(This is an edited and updated version of the personal email I sent out last night to a select number of individuals, not all - Goa Cyberistos or Cyberistas)
Dears, I grew up in a city while it was still known as Poona among friends (young ladies and young men) who are still my friends, most of whom were/are (I believe) non-Catholics and not Goans. One comment which troubled me much then, and about which we laugh now was the following: "Goan "boys" are low caste or half caste people who are just useless and lazy drunks" Moving on, I found the Bollywood stereotyping of Goan women as being loose and men being just drunks. I don't have to remind you of the 'cooks and butlers' comment reportedly made by Nehru or the film Bobby . Somehow, Bollywood always found a method of having a "Christian" young lady in short tight dresses to play the role of sexetary. Have not read much criticism about that in any of these high falutin magazines. Not that the degradation of women esp apparent-Christian women or even women in general has discontinued in Bollywood films. My Poona friends were quite shocked when we traveled as a group from Poona to Goa by train. As the train crossed from Castle Rock into Goa, the non-Goan men dashed to the doors and windows to purchase shots of some awful-smelly thing they called Feni. (To my good fortune, I have not yet tasted it - although I am advised that there are good quality fenis available to those Goans who know). Goans on that train just stayed put. They (my friends) then proceeded to visit with us, saw how we lived and how we conversed. I believe that NO amount of Bollywooding and Gutter-pressing can change the "converted" opinion of the genteel Goans, my friends saw for themselves. This probably explains the point excellently made by VM and Vivian. BTW: Goa at that time was still spared the paan-stained walls, the all pervasive filth, ostensibly unplanned & inconsiderate concretization and the shanty towns + ghettos. These days, when we reminisce about those days among ourselves (Thank You Vonage and Skype), I still ask WHY they were shocked at that train-feni scene. It is a rhetorical question which we laugh about. Of course, Goa 2013 does not necessarily produce the genteel Goans (like Victor Rangel-Ribeiro and his dear late wife Lea (NY), Ben Antao (Toronto), Wilma and Bambino Martins (New Jersey) and Lira and Eddie Fernandes (London) in any significant frequency or degree any more. I am sure that I have missed countless others - some whom I have personally met and others I have not. It is possible that Bollywood, the Internet, Commercialism and the use (abuse) of Goa as a party scene by whoever (and their cousin) has negatively influenced Goa, and nuevo Goans are a little rude and crude as the heroes and zeroes from Bollywood. BUT a "Sex Pesting" and "Flashing" Goan male writer who apparently is well known? REALLY? Trust me ....Call me dufus but until I see some verifiable evidence ......I am like St. Thomas on the bit about Sex Pesting and Flashing. Please be advised that I believe I personally know the as yet unnamed but rumoured 'male Goan writer'. What exactly is the main purpose of this 'underground slamming' of this IMO good man who I personally know, uses colourful adult language especially after drinks. I know I would not respond in kind. I am not privileged to be able to use 'colourful' words. I cannot say the same about the BILATERAL G-chats I may or may not have seen in recent days. If the charge was one of using colourful adult language after a shot of alcohol, even the male Goan writer in possible reference, would be the first person to apologize after the alcohol wears out. But, I ask again, What is the purpose of this multi-pronged campaign? Is it to help him stop or to drive him and his family nuts? Take him to court Na....and allow the man to defend himself and face the consequences of his actions - even if it means that he may have to open Pandora's Box in order to defend himself. Please note: I absolutely and utterly abhor Rape, Incest, other forms of Child Abuse, Adultery, Sexual molestation and Sexual Harassment. YES .... I definitely abhor Adultery whether it be committed by a Man or a Woman esp with other married individuals, whether they or their spouses are close or not ....to us. Lest I be misunderstood, based on what I have learned, I seriously doubt that the Male Goan Writer could be accused of Adultery. Each one of us (others) can speak for ourselves. I also believe that Honourable folks have Impartial Opinions, irrespective of which gender or other grouping is affected by a wrong. Hypocrites are hypocrites. They have agenda-driven selectivity in the expression or not ...of opinions. I was horrified to learn that Asian women had to go through an invasive vaginal examination by male doctors to prove their virginity - before being allowed into the UK - and I wrote on numerous occasions about it. At this point and time, I am curious to know from men and women who see this ...what they thought about the so-called 'Potency Test'. Don't go silent on me now, unless you are a Hypocrite. I read the following article on the feast of St. Francis Xavier 2013, and I prayed for the good Jerry Pinto (who did what again?) [1] http://www.firstpost.com/politics/why-jerry-pintos-facebook-post-about-the-tehelka-case-made-us-angry-1263833.html I had the following questions after reading this post (1) Why did I need an analgesic after reading this post? (2) Was it badly scripted or were my English teachers kind of substandard? (3) Did the good Jerry Pinto deserve a photograph of that size in the article? Gee man, the article was so convoluted and my English so simple that my initial WRONG impression was that Jerry had sexually harassed somebody. I wonder if I have made any errors in the following post on GoaNet [2] http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2013-December/236696.html I read the headline on this particular post and wondered ...Is First Post going to analyse WHY this test was done in the first place? [3] http://www.firstpost.com/india/tehelka-case-tarun-tejpals-potency-test-positive-1262655.html Whether you admire or detest or both Mr Tejpal, I wonder if you share my concerns about the conduct of this test based on the known details of the case Does the following post from me make sense? [4] http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2013-December/236600.html Please read the following article before you answer the questions posed above [5] http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/may/08/home-office-virginity-tests-1970s After you read this post, I am sure that you will have questions be they for the purposes of clarification. If asked, I will try answer queries without releasing privileged info or any segment of any G-chat msgs I may or may not have come across. But do not just ask questions of me. Please tell me why you believe my script may be in error. At this moment, I am convinced that BILATERAL ADULT verbalization has taken place - using words (bilaterally) which I would not use (with almost invariable drunkenness on the part of one party). I cannot use the terms BILATERAL or even UNILATERAL wrt adult image sharing which may or may not have occurred but, Based on my present info, I'd venture to say ....NIL else happened on the part of the Male Goan Writer. But, I could be wrong. If anyone has proof of anything else, put it out there in the public domain, share it with me or take it to the court. Better still, Forgive those who have sinned against you AND (privately with your God) seek forgiveness if you too may have sinned against others. Pravin Sabnis has made an excellent point in this week's "Monday Muse". I quote: "It is a human tendency to be ‘judgmental’… and it is this very tendency that obscures our vision, cloaks our listening and masks our learning. Before we speak or voice our ‘opinions’ we must ensure that we ‘understand’ all facets before we take a ‘stand’. Imagination is good, but if we are not to stray from reality, we must be better at ensuring that we are not judgmental ! " The Christmas season beckons. It is a time for repentance, forgiveness, learning from our past errors and turning a new and happy leaf for the New Year or earlier. As I have stated before, religion is a private matter for me. Even so, I will, with your permission, leave you with this quote from the Bible: John 7:53-8:11 The Jews to Jesus as they are ready to stone a woman they suspect of having committed Adultery [8:5} Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? Jesus to the Jews ready to stone the woman and test Jesus at the same time [8:7] He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. best jc