ON LIGHTING A LIGHTER CANDLE . . .
Although I may be an absentee vote on a number of ballots that keep surfacing
on Goanet, I cannot help but be humored by the occasional ego-rattling, name dropping,
or names getting dropped from the list for name-calling!
Or, humored at such other times when a simple kilobyte-issue escalates into a
mega-Gigahertz ball, slipping out of hand and roaring downfield! Or, when one netter
lights a candle to quell another netter's unbearable groan about the darkness into
which that one has descended, or is about to draw others into. Or, at the mechanical
ease with which we shackle a whole new assembly of wheels to the existing set of
wheels that were fated to get stuck in the mucky issue!
As a resourceful minority in the larger scheme of survival, we Goans have
managed to remain closely interwoven in one another's woes, aspirations, outlook or
downfall, so much so that it can be almost ascertained that the virus manifesting
itself on one Goan's harddrive has nothing to do with the Doidiro at the other end!
Even more comforting is the fact that in this age of Megahertz and Gigahertz, we are
still accustomed to routinely herding ourselves into our self-righteous bandwagon, and
parking it center stage in time's theater. So long as the movie is on, we have
nothing to complain. It's when the movie stops that we get agitated and start staring
at each other, and kneading menacing-looking balls, and letting them drop for the
other guy to go after; or lighting candles, even going online to check for a set of
new or used wheels!
We do, however, have our sense of humor at the other's expense and caliber.
But when the calibration misfires, we draw out our Portuguese era 12-bore guns. Great
care is taken though to aim high, so as to avoid needless bloodshed, or the downing of
a yippie crow on its first sabbatical. And speaking of birds and their unconditional
droppings, in our pursuit of transcendental BS, it is not uncommon to find ourselves
grabbing the 'S' by its horn rather than the 'B'!
All said and done and no matter what or where, we do stand our ground and
haven't yet gone underground, become dismembered or extinct like the Dodo. Time and
over again, we have exhibited a remarkable resilience to tolerate one another, and to
light a candle rather than curse the shadow or the darkness emanating from the other's
grand standing on a defunct issue. And when a non-assuming candle fails to dispel the
gloom or the community moan, someone -- much larger than hope -- rushes to the scene,
lights a homemade candle from both ends and in that moment of expedited illumination,
everyone instantly rebounds to the realization that it is a beautiful morning and
heads for the outdoors! Such lightning exit is not without enlightenment, as it
adequately reminds us that there is all kinds of darkness out there, and at times, it
is not too late to curse the candle instead!
Dom Martin
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