---------------------------------------------------------------------------
**** http://www.GOANET.org ****
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The First Konkani E-Cinema
BLACK Nhesop Atanchem Fashion
Premiers at Masrah, Hawalli Auditorium, Kuwait on Aug 10, 2007
http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2007-August/060201.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I would second Ana Maria de Souza-Goswami 's last post (see below) to end this
dialogue, since she started this thread. However she completed her post with a
point that was impossible to resists. I will address this at the end.
Paulo's post (reproduced below) was on target. The only sentence that may have
been an inadvertent error is the second sentence in the third paragraph.
Goans should know their Indian ethnicity because in this era of genomic
studies, many diseases can now be 'pre-diagnosed' with a knowledge of one's
genomic pattern, family medical history and ethnic trait.
Interesting studies have been done on the risk of heart attacks and cholesterol
levels in different ethnic groups of British and American citizens. To be
ethnically Indian in itself a risk factor for heart attacks. Many authorities
on cholesterol now have a different 'normal cholesterol level' for ethnic
Indians, irrespective of their culture, place of birth or their citizenship.
If Ana Maria de Souza-Goswami's friend was a Sephardic Jewess, her daughter,
granddaughter , great grand daughter, etc., could be very Goan / Indian. Yet,
they are at risk to carry the BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 gene increasing their risk for
breast and ovarian cancer. This is just an example of how important the family
history / ethnic details are.
One can run (or deny) but one cannot hide ... from one's ancestors or
ethnicitiy.
Kind Regards, GL
--------------- Ana Maria de Souza-Goswami
To sum it up, my German/Jewish friend in Goa is a widow of a Bengali. They ran
a resort in Goa. When her son was four years old (she narrated this to me)
someone in Germany asked him, are you Jew, German or Indian, and he replied
'I'm a human being'.
-------------- Paulo Colaco Dias
I think one concept is citizenship, another concept completely different is
ethnicity and there is also a third concept which is culture.
The problem I find with us Goans is that we have difficulties in finding the
difference between these three concepts and often there are misunderstandings
because we do not know to which concept the other person is referring to.
The Portuguese never considered us ethnic Portuguese. That does not make sense.
Remember they called it the Portuguese State of India (Estado da India
Portuguesa). And they clearly called everyone Indian since the day they first
set foot in the Indian subcontinent. Having been brought up in Portugal and
having lived there for the first 25 years of my life, I was always very well
integrated and considered a Portuguese citizen but never an ethnic Portuguese
for obvious reasons - the main one being my colour. In no way whatsoever I felt
myself inferior because I was not an ethnic Portuguese living in Portugal.
