This post will amuse any Goanetter who happens to be from Jabalpur or has visited there, either before 1961 or since. > Since Jabalpur is my hometown, I'm not sure whether the abject ignorance included in this post is because of the writer's failing memory or poor education in Goa. I will show and comment on some of the more egregious excerpts. > Other ridiculous statements are simply a reflection of the writer's ignorance, perspective and opinion. For example, expecting English stew, mince pies or vindalho in central India and being served rice, "The pea eyed Manipurs dumped the stuff (some cheap rice not even basmati) on the table and left." I'm not sure who "pea eyed Manipurs" might be. I guess the Goan team did not have any coaches or managers who could get them some better food. > Notice that no dates or corroborating information are provided. Notice that a "championship" is mentioned and a week's stay but only one match. Perhaps that's because the Goa team lost the only match they played, but then why would they be there for a whole week? > The excerpts with comments: > a) "One can imagine the excitement not only to play but also to visit a British built town in this case Jabalpur." > Comment: Anyone with even a rudimentary high school education in India would know that Jabalpur is not a British built town, even someone who has not been there. Jabalpur does have a military cantonment area, built there a couple of hundred years ago, which is little different than any other cantonment area in India. The British have not been there since 1947. > b) "We played the Indian University mainly huge chaps (no births are registered only bone test to confirm age unlike Goa were births and deaths have a process). > Comment: There is no Indian University. Judge the ridiculous comment in parenthesis for yourselves. For example, how would this writer know that "no births are registered", a statement that is patently false. > c) "One expected Jabalpur being a British town there would be a semblance of Marks and Sparks, a Bentley or a Rolls to roll by but there was none." > Comment: I have met many Goan kids who were educated in Goa. None of them were this ignorant about India. > d) "For sight seeing we were taken to a place called Marble Rock. It is believed that the source of the Narmada starts here." > Comment: No one who has visited Jabalpur and the beautiful phenomenon known as Marble Rocks would say that the Narbada starts there, not even a Goan student educated in any respectable school in Goa. > e) "...but the only devis we saw were covered from head to toe like those residents from Afghanistan." > Comment: Jabalpur has a typical Muslim minority of around 15% of the population. Even if all of them wear burqas, which only some do, how could the writer have seen only women dressed as such? > f) "One week we had enough in a British town." > Comment: Again the ignorant reference to a "British" town, which Jabalpur is not. > Because all it displays is an embarrassing level of ignorance, I'm not sure what this writer intended when he wrote this obvious nonsense. I think what he was attempting to show is that an Indian town compared badly with Goa, but I know for a fact that Jabalpur was far more developed than most of Goa prior to 1961. Since 1961, Goa has caught up to most smaller Indian towns in development. > > --- Bernado Colaco <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> As a teenager I was called to represent the colours > of > Goa for a hockey championship. One can imagine the > excitement not only to play but also to visit a > British built town in this case Jabalpur. >
