Dear Roland, Sometime ago Selma expressed a similar sentiment to yours by saying she was happy not to be born and brought up in Goa, which got me quite bewildered as to how a person who is happy not to have been born, brought up and lived in Goa could proudly claim to be a Goan.
A fellow Goa netter who has chosen to settle in Goa after working for many years abroad then emailed me privately to explain that often expat-Goans denigrate Goa on this forum to justify to themselves, that they are better off elsewhere(where they/others don't quite feel like they belong). While I was reluctant to believe it at first I am now beginning to see his point. Allow me to point out some glaring inconsistencies in your post. Roland writes: ?Keep selling your properties for the lure of money that you don't really need. I am glad to have none of it." Sunith responds: Incredibly you follow it up by writing "My biggest heartache when I left India was to sell off my mansion....? You have done many years ago what you blame Goans for doing today, so obviously you have to blame yourself(in part) for the gloomy picture you claim Goa is today. Roland writes: "I made sure that I sold it off, not at the best price I could get, but to receive the satisfaction of having handed it off another Goan, even if he was a Hindu..." Sunith responds: This is a very communal statement (the even if he was Hindu part). As you must be aware communalism is one of the banes of Goan society today, thinking such as the above is to blame. Once again you prove yourself no different from the voters and politicians you seek to blame. Roland writes: Now I am at peace. I have finally received closure to my regrets. I am Glad that I live in Canada where everything is so different to Goa. Sunith responds: Do the Canadians have a different concept of closure than the rest of the world? If you so desperately seek closure, why are you on Goanet reminiscing of the wonderful times you had in Goa and in the Goan community through your life? Your posts are to me signs of someone who deep in his heart regrets he will never settle and grow old in his homeland. If you have truly achieved closure you should be on a Canadian forum, discussing the joys of living in Canada with fellow Canadians. I don't see the point of doing that on a Goan forum especially if they are just random thoughts. Please remember that all the comforts in Canada you enjoy, you played no part in creating. They were created by the sweat, toil and turmoil of the generations much before yours. You just entered a well oiled system and are now part of it. Hence it is very easy for you to make the ludicrous comparison between Goa (a developing third world economy) and Canada (an already developed first world economy). There is a continuous process of change going on in Goa that people who spend a few days here that to every few years, will never see. What use to anyone is a post full of tiredly repeated observations with no suggestions whatsoever?? Below is a quote once sent to me by a very widely travelled Goanetter who chose to come back to his homeland from an existence much more comfortable than the one you describe. Regards Sunith "Breathes there a man, with soul so dead Who never to himself hath said This is my own, my native land." -Sir Walter Scott ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Goanet supports BMX, the alumni network of Britto's, St Mary's and Xavier's -- three prominent institutions in Mapusa, Goa. Events scheduled from Dec 16 to 21, 2006 For more details visit http://www.bmxgoa.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------
