaign is coordinated by WildGoa, a Goa related network of Wildlife enthusiasts and NGOs. This awareness and enforcement campaign has  been on for the last 4 consecutive years and is supported by the Goa Forest Department a number of local as well as International organizations including Amphibian Ark, Save The Frogs International, Botanical Society of Goa, Organic Farming Association of India, GOACAN, Earthworm, Green Essentials, WWF-Goa, Nisarga Nature Club, Vivekananda Environmental Awareness Brigade, & Mitra. For more information do visit www.savegoafrogs.org or email info@safegoafrogs.org To contact us, you may call us at the WildGoa volunteer phone numbers mentioned above.

While the rest of the world is focused on Swine flu and India is just recording the first of its confirmed cases, places like Bangalore have another virus that is doing the rounds. Like in pervious years this virus too has the potential to reach pandemic proportions and yet, few, least of all the government are talking about it. Chikungunya is spread through mosquitoes, results in high fever and severe joint pain.

While I hear of more and more cases occurring in my neighborhood, the word is out that the entire locality, which comprises of about 10,000 people, is affected. Yet, I see no spraying, no awareness leaflets, no awareness campaign in the newspapers and the monsoon season in Bangalore has only just begun. Some articles in the media report some 4000 cases but that would be a gross underestimation and statistics of those who report to the local health centre only. But loads of people I know don’t even go to the health centre, many of them take Ayurvedic medicine that can be self prescribed and so an allopathic doctor would not even know of these cases.

Sad scenario I should say. Bangalore keeps getting projected as the IT capital of the country, home to all the major IT MNCs in the country and yet the facilities and services are archaic. If the Government cannot guarantee a descent standard of living in its capital city how does it hope to do so for the rest of the State?

Chikungunya is not new, each monsoon season there is an outbreak, should the Government then not have had a well oiled protocol in place, and yet there is no sign of it.

It’s the fag end of summer in Goa. The beads of sweat roll down the back and sting the eyes, most people can be found spending their spare moments in their veranda, waiting for the tiny whiffs of breeze that may or may not come by. Most school children are savoring their last few days of holidays. Collecting mangoes from the neighbours yard, helping their parents clean up the garden, stack in the firewood and heading to the village spring for a therapeutic bath.

Most homes are entertaining guests, relatives who have come back to relaxed Goa, for a few days off the treadmill in the city. But this year, the gossip has not been just about the grand old aunties at church, the weddings attended on the weekend or the price of mangoes and salt fish. It is also about a serial killer who over a 15 odd years has confessed to killing 15 women!

The modus operandi. A supposedly unassuming Mahandand Naik from Shiroda befriended women in their 20s and 30s, pretended he was in love with them, after a while suggested he would introduce them to his parents, and on the appointed day asked them to come finely dressed, then waylaid them, strangulated them, often with their own dupatta, robbed them of their jewellery and then dumped their bodied.

The modus operandi seemed to be the same every time, the bodies dumped in rivers, or hung, often the victim was stripped. The police identified some bodies, were unable to unidentify others, and didn’t even manage to find other bodies, as they lay buried in secluded places.

Fifteen women and the number may grow as more confessions tumble out. More and more families that have had their daughters and sisters missing are coming forth to revive old complaints. Some families hoped against hope that their daughter had eloped with her boyfriend and living happily, have now been proved wrong.

The police had closed numerous cases of these women as cases of unnatural death are now reopening them. And while this drama unfolds, not unlike the movie “Perfume: the story of a murder” most people in Goa, who live a relatively sheltered life are obviously shocked and stunned.

Following this case from 500 kilometers, so many questions and issues come to my mind.

Women in Goa even though relatively well educated compared to their counterparts in the rest of the country are still naïve to their safety and can fall prey to murders like Mahandand Naik.

These women were emotionally vulnerable, unmarried, with a desire to love and be loved, and a wicked mind like that of this serial killer was able to identify and take advantage of their vulnerability.

The killer although displaying an unassuming simplicity about him was cold and calculating. Remorseless in implementing a well practiced plan, which refined itself further with each murder.

Could a man have perfected his art so well that he could go undetected for a decade and a half, or did his family fail to ask him and themselves some crucial questions? To what extent did they collude with the serial killer who lived among them?

The families of these women victims did not pursue the search for their daughters and sisters to the legal end. Perhaps the victims came from poor families and the family could not afford the time or monetary resources to pursue the cases.

The police, with all the public resources at their disposal kept doing a shoddy job of investigation. Probably ignoring evidence in their desire to close the case. Perhaps unqualified and so unable to recognize evidence. Perhaps lazy and unmotivated to pursue cases. In their incompetence, the Goa Police have become inadvertent colluders with the serial killer

Do the gruesome murders of fifteen women tell us something about the ‘value of life’ in Goa, does it tell us something about the ‘value of life of women in Goa’.

Do these murders tell us something about the ‘collective conscience’ of a society, that failed to raise an eyebrow about the murders (just like they fail to raise their eyebrows for so many other things) in the state, relegating these victims the place of a number in the statistics for the year.

Or am I reading too much into this whole incident.

Would it be better for all of us to dismiss it as a one off, so we can all go back to our lives and bring closure to the incidents? Or should we as a society spend a few minutes, maybe a few hours grieving the loss of fifteen women and an eroded social conscience.

I am still trying to come up with a response, as my intellect and my emotions tussle to explain the murder of fifteen women, full of potential.

With the recession, tough economic times are upon most of us. Companies continue to maintain their freeze on recruitment, salary cuts are common, and layoffs informed to employees an hour before the end of the week. Non written communication to work longer hours is common place. Most people are glad they can retain their job, but the axe is not, say most companies, a matter of choice, some people must go so that the majority can stay, and during this time of deep economic uncertainty one wonders about  the situation of People with disabilities (PwDs).

India has nearly 70 million PwDs in the country. Those lucky to be employed predominantly find themselves in IT companies, telemarketing and BPOs.  A survey of the top 100 corporate houses in India, in 1999, show a mere 0.4% of their workforce was PwDs. Nothing has dramatically changed in the last ten years, PwDs continue to struggle to get employment in the best of times and with the current freeze on recruitment, their chances are as good as zero. Additionally is the bias that PwDs are ‘incapable’, most companies also unwilling or unable to make their premises ‘accessible’, which also acts as a hurdle, and so one can conclude with worrying certainty that PwDs are twice as badly hit by the recession as non disabled people.

If disability groups were demanding tax rebates as incentives for companies hiring PwDs before, now the situation is far more urgent. More so as most PwDs require to earn approximately twice as much as their non disabled counterparts to enjoy the same standard of living.

Few know with any certainty when the recession is going to end or how long it will take the economy to recover, would the Government then undertake a study to find out the effects of the recession on PwDs, would it then take measures to change the situation. Most disability groups believe, that with more pressing needs, they have little chance of getting Government attention. They have fewer expectations as none of the political parties even made a mention of these 70 million PwDs in their election manifesto. All PwDs can expect are a few more social welfare schemes, but with a limited budget and a large number of PwDs clamoring for them, chances are slim that there will be a diametric change.

Whether we like it or not, the 70 million PwDs are too big a population to ignore and brush aside, whether the new Government at the centre likes it or not, it will have to do something that will improve the economic lives of PwDs and pull them back from the ‘vulnerable’ list.

As I look around, I see the recession has turned into a god sent opportunity for young enterprising Indians. I am seeing more people in their 30s set up businesses of their own than ever before and perhaps PwDs need to be heading in the same direction.

With a little bit financial assistance from the Government and some training on business they are just as capable of success as any other businessman and we hope that’s what they will get by way of Government assistance.