oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo The speech delivered by Oscar C.Lobo , on the occassion of the 1st World Goa Day_Melbourne , Australia.
Coming TOGETHER in SONG and DANCE is better than not coming TOGETHER at all. ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo WORLD GOA DAY ST. ANTHONY'S HALL, NOBLE PARK, MELBOURNE, VICTORIA. Saturday 16 August 2003 - 7.00 pm - 12-00 am. Deo Bori Rath Diung - Mogal Bhavanoo, Boinahnoo, Cheddeh ani Chedvam Aiz amcho poilo 'World Goa Day' - Goencho Dis, - Dia De Goa - tumchea sobemezar adtat. Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls It is certainly a great pleasure to see you all here tonight - and thank you for joining us to celebrate the World Goa Day. I hope many of you have broken the ice with the March!! For me, it's like attending a special 'Goan Hollywood night. Great to see you all together - Togetherness is what we are celebrating tonight. This is our first event under the banner and we are indeed pleasantly surprised with the turnout. Unfortunately, the hall limited us from having more people, although we would have loved to have - all our 9000 Goans in Melbourne under one roof. As some of you may be aware, Mr. Rene Barretto - a Goan based in London is the brainchild of the World Goa Day movement. I was told that Rene has successfully canvassed this celebration throughout the world. He even tried for two years to get this going in Australia. A virtual fever has built up in countries like Canada, England, Portugal, Pakistan, Spain, United States and in some countries of the Middle East As goans, we feel passionately about the piece of paradise. Not only does this relate to the beaches and mountains but more importantly, it relates to the people for whom nothing is too much trouble. Their naturally friendly nature is something - we seem to have lost as we are faced with daily challenges. We have to remind ourselves, before we become fossils, that, we need to preserve our goan heritage, music, history, language, cuisine, art and literature for our children and non-goan community; just as we have learnt and improved from non-goans - they from us - wherever they are. We need to remain united ourselves - if we are to be a part of 'diversity' in multicultural society in Australia - and Melbourne in particular. Tonight, is a nite to unite and perhaps a night of new acquaintances for few - like myself - Enjoy the program that has been meticulously put together by 4 dynamic families. Let tonight's celebration pave the way for a steady and closer community development in various fields. Lets eradicate those stone-age thoughts of 'caste system' and break free from any hang ups that impede progress of our community. Let us together sing, dance and dine in the true goan spirit and let us make this night - a nite of TOGETHERNESS and live up to the motto 'Proud to be A Goan'. Let us work together on fundamental issues including our rich heritage. I would like to thank the World Goa Day 2003 committee - for their passionate support and dedication in staging tonight's function. They have put in a long number of hours - to bring you an exciting evening. Therefore, my wholehearted 'Thank You' and a salute to my team consisting of Jude & Sarojini D'sa and their family - Mario & Cherrylanne Carvalho and their family (thank you Mario and Cherrylanne - for bringing your crowd from 'altoriche - poltori') and our Master of Ceremony - Newton Marques and his family. To my wife and children for their tacit support in my involvement in the organization of the World Goa Day. My thanks also, to all those who have helped us this morning in arranging tables, decorations etc. Guys - you are all incredible!! I would also like to thank our own goan cultural dance group, headed by Jude & Sarojini D'sa and our newly formed Goan musical group 'The Cocqueiro's' headed by Christopher Rodriguez and his group and supported by Vernon Da Gama. Deo Borem corum - ani deva bapachem besao podong tumcher. Thank you everybody - and please enjoy the evening. Oscar C. Lobo Co-ordinator , World Goa Day_Melbourne ============================================================================ ==== Oscar writes , Outstanding remarks that I got were as follows :) 'Par excellence' performance, 'World Goa Day in Style', 'Super Night out' Thank you, Thank you, Thank you again for your help, without which this World Goa Day celebration - would not have become a reality. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ########################################################################## # 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 # ##########################################################################