WORLD GOA DAY CELEBRATION (New York) World Goa Day 2003. By Gilbert Lawrence
World Goa Day was commemorated in New York with a Goan colloquium at New Rochelle College on June 21, 2003. The same event will be celebrated on the other coast of the USA over the July Fourth weekend. This is a celebration in each Goan community across the world to reinforce in us our Goan heritage. Some Goans say they do not need reinforcement, "They are Goans yesterday, they are Goans today and they will be Goans tomorrow". Others are more patriotic and may say, "zolmolam Goemcar anim mortolom Goemcar" translated to "I was born a Goan and will die a Goan". These are great maxims. We however need to take these slogans and put them into actions. First in our own mind, we need to separate our good values and manners and our religion from being Goan. Hopefully all decent human beings throughout the world have good values, manners and a religion. But not all are Goans! Hence we have to move beyond being good to asking ourselves, what makes us and our community different from the good Johnny Nextdoor? To highlight that difference of our community (from others) and to publicize it to the world - in India and in all the countries where Goans live - we need to get together and speak in one voice. That is what World Goa Day is all about. And a string of World Goa Day celebrations around the world is a sign of our unity and our strength in our (political and geographical) diversity and in our Goan Diaspora. In fact this unity with diversity can be our forte and our asset. Every year we select a topic to broadcast. First the broadcasts should start at home - to us. This year due to the efforts of World Goa Day, our Konkani language has received a big boost. It is difficult (but not impossible) to identify a community without its own language. Konkani is being used on the net. Soon we may have (if we do not already have) a software which has a Konkani dictionary. The lack of a standard spelling is what I have found to be the most challenging about writing in Konkani. Goan writers will be recognized and encouraged. Goan talent will be stimulated. These are your and my kids and grandchildren. Rome was not built in a day. Every mile starts with the first step. Like the relay marathon this generation of Goans should leave Goa and Goans in a better shape than our parents left it - language, geography, history, culture, education, socio-economic status etc. Here is an example of what can be done with all working together. This was a recent posting on the Goanet. "Anyone out there interested on taking Konkani to the computer? In the Free Software world, this is possible... and any initiative is welcome. Also, diverse scripts could be got working too for the language which has between 2-5 million speakers (estimates vary) and is written in at least five scripts. G Karunakar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, that amazing resource for Indic solutions, says the starting point for any translation is the Gnome glossary. It's a collection of the most commonly occurring tech terms, which are used a lot in translations. Says he: 'Work becomes easy if you have this done first. Then the .po files can be taken up (next)'." World Goa Day organizers are not asking much. They are just asking our participation, interest and support in the celebration. I personally would suggest that every Goan commit to spend 100 of what ever their currency is (or more) in Goa every year. Our slogan should be "Buy Goan" songs, CD, tapes, books, paintings, handicraft etc. for our own personal use. Next "Gift Goan" to our neighbors and friends where we live. It will reward us hundred fold because these recipients will know and appreciate our and your great culture and heritage. Goans only form one percent of India's population. If we desire Goan art and culture to continue and flourish we have to support it. If we do not, no one will! And then we will not have a Goan community. In the Diaspora, a special effort needs to be made to bring Goan art to the community. It is difficult to bring this art (to any individual) one at a time. There is not a big enough concentrated market place for a Goan store and barely for a Goan restaurant. Another responsibility for Goan associations to determine avenues to bring Goa to their members - beyond food and drink. The new motto for G.O.As and Goans should be "Be Proud to be Goan and Show it." He who denies, is ashamed, (or still worse!) is ignorant of his heritage, has no heritage! "Buy Goan".. "Gift Goan"... "Be Proud to be Goan and Show it." Gilbert Lawrence ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
