wspapers could be
categorized on the basis of their political
affiliations, stand on the language issue and the lobby
they belong to. Though most of the papers shift their
policies in favour of the ruling party of the day, the
papers were strongly divided on the lines of language.
All the Marathi newspapers, with the exception of the Rashtramat,
supported Marathi. On the other hand, Sunaparant, Rashtramat
and Herald supported Konknni, and some papers remained
neutral or avoided a clear stand on this issue.

However, the major difference was the lobby they belong
to. At that time, all the significant Goa-based papers,
with the exception of Herald and Tarun Bharat, were
owned by mining corporations. Needless to say, that
there was a total blackout of all mining-related
stories which showed the industry in poor light. This
embargo exists till now. Only one difference has crept
in; the Gomantak group, which publishes Gomantak
(Marathi) and Gomantak Times, has been taken over by
the Sakal group of Maharashtra. It is the worst kind of
self censorship by a section of Goan press which
deprives a voice to the thousands of people living in
the mining belt in miserable conditions due to
pollution of air, water and land. My discontent was
growing as a journalist in a Goan newspaper. I was
looking out for an opportunity to move out from here.
And at the first opportunity, we -- meaning, my wife
and myself -- descended in Delhi for the more enriching
experience which completely changed my outlook towards
life and helped to change the course of my career.

Taking on new roles...

I was back to Goa after a gap of two years. My stay in
Delhi and a short stint in Malaysia was an enriching
experience. It was a new life altogether. There was no
question of joining any local paper for the very reason
I had decided to quit it. The dream was to start
something of my own; something different. The meteoric
rise of IT had thrown up lots of opportunities. Goa too
had made foray in the area of IT, and it had big plans.
Goa had an edge over its counterparts due to her
peculiar socio-economic conditions.

IT was nothing new for someone in the area of
journalism, since we had been dealing with information
all along. Having realized the power of information, it
was my endeavour to harness the technology to make it
an instrument of change.

With this objective in mind, I decided to set up a
small company and named it Aparant Infomedia,