ed he
had incurred "expenses".

Ravi Naik ultimately resigned, ironically after himself
losing an appeal against his disqualification in the
Supreme Court; and I was cleared of contempt charges.

Two years later I left GT.

But the memories remain.

Chapter 14:
An era of free sheeters

Miguel BraganzaHaving an educated father with a flair for speaking and
writing helps : Miguel's is a typical case study. As a
school student of St.Britto, his contributions to the
school magazine were like a celebrity column -- ghost
written by his father! His first original contribution
to the printed word was in a tabloid, bilingual 'free
sheeter' of sorts called the 'Vanguard' ('O Vanguardo')
in the mid 1970s. While at the University of
Agricultural Sciences,Bangalore, he was a
founder-member of the "Writers' Club" and one-time
Editor of the FYM: the Farm Yard
Manure..ooops...Magazine. Since then, Miguel has been
Goa University's first and only Garden Superintendent.
He took to writing more seriously after getting in
touch with journos in local newsrooms. He became the
first Consulting Editor of the Mapusa Plus free-sheeter
in July 2001.

Just imagine a user-driven economy in which the user
has to only pay attention; absolutely nothing else.
This improbable scenario has arrived in an increasingly
consumerist society with the birth of the 'free sheeter
', now making their presence felt in Goa too.

Unlike the mainstream broad-sheet and tabloid
newspapers, the user can take home a free-sheeter free
of cost and with no obligation, save the ethical one to
read it. There is no fine print to this free offer. The
offer does not read 'Do not pay anything for it now'
nor 'Nothing free'. The reader obtains a copy of the
free sheeter absolutely free of any financial
consideration, present or future.

There is also a greater freedom of expression in a free
sheeter since the publication is not tied to the apron
strings of a business house or interest group with
vested interests. The degree of freedom available to
the editor is almost boundless, though within the
limits of decency, propriety and libel laws. The editor
cannot be allowed to declare freedom from good sense
and decency. This is possible only because of the
multifaceted funding base that finances the free
sheeter and, often, the dedication of the editorial
team. A free-sheeter does not have to toe a line that
many of its bigger cousins make their way of life.

Wh