A tiff with police officer Kiran Bedi in Goa

I was well settled into the shoes of a crime reporter in The Navhind Times when Kiran Bedi was transferred from Delhi to Goa as superintendent of police (traffic). The year was early 1983. In those days, Goa had very little vehicular movement. Portuguese-built Pato Bridge was the only spot in Panjim where a traffic constable allowed alternate one way traffic on either directions of the bridge while waving a green ‘Go’ and red ‘stop’ signal. The traffic constable surfaced at the centre of the bridge only in morning and evening during the so-called traffic peak hours.

And yet - although traffic movement was insignificant in Goa-, the new traffic SP Kiran Bedi was on an important assignment to this tiny territory. She was sent to Goa on a high profile mission: To coordinate traffic arrangements during the ensuing retreat of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet (CHOGM) in Goa. Altogether 39 heads of various nations in the Commonwealth including Commonwealth head Queen Elizabeth II, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Australian Prime Minister Robert (Bob) Hawke, Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe were to attend a Commonwealth conference in New Delhi and a subsequent retreat in Goa. Of course, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as the hostess of this Commonwealth summit would be the most important dignitary, next only to the British monarch. Queen Elizabeth was however slated to return to London soon after attending the New Delhi leg of the meet.
All heads of the Commonwealth states were later scheduled to arrive in Goa for an informal retreat, to hold consultations among each others and possibly arrive at a consensus and also announce a joint declaration. Bedi’s mission was to supervise traffic movements in Goa during the four-day CHOGM retreat.
Our newspaper, The Navhind Times, then had only three reporters -- chief reporter, a senior reporter and I, the junior reporter . Crime was one of the many beats I handled. As a crime reporter, there was never an occasion for me in the past to meet the traffic head in Goa police headquarters in Panjim. After Bedi’s arrival and in view of her assignment, frequencies of my visits to her cabin on the first floor of the Goa Police headquarters increased. She had only a few months for preparing for the prestigious CHOGM retreat.
The first woman to join the Indian Police Service, Bedi had efficiently handled her responsibility in the traffic department during the Ninth Asian Games in Delhi. During the preparations for this prestigious event, Bedi had earned the nickname Crane Bedi as she had towed away vehicles of the mighty, including an official attached to the office of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, from no-parking zones.
But I who was then still studying for my postgraduate degree and was only 23 did not know who Bedi was or her career background. Nor did I care. To be frank, I did not realise that I was in company with an extraordinary, albeit a very junior then, government official. Therefore I was not at all awed by her personality or career background. For me, a reporter of a leading and the only English daily in Goa, she was just another government officer. Bedi who was then in her early 40s called me by my first name and treated me with respect due to a journalist.
I was used to interact with young, probationer officers of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) who were appointed as directors of various government departments in Goa, Daman and Diu Union Territory. I found these young officers were sharp, talented and innovative. A young officer J.P. Singh with whom I interacted often as he was Goa Education Director had recently taken over as Goa District Collector. (A few years back, he retired as Goa State Chief Secretary.) I looked at Bedi just one of such bright UPSC officers, not great or very extraordinary… Soon I found that she was a no-nonsense officer and totally committed to her work. And she would not tolerate anyone's dereliction of duty.
As the dates for the retreat started approaching, Bedi started conducting drills for the VVIP event. The heads of the states were to arrive from Delhi at Dabolim airport and from there, a few of them were to be flown by helicopters to the newly established Fort Aquada Taj Village, the venue of the CHOHM retreat. Many other heads of the states were to travel by roads to the venue. And this was most crucial. Bedi had started making meticulous arrangement for smooth traffic movement from Dabolim airport to Fort Aquada Taj Village. The route of the VVIP motorcades was to include Dabolim, Cortalim, Agassaim, Pilar, Merces, Santa Cruz, Rua de Ourem along the Pato creek, Pato Bridge and then towards Fort Aquada Taj Village.
By the way, this small 400 year-old-Pato bridge of not more 300 meters length and constructed by the Portuguese was then the only link connecting north Goa to Panjim. All vehicles crossing the lone Nehru bridge (which collapsed a couple of years after) over Mandovi river and those arriving from Ribandar-Old Goa had to cross this small Pato bridge to enter Panjim.
Soon I started accompanying Kiran Bedi in her new white Gypsy as she conducted a recce of the traffic movement from Dabolim airport to Fort Aquada Taj Village. Bedi used to sit on the front seat near the jeep driver while I, along with a traffic police constable with a heavy walkie talkie machine set, used to sit behind. While on the move, with the walkie talkie instrument in her hands, Bedi used to be constantly issuing instructions: “This is Charlie One to Charlie Two.. …. Charlie Three Move ahead…Turn right…Charlie One Over…’’
The CHOGM summit being a very high security event, government offices, schools and colleges all over Goa were ordered to be closed for three days to minimise people's presence on any streets. The crime and special branches of Goa Police increased vigilance on the VVIP route. As a crime reporter, I was regularly handed over press notes issued by the Goa Police regarding instructions and restrictions to be followed during those four-day VVIP retreat.
The construction of a bridge over Zuari river connecting Agassaim from Panjim side and Cortalim from Margao-Vasco sides was completed by this time. One morning, people in Goa realized that the bridge over Zuari was thrown open to vehicular movement, sans any formal inauguration by a VIP. One had to thank Goa Deputy Superintendent (Traffic) Kiran Bedi for this ! That is the reason why this bridge, the only link connecting north and south Goa, is rightly named after Zuari river, and not after a political leader. Until the opening of the Zuari Bridge, all people travelling from Panjim to Margao and Vasco or vice versa in buses or private vehicles had to alight from their vehicles at either Agassaim or Cortalim and get into waiting ferryboats along with their vehicles to cross over to the other bank of Zuari river. The opening of Zuari bridge had eliminated a major traffic problem for Kiran Bedi at the Cortalim junction. Now she could arrange uninterrupted movement of the VVIP motorcades straight from Dabolim airport to Fort Aquada Taj Village.
And one day, Kiran Bedi gave me a press note regarding traffic restrictions and changes in Goa during the Commonwealth retreat. As a routine affair, I published the press note. The next day when I met Bedi at her cabin, she asked me to repeat the same press note on the next two consecutive days. I just laughed at her suggestion and told her that newspapers never publish the same press note twice. I told her the same press note can appear umpteen number of times but only as an advertisement.
Bedi pondered for a minute and said.. ‘ Camil, in that case, I’d like to have a word with Bikram..” Again I laughed. The `Bikram’ she was referring to was obviously Bikram Vohra, my boss and editor of The Navhind Times. Having spent nearly three years in the profession , I knew no newspaper in the world would ever publish the same press note or news item three consecutive days. Unless there were some changes or corrections. But Bedi was adamant. ‘Camil, let’s go to your newspaper office right now. Come..” Despite my protests, she grabbed my arm and led me to climb down the red carpet-laden wooden stairs of the police headquarters. I had no option but to get into her Gypsy which straightaway headed towards our newspaper office – located near the Panjim Market and hardly 400 meters away from the police headquarters.
Everyone in the newspaper office stared at the smart woman police officer in uniform with a baton in her hand walked confidently on the wooden floor of the one storeyed tiled-roof newspaper office. I walked hesitantly along with her. There was no need to introduce her, people in Goa by now knew Police Officer Kiran Bedi. A former national tennis player, Bedi, mother of a daughter, had maintained herself well.
'Ki Khabar ?,' was our editor Bikram Vohra’s elated greeting to her as he immediately rose from his seat to welcome Kiran Bedi. I was left astonished when both of them started speaking in Punjabi mixed with English. Although in a very prominent position, editor Vohra was just a few years older to me and had not yet crossed his 30s and was thus was 10 years younger to Bedi. I should have foreseen this, they knew each other so well, I cursed myself. But now it was too late. I realised I was going to lose this battle. I was sure that the editor will now let me down and let Kiran Bedi have her way.
I was left sulking when as expected, editor Vohra without any hesitation agreed to Bedi’s request. “Okay, done ! Camil, repeat that copy next two days and ensure with the desk to carry it on top of the page three…” After this, Vohra and Bedi continued talking on other subjects as I quietly sneaked into the reporters room. Some time later, the editor came to see off Bedi till the staircase and from there, as a courtesy I accompanied her climbing down the steps and upto her jeep on the road. My face had fallen but Bedi did not exhibit any signs of victory.
Crestfallen, I then approached the editor to register my protests. But he was very kind and jovial when he replied to me. "Come on, Cami. Be a sport, have a heart!,” that was typical Bikram Vohra when he tried to persuade someone with his viewpoint. “Camil, take a note of what I am saying.. It's not very often that Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, British Premier Margaret Thatcher, Bob Hawke and several other presidents, premiers and statesmen come for a retreat in Goa. It is an international event and as an exception, we need to repeat the same news for security and other reasons. It is a very high profile and VVIPs event in Goa and mind you, you are very lucky, privileged to cover it and you'll remember it in your career. Besides, in your journalist career, you would very, very rarely come across an officer as charismatic as Kiran Bedi. She’s doing a great job, Camil. Let's give her some concessions! Have a heart, young man ! Camil, be a sport !”
The CHOGM summit was over successfully. Soon Kiran Bedi left Goa to join a new posting in other part of the country. The nation has since then watched her career graph to this date with a keen interest. A couple of years later, Bikram Vohra left for a journalism career in the Gulf where he continues to be even today. Later I too left Goa and pursued a career in English national newspapers.
Nearly four decades after the CHOGM incident, I have to admit that my first editor was very right in his statement as also his judgment.

Goa city bus travel

 गोव्यातील नवहिंद टाइम्स या दैनिकात खूप वर्षांपूर्वी प्रसिद्ध झालेले ते व्यंगचित्र मला अजूनही आठवते. गोवा, दमण आणि दीव केंद्रशासित प्रदेशाचे त्याकाळात म्हणजे १९७७ साली मुख्यमंत्री शशिकला काकोडकर यांच्या मंत्रिमंडळात मंत्री असलेले एक महाशय गोव्याच्या दाबोळी विमानतळावरील धावपट्टीवर ब्रिफकेस घेऊन पळत येत असतांना लांबूनच हात उंचावून 'राव रे!' असे म्हणतात आणि उड्डाणाच्या तयारीत असलेले ते विमान त्यांना घेण्यासाठी खरेच चक्क थांबते असे ते व्यंगचित्र होते. आदल्या दिवशी शिक्षणमंत्री राऊल फर्नांडीस या मंत्रीमहोदयांना विमानतळावर पोहोचण्यास उशीर झाला तेव्हा त्यांनी त्यांचे आगमन होईपर्यंत विमानच रोखून धरले होते, या घटनेवर आधारित सुबोध केरकर यांनी काढलेले ते व्यंगचित्र होते.

धेम्पे कॉलेजात मी हायर सेकंडरीला असताना नवहिंद टाइम्सच्या पान एकवर प्रसिद्ध झालेले ते व्यंगचित्र मला आज चाळीस वर्षांनंतरही ठळकपणे आठवते. याचे कारण म्हणजे `राव रे' ( 'अरे थांब रे) असे कोकणी भाषेत सांगताच थांबणारे ते विमान म्हणजे गोव्याची खासियत असलेल्या खासगी सिटी बस सेवेवरची ती एक मजेदार टिपण्णी होती !
पोर्तुगिजांची सत्ता संपवून गोवा १९६१ च्या डिसेंबरात भारत संघराज्यात सामील झाला तेव्हापासून गोव्यामध्ये खासगी बस वाहतूक आहे. या खासगी बस वाहतुकीचा या व्यंगचित्राला संदर्भ होता. गोव्यातील या खासगी बस वाहतुकीचे एक खास वैशिष्ट्य म्हणजे तुम्ही रस्त्यावर, एखाद्या टोंक रस्त्यावर म्हणजे तीन रस्ते मिळतात तिथे, चौकात किंवा अगदी रस्त्यापाशी असलेल्या तुमच्या घरापाशी थांबून तुम्ही 'राव रे!' अशी हाक दिली की नागमोडी रस्त्यावर कितीही वेगात असलेली ही खासगी बस तुमच्यासाठी हमखास थांबते.
गोव्याच्या बहुतेक सर्व खेड्यांत सर्व घरांची रचना रस्त्यालगत असते यामुळे हे सहजशक्य होते. प्रवाशांसाठी कुठेही आणि कितीही वेळेपर्यंत थांबणाऱ्या गोव्याच्या या बसबद्दल त्यामुळे अनेक गंमतीदार घटना होतात. उदाहरणार्थ, घरातून कुटुंबातील दुसरी व्यक्ती येईपर्यंत दारासमोर असलेली बस थांबून राहू शकते ! खरे म्हणजे 'राव रे' अशी साद देणारे कुणी प्रवाशी रस्त्यावर आहेत का याचीच बसचे ड्रायव्हर आणि कंडक्ट्रर असे दोघेही टेहेळणी करत असतात. आपल्या घराच्या दारापाशी रस्त्यावर सामान घेऊन बसची पाहत असलेले कुणीही लांबूनही प्रवाशी दिसले कि हाक नाही मारली तरी ड्रायव्हर सवयीने बसचा वेग कमी करुन त्या प्रवाश्यांपाशी थांबत असतो. तुम्हाला तुमच्या सामानासह आत घेतल्यानंतर, सामान ड्रायव्हरच्या शेजारच्या जागेत कोंबल्यावर बसचा कंडक्टर मग पिल्लुक मारतो (शीळ घालतो) आणि ड्रायव्हर मग बस पुढे नेतो. बसमधील कुणा प्रवाशानेही 'राव रे !' असे म्हटले की त्याच्या घरापाशी व इतर इच्छित स्थळी बस थांबते. प्रवाशी घेण्याचा आणि उतरविण्याचा हा सिलसिला बसचा अखेरचा स्टॉप येईपर्यंत चालू राहतो.
भारतातील ज्या मोजक्या राज्यांत आणि शहरांत खासगी प्रवासी सिटी बस वाहतूक चालते, त्यामध्ये गोव्याचा समावेश होतो. गोवा हे एक स्वतंत्र राज्य असले तरी या राज्याचा भौगोलिक आकार अगदी छोटा म्हणजे महाराष्ट्रातील अहमदनगरसारख्या मोठ्या जिल्ह्यासारखा असल्याने तेथील सातआठ शहरांत आणि गावोगावी धावणाऱ्या बसेस तशा सिटी बसेसच. यातील फार लांब पल्ल्यांच्या बसच्या प्रवासाचा म्हणजे पणजी ते मडगाव व वास्को ते पणजी यादरम्यानचा प्रवास साधारणतः एका तासाच्या आसपास असतो ! या दीर्घ आणि छोट्या पल्ल्याच्या बस वाहतुकीतून गोमंतकीय संस्कृतीचे एक आगळेवेगळे दर्शन घडत असते. गोव्यात शालेय आणि महाविद्यालयीन शिक्षण आणि नंतर नोकरीनिमित्त अनेक वर्षे वास्तव्य करूनही आजही या संस्कृतीचे दर्शन मला आकर्षित करत असते.
पणजी, म्हापसा, पोंडा, वॉस्को, काणकोण किंवा मडगाव शहरांत बसस्टँडवार तुम्ही पोहोचला की वेगवेगळ्या दिशेने जाणाऱ्या बसचे कंडक्टर तुम्हाला 'पोणजे मार्केट, मिरामार- डोना पावला', 'पोरवोरीम-म्हापसा', 'मडगाव-पोणजे', 'ओल्ड गोवा-मंगेशी- पोंडा' वॉस्को -मडगाव ,असे ओरडत प्रवाशांना आकर्षित करत असतात. बस अगदी खचाखच भरल्याशिवाय बसस्टँड सोडत नाही आणि वाटेवरही प्रवासी घेतच राहते. प्रवाशांकडे सामान असले तर हे कंडक्टर ते सामान ड्रायव्हरच्या केबिनमध्ये ठेवण्यासही मदत करतात.
गोव्यामध्ये हिंदू आणि ख्रिस्ताव हे दोन प्रमुख समाज. त्याचे प्रतिबिंब बसमध्ये ड्रायव्हरच्या केबिनमध्ये दिसते. कधी बसमालक ख्रिस्ती असतो तर ड्रायव्हर हिंदू असतो किंवा याउलट असते. त्यामुळे येशू ख्रिस्त आणि मदर मेरीच्या फोटोबरोबरच ड्रायव्हरच्या पुढयात मंगेशाची किंवा साईबाबांची छोटीशी प्रतिमा किंवा पुतळा असतो. केबिनमध्ये अगरबत्तीचा वास दरवळत असतो. त्याचबरोबर शेजारच्या येशू आणि मदर मेरीच्या (सायबिणीच्या) आणि गोयंचो सायबा असलेल्या संत फ्रान्सिस झेव्हियरच्या फोटोंसमोरील वायरीने जोडलेली मेणबत्तीही कायम तेवत असते. यात कुणालाही विसंगती भासत नाही वा कुणाच्या धार्मिक श्रध्दाही दुखावल्या जात नाहीत !
गोव्यातील खासगी बस वाहतुकीसाठी पैसे मोजावे लागत असले तरी प्रवाशांना तिकिटे मात्र दिली जात नाहीत. प्रवाशांनी गच्च भरलेल्या बसमध्ये कंडक्टरची बस ड्रायव्हरशी संवाद साधण्याची खास कला अनुभवायलाच हवी. बसमध्ये या दारापासून तो दुसऱ्या दारापर्यंत जात तिकिटांचे पैसे गोळा करत कंडक्टर सारखे 'यो रे' 'चोल रे' 'वोस रे' असे बोलत ड्रायव्हरला सूचना देत असतो. एका हातात नोटा घेऊन दुसऱ्या हाताची दोन बोटे तोंडात घालून वेगवेगळ्या प्रकारची शीळ घालून कंडक्टर ड्रायव्हरला थांबण्याचे वा पुढे निघण्याचे इशारे देत असतो. असे सांकेतिक इशारे देण्यासाठी शिटी वापरणारा कंडक्टर क्वचितच दिसतो. त्याशिवाय अधिकाधिक प्रवाशी मिळवण्यासाठी बसच्या ड्रायव्हरची आणि कंडक्टरची दुसऱ्या बसशी सतत स्पर्धा चाललेली असते. पणजी-मिरामार -दोनापावला अशा छोट्या अंतराच्या मार्गांवर वीसपंचवीस प्रवाशांसाठी मिनीबस असतात , या बसमध्ये एकच कंडक्टर असतो, लांब पल्ल्याच्या बसमध्ये शक्यतो दोन कंडक्टर असतात.
गोव्यात बहिणीकडे सुट्टीसाठी एकटा गेलो की प्रवासासाठी माझी प्रथम निवड हे तेथील बससेवाच असते. गोव्यात अनेक वर्षे राहिल्याने तेथे गेल्यावर मी फार हिंडत नसतो. पणजी ते म्हापसा, ओल्ड गोवा-मंगेशी आणि क्वचित मडगाव आणि मिरामार-डोना पावला इथपर्यंत माझा प्रवास असतो. त्याशिवाय शाळेत शिकवणाऱ्या माझ्या बहिणीची बदली चार-पाच वर्षांनी दक्षिण किंवा उत्तर गोव्यातील ज्या गावी होईल तेथेही जाणे होतेच.
सत्तरच्या दशकात पणजी शहरातील मुख्य बसस्टॅण्डवरील बहुतेक मार्गावरील सिटी बससेवा संध्याकाळी सातला बंद व्हायच्या. संध्याकाळी सातनंतर गोव्याची राजधानी असलेली पणजी एकदम सामसूम व्हायची. त्यामुळे पुण्यातून पणजीला जाणारी महाराष्ट्राची स्टेट ट्रान्सपोर्ट एस टी बस पुणे स्टेशनहून पहाटे चारला निघायची. याचे कारण म्हणजे ही बस पणजीला सूर्यास्ताआधी म्हणजे सिटी बसवाहतूक बंद होण्याआधी पोहोचायला हवी. मी असा प्रवास दोनतीन वेळेस केलेला आहे. कलंगुट आणि बागा या समुद्रकिनाऱ्याला गेल्यानंतर तेथून संध्याकाळी पाचच्या आत म्हापशाच्या दिशेने बस पकडावी लागायची अन्यथा या बीचवर रात्रभर अडकून राहावे लागत असे, आणि त्याकाळी या समुद्रकिनाऱ्यावर हॉटेलसुद्धा नव्हती यावर आज अनेकांचा विश्वास बसणार नाही.

गोव्यात पर्यटनासाठी पहिल्यांदाच जाणाऱ्या लोकांना गोव्याची तोंडओळख करून घेण्यासाठी मी त्यांना दोन दिवसांच्या 'गोवा दर्शन' टूरमध्ये सहभागी होण्याचा सल्ला देत असतो. या दोन दिवसांत उत्तर आणि दक्षिण गोवा असे पूर्ण गोवा राज्यातील सर्व प्रमुख पर्यटनस्थळे, मंदिरे, चर्चेस, समुद्रकिनारे वगैरे प्रेक्षणीय स्थळे दाखविली जातात. पहिल्या भेटीतच लोक गोव्याच्या प्रेमात पडतात. त्यानंतर दुसऱ्या किंवा तिसऱ्या गोवा भेटीनंतर कुणाचाही अशा धावत्या दौऱ्याचा उत्साह कमी होतो आणि गोव्याची संस्कृती विविध अंगांनी पाहण्याची, अनुभवण्याची इच्छा निर्माण होते. अशा लोकांनी मग स्वतःच्या दुचाकीवर किंवा चारचाकीने गोवा भटकंतीवर अवश्य जावे. मात्र निदान एकदातरी गोव्यातील प्रवासी बसने हिंडायालाच हवे,असा माझा मित्रमंडळींना आग्रहवजा सल्ला असतो ! या बस प्रवासात गोव्याच्या संस्कृतीची अनेक रूपे दिसून येतात हे या माझ्या आग्रहामागचे मुख्य कारण असते.

आजकाल उबर आणि ओला टॅक्सीच्या जमान्यात दुसऱ्या शहरात सहसा कुणी सिटी बसने प्रवास करण्याच्या फंदात पडणार नाही. पण दुसऱ्या देशातील, शहरातील संस्कृती जवळून अनुभवण्यासाठी स्थानिक सार्वजनिक वाहतूक सेवेसारखा दुसरा पर्याय नाही. युरोपच्या दौऱ्यात असताना यासाठीच रोम शहरात मी कुटुंबासह सिटी बसने आणि ट्रॅमने प्रवास करायचो. 'व्हेन इन रोम, डू ऍज रोमन्स डू' या उक्तीनुसार हे वागणे होते. या बस आणि ट्रॅम प्रवासात रोमवासी काही वर्तनाच्या बाबतींत अगदी आपल्या भारतीयांसारखेच आहेत याचे काही गंमतीदार अनुभव मिळाले. पॅरीसमध्ये मेट्रोने प्रवास करताना गर्दी नसतानाही एका चोराने स्टेशनवर उतरताना आमचे पाकिट मारले आणि तिथल्या एका वेगळ्याच संस्कृतीची आम्हाला चुणूक दाखविली.
गोव्यात मी इतरांबरोबर असलो की या लोकांना मी हमखास बसचा एकतरी प्रवास घडवतो. दोन वर्षांपूर्वी `सकाळ टाइम्स'चे जुळे प्रकाशन असलेल्या गोमंतक टाइम्सच्या कामासाठी आम्ही काही जण सांत इनेजला गोमंतक भवन मध्ये उतरलो होतो. सकाळी तेथून १८ वा जून रस्त्याने चालत भाजीपाव आणि मिरचीभजे खाण्यासाठी आझाद मैदानापाशी गेलो आणि येताना त्यांना मी हॉटेल मांडवी येथून कला अकादमीपर्यंत बसने आणले.
धेम्पे कॉलेजात मी हायर सेकंडरीला असताना ऑल गोवा स्टुडंट्स युनियनने ( अगसू) विद्यार्थी संघटनेने या खासगी बसमध्ये विद्यार्थ्यांना पन्नास टक्के प्रवास भाडे सवलत मिळावी म्हणून आंदोलन केले होते. सतीश सोनक आणि मनोज जोशी हे आंदोलनाचे नेते होते. या आंदोलनाच्या वेळी पोर्तुगीज सत्तेतून मुक्त होऊन भारतात समाविष्ट झालेल्या गोव्यात पहिल्यांदाच खळखट्याक आवाज झाला ! आंदोलन यशस्वी होऊन विद्यार्थ्यांना प्रवासभाडे सवलत मिळाली ती आतापर्यंत चालू आहे. त्याकाळात म्हणजे १९७८ साली पणजी मिरामार प्रवास भाडे पंचवीस पैसे होते, या आंदोलनानंतर आम्हा विद्यार्थ्यांसाठी हे प्रवासभाडे तेरा पैसे इतके झाले हे आजही आठवते.
मी कॉलेजला शिकत असताना काही संघटनांनी गोव्यत खासगी बस वाहतूकसेवा बंद करुन सरकारी बस वाहतूक सेवा करावी अशी मागणी केली होती. या मागणीचे समर्थन करणाऱ्या रोलंड मार्टिन या विद्यार्थी नेत्याशी माझा नेहेमी वाद व्हायचा. महाराष्ट्रातील त्याकाळच्या बस वाहतुकीच्या अनुभवावरुन आणि गोव्यातील प्रवासीभिमुख खासगी बस सेवेमुळे माझा बस वाहतुकीच्या सरकारीकरणास ठाम विरोध असायचा. अलिकडच्या काळात कोलकाता आणि इतर काही शहरांत खासगी बसने प्रवास करण्याचा प्रसंग आला आणि ते अनुभव फारसे सुखावह नव्हते.
प्रतापसिंग राणे मुख्यमंत्री असताना १९८०च्या दशकांत गोव्यात सरकारी बस वाहतूक सुरू करण्यात आली. त्यासाठी कदंब वाहतूक महामंडळ स्थापन करण्यात आले. गोव्यात एके काळी कदंब घराण्याची राजसत्ता होती. म्हणून कदंब हे नाव ! कदंब ट्रान्सपोर्ट कॉर्पोरेशन हे मुख्यमंत्री राणे यांच्या या आवडत्या अपत्याने मात्र बाळसे असे कधीच धरले नाही. कदंब वाहतूक महामंडळाची स्थापना होऊन चाळीस वर्षे उलटून गेली तरी आजही आजसुद्धा अगदी थोडयाच मार्गांवर निळ्या-पांढऱ्या रंगाच्या कदंब बस धावत असतात. सरकारी मालकीच्या असलेल्या या बसमध्ये प्रवाशांना तिकिटेही दिली जातात. पणजी-म्हापसा अशा ठराविक काही मार्गांवर विनावाहक तत्त्वावर कदंब बसेस चालतात. या बसमध्ये तुम्हाला बसायला जागा मिळू शकते, मात्र फेऱ्यांचे प्रमाण कमी असल्याने प्रवासी भरगच्च भरलेल्या खासगी बसचाच पर्याय निवडतात.
या खासगी बससेवेचा एक तोटा म्हणजे बस अगदी भरुन गेल्याशिवाय बसस्टॅण्ड सोडत नाही. कंडक्टरला फूटबोर्डवर जेमतेम पाय टेकवता येईल इतकी बस भरली की मगच बस पुढे ढळते . याउलट कदंब बस अगदी ठराविक वेळापत्रकानुसार सुटतात. मात्र कदंबाचे पगारदार ड्रायव्हर आणि कंडक्टरसुद्धा प्रवाशी आकर्षित करण्याचे प्रयत्न करतात हे मान्य करायला हवे.
गोव्यातील नागमोडी वळणाच्या अरुंद रस्त्यांवरून या खासगी बस आणि मिनीबस जातात, तेव्हा ड्रायव्हरच्या कौशल्याला दाद द्यावी लागते. एखादया टोंकापाशी (तीन रस्ते मिळतात ती जागा) बस थांबते तेव्हा कुणी प्रवासी आपल्या घरापासून येतो आहे काय याकडे ड्रायव्हर आणि कंडक्ट्रर या दोघांचेही लक्ष असते. त्याचवेळी मागून येणारी बस ओव्हरटेक करून पुढचे सर्व प्रवासी घेणार नाही याचीही त्यांना काळजी घ्यावी लागते. एखादी महिला सामानासह लांबून येताना दिसली की कंडक्ट्रर ड्रायव्हरला थांबण्याचा इशारा करतो. 'ये गो, बेगीन यो !' असे त्या महिलेलाही सांगतो. गोव्यात कोकणीत लहान-मोठयांशी एकेरीतच बोलले जाते. अगदी मुख्यमंत्री किंवा कुणाही मोठ्या व्यक्तीला आदरयुक्त स्वरात पण एकेरीतच 'तू बस हांगा!' असेच म्हटले जाते. कोकणी भाषेतला हा खास गोडवा ! प्रवाशांना बसमध्ये घेत असताना त्याचवेळी मागची बस ओव्हरटेक करुन पुढे उभे राहिलेले प्रवाशी घेणार तर नाही ना याची काळजी कंडक्ट्ररला असते. दररोजच्या फेऱ्यांमधून अधिकाधिक पैसा गोळा करण्यासाठी ड्रायव्हर आणि कंडक्ट्रर यांच्यामध्ये सुसूत्रता असते महत्त्वाचे असते.
प्रवाशांचे अवजड सामान ड्रायव्हरच्या केबिनमधील मोकळ्या जागेत ठेवले जाते. ज्येष्ठ नागरीकांचे आणि इतरही प्रवाशांचे सामान घेऊन ते ड्रायव्हरच्या शेजारच्या मोकळया जागेत ठेवण्यात कंडक्ट्रर मदत करतो. जास्तीत जास्त प्रवासी मिळवून उत्पन्न वाढवण्याचा प्रत्येक ड्रायव्हर अन कंडक्ट्रर प्रयत्न करत असतो त्यामुळे प्रवाशांना ही व्हीआयपी वागणूक !
गोव्यातील सिटी बसमधील पुढच्या निम्म्या जागा महिलांसाठी राखीव असतात. प्रवास सुरु झाला कि थोड्या वेळाने कंडक्ट्रर प्रवाशांकडून तिकिटाचे पैसे गोळा करू लागतो. तिकीट अर्थांतच नसते. बसमध्ये खूप गर्दी असली तर प्रत्येक स्टॉपवर बसमधून खाली उतरून कंडक्टर उतरणाऱ्या प्रवाश्यांकडून तिकिटाचे पैसे गोळा करत असतो. हा विश्वासाचा मामला असतो. या बसमध्ये तिकीट नसले तरी त्यामुळे तिकिटाचे पैसे न दिल्याबद्दल वाद कधी होत नाहीत हे विशेष. हा, `मोडचे' म्हणजे सुट्टे पैसे नसले तर गडबड होऊ शकते.
गोव्यातील प्रवासी वाहतुकीचे आणखी एक खास वैशिष्ट्य म्हणजे तेथील पायलट दुचाकी सेवा. तुम्ही पोणजे प्रासा किंवा पणजी आंतरराज्यीय बसस्टँडवर पोहोचला की पिवळ्या रंगाचे मडगार्ड असलेल्या मोटारसायकलींवरील पायलट तुम्हाला कुठे जायचे आहे असे विचारतील. अशा मोटारसायकल रिक्षा भारतात केवळ गोव्यातच असाव्यात.
खूप वर्षांपूर्वी म्हणजे १९७० आणि १९८०च्या दशकांत मी पणजीला शिकत असताना हे मोटारसायकल पायलट गोव्यात सगळ्या शहरांत चौकाचौकात आणि मुख्य रस्त्यांवर अनेक ठिकाणी मोठया संख्येने दिसायचे. माझ्या शालेय आणि महाविद्यालयीन जीवनाच्या काळात गोव्यात शेकडो युवकांना आणि इतरांना मोटारसायकल पायलटच्या सेवेने रोजगार मिळवून दिला होता. कर्जावर घेतलेल्या राजदूत आणि इतर मोटारसायकल एव्हढीच काय त्यांची यासाठी आर्थिक गुंतवणूक असायची. एखादी साडीवाली, फ्रॉकवाली किंवा स्कर्टधारी महिला मासे आणि भाजीपाला घेऊन पणजी मार्केटबाहेर आली की एखादा पायलटच्या दुचाकीवरून मिरामार, अल्तिनो किंवा सांत इनेजला जाई.
त्याकाळात या छोट्याशा अंतरासाठी किमान दहा रुपये भाडे असायचे. कामावर किंवा इतर कुठे जाणारी पुरुषमंडळी छोटया अंतरावर जाण्यासाठी या मोटारसायकल पायलट सेवेचा वापर करत. एका व्यक्तीसाठी तीनआसनी रिक्षापेक्षा मोटारसायकल पायलट सेवा अधिक स्वस्त असायाची. तीन -आसनी रिक्षा त्याकाळात प्रामुख्याने पर्यटकच वापरायचे.
दोन वर्षांपूर्वी थायलंडच्या एका आंतरराष्ट्रीय परिषदेत जगभरातील प्रसारमाध्यमांच्या प्रतिनिधींबरोबर सकाळ टाइम्सचा वार्ताहर म्हणून मी उपस्थित होतो. तेथे बँकॉक येथे सकाळी चौकाचौकात शाळकरी मुले-मुली अशाच मोटारसायकल पायलटबरोबर शाळेत जाताना दिसली आणि गोव्याच्या अशाच आगळ्यावेगळ्या प्रवाससेवेची आठवण झाली. का कुणास ठाऊक पण गेल्या काही वर्षांत या मोटारसायकल पायलटांची संख्या अख्ख्या गोव्यात खूपच कमी झाली आहे.
मात्र अलीकडच्या काळात प्रवासी दुचाकीची एका नवी सेवा गोव्यात सुरू झाली आहे. तुमच्याकडे पॅनकार्डसारखा ओळखपत्र पुरावा असला की तुम्हाला एखादी दुचाकी दिवसाला साडेतीनशे किंवा चारशे रुपयांस भाडयाने मिळू शकते. मागे एकदा मी एका पेट्रोलपंपावर उभा होते तेव्हा पेट्रोल भरणाऱ्या युवकाने विचारले, 'गोव्यात फिरायला आला का?' भाडेतत्त्वावर दिल्या जाणाऱ्या दुचाकीचे मडगार्ड व्यावसायिक वाहनाचे म्हणजे पिवळ्या रंगाचे असल्याने मी पर्यटक आहे हे त्याने ओळखले होते !
कोरोनाचा सद्याचा लॉकडाऊन संपला कि गोव्याचा दौरा करायला उत्सुक असणाऱ्या लोकांनी एकदा तरी गोव्याच्या या सिटी बसमध्ये प्रवास करायलाच हवा

Activist, crusader journalist - Editor Prakash Kardaley कर्दळे मास्तर

“So when can you join us?”, asked Prakash Kardaley, resident editor of Indian Express (Pune edition), as he showed me the pay scale that would be offered to me as a staff reporter. He pointed at the horizontal table of a pay scale applicable to a staff reporter in the Indian Express group of newspapers as per the Justice Palekar Wage award. (My resume was silent on the fact that I was a former general secretary of Goa Union of Journalists and so well-versed with the Palekar Award or the Working Journalists Act. ) Indeed, I was impressed with the offered pay scales, it was a big jump from the pay I was getting in Lokmat Times in Aurangabad. It was a leap from Rs 1200 per month to nearly Rs 2600 per month salary. A fortnight later, on November 1, 1989, I joined Indian Express at the Aurora Tower n Pune Camp as a staff reporter. On the same day, Kardaley also made an arrangement for my stay in Pune - a monthly cot basis Priya Lodge, located opposite Rupali and Vaishali hotels in Deccan Gymkhana. Avertino Miranda, an old friend from Goa, and now a reporter in Indian Express, was one of the companions there. The same cot and the room at the lodge, along with a teapoy and a cupboard, were to be my accommodation and assets for the next four years. Other Indian Express reporters Vishwanath Hiremath and Vishwas Kothari would soon join Miranda and me later at the same lodge.
Kardaley and I soon got on well. He was a different kind of a boss. After Anand Agashe left to join ‘Indian Post’, there was no designated chief reporter in Indian Express, all of us eight reporters were on par, just staff reporters and took orders from each others in rotation. Immediately after joining Indian Express, the first national newspaper for me, we reporters covered the December 1989 parliamentary election with zeal. I was excited to tour Kolhapur and Ichalkaranji Lok Sabha seats as Naren Karunakaran and other colleagues visited other constituencies in western Maharashtra. As the resident editor, Kardaley, all of us referred to him as मास्तर `Master', gave full freedom to us reporters and the news desk team. That is the difference when an editor has background of news desk or reporting section. Kardaley never even had a look at our news copies typed on an old typewriter which was shared by all of us reporters. He trusted professional abilities of reporters in his team and the news desk. Neither did he enjoy holding long sessions of meetings to give pep talks or share news ideas. Unless you made a blunder of asking him which is Mula and Mutha river in Pune or something about the Peth locations in Pune city.... Then the Master would make you seat before him as he, with a pen, would draw a map, and would go on explaining for, say, at least half an hour..
We young reporters - at 28 I was the eldest and Anosh Malekar the youngest among the lot - were left to learn ourselves or fend for ourselves. But it was fun and lots of excitement. Even after our work was over, some of us male reporters, all of whom were bachelors, kept chatting and smoking either at the M.G. Street in Pune Camp or at the Priya Lodge in Deccan Gymkhana till late night hours. After the working hours at night, Kardaley often dropped me by an autorickshaw or his Kinetic scooter at Priya Lodge as he proceeded from the BMCC Road to his residence in Patrakar Nagar. During those days, none of the editors or journalists in Pune had their own four-wheelers or chauffeur-driven office cars. Despite its name, our Priya Lodge which was a part of the Hotel Hill View and located near the IMDR, was strictly for male members with even female siblings or any female family members forbidden to climb steps of the two-storeyed building. Sometimes Kardaley would drop in at our place at very odd hours – around 8 am – causing much embarrassment to most of us Indian Express reporters who never went to sleep before 1 am and got up very late in the morning. Oh yes, who would forget Kardaley's characteristic call 'ए गाढवा ! ' ('Ae Donkey ..') that used to carry different undertones. Sometimes the tone of his 'ए गाढवा !' meant the Master was in a most cheerful and appreciative mood ! Otherwise, even the others in the room feared the worst.
Kardaley soon introduced me to the bar culture in Pune Camp. The refreshing half an hour drinking sessions at the Ritz Hotel opposite Pune General Post Office (GPO) and Hotel Grand with their typically old fashioned architecture and furniture reminded me of taverns in Goa. Kardaley who smoked along with me never went beyond two small pegs of Vodka or a bottle of beer. Sometimes there would be larger gatherings of reporters. It was at one of such gatherings at Hotel Grand that we reporters and Kardaley had a brain storming session on a proposed weekly features supplement of Indian Express. Vinita Deshmukh who later joined Indian Express was in charge of the weekly supplement published on every Thursday. The weekly supplement was a precursor to the ‘Citizen’ magazine which was also looked after by Vinita Deshmukh. Our teleprinter operator R. G. R. (Many of us never knew his full name) typed the reporters’ copies again on the teleprinter to transmit them to our Mumbai-based desk. This teleprinter had a two-way traffic. Yes, that time, the news desk of Pune edition was based in Mumbai and Kardaley and we reporters communicated to M. J. Paul, Nasir Shaikh, Devendra Singh and others of the Pune desk in Mumbai only through the teleprinter and a hotline !
Like me, Kardaley too had began his professional career in Goa. He was in Goa when this territory was preparing to go for a historic referendum in January 1967 – the first and the only one in the history of an independent India - on the issue of whether to remain an independent entity or merge into neighbouring Maharashtra state. The tiny territory had then thankfully narrowly voted for an independent Union Territory status. Kardaley had worked in Goa, in Marathi daily Gomantak, just for a few months. Talking to me, he often recalled the days when ‘Estado da India’ or Portuguese India’ liberated in December 1961 was gradually learning to take a few steps in democratic India. He was amused to see that the new political leaders in Goa including ministers, legislators and other elected representatives needed coaching in electoral politics. Many ministers and legislators were also brought to Mumbai to witness State Assembly proceedings there ! It is even said that when a question was raised by a legislator in Goa Assembly, Goa’s first Chief Minister Dayanand Bandodkar without rising from his seat used to gesture with a finger to a bureaucrat, saying in Konkani "सांग रे त्येका ! " (“Reply to his question !” )
Originally hailing from Nagpur, Prakash Muralidhar Kardaley, joined Indian Express in Mumbai in 1967 and served the organisation for a record period of 40 years, his retirement in 2000 was followed by nearly seven-year long extension. Cartoonist R. K. Laxman who was with the Times of India (Bennett and Coleman Company) for over five decades perhaps holds the longest record of service with any newspaper in India. It was said that while he was posted in Mumbai, he had dug out many government files from the Mantralaya which helped Indian Express editor Arun Shourie to target the then Maharashtra Chief Minister Abdul Rehman Antulay. The Cement Scandal as the corruption came to be known forced Antulay – the first and the only Muslim chief minister of Maharashtra - to quit his post. Kardaley was posted in Pune in 1972. “I liked the city so much that I made it my home,” he has written. After serving as a chief reporter in Mumbai and also in New Delhi for a brief period, Kardarley returned to Pune to launch Pune edition of the Indian Express. That was the time in 1989 when I had joined this newspaper. Maharashtra Herald owned by Atur Sangtani was then leading English newspaper in Pune. Pune edition of Loksatta was also launched simultaneously with Anil Takalkar and Arun Khore leading the team.
Kardaley was closely associated with Indian Express Chief Editor Arun Shourie. I remember once I happened to pick up a landline call. “Arun here, Prakash, ” the voice on the other side said. “Sir, this is Camil Parkhe. Is there any message?” I said. “Camil, please tell Prakash that Arun had called,” he said and hung up. I was totally thrilled. Not because Chief Editor Arun Shourie had spoken to me. It was because it was for the first time outside Goa that someone had understood and pronounced my name correctly. Soon after that, Kardaley on behalf of Indian Express arranged Shourie’s talk at the Fergusson College’s Amphi Theatre. There was a tense atmosphere and heavy deployment of police personnel around the venue. That was because Shourie’s controversial book `Worshiping False Gods’ relating to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was released recently. The years from 1989 to 1991 were a turbulent period in the history of independent India. It saw downfall of the Rajiv Gandhi government, short-lived prime ministerial tenures of Vishwanath Pratap Singh and Chandra Shekhar, arrival of the Mandal Commission era, Lal Krishna Advani’s controversial Rath Yatra, a mid-term poll and assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. All of us young reporters in Indian Express were given a free hand by Kardaley to cover these memorable events.
Having withdrawn from the nitty-gritty of the newspaper routine, Kardaley had now turned an ardent disciple of Osho. He used to frequently visit the Osho Ashram in Koregaon Park in the city. By that time, soon after his forced and humiliating return from the USA, Osho had stopped delivering speeches or even appearing in public. There were even many rumours about his ill health. Admission to the Osho Ashram was restricted only to those having HIV-free or AIDS-free certificates. All of us reporters were acquainted with Swamy Chaitanya Kirti and a few others managing the press relations for the Osho Ashram and who therefore frequently visited Indian Express office. Once Kirti informed Kardaley that Osho would appear before the devotees on Guru Purnima day. “I took my son (Amol, now based in Australia) along with me so that he may watch an historic figure,” Kardaley later wrote in his blog. To be frank, as a journalist and also as one who had studied philosophy for graduation and post-graduation degrees, how I had wished to meet or listen to this great, unconventional original thinker !
And then, one Sunday late evening, Kardaley stormed into the newspaper office to file a news report. All of us knew that Osho had died and we thought Kardaley would be a heartbroken man. He was not. This surprised me because my first editor, Bikram Vohra of The Navhind Times in Panjim, Goa, was unable to hold back his tears as we prepared a special afternoon newspaper bulletin, following assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. Vohra, now living in the Gulf, has hailed from a family having two generations of senior ranking Army officers ! Kardaley asked one of the reporters to let him use the typewriter. And when while facing the wall he began typing, there was no pause for a second. That was the first time I had a glimpse of various qualities of a good reporter he had. Within a few minutes, Kardaley had filed the obit of Osho, Osho Rajnish, Bhagwan Rajnish, Acharya Rajnish or simply Chandra Mohan Jain, a philosophy teacher from Jabalpur University who later shook the whole world with his revolutionary thinking. Kardaley carried no notes with him as he filed the single spaced two typed sheets obit. He gave the typed copy to RGR to transmit it on teleprinter to Mumbai and for all editions of Indian Express. And he left nonchalantly for home, leaving all us too stunned. Apparently he believed in the now famous dictum : "Osho Never Born, Never Died Only visited this Planet Earth between December 11, 1931 - January 19, 1990 ."
Kardaley had always adorned the mantle of an activist journalist, a crusader. In keeping with the tradition of Indian Express, he was ready to take head on against the mighty and powerful. The issue of development on a hilltop at the Survey No. 44 at Erandwane in Pune was one such issue Kardaley raised in Indian Express. I even remember attending along with Kardaley a late night general body meeting of the Pune Municipal Corporation on this hot issue. Express Citizen Forum (ECF) was another issue which was close to Kardaley’s heart. He founded the ECF in 1990 to actively take up various civic issues, be it MSEB power mismanagement, potholes, tree felling or the deplorable drainage system. He had an army of some activists who were committed civic activists and faithfully attended meetings of the Express Citizen Forum, usually held at the Clover Centre, adjacent to Aurora Tower, where our newspaper was located. Netraprakash Bhog, Tara Warrior, advocate Aroona Nafday and Kalpana Gupte were some of the activists associated with the Express Citizen Forum. It was a rule that the discussion at the ECF meetings, though attended by less than two digit number persons, would be carried in at least four columns in Indian Express. And as an exception, this news copy was expected to be shown to Kardaley before forwarding it to the news desk. It was most likely that additions would be suggested or an enraged Kardaley would himself file another an in-depth story !
By the way, in keeping with the prevalent ethics and glorious tradition of English journalism, the name and photo of the editor (Kardaley) was not published in any news in Indian Express. To make matters easier for our photographer Milind Wadekar, ECF Convenor Kardaley, therefore, later agreed to sit at a corner on dais at all major ECF functions ! I remember we reporters including Madhav Gokhale, Vishwanath Hiremath, Naren Karunakaran, Shubha Gadkari, Sangeeta Jain- Jagirdar, Avertino Miranda and Anosh Malekar used to duck for cover whenever Kardaley would wonder aloud if there is any volunteer to cover the ECF meeting. Many times, the Master himself would volunteer to cover the meeting and a day later, there would be four to five columns news on various civic issues. We reporters always marvelled at his unending zeal and love for the civic issues.
“This (ECS) was the best phase of my life and this became the strength of my paper also,” Kardaley has stated in his blog. The Indian Express Group which gives the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards every year has instituted a civic journalism award in memory of Prakash Kardaley, It honours a print journalist 'whose sustained effort highlights a civic issue and forces the authorities to find a solution for it. The award aims to recognise pro-active local reporting that makes a difference in the lives of citizens.'' Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards are the most coveted awards in journalism in India. Incidentally, Radheshyam Jadhav, who had been my colleague in Maharashtra Herald in 2004-06 and later worked with Indian Express and The Times of India has won the Prakash Kardaley memorial award twice.
During this time, reporter colleague Shubha Gadkari introduced me to Asha Kardaley who used to then contribute to daily Loksatta. The short, soft-spoken woman is a reputed Marathi writer in her own right, known for her short stories, and has some acclaimed books to her credit including biographies of Kiran Bedi and Mother Teresa. After I joined Maharashtra Herald-Sakal Times , I often used to meet her when she visited Sakal library. She was pleased when once I told her that a chapter on Mother Teresa in my Marathi and English editions of ‘Contribution of Christian Missionaries in India’ was based wholly on her Mother Teresa’s biography !
I resigned from Indian Express within a year to continue as a freelance journalist. I regretted my folly three years later. With a large heart, Kardaley welcomed me back into Indian Express fold, albeit with voucher payment basis with salaries almost on par with other colleagues. When I rejoined, the premises areas of Indian Express -Loksatta in Aurota Towers were nearly doubled. More reporters including Raghunath, Anuradha Msacarenhas, Dnyanesh Jathar, Rachna Bisht, Davinder Kumar, Nanda Dabhole, Sujata Deshmukh, Satyajit Joshi, Prasanna Keskar, Abhijit Atre, Manish Umbrajkar and Vishwas Kothari had joined. Pune News desk from Mumbai too was shifted to Pune. This time I was entrusted with the job of Pimpri Chinchwad Newsline, Maharashtra regional news and editing his most favourite column – the Letters to the Editor. The letters – mostly written by senior citizens, retired defence personnel and civic activists – used to deal with issues of erratic water and power supply, pathetic Pune Municipal Transport (PMT) service and landline phone service. “I always liked to highlight the grass root problems and more fieldwork. My aim was to know more about knowing grievances faced by people not just writing about those Netas. I never had the fascination for the big names... To me there is no difference between reporting the proceedings of the Parliament and a Municipal Corporation,” Kardaley has written.
I remember the celebrations when Indian Express Pune edition overtook ‘Maharashtra Herald’ of Pune Camp in circulation of newspaper at around 18,000 copies. Indian Express was now the leading English newspaper in Pune. Around a decade later, Pune edition of The Times of India having reached a circulation of 1.17 lakh newspaper copies overtook Indian Express as the leading English newspaper in Pune and nearby areas. Yes, having joined The Times of India in 2000, I too was also a party to these celebrations organised by the TOI at a hotel on the Bhadarkar Road. Incidentally, I was the only common figure journalist at the launch of the three city English dailies in Pune in a span of three decades – Indian Express (1989), Times of India (2000) and the Maharashtra Herald- Sakal Times incarnation in the Sakal media group (2004). One of the major campaigns successfully launched by Kardaley was for erection of National War Memorial in Pune Cantonment area and dedicated to post-Independence war martyrs. Kardaley must have felt satisfied when Maharashtra Governor Dr. P. C. Alexander inaugurated the memorial in 1998.
In April 1999, Kardaley called me to say that due to the management’s cost cutting policy, now it was impossible for him to continue me on a voucher basis job. “Newspapers are not charity organisations, you see,” I remember his words even today as he advised me to look for another job. I did not realise then that Kardaley himself was to retire soon. However Kardaley continued my services with lesser responsibilities and with half of payment until I could secure a new job. ‘Subsistence allowance’, he said wryly. He had been a president of the Pune Union of Working Journalists (with Taher Shaikh as general secretary) and knew exactly what the term meant. I desperately hanged on with the thread of the small monthly payment for almost a year until I was offered a job in The Times of India. With a huge relief, I jumped for the job offer which came through an old friend, Abhay Vaidya. The Times of India was to launch its Pune edition in April 2000 and Abhay Vaidya who later became chief reporter wanted me to look after the state page in the national newspaper.
Kardaley relieved me of my duties in Indian Express the very moment I informed him of my appointment in the rival newspaper. I knew he shared in equal measures my joy in getting a job with an attractive package. By keeping me on the exit list for nearly a year, Kardaley had enabled me to find a gainful employment with a pay scale, Provident Fund, long paid holidays and all other benefits. First in the Times of India and later for 16-year-long service in Maharashtra Herald- Sakal Times of the Sakal Media Group and then a graceful exit from journalism service of 40 years during the present Corona Lockdown..... Oh,, these have been really great years with not many regrets...!!! And gratitude towards so many people who made it happen...!!! During my service in Indian Express, I was never a blue eyed boy or the Man Friday of Kardaley. Nonetheless, Kardaley the Master had unwittingly been my mentor and a godfather at one stage – nearly a decade - of my life and career.
And that was also the last day we saw each other. --

When statue of poet Louis Vaz de Camoes in Old Goa was removed...

The Black Lives Matter protests in the USA and Europe have called for removal of statues of some persons including Winston Churchill for their alleged dubious roles in treatment to the black community. This reminds me how a statue of celebrated literary giant Luis Vaz de Camoes in Old Goa was removed in 1980s, two decades after Goa was liberated from the Portuguese regime. There is an important circle in Old Goa no visitor to this former capital of Goa under the Portuguese regime will ever miss. This circle is at the entrance of the impressive Se Cathedral, the white 17th century edifice and the largest church in Old Goa.

This circle comes into prominence especially on December 3, the feast of St. Francis Xavier, and once a decade exposition of the relics of this patron saint of Goa. At the centre of the circle was once a pedestal. A huge statue of Portuguese poet Luis Vaz de Camoes placed on the pedestal was the centre of attraction at the walking plaza at the historic cathedral. The poet stood there, with his face up, holding in his hand scrolls of his epic, Os Lusíadas .

The imposing 3.6 meters high bronze statue of Luis Vaz de Camoes (1525 – 20 June, 1580) with the impressive background of Se Cathedral would have served as an ideal spot for selfies or photo ops. But not many people of my generation would have in their albums their photos captured at this site. I moved to Goa in 1978 but do not have a single photo taken near this poet’s statue at this picturesque site. This is because clicking photographs was not easily possible and affordable for common people till early 1980s, the period till the Portuguese bard’s statue was allowed the honour of occupying the high pedestal.

Old Goa is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Goa. The statue of a Portuguese national – a poet but in Portuguese language – continued to occupy the high pedestal even after Goa’s liberation in December 1961. Significantly, the statue was erected in Old Goa in 1960, just a year before Prime Minister Pandit Nehru ordered military action to liberate Goa from the Portuguese rule. The marble plaque on the pedestal carried in Portuguese language name and contribution of Luis Camoes.

During my college days, I visited Old Goa several times but it never occurred to me that the legacy of this impressive statue, like Portuguese – the administrative language of this tiny territory for four centuries – would soon be wiped out. The area around the circle was later renovated with a beautiful landscape in view of the increasing number of tourists to this historic place. Statues of many governor generals of the Portuguese regime in Goa including Alfonso de Albuquerque, Vasco de Gama from various prominent locations were shown the place they deserved after Goa’s liberation – the museums and archives.

The clamour for removing the Portuguese poet’s statue at the high pedestal in Old Goa had started getting louder in early 1980s. A group of freedom fighters and others calling themselves as nationalists demanded that the statue of the foreign national, who praised Portuguese imperialism, be removed from the site. It was even alleged that Luis Camoes had referred to Indians as dogs in his magnum opus epic, Os Lusíadas ("The Lusiads"), an allegation reputed by many.

Luis Vaz de Camoes has been hailed as Shakespeare, Homer or Kalidas of Portuguese language and national poet of Portugal. He had spent many years in Goa. But the group of the nationalists in Goa perceived Camoes as a relic of the past Portuguese imperialism and therefore saw no reason why his statue should occupy an honourable place after Goa's liberation. There were of course some voices, lauding the contribution of the giant litterateur. Os Lusíadas has been translated into several languages Camoes is called as the greatest poet in Portuguese language. His tomb in Lisbon, Portugal, is a national monument, visited by a large number of dignitaries and others. But those demanding removal of the poet’s statue were not impressed. The clamour for the statue’s removal was increasing. The issue was even raised in Indian Parliament. The Goa government was in a fix.

This atmosphere prevailing in Goa flashed before my mind when there was a prolonged controversy over the statue of Dadoji Kondadeo along with young Shivaji Maharaj and his mother Jijamata at the Lal Mahal in Pune. Some groups had questioned the very role of Dadoji Kondadeo in the life of Shivaji Maharaj and therefore demanded removal of his statue. Ultimately, Kondadeo statue was removed in the presence of a large police personnel which ended the row. In the case of poet Luis Vaz de Camoes, one morning in 1983, it was found that a blast was carried out to destroy the statue. It was a job carried out by amateur persons. The statue had remained intact at the pedestal but the blast, apparently carried out with gelatin sticks, had managed to rip open the throat area of the statue. Nevertheless the amateurish job on the statue accomplished its mission.

The blast job on the statue came as a blessing in disguise for the troubled Goa government led by Pratapsingh Rane. The public works department swiftly made arrangements to shift the statue to the museum of the Archaeological Survey of India, located just across the road, on the premises of the Bom Jesu Basilica. A major headache for the administration and security authorities was thus solved once for all.

Now the statue of poet Luis Vaz de Camoes at the museum is among scores of statues of heroes in Goan, Portuguese history and may hardly attract special attention of anyone. If you ever happen to visit this museum, remember, this statue of Luis Camoes now relegated into oblivion was once at the centre of attraction in Old Goa.