Hi Eddie, > From: "Eddie Fernandes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > My dear Rico, > My definition of a Goan is one who has roots in Goa. Who have
All those who "do not have roots in Goa". Like God, R. K. Nair, and a generation of migrants who have grown up here and are considered to be "strange, funny, and too Goan" when they visit relatives back home. Please define "roots in Goa". I suspect it will become just another convenient-enough vague term for us to break many heads over in the future. Just as we do with "Konkani", "Marathi", "regional language", "tenancy" laws, etc.... Goa has other peculiarities. Not only in-migration, but also out-migration. Borders that have changed over recent centuries. People within the same State who have very different ideas of what it means to be a "Goan". This all simply needs to be taken into account. Once we start playing the game of exclusivism, everyone joins in. Just as was the case with the language politics we all know so well by now. By the way, out of my extended family of eight, exactly two (my Porvorim-born son, and my dad) were Goa-born. Two others were born in Brazil, one in Mozambique, two in Bombay, one in Hubli ... I guess we are adding hugely to the population of "non-Goans" in Goa, as the official statistics which politicians often play on usually go by the place-of-birth figures. The roots-in-Goa issue is also problematic. How far should that go? My place of birth? Three generations ahead of me (if so, is this just to accomodate people-like-us)? And why deprive this (fairly meaningless, in my view) tag to someone who has come here half-a-generation ago, when we want a green card in the US after a five-year stay there? > I left out that you would like to see included? > Once again: What is your definition of a Goan? Are you saying > that a definition is not possible/desirable? > BTW. When was the first recorded usage of the word "Goan"? I would not accept your terms of reference for the debate. In my view, the Goan/"non-Goan" debate is one of the biggest red-herrings currently around in Goa. We saw how serious our upholders of public decency in the state are about land-rackets once the Shave Goa (to use BJP Rudi's words) meet with the Save Goa guys! The moment I accept your challenge to come up with a "definition", I get caught and trapped in your logic. (No offence meant, you are just accepting someone else's logic.) To me, the biggest challenges at this point of time: (i) how to make people in Goa and among her diaspora more competitive, specially in fields where they are lacking (ii) to be able to tap the huge talent base that "non-Goans" bring into Goa with them, both at the lower and upper ends (iii) to build mechanisms that enable migrants into Goa to feel more a part of the place. This, in my view, would include language-learning and cross-cultural pollination, or the tune called multiculturalism that our Aussie friends sang so loudly till John Howart ruined their party. After all, it is needed to be done in a way that makes it possible for everyone to contribute to their full to the culture and society of a region that has long been a fruit-salad anyway (or, to opt for a Saraswat cuisine metaphor, the tasty mix-veggies dish called the khatkhatam). FN -- Frederick Noronha Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] P: +91-832-2409490 M: +91-9970157402 Yahoo: fredericknoronha Skype: fredericknoronha GTalk: fredericknoronha 784, Sonarbhat, Near Lourdes Convent, Saligao 403511 Goa India
