Beyond the Grave Looking back at: By Thy Fruit You Shall Know Them! For the week which passed (17/7/21-14) when I was alive on Planet Earth.
Maybe in the 21 century we might have to dig deeper and amend the statement Jesus made more than two thousand years ago to this: By thy roots you shall know them. In spirit, it is no different! Metaphors change with time, culture, and circumstances. Why are we Goans not strongly denouncing the bashing of Lamanis in Goa? Have we become hypocrites and anti-national? Let’s get our priorities straight: We are Indian citizens which gives us a right to live and work anywhere in India. It is not a privilege given to a few chosen people. People who object to Lamanis working and living in Goa can always leave the country, and Goa, and go elsewhere - including Portugal - but if they want to live in India they have to uphold the rights framed in the Indian constitution. Otherwise, they are subversive and anti-national people. That Goans are found to be working everywhere in India is no secret; not only in this country but all over the world. What do Goans who want to get rid of Lamanis have to say about this fact? The majority of Lamanis are working legally as are the majority of Goans, in Goa and everywhere else. What is the reason for Lamani bashing? Not only Lamanis have been successful in getting jobs in Goa but people from everywhere in India. Why pick on the Lamanis? If the issue is about illegal activities of Lamanis in Benaulim then what about the illegal activities of Goans in the village and all over Goa? Who rents their houses to the Lamanis if not Goans? Have Goans not been renting houses to Lamanis for decades now in south and north Goa? If the people want only legal businesses and legal businessmen and businesswomen it is a change for the better. But the yardstick has to apply to everyone - Lamanis and non-Lamanis, too. The Goans who are on a rampage against Lamanis are giving other Goans a bad name. A lot of Goan families depend on Lamanis to do some chore or the other. I am among them. If the Lamanis are not allowed to work in Goa (which can never happen) but is the dream of people with a narrow village mentality, the roofs of hundreds of houses will fall on our thick skulls. We need to learn to be grateful and not spit on a helping hand otherwise our roots will rot (if they haven’t already). We need to be grateful for all the help the Lamani community has given to enrich Goan society in a hundred and one ways. If our roots rot, then the branches and twigs will also rot, and the tree will produce rotten fruit.
