Goa-loving Painter Kamal Shah
Lotus_shah@hotmail.com

LIVING in Kenya was fabulous once upon a time, says Kamal Shah, a Kenyan of Indian origin, who returns to India, particularly to Bombay and Goa, though his ancestors came from Gujerat.

"I came here once about ten years ago and since then I keep coming back every year," says the bulky painter from East Africa, whom we met at the Art Chamber gallery at Khobravaddo in Calangute.

What is the particular element which attracts him to Goa so strongly? He says, "The weather first…I can work here in peace. I work daily between 10 am and 5 pm. I do paintings to take back." And what sort of paintings does he paint? Kamal says, "My work is actually more imaginative…It is only fantasy."

Terry Terry returns to Baga after two decades

TERRY Terry, hails from Michigan. He came to know about us via the web. Along with Lyn Peraino and others, he is responsible for conceiving the Lansing Jazz Fest, which draws nearly 20,000 jazz enthusiasts every year. Over 100 people volunteer their time anually to make JazzFest, put up by the Old Town Business & Art Development Association, memorable on Turner & E Grand River. Terry loves to teach. Before he took to business, he taught underprivileged kids in Nepal for a year. Along with his wife Barbara, a very creative person, soft-spoken Terry spent fortnight in Goa last December.

GN: You visited Goa after a lapse of 20 years. Do you find any change in Goa after all these years?
TERRY: Goa was quite different, Baga was quite different from what it is now. It was a quiet and secluded beach, just a few restaurant, shops…Now it is filled, crowded. However, many parts of Goa are still the same, like Agonda and other places, which have quiet beaches. Tourists areas though, like Baga, as for me…are a little bit too much…too many people, too much noise. But you have more people, and many more coming than you ever had before.

GN: Would consider returning to Goa again?
TERRY: Surely, I would like to come back to Goa again. I would definitely recommend people to come to Goa and see it. People are nice here. There is so much to see, beautiful beaches, mountains, countryside. It is easy to travel here by train, taxis, buses, motorcycles. The food is excellent, superb…fresh fish, curries.

GN: Have you noticed any development here since you came to Baga the last time?
TERRY: Yes. You can get many things now which you could not get before. You have internet in Goa so that you can stay in touch. All kinds of things are there, which were difficult to get once ago. Communications are good, telephones work. And people remain friendly.

GN: Tell us something about your business.
TERRY: Our business is in communications. We have a company in Michigan, it is called Message Makers. We develop training programmes in public relations, instructional design, interactive multimedia, web site development, graphic design, public relations and marketing. We produce videos, audio tapes and print material. We are a medium size company with a dozen employees with a few large clients already. It is challenging but it is fun to be in creative work.

GN: What is your experience about internet in Goa?
TERRY: I used the email primarily to communicate back with my company in the US. I did not do much surfing. Before coming to here we were in touch with the web, I and my wife Barbara did a lot of research and found out about Goa and India. And we could get a large amount of useful information on the internet than we could ever get in books. Web itself is so much a better way to get correct information and communicate with people.

GN: Is web business like?
TERRY: I find that web is a tough business. People pay so many different prices and have so many different expectations. Some people have very complex transactions, which involves complex programming. There are a lot of programmers in India that are employed in the United States now. There is opportunity there. I could employ a programmer if I could find one now.

GN: Why is there so much demand for Indian programmers in the States? Ain't there enough programmers…
TERRY: All those who were interested are hired and there aren't any more.

Joel D'Souza