Why do Goans migrate? Just tried to list some reasons... let me know if you feel some don't swim... FN
01 Aspiring to a better life, at times illusory 02 "For the children" 03 Early growth of English edn in Bardez 04 Reverse discrimination in government employment 05 Lack of skills in entrepreneurship 06 Aspirations 07 Demonstration effect of returning/visiting expats 08 $ was Rs7, now Rs70+ 09 Relatives have migrated, "doing well" 10 "Whole" villages have migrated, e.g. Agacciam 11 Anglo-Portuguese treaty, 1886, devastated Goa 12 Portuguese passorts open doors to Europe 13 Difficult to adjust to life in Goa by expats 14 Africanders' kids prefer Westernised settings 15 Difficult to build a home on a Goa salary 16 Married someone from outside Goa 17 Whites look 'cool', esp after tourism boom 18 Foreign friends promote wanderlust 19 "We are the world wanderers" --Sardessai 20 Migration abroad is part of wider Goan migration 21 Goa has among highest migration rates worldwide: Newman 22 Trauma of psot-1961 changes for some 23 Goan-style racism 24 Opening up of the Gulf since 1970s oil-boom 25 Craze for ship jobs, especially in Salcete 26 Spreading of migration craze to hinterland 27 Migration is the only life we know 28 In the 1920s, Goa saw poverty and acute food scarcity 29 Early husband deaths caused widow migration earlier 30 Portuguese-language skills opened opportunities 31 Mackinnon Mackenzie 32 Depiction of migrant life in writing, tiatr 33 Gulf "agents" 34 A relative/villager pulled your family into migration 35 Lack of high skills opportunities (e.g. medicine) 36 Easy job opportunities (see Goan docs in UK) 37 Surplus of education, lack of jobs. Then and now. 38 Kudds in Bombay were a welcoming second-home 39 "They earned in gold coins in Africa". Real quote. 40 Declining value of the rupee 41 Sudden demise of Portuguese, post-1961 42 Political reasons for some who went to Portugal 43 Partition, till then Karachi just another part of India 44 Foreign contractors offered jobs (e.g. engineering, IT) 45 Part of the wider, post-1990 Indian diaspora 46 Lifting of racist migration laws in US, UK, Au. 47 Better education facilities in Goa/India 48 British stationing troops around 1799 in Goa 49 Discovery of Goans as a community due to the above 50 Destruction of traditional occupations post-61 in Goa 51 Greater literacy and education growth post 1961 in Goa 52 IT skills growing in Goa, post 1990 53 Liberalisation in 1991, tech and knowledge inflow 54 Growth of the Internet, after 1997, access to ideas 55 Religious intolerance in Pk, outmigration from Karachi 56 Real estate boom in Bombay, causing migration westwards 57 Corruption in Goa/India stifling creativity 58 Economic exile 59 Aspirations growing unsustainably in Goa 60 Property disputes within families 61 Large number of priests in Goa, finding option in migration 62 Village, community, caste networks promoting migration 63 Dispersal of "Goan villages" in Bombay eg Dhobitalao, Cavel 64 Easy Rly jobs in Brit era, some changed names to access 65 Building up of Luso world, from Angola to Timor 66 Major infra projects, like EAfrica rail built by Brits 67 End of British colonialism in East Africa 68 End of Portuguese colonialism in Africa 69 Gulf bulk jobs in catering, teaching English, etc 70 The fact that you can earn ten times as much in Gulf, West 71 Political uncertainity, major bitterness each decade in Goa 72 Religious strife, in 16th century, 20th and 21st Goa 73 Musical skills of Goans 74 Cullinary skills of Goans 75 Goan rice, c'nut planting skills, esp to Karnataka (Keladi) 76 Preference for English education in Belgaum, Poona for eg 77 Padroado inflence, Goan clerics in M'lore, Belgaum, Lanka 78 Late 20thC Goan Cath missionaries going to outside world 79 Fortune-seeking in East Africa [See Note 1] 80 Participation in WWI, eg. Mesopotamia 81 British opening up colonies in Burma, Sindh, etc 82 Raids by neighbouring empires, e.g. Marathas 83 Food shortages in 16th century Goa 84 Access to skills: nursing, teaching, food, photog, advtg 85 Portuguese policies making Goans the musicians of South Asia 86 Changing politics after Independence 1947, Liberation 1961 87 Higher education possibilities esp after 1990s and 2000s 88 Diocesan Catholic priests shifting overseas 89 Religious orders with networks overseas 90 Goans (Hindus/Cs) act as agents/diplomats for Portuguese 91 Influx into non-traditional fields like Indian Army 92 Use of English-lang skills esp in post-1947 India 93 Female migration is a different, complex phenomenon 94 Jobs-edn mismatch; many IT egrs still go to Blore for jobs 95 One person migrates, generations stay overseas 96 Early achievers role models: Abbe (Cator Re Bhaji) Faria 97 Better options for education outside Goa, still 98 Economics pull factors from other centres in the world 99 Repeated devaluation of Indian economy 100 Because family migrates 101 Above all, it's a personal decision, something no logic NOTE1: Manuel António de Souza, merchant and militaryman in Portuguese Africa. Known as Gouveia, he made a fortune in the ivory trade, helped the Portuguese in some military campaigns there, and was even recognised as a 'king; of a region. He was appointed Capitão Mor (Captain General) of Manica and Sofala in 1874. He played a role in pushing ahead the frontiers for the Portuguese, and organized a little kingdom and a perfect little state with an army of 30,000 men with its own guns, fortresses and administration. He became a celebrity in Colonial Mozambique at the end of the 19th century. Goa's Portuguese rulers were proud enough to issue a postal stamp and to erect his statue at the rotunda in Mapusa, but within less than two years, precisely four days prior to Goa's Liberation, the statue was destroyed by a bomb purportedly by the Portuguese military intelligence from the Mapusa quartel, but the blame was put on the Indian Government in order to create mixed feelings among Goans. [Courtesy Domnic Fernandes' Mapusa Yesterday and Today -- A Reminiscent Tour. 2012; Goa,1556.] -- FN* फ्रेड्रिक नोरोन्या * فريدريك نورونيا +91-9822122436
