Hi Cornel, Thanks for your response. Also thanks for keeping it rationale and intellectual.
My only comment to your post is that you have now started using terminology as "some Catholic Goans ...." which is very good. But your post ends as "anathema/evil of caste among the Catholic Goans and which so insidiously pervades much of Catholic Goan society" (which is bad). Is it just too much to expect some accuracy and lack-of-hype from serious Goan writers? Or are we going to make care-free passing judgments (lagao bhathi) just like like some Goans do about others (caste). :=)) ALL native Goan posts, repeatedly state that caste discrimination is not a major issue in Goan Catholic society today. This includes the ones that you have distorted in your interpretation. So I have to go with what the people on the ground are saying and not what someone across one or two oceans. I hope you can persuade yourself to do so. Unless of course you are referring to your first-hand experience of Goans in the UK. I accept your first-hand past experience in East Africa. For you, caste discrimination and conceit is synonymous. For me those who discriminate will do so without caste i.e. to their own caste. Undoubtedly there are quite a few conceited Goans. This is where we agree!!! Just that, I call them the 'aum soglem zano' Goans and you called them "casteists ... insidiously pervades much of Catholic Goan society". You have skirted the topic of Goan culture and social practices in the UK. But we can save that for another day. Finally I don't want to be a nit-picker. But doesn't the following (last) paragraph of yours reflect casteism? What is meant by being more English? Whose definition? To me it sounds like being more Goan or being more Catholic ... and further you state .... as would be appropriate! Tinge of Casteism from an academic. Would you not say so?:=)) Or may be I am just misinterpreting you? Your quote: "PS I do not know any Goans in the UK who think they are English but have met some who, outwardly, are perhaps more English than British as would be appropriate." Regards, GL PS: My next post will be my suggestions: "Solving the caste and the Goan problem" ---- cornel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Many thanks for your post to me. Regarding your point that culture is an > important aspect of Society, it is entirely true and undisputable. > I want to persuade you Gilbert, not to fight you, and others, about my > utterly unshakeable position on the anathema/evil of caste among the > Catholic Goans and which so insidiously pervades much of Catholic Goan > society. > Cornel > PS I do not know any Goans in the UK who think they are English but have met > some who, outwardly, are perhaps more English than British as would be > appropriate. >
