On Fri, 12 Aug 2011 05:03:10 -0700, soter quoted from http://www.goenche.com/article_details.php?aid=99<<Let me narrate to you a glaring incident that happened in my life. When I was the Independent MLA of Margao in 1985-89, I was invited by the Grace Church Parish to speak to the youth on Culture. The audience comprised of young boys between 20 to 25 years of age, to my surprise there were no girls. I don’t know why. The three preceding speakers spoke in English and I spoke in Konkani. During the question and answer session the Priest requested them to ask questions, I too requested them. But they did not respond, later the priest told me that if I had spoken in English perhaps they would have understood. Then I asked him (priest) why they did not understand. “They did not understand because you spoke in Konkani and not English”, the priest replied. It was all the more astonishing that all of these youth were Goans and did not understand or might not want to speak in Konkani. And if that was situation in 1988 what would it be now?...>>
COMMENT: Being a Parishioner from Grace Parish Margao, I know of this issue. Uday Bhembre is too naïve to presume our youth are naïve. He does not realize that the then parish priest, late Fr. Lino Monteiro was more diplomatic than he is. Mr. Uday thinks that the language he spoke was the only difference between the speakers. Mr. Uday should know that Four out of the five masses celebrated on Sundays are in Konkani. Besides the youth of the 80’s were mostly from Margao and not village migrants as of now, and were not naïve. They knew what advocates are, what politicians are. And if advocate politicians know more about culture than youth who in majority are professionals then pigs would be fly. Out of protocol, the local MLA was invited. So too Digamber has been invited on a couple of occasions. Dr. Ferdinando dos Reis Falcão.
