By Francis Cardozo

Pace and guile are his forte.

13-year-old, Arnold Oliveira, has fashioned many wins for his school team or otherwise.

Arnold's silky skills and dazzling performances have grabbed headlines, and put him on the radar of professional football clubs.

In recognition of his talent and dedication, the promising striker was picked up by the GFDC Football Academy where his skills are being honed in.

Last year, his school--Holy Spirit Institute--won the State Subroto Mukherjee Cup. 

Arnold has a golden run in the ongoing Zonal Subroto Mukherjee Cup. He has already bulged the nylon 10 times, and is the top scorer so far. 

Arnold, who hails from Paroda, counts Ronaldo among his favourite footballers. 

Ronaldo's pace and atheleticism impresses him the most. 

His father and mentor, Antonio Oliveira, spotted his talent when he was in Class One and offered him his unstinted support all along.

Arnold has numerous awards in his kitty. 

However, the Man of the Match Award, he won for scoring a lone goal in a pulsating school match is etched in his mind like a serial number.

With the Under-17 World Cup just around the corner, Arnold's sights are locked on it, and he is closely monitoring every development.

Arnold's dream is to play for the National team. Hope his dream comes full-circle some day.

                 PI Pravin says criminals are evolving

By Francis Cardozo

Sirvoi, a village in Quepem, was rocked by a sensational murder - not so long ago.

Worried villagers were clueless, and groping in the dark for answers. The gruesome crime knocked the stuffing out of the locals, who failed to understand the motive.

Acting on a complaint, a police team led by Police Inspector Pravin Gawas swung into action. PI Pravin narrowed down the suspect list. He persistently worked on a lone lead and within four hours - the criminal was in the police dragnet.

That earned Pravin the goodwill of the locals, and sent his stocks soaring.

"It was a difficult case as the criminal had covered his tracks well. But we rode on our experience to get to the bottom of the matter," avers Pravin, who has investigated high profile cases including, the Tarun Tejpal and Ruby Building Collapse cases.

Pravin, who joined Goa police as Police Sub Inspector in 2002, underwent training at Police Training College, Delhi.

"It was my childhood dream to be a police officer, and I thank God for fulfilling my dream. Whatever I have achieved thus far - I attribute it to my family," Pravin told this witer with a sense of pride in his words.

Besides doing stints at various police stations, including Ponda, Collem, Anjuna etc., he has managed to secure convictions in a whopping 30 cases.

Asked to single out any case he enjoyed working on the most, Pravin shrugged off saying: "every case is important. At the end of the day, conviction is paramount - be it small or a big case."

In recognition of his incisive investigating skills, Pravin was promoted to the rank of Police Inspector in 2013, and posted in Crime Branch, Ribandar. 

Pravin was drafted into a Special Team tasked with probing the sensational Vasco Double murder case in which Pratima Naik was recently sentenced to life imprisonment.

He, along with the team, were rewarded for cracking the case with fluency in what earlier looked like a blind case.

Pravin recently added another feather to his cap when he was awarded the DGP Insignia.

"The criminals are evolving with their techniques, and so we need to keep pace with them," he concluded on a final note.

Dr Sreeram K. Dhakankar performs rare Knee Regeneration Surgery

         

        Dr Shreeram:breakthrough innovation

By Francis Cardozo

Classic surgeries!

That's how patients describe this German-trained doctor's surgeries. 

Meet Dr Shreeram Kamat Dhakankar, a well-known orthopaedic surgeon, who specializes in joint, hip replacements and anthroscopy.

He is presently a Senior Orthopaedic Consultant at the Classic Hospital, Margao - Goa. 

Dr Shreeram has the distinction of successfully carrying out the first of its kind - knee regeneration surgery - in Goa with breakthrough innovation.

His patient portfolio includes athletes, cricketers as well as professional Indian football players.

Dr Shreeram has broadened and sharpened his skills in Germany at ATOS hospital, which attracts famous sports personalities, including Steffi Graf. 

"ATOS was a huge shot in the arm for me," notes Dr Shreeram.

In yet another achievement, he was the first to successfully perform 'Oxford Partial Knee' surgery in Goa.

During his stint at ATOS, Dr Shreeram received a well-rounded exposure in knee relacement and anthroscopy. Besides having a brush with cutting-edge technology, he worked with some of the best German doctors.

He is a Life Member Indian Society of Hip and Knee Surgeon (ISHKS) and fellow in Joint Replacement Surgery (DePuy, J $ J).

He is also a Fellow in Computer Navigation Joint Replacement Surgery (Brisbane Australia).

"At the end of the day - if my patients are happy, then I am happy," avers Dr Shreeram on a concluding note.

Bollywood Couple

Outfits designed by Deepak and Gavin Miguel  (Pics by Sandip)

Bollywood's 'exotic dance couple' dazzle; Cannes celebrates 100 years of Indian Cinema

By Francis Cardozo 

They came. They walked. They captivated.

Bollywood's 'exotic dance couple,' Sandip Soparrkar and Jesse Randhawa, turned on style as they sizzled on the red carpet at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival. 

The couple was invited to attend the event as dance ambassadors and graced the red carpet on four occasions. The festival assumes significance as it celebrates 100 years of Indian cinema, even as a number of Bollywood films will be screened during the event. 

“It was indeed a proud moment for us to represent the Indian dance community,” avers Sandip, a well-known Bollywood choreographer, ballroom dancer who recently scooped the dance trend-setter award. 

Jesse is a well-known Indian actress and model. 

Hailing it as a moment of honour, Sandip added: “We were introduced as exotic Indian dance couple.”

In an interview with this writer, Sandip talked about his upcoming films, Cannes, fashion among other things. 

Q: How do you view Cannes festival compared to other such events?

A: Well, Cannes is indeed one of the biggest and most publicized film festivals. The large number of film screenings, pavilions from various countries and the French Riviera add luster to the event. Also scores of celebrities walking the red carpet makes the festival what it is today.The festival is an excellent venue for producers to market their films. Not only that Cannes is a premier international market for first-time flicks. 

What was unique about this year’s Cannes festival?

A: This year Bollywood is in spotlight as Cannes is celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema. There was a large contingent of Indian actors at Cannes and the festival will get a taste of a variety of Bollywood films. It was good to see that the Indian cinema being accorded a warm welcome. All in all it was a quite an amazing experience to share the platform with people of varying backgrounds. 

Proud moment for us: Sandip

Q: Speaking of ballroom dancing, you trained many music divas…how was it working with celebs like Shakira, Beyonce, Britney Spears and Madonna?

A: Working with all music icons was amazing. Each one was different from the other. For instance, Shakira was very punctual. I had her class scheduled at 6 a.m. every day. I used to reach 5-7 minutes early, but by then she was done with her stretches and raring to hit the floor. 

 
Beyoncé is beautiful both as a person and appearance-wise. She is an amazing dancer as well.  You just show her a dance step and she picks it up in no time.  In short, she is a born dancer I must say.

Britney takes her work very seriously. She used to rehearse for 12-14 hours a day as we prepared for her Womanizer video which I choreographed. She had to be reminded about lunch break because she was totally immersed in rehearsals. She is an amazing professional.

Madonna is truly the goddess of all and she is a person I can never forget.  She is an artist with a golden heart. She is as passionate about her work as she is about people in the world.  I believe an artist like her is rare to find and may be you encounter people like her once in a life time. 

"Exotic Indian dance couple."

Q: Who is your favourite fashion designer and why?

A: Undoubtedly Deepak Shah, owner of More Mischief. He is a trend setter in India as far as men’s fashion is concerned. He first dressed me when I represented India at the International Model Contest. Then he designed my clothes for all my TV shows. Moreover, I wore his creations for World Economic Forum, London Dance Festival and now Cannes. I love his creativity and that explains why I have been with him for so long. 

Q: Of late you have been getting a lot of film offers. Can you talk about your upcoming films?

A: I am doing some interesting films. I cannot get into the details, but all I can say is that my upcoming films are Jhoom Zindagi Jhoom, Cyclone and one more film. It has been a fantastic experience working with some great people. It is pertinent to note that all these are dance based films. So I am really excited and looking forward to them.