They agreed. My assumption however
proved wrong as I turned out to be the only residential participant!
Anyway, on the morning of 24th August, after taking directions from my
dad, I left for the ICAR at Old Goa which is about 22 kms from my home.
I arrived there without any difficulty. The ICAR is located within Ela
farm. At the gate I had to fill in a gate pass. Down the right lane was
the ICAR office. On either side of the road were coconut, guava and
chickoo plantations. Further down was a small office which looked more
like a lab with various specimens of preserved mushroom. I enquired
about the course with the man in charge and was directed to the Farmers
Training Centre.
Mr Miguel Braganza and Mr Oscar-the two persons conducting the
course-were already there and so were some of the participants. We were
first made to register our names for the course and immediately after
and to my total surprise we were informed that each of us would receive
a stipend of Rs.500 for attending the course. This appears to be a sort
of bonus or incentive which is provided to the participants and is
meant to cover expenses for transport, food, etc.
I noticed that all the other participants (there were thirty-three
other students) were older than me. Most of them were farmers, so all
the people who gave talks either spoke part English and part Konkani,
or if the lecturers spoke only English then Oscar would translate into
Konkani.
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