Re: [GRN] Re: To understand the Konkan strip of yesterday and Goa of today

[John de Figueiredo]

A discovery does not necessarily refer to a thing. It also refers to the structure of a thing. For example, Kekule did not discover benzene. He discovered the structure of benzene. Watson and Crick did not discover nucleic acids. They discovered the structure of DNA.  Vasco da Gama’s discovery refers to the structure of traveling by sea from Portugal to India. He connected the dots and this important achievement open the door for the first globalization of knowledge. He deserves our respect and admiration for this achievement. But this was not his only achievement. He was in Goa as Viceroy for only 3 months. His tenure was cut short because he became ill and died. During those 3 months he fired and punished fellow Europeans who were stealing from the public treasury. This shows that he was a man with integrity. John M. de Figueiredo  Sent from my iPhone On Dec 22, 2025, at 7:00 AM, 'Pedro Mascarenhas' via Goa-Research-Net <goa-research-net@googlegroups.com> wrote:  Frederico Thank you for your reply and for spending your precious time.  The focus of my text is on the fame of India's wealth that reached the West and provoked curiosity and covetousness. It is important to emphasize this.   As for the griffin and giant ant, these legends were accepted as truths by the ancient Greeks because their religion was polytheistic, which included the Minotaur, a creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man. That was the mentality!   India lifted between 248 and 302 million people out of poverty in the last decade (approximately 2013-2023/2024), with drastic drops in multidimensional poverty (around 270 million) and extreme poverty, according to recent reports from the World Bank and the Indian government, which cite the impact of social policies, health programs and basic sanitation, significantly transforming living conditions, especially in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Poverty in the EU affects more than 90 million people (in 2024), with high rates in Romania, Bulgaria and Greece, while the Czech Republic and Slovenia have the lowest. Portugal is below the EU average in the risk of poverty/social exclusion (20.1% in 2022), but has a growing rate of working poor, affecting more women, young people and people with lower levels of education, with the cost of living exacerbating the situation, especially in housing.   In 2025, Portugal continues to struggle with poverty, with the risk of poverty or social exclusion hovering around 19.7% (2.1 million people).   Legend or truth, the case of St. Thomas is not closed. But one thing is certain: The first Westerners who arrived in southern India were surprised when they heard about "Christians of St. Thomas". Marco Polo, while traveling through India in the 13th century, mentioned and acknowledged the existence of the Saint Thomas Christians in southern India, a Christian community that existed long before the arrival of Europeans.   I am referring to certain books (not all) about Asia, Africa, and America published in Portugal before 1974 that either distorted the truth or simply omitted it. Salazar's dictatorship did not allow for any other option! It was in primary school that I heard "The Portuguese discovered India" (1), then in high school I read in textbooks that "Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to India" (2), and as an adult I learned that in Malindi, Kenya, Gama established relations with the local leader, who then provided the Portuguese with a pilot who knew the way to Calicut, India. Therefore, he did not discover the route to India, but the route to East Africa.  (1) No one discovered India, which was already there!  (2) Gama did not discover the sea route to India, but to East Africa, and arrived at Kappakadavu near Calicut.  Some read books by Winston Spencer Churchill that distort the truth to cover up his Empire. But there are also good old books by authors such as Jean Chesneaux, Richard Lewinsohn, Robert Mortimer Wheeler, etc.  I wish everyone Merry Christmas. At this time of year I remember Teotónio de Souza, founder of GRN, who had been hospitalized shortly after Christmas.   -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Goa-Research-Net" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to goa-research-net+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/1380324213.2793558.1766398728113%40mail.yahoo.com. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Goa-Research-Net" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to goa-research-net+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/04812371-0714-411E-98DC-F5D2EDF83455%40sbcglobal.net.