Hi Vidyadhar, I do not know what you meant by "the other side of the fence"? Does this relate to the account of Selma of her grandparents and perhaps parents? Or does it relate to her gripe about the current state of affairs? Yet let me take a crack on both perspectives.
YESTER-YEAR I do not know about the "bigotry" of Selma's grandparents or mine. This lack of specific information may apply to Selma too, her claims about her grandmother and prior generations not-withstanding. I full concur with what Mr. Sardesai has written about the separation of the religious communities in Goa. This applied and may even apply today, to many villages in India. The "civilized segregation" does not refer only to the religious groups. But within each religious group there are sub-societies related to their caste or socio-economic strata which led to "distinct communities". Many "intellectuals" term this practice with many adjectives. Nothing much will be served by repeating them here. Yet likely, these "intellectuals" like Selma have overlooked the social set-up of the community at that time (amchem tempar). Most communities (of all religions) were extended-families in a rural-agricultural setting. In Goa there was also the Kharvi, whose agriculture was fishing. Everybody's needs was met, to a great extent, within their extended-family and within their social strata. This self-sufficiency was fueled by marginal poverty, illiteracy, labor-intensive work and a short day (due to lack of electricity). This was the way society functioned, with little time or energy to interact with those outside their subset-group. All their efforts, with malice towards none, were concentrated on making ends meet. There was so little time left to interact and know others, to be prejudicial. Likely there was much more prejudice among the in-laws, than with somebody outside the clan or religious group. So contrary to the title of the thread and as Mr. Sardesai rightly describes the "civil segregation" was with "no open hostility between the communities." In fact in Goa there were / are many places where the two religious communities get together at one-another's place of worship. So our grandparents and prior generations were NOT A VICTIM of their time. They were a PRODUCT of their time. And in my judgement, made a success even with their technological and educational limitations. This success is not withstanding the little credit modern generations give them - as in Selma's article. TODAY One may not even have a grandmother (of the newborn) to help with after- delivery care. So, one has to rely on a stranger / visiting nurses. Thus, there is an acute need for the nurse to know the cultural practices (including language) of the patient; and for the patient to know the cultural do's and donts of the nurse. And similar issues may apply to school teacher, plumber, carpenter, shopkeeper, doctor, etc. Why the modern generation does not "truly assimilate" with their environs beats me? Perhaps they spend too much time analyzing the shortcomings of other people / philosophies. This, instead of concentrating on their own contribution (in practice) to make this / their community a better place TODAY. It is "What THEY should do or be done" attitude. Unlike prior generations, current generation may not know their own core values. Thus we (especially Goans) may not truly assimilate even within our own group. (See WGD commentaries). The lack of core values also leads one to spend much time and effort searching and following the fashion or the thinking d-jour. With the result, as we see right here on Goanet, we go around in circles, each expounding their great view.:=)) I keep wondering what does "Catholic Prejudices" (the title of this thread) have to do with this generation not "truly assimilating"? Is this the way an agnostic looks at social issues? Is it a "prejudicial approach" to understanding simple issues? Kind Regards, GL ---------------- Vidyadhar Gadgil That was a lovely note, would be nice to have a response from 'the other side of the fence', so to speak. ------------- Carvalho wrote: This is what Goan born journalist Rajdeep Sardesai has to say about Goa: =========== "Let us be honest, there are two distinct communities -- Goan Catholics and Hindus. They have lived for centuries through a process of what I would call "civilised segregation", in the sense that there has been no open hostility between the communities but there has been limited interaction at a personal level. There has been attempts over the years to exploit these divisions, particularly by the post independence politicians of Goa." ================ My generation is the first called up to truly assimilate. And we've failed. We are all too ready to endorse Freud's "narcissism of minor differences", embrace our suspicions and hoist our disrespect. This unfortunately from both sides of the aisle. My father was a victim of his time and over the years has painstakingly revised so many of his ill-conceived notions. We on the other hand have no excuses to harbour ours. _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list [email protected] http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org
