My apologies to the admin team & others for the long post below, but I have combined my reply to Roland & Selma in one post itself...
Roland wrote: > Ha, Aristo, that little jewel embedded in all that volume: "I myself, will > eventually become one, I presume." > And may we presume from the tone of your paragraph that you will be in the > most favorable category of <<TYPE 2>> Aristo responds: >From simplicity & brevity, lets refer to NRI's as Type 1, Type 2 & Type 3 NRI's or NRG's, based on my earlier definitions. I may as well become a Type 1 NRI. Mario is an excellent example of this. He is a die hard American Citizen of Goan/Indian origin, with a very diverse family. He is proud of his new country, and of his Goan heritage too. He has given a number of constructive suggestions for Goans in Goa (whether codswallop or not is a different matter). Who knows, I may even come to Canada, wear a Canadian flag T-shirt, get pissed drunk and shout "Canada rocks!". I am not a patriot as I will explain some other time. It is even highly unlikely that I will marry a Goan. But one thing I won't do is blame ALL the Goans in Goa for the "mess", especially when I played a role in allowing the mess to continue. Roland wrote: > You have a poor understanding of the meaning of the word NRIs, because > referring to your remarks about pledging loyalty to their new country of > citizenship, one could scarcely call them NRIs which means non-resident > INDIANS, while those you speak of are really (to you) foreign citizens. Aristo responds: Terminologies! Technically, Type 1 is a PIO (expats), not an NRI. But NRI & PIO are used interchangeably in common language. Roland wrote: > Why are all those who are so touchy about the reality of the mess either a) > freshly off the boat from Goa (Sunith) or b) would have made a beeline to > themselves leave if they were younger and therfore up to the challenge > (Cecil) or c) hope to go overseas, contribute to Goa while they are there > and return to Goa (Aristo). They immediately and in a knee-jerk manner > confuse criticism for 1) disloyalty to Goa 2) non-contribution to Goa (yes > they have gone deep into seeing whether such contribution has been made by > others or not) or 3) some other secret agenda they can make up to obfuscate > the real issue Aristo responds: Roland, we are well aware of the reality of Goa. It is you who is not. If Goa does not conform to your standards or they way you would like to see Goa as you remember it was, remember that there are young people here who have hope and are slowly building a Goa that they want to see. By now, I should have hoped that wisdom would tell you that cultural values change with every generation, and the older generation may not be happy with that of the younger generation. It is a continuous process, and your Grandfather probably said referring to your generation "these kids nowadays...". The same WILL happen with my generation when we see our kids and grand kids go "astray". Getting back to the point, are you so blind to see the initiatives taken up by certain individuals to clean up the mess, on Goanet itself? Goa suraj, SGF and GOACAN are a few that you should have seen, even if they may be very impractical, idealistic and misguided at times, but the good intentions and hopes are there. But then you came along to douse their fire. Selma wrote: >Ah, the net is such a tool that in one fell swoop and >one email, we can pronounce judgment on the entire >life and works of another Goan. We can judge that in >the entire lifetime of this person all that he has >done is write articles and belittle the Goans in Goa. Aristo responds: Selma, the Golden Rule of Morality allows me to make sweeping assumptions about Roland since he made sweeping assumptions about ALL Goans in Goa. Its not like its the Death Penalty in question, is it? Selma wrote: > Well, I've known Roland Francis for longer than one > email on a Cyber forum. At my last count I think I've > know him for seven years and I don't doubt the > sincerity of Roland's love for Goa. Nor do I doubt the > many times he's reached in his pockets to help fellow > Goans be they in Goa or first-time immigrants to > Canada. Aristo responds: I have no idea about Roland's contributions/non-contributions to Goa, or his reasons/constraints for leaving Goa. Selma wrote: > I wish instead of the expected self-righteous > responses that we saw, at least one Goan in Goa had > stood up and said, yes, I too am fed-up. Aristo responds: Forgive me if I came accross as self-righteous. Thats your job. To clarify, I have never contributed a dime towards a Goan cause, and I don't recall ever losing a drop of sweat for a Goan cause. But I have also never blamed ALL Goans in Goa for the mess, except once in the case of Talegao, where I blamed those who voted Anatasio Monserrate, for one Chicken and plate of Rice, and their own selfish motives for the mess that he is actively creating. And what is this you say about Goans in Goa not saying that they are fed up? What does that tell you? What you wish and what is the reality are two different things. I think Goanet's youngest active member (I presume) Jason answered this question for you quite well. Of course, Goans are fed up with whats wrong with Goa, and there have been many who stood up and did something about it. I will not mention names for fear of missing out some. And then there were others who also stood up and said that they were fed-up. And then they left. Selma wrote: > Most of all I'm fed-up that I don't have hope > in my heart for the generations of Goans that will > come after me. Instead, all I have to pass onto them > is a legacy of hopelessness. Aristo responds: Selma, keep your helplessness to yourself. I think Goans in Goa would rather prefer impractical idealistic action any day to practical pessimistic inaction. If you want, you and Roland could be constructive, next time round. Cheers, Aristo. PS. Selma, when I used the term "Paranoid", I used it in the colloquial sense, as in, "overly worried". Its unfortunate that you let your insecurities get you offended by that. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
