Thank you, Selma. The lives we lead in our "in between" hierarchical worlds are ones we have had to navigate for our own survival, does not matter whether we are talking about Britain, colonial or post-colonial East Africa, the Gulf or in Goa itself. Each of us has had experiences where we have had to make hard choices amid challenges that are beyond our control. It is easy in hindsight for others to post judgement on these actions.
I am thinking as something as simple as placing my dad in a Care Home as none of us could deal with his dementia. Many in our "East African Goan community" accused me of abandoning my father, others accused my mother, herself in the 80's of not being able to care for her husband. Yet many of these pointing fingers grew-up in East Africa removed from the aging of their own folks in Goa, or were widowed before they reached 60. Easy to point fingers, not so easy to reflect. We do what we have to do. We experience as only we can. But we should have the right to speak from our heart, even though the words may seem at odds in retrospect. Cliff ________________________________ From: 'Selma Carvalho' via The Goa Book Club <goa-book-club@googlegroups.com> Sent: October 16, 2022 6:49 AM To: goa-book-club@googlegroups.com <goa-book-club@googlegroups.com> Subject: Re: [GOABOOKCLUB] Re: The first Goan in the mainly white Loreto Convent Valley Road I don't want to get involved in these debates but I do want to say, I've known Mervyn for 14 years, almost as long as I have been researching the Goan presence in East Africa. I know the structures that existed there, I know these lives intimately. When we are living a life, we are not thinking of contextualising it, we are only living as best we can in order to survive. And when everyday minutiae is unfolding it is varied and nuanced and complex. By all accounts, Mervyn has led an honourable life and that's all I need to know. All best, Selma On Saturday, 15 October 2022 at 22:12:59 BST, Jeanne Hromnik <jeannehrom...@gmail.com> wrote: But Mervyn, WHY should we overlook racism? Don't our lives matter? Is everything all about the race to the top? Do you not feel some resentment and regret on account of your role in the British racist administration in Kenya? xxj On Sat, 15 Oct 2022, 10:41 Mervyn Maciel, <mervynels.watuwasha...@gmail.com<mailto:mervynels.watuwasha...@gmail.com>> wrote: Don't Know where Eddie gets that from? Here's a comment from Rose D'Sa: " My experience at Loreto Convent Valley Road was quite different. I may have noticed some racism, but simply overlooked it; there was another focus within me, that of 'going juu'. I therefore remember most of the nuns with affection, especially those no longer living. It seems I have been greatly blessed by God in many different ways, including and especially, in childhood." Mervyn Maciel On Sat, 15 Oct 2022 at 02:59, 'Eddie D'Sa' via The Goa Book Club <goa-book-club@googlegroups.com<mailto:goa-book-club@googlegroups.com>> wrote: So the Catholic God decided to be racist at Loreto. Ha, ha. Eddie ------ Original Message ------ From: "Jeanne Hromnik" <jeannehrom...@gmail.com<mailto:jeannehrom...@gmail.com>> To: goa-book-club@googlegroups.com<mailto:goa-book-club@googlegroups.com> Sent: Tuesday, 11 Oct, 22 At 10:03 Subject: Re: [GOABOOKCLUB] The first Goan in the mainly white Loreto Convent Valley Road What an ecovative headline! I believe I was among the first Goans at Loreto Convent M'songari. We were allowed in post-self government, pre-independence, and I am grateful to my parents that they did not compel me to go earlier. The trauma of 'first' entrants, while not as dramatic, can be compared to that of Afro American students at Alabama State University in the US. I look back on my two years at Loreto M'songari with anything but gratitude to the nuns who made this superior education available to 'us' -- finally. Their racial attitudes are so deeply ingrained. Their moral qualities, in face of their record of discrimination, questionable. Anyway, I look forward to reading Cyprian's piece. Thanks for posting it, Mervyn. Best wishes Jeanne On Tue, Oct 11, 2022 at 10:52 AM Mervyn Maciel <mervynels.watuwasha...@gmail.com<mailto:mervynels.watuwasha...@gmail.com>> wrote: And here are two more links on Dr. Rose D'Sa's book by our friend, Cyprian Fernandes. Mervyn Maciel [https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif] https://www.headlinesofmylife.today/2022/10/the-law-and-dr-rose-m-dsa.html https://www.headlinesofmylife.today/2022/10/the-first-goan-to-crack-race-bar-at.html The first Goan in the mainly white Loreto Convent Valley Road -- *** Please be polite and on-topic in your posts. *** --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Goa Book Club" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to goa-book-club+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<mailto:goa-book-club+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com>. 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