Recently Cabral e Sa in his �View from Mandovi� wrote that �Portugal�s interest in India (Goa, if one must be specific) is on a course of diminishing returns� and, I too agree with him, when he says that even at this late stage �there�s need to have more cultural and social projects between the two countries�. What can have brought such a thing to pass? Certainly the desire to repeatedly, sometimes unduly and unnecessarily, harp on things like Inquisition, Colonial Repression, etc. And that has understandably helped to generate an atmosphere of hate towards Portugal and anything that is Portuguese. But the historical reality today must be considered. Portugal, as everyone knows, has gone through turbulent times transitioning itself from a monarchy into a repressive dictatorial regime, until one fine morning the �coup d��tat� of twenty -fifth of April paved the way to freedom there. Ever since one thing is noticeable. The affable Portuguese people while trying to retain the many good things they have inherited from the past, seem to evince a keen desire - I am told -to forget some unfortunate black moments of the past. But let us admit, the Portuguese regime is an entirely different one today, as democratic, as free and forward-looking as ours.
I have always been an opponent of the Salazar�s regime, but it saddens me to see so much gall against Portuguese customs and language. It really pains me to see what is happening today. Let anyone say even a few words in Portuguese and he will immediately be considered to be suffering from �colonial hangover�. When a beautiful Portuguese ballad or Fado is sung, the so-called �patriots� of old times - or should I call them �perennial turncoats� � will pretend to look the other way. And to cap it all there are those who say: � Portuguese is a grandmother�s language�, the meaning of which being that the language is outdated having failed to keep itself abreast with the modern times. Nothing is further from the truth. I have had the good fortune of being amongst those here in Goa who had a chance to have a first-hand knowledge of the works of the great Portuguese writers, both contemporary and archaic, and thus, I am in a privileged position to say, how much I would have missed if I had never had an opportunity to be exposed to them. Their writings are of the first water, very revolutionary, very readable, and very modern. Even today when I surf the net for Portuguese portals, I am seized of the fact that the Portuguese language - with a little help from the Brazilians of course -, has become a vibrant, flexible and upbeat medium of communication. The Portuguese world is making contributions in the literary, educational and even the medical field. Therefore let us promote better socio-cultural ties with Portugal, if not for anything else, at least to prevent the Portuguese language from disappearing from the red soil of Goa. And by doing so we will have nothing to loose and so much to gain. After all Portuguese is the third most-spoken language in the world, the knowledge of which makes it also easier to grasp other Latin languages, providing the gateway to myriad opportunities abroad. Admittedly it is a language that is difficult to master but nothing is too difficult to those who are willing to try. The unnecessary animosity toward Portugal and the Portuguese language, as things stand today, must cease. Or else we will provide our detractors with a reason to believe it to be nothing more, nothing less. than a case of sour grapes. DR.FRANCISCO COLA�O __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com ########################################################################## # 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 # ##########################################################################
