On 4 July 2014 05:36, Stephen Dias <[email protected]> wrote:
> Dear Wendel Rodrigues, > INTERNATIONAL REPUTED FASHION DESIGNER. > > Your article in Herald today on Friday was great and FOUR BIG CHEERS to > you for excellent write up telling the Goa Minister Sudin Dhavlikar what > Goans should wear and not to wear AS AN EXPERT IN GARMENTS. And Sudin > should wear is XASTI when he goes to official functions and at home he > should be with LANGOTIM and not the dress what he wears. > > OPEN LETTER TO GOA MINISTER SUDIN DHAVLIKAR BY WENDELL RODRIGUES WAS TO > THE POINT. > > IN SALCETE GOANS HAVE TAUGHT HIM A LESSON BY SETTING HIS EFFIGY IN FIRE > AND ASKED HIM TO APOLOGIZE UNTIL THEN HE CANNOT SET HIS FOOT IN SALCETE. > GOOD DECISION AND CHEERS TO THE LEADERS OF SALCETE .AND NORTH GOA -OUR > LEADERS ARE STILL STUDYING THE CASE. > > THIS HAS FULL COVERAGE IN ALL THE PAPERS IN GOA. > > Chief Minister of Goa Manohar Parrrikar should remove him from PWD > position as he has damage everything, nothing works in Goa especially in > PWD. He is not fit to be a MINISTER as his interest is only SANATHAN - > MUTHALIK and he should leave Goa if he cannot agree what Goans are dressing > in Goa. > Everyday, Goa is burning with BJP rule and Parrikar should be careful > with these bad Ministers and MLA's dictating terms to Goans by looting Goa > from public exchequer. SHAME TO THEM WHO HAVE GONE TO SEE FOOTBALL IN > BRAZIL AFTER LEAVING GOA IS SHAMBLES and every day it is becoming serious > issue and GOA WILL BE BURNING VERY SOON. > > Stephen Dias, D.Paula > ============================================================== > QUOTE > > *Open Letter TO the GOAN Minister* > > Dear Mr Goan Minister, I write this as an open letter to you and for the > wider knowledge of the Goan people. > > As a professor of World Costume History and the author of Moda Goa: > History and Style, a book that documents the history of Goan costume, I > would like to place certain facts in perspective. > > Since you have commented on Indian culture and dress, the following > garments cannot be worn by you as they are not Indian culturally: Shirts ( > European) Pants/ Pyjamas ( Chinese/ Central Asia), socks, T- shirt and > baniyan; yes your underwear too ( jersey was invented in Europe), Kurtas ( > Central Asia, Ottoman, Moghul). That leaves you with a kashti or pudvem and > a shawl or cloth to cover your torso. > > Will you agree to go to your ministry office in this attire? By the way, > it was not in Indian culture for Indian women to wear a bra or a sari > petticoat. > > The former came from the France, the latter from Victorian England. Also, > when the coloniser came to Goa, there were no cholis, except for the > devadasis who used a kind of choli. Till today we see older generation Goan > ladies and tribals in villages, drape their sari navari style ( please > note, no petticoat) and drape the paloo loosely around a torso without a > choli. > > Now onto international technology that we use despite them not being > Indian invented… When you get to office, cut off the power, throw out the > table, chairs, computer, telephone, cell phone, aircon, teacups, Rolex > watch, Mont Blanc pen. All paper and files too ( both invented in China). > > Sit on the floor, mat or patla. Now please work on our Goan needs that > need your attention… drains, garbage, water supply and sewage treatment for > our creeks and rivers and also for the boats, casinos, tourists boats that > polythene river. It used to be said in ancient Goa that a dip in our holy > rivers granted purity and many incarnations. Today a dip can only make us > sick. > > Since we are on the topic of Indianess, you will have to also stop eating > potatoes, tomatoes, chilli, cashew, chickoos, pineapples and many other > fruits, vegetables and spices that were alien to India. > > I hope I have made my point. We live in a modern, international world and > take from other cultures so that our Indian culture in turn is improved and > celebrated. > > Beyond all of this, is a very important issue at hand. > > Your utterances are making all of us Goans seem non progressive, archaic > and dangerously right wing, which we are not. The fact is that we have a > more progressive mindset than many states in the country. Opinions > expressed should not be made until there is a knowledge of history and > culture. > > We are a tourist state. Please do not kill the goose that lays the golden > eggs. And do not ruin the name of our beloved state and people in the eyes > of India and the world. > > With every good wish for Goa and Goans. > > ( The writer is a fashion designer, writer and environmentalist) Wendell > Rodricks > >
