It gladdens my heart to hear the story of Nalini de Souza and her husband, who returned to their roots in Goa. I visit "A Nau" in Panjim occasionally and have purchased their products whenever I hanker for something foreign.
There are quite a few of us who have returned to Goa from the West to live. For me and my wife, it was to spend our retirement years. Several have been much braver than us, and have come back during their more productive years to live and work for Goa. Living in Goa is undescribable. It is not a bed of roses by any definition, but one finds oneself at home, the stress that one lives with in the West, melts away instantly. As I make my rounds in my village, people, (many of whom I do not know personally) greet me with a smile with the apellation "Uncle". I am everyone's Uncle. Of course, one can live quite well in Goa on what would be a poor man's wages in the West. Almost everything one eats is "organic" and unprocessed and with no "additives". We dont have to search the supermarket aisles for organic food. The bakerboy brings the freshest loaves of bread to the door each morning. Soon thereafter the fisherwomen, bring a variety of fresh fish or shrimp, caught that morning. The taste of fresh caught seafood is vastly different from the so-called fresh seafood one sees in the West. A variety of the freshest vegetables are available in the market. And if you are a Goan, doesnt the sound of your mother tongue being spoken give you great joy, whether you speak it or not ? Having never lived in Goa till I retired, my Konkani vocabulary was sparse. It doesnt take long, if one has the will, to learn Konkani. Now I can converse in Konkani with everyone, with few suspecting that I am new to the language. Westerners (Europeans) are discovering Goa and buying homes here. Where are our own flesh and blood ? I am not advocating that you give up your jobs and flock back to Goa, but consider the option, in retirement at least, of at least spending several months of the year in Goa and buying a home in Goa. Otherwise, in a few years people of Goan origin will be a minority in Goa. And like me, you can sing with enthusiasm "Proud to be a Goan". Remember that all the glitters in the West is not Gold.
