Re: [Goanet]Re: Soglleanche randni kodde tench bannxirem!

Thu, 28 Aug 2003 21:07:23 +0000

No, I do not forget that Goa "entered the age of democracy" before Portugal. God forbid, it would be a mortal sin to forget such a major event of world, rectius, universal history. Besides, how could one forget such a recurrent boast made on Goanet? I am only too aware of it. I am also aware that Goa has come a long way since entering that golden age. It has perfected its democracy to such levels that known criminals get elected to the highest offices of the land. Members of the Legislative Assembly change parties the moment they are promised a seat in the next Govt., thus toppling the Govt. they were supposed to support! It is called defection, that unique feature of Indian democracy (political version of defecation). Governments last only a few months, on average. Politicians invariably leave office far richer materially than they were when they took office. So advanced is Goa's democracy that one could describe it by its equivalent names (used only for advanced forms, democracy being the designation for its simple and basic form like the one praticed in Portugal) : mobocracy, moneycracy, plutocracy, goondacracy, etc.

I have to humbly acknowlege that Portugal has a long, long way to go to catch up to Goa's amazingly high level of development of its democracy. And, alas, as much as I try, I don't see things heading in the direction they took in Goa. It is a case-study of an ex-colony ouperforming the former colonial ruler!!!

By comparison, Portugal's democracy has achieved little: this year we are 23rd in the Human Development Index Rank of the United Nations (Human Development Report-2003), banded with the most developed countries of the world in the High Human Development bracket.

But that's nothing compared to the fact that Goa entered democracy before us. I have to learn to live with that.

I wish to assure you that I do not waste any energy to help the future of Goans and their identity, for twol reasons:
- I am not a Goan, I am a Portuguese citizen (since birth) of Goan origin (and proud of it);
- The identity of Goans (specially that of the catholics), the "distinct identity" that J. Nehru spoke about, is all but vanished already.

I never heard about the "alma portuguesa...". I know a different version: " A minha P�tria � a l�ngua Portuguesa", which was said by the great poet Fernando Pessoa, who wrote in Portuguese and in English, and means "My Fatherland is the Portuguese language".


Rui Manuel Colla�o
Lisbon

From: "TRS" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: "'Goanet'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Goanet]Re: Soglleanche randni kodde tench bannxirem!
Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2003 08:42:17 +0100

From: "Rui Collaco" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [Goanet]Soglleanche randni kodde tench bannxirem!
Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2003 01:10:06 +0100


>I have read the article. So what? What are you trying to prove Mr.
Souza?
>Can anyone draw conclusions from the fact that an anonymous citizen
makes
>some criticism regarding the conservation�.Anyone interested can check
on the very interesting work carried out by Portuguese institutions in
the restoration of the Fort
>of S�o Jo�o Baptista de Ajud� (west coast of Africa) and on the
Portuguese
>fortifications in Morocco. These are just 2 examples, there's a lot
more.
���.

The writer of the article has a name, and as such is not  *anonymous*
(if I understand the dictionary meaning right). She is a researcher on
themes relating to conservation. Perhaps, what Mr.Rui Cola�o meant to
say is *insignificant* or *selective informer* ! One wishes Mr.Rui
Cola�o did a better job than renting and fuming on Goanet! Could give us
more comprehensive picture (and be less selective himself )by disclosing
who had destroyed the Fort of Ajud� in the first place! And to stop
being selective it is not enough to say �there�s a lot more�.

>*apparently* hate so intensely, betraying yourself, your ideals and
your
>fellow Portugal-haters. �..

Criticism, even when crude or hard,  is translated as *bashing* or
*hate*, Mr. Rui Cola�o is perhaps still suffering from the hangover of
the Salazar regime and its half a century of culture of censorship!
Fortunately, the Portuguese, sepcially the younger generation, are
getting over it.
Mr. Rui Cola�o should not forget that Goa entered the age of democracy
at least a decade of years before 25 of April of 1974! Perhaps Goanet
will have to see more renting and fuming following  this reminder!

>I couldn't understand your Konkani proverb and I do not intend to take
and Konkani classes.

What a pity to hear this from someone who wastes so much energy to help
the future of Goans (and their identity)! The Portuguese believe
ardently that *Alma portuguesa � a lingua portuguesa* [Portuguese soul
is the Portuguese language] That should be true of Goans as well? It is
not without sense the other goan proverb: "Chodd firangi bhas, haddank
urta mas".



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