----- Forwarded message from brian mark mendonca -----
Date: 23 Apr 2004 21:04:13 -0000
From: brian mark mendonca <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: BOOK ON GOA RELEASED IN DELHI
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
� (Delhi News Feed by Dr Brian Mendon�a in Delhi)
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Book Release in Delhi
Goa: A Daughter�s Story by Maria Couto
� � � �We have our language, our State. We have to recover our soul.� � Maria
Couto
It seemed like the Kala Academy, Miramar, for the sprinkling of Goans gathered
at the India International Centre, New Delhi on 22 April 2004, for a discussion
to mark the publication of Maria Couto�s book Goa: A Daughter�s Story.� At the
end of 2 hours of forays into aspects of Goanness by the panelists, it was more
easily possible to see the Goan as a product of ones unique historical
circumstances, quite apart from the Indian mainland. After all, wasn�t it
Panditji who said �Goa ke log ajeeb heh.� ?
Taking off from stereotypes of Goa � rave parties, skirts at the Republic Day
parades, and beaches -- the speakers meandered from the genesis and inspiration
for the book (Couto), why the BJP is in power in Goa (Rajdeep Sardessai), the
popular notion of what Goan Christians are like (Shobhana Bhattacharjee) and
the Common law code vs the civil law code in Goa (Fali Nariman).� Dilip
Padgaonkar who chaired, provided nuggets like what Bakibab Borkar said should
be done after he died -�Throw my body into the sea. For all my life I have
eaten fish. Now let them eat me.�
Couto�s canvas is large i.e. from 1510, when Afonso de Albuquerque conquered
Goa to the present. She dwelt on the shaping influences on her by Bakibab
Borkar and Pissurelekar in the 60�s and the latter�s haunting words �Amchem
kanni boroi.� (Write our story).� Goa: A Daughter�s Story is about the author
finding her own voice apart from, as she puts it �my husband�s wife and my
father�s daughter.� Knitting her memoirs across Bihar, Delhi and Dharwar, Couto
understandably finds her peace in Aldona, where she finds the quintessence of
the Goan personality i.e. where Goans live in harmony, united by shared
traditions and a common language. She has also dealt sensitively with the issue
of conversions. �It is only when we comprehend our past, can we go beyond it.��
As Rajdeep eloquently observed, written at a time when secularists feel there
is no hope the book tells us that in its microcosm �Goa provides the perfect
example why the idea of India will endure.� And it is not for this reason alone
that Nehru�s Discovery of India needs to be read, remarked Fali.
Rajdeepalso mentioned other stereotypes associated with Goa like �fish, feni
and football,� what Goan catholics used to be called in Bombay, i.e. �maka
paus� and �put through� after what they used to say while asking their mates to
pass the ball to them while playing football. The BJP is in Goa more because of
the moral bankruptcy of the Congress and the erosion of MGP�s ideology than
anything else, he said. Shobhana said we need to move away from the stereotype
of the (Bombay) Goan-Catholic girl who says � �Hum God se ek wish maangta
heh.�� A scratch poll which Rajdeep conducted revealed that 8 out of 10 thought
Christianity was the dominant religion in Goa. (Christians only comprise 23-
30%). This too is a stereotype because of the myth-making and promotion Goa is
subject too. Rajdeep was even asked how he could be a Goan since his name was
neither Gonsalves nor D�Souza!� Fali praised Couto for her lucid style and for
retaining the �dignity of history� a phrase by Thucydides. He quoted
Rajgopalachari censure of the �liberation� action in 1962 and Will Durant�s
rhetorical questioning of the decline of Portugal after Magellan.� Discover the
river, Couto advises, in Goa. It is in its eddies we discover our true selves.
� � �� � �� � �� � �� � �� � �� � �� � �-Dr Brian Mendonca
� � �� � �� � �� � �� � �� � �� � �� � �� New Delhi
----- End forwarded message -----
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