Selma's point is well taken. Our various communities in Goa have co-existed largely peacefully. In most part we have been civil, deferential to, and respectful of each of these communities. My long-standing observation is that we have built invisible walls between and among these communities and functioned by constructing stereotypes of each other, although most of them benign.
One particular area I closely looked at is our Catholic schools throughout India, (not just in Goa). After, at least 5 years, and sometimes ten years of co-mingling with each other, in such close quarters, for such extend period of time, members of each community have moved on in different directions without gaining a deeper understating of each others faith/beliefs/worldviews, etc. There has been failure to connect as persons. As Rajdeep Sardessai, as quoted by Selma, pointed out this lack of connectivity is successfully exploited by politicians for their own gains. This "civil segregation" as called by R. Sardessai, is not peculiar to Goa or Goans. To segregate is human proclivity; it is only through a reasoning process we tend to overcome them. Segregation is one of the perceived survival tools. Some use religion, and others use other delineating opportunistic markers to "civilly segregate" themselves. We see these "civil segregations" in various forms in Diaspora, as well. The only way not to build "civil segregation" is by reasoning through, a demanding process , which has the power to humble us when our cherished positions may not hold much ground. It is the high expectation that education would demolish these "functional stereotypes" door-jamb by door-jamb. By and large, I am not definitive about it, minimally educated (not necessarily by formal education) or better, minimally capable of critical thinking tend to develop "civil segregation" based on peripheral differences. _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list [email protected] http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org
