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* * * 2007 ANNUAL GOANETTERS MEET - GOA * * *
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WHERE: Foodland Cafe - Miramar Residency - Miramar, Goa
WHEN: December 27, 2006 @ 4:30pm
More info:
http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2007-December/066098.html
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Hi Gabe
You have sent mixed signals on the first issue 1) caste in London. At times
you have said it barely exists and at other times that it does. I will address
this issue now.
a)The prevalence or not of caste among 'Catholic ' Goans in London is
symptomatic of the wider issues around how the feminine world, more so than the
male, constructs reality around itself. Let us take London as illustrative of
the UK generally. As young women are statistically better qualified and
educated than males currently, they have good jobs with high spending power.
Goan women are definitely part of this scenario. Such young women would rather
be single than have to 'carry' a less well educated and lower earning partner
than themselves. Indeed, the rate of singledom is remarkably high for this
among many other reasons. Likewise, marriageable males (and females) are
increasingly wary about the prospects of divorce and potential loss of 50% of
their estate and thus also fearful of marriage and partnerships. In such a
scenario, females especially look for the best catch possible in terms of
meeting their emotional and economic needs. This they now readily find from
an incredible choice of persons from all over the world. If Catholicism is a
consideration, there are millions of Catholics from South America, Ireland
specifically, Western Europe and especially Poland today. Therefore, gone are
the days when parents might have strongly influenced their offspring about
marriage partners. In this context, unless a 'Catholic' Goan caste carrying
person has a very good education, good financial prospects etc and no parents
to worry about in some kind of extended family abode, he becomes virtually a
non runner in the partnership race. Caste in such circumstances is a nonsense
when marriage away from Goans is an exciting prospect. Indeed, some 25% of
Indians (both for male and female) are married or partnered to other groups
outside their ethnic groups. However, my reckoning is that, because of the wide
availability of Catholics for marriage/partnership, the figure for the Goans
marrying 'outside' should be much higher than 25%. My estimate
is that it is more like 30% and rising fast. Many parents will tell you quite
proudly that their daughters and sons in laws are from every corner of the
world but there is no Goan in sight! Indeed, Gabe alluded to this prospect in
the case of his own sons.
b) There were thriving Goan village associations formed largely when the
parents joined their working children in London and for a while some such
associations were definitely geared towards the objective of endogamy
(marrying within). Such caste geared village associations are now virtually
falling apart with mainly older attendees. While it would be difficult in the
past to gain entry to their annual socials, their hope now is that they may
just about fill the hall and break even with the help of people with no links
to the village association at all. Some small infusion of new blood via the
Portuguese passport route may bolster specific village numbers but the earlier
point I made about the wide social catchment area puts paid to this forlorn
hope too.
c) I invariably have to advise hell of a lot of young women at university who
see me as a mature neutral adviser on marriage matters. The mindsets I
encounter are similar for all those of Asian origin---extreme caution about
those their parents want them to marry. Why on earth do you think there is
forced marriage and abduction to Pakistan (and presumably India too) for girls
of marriageable age. It is precisely for the reasons I have outlined in my
general scenario above. Young people and especially women want to manifest
their freedom to marry a person of their choice and not one of their parent's
choice. And I say good for them. It is time that male unwarranted hegemony on
this highly personal issue came to a rapid end.
As in the long article supplied to Goanet by Mervyn Lobo in Toronto, young
Asians/Goans have minds of their own and caste has virtually no bearing on
their calculations/judgements made particularly by young marriageable women.
The old 'Catholic' notion of caste pedigree falls at the first hurdle unless
there is commensurate reciprocity in terms of higher education, professionalism
and career progression. This is why I believe that anyone who says that
'Catholic' caste is rife in London is entirely wrong, and sadly, much to the
dismay of Gilbert who would have loved to hear otherwise I'm sure!
But, Catholic' Goan caste/casteism is definitely rife in Goa. Indeed, Goa
reeks of caste in its provincial atmosphere. It is a major generator of caste
categorisation. However, it ceases to be so strong in the metropolis of Mumbai,
Delhi, Kolkota etc. In such places as in London, marriage across ethnicities,
religion etc is growing in a big way and is unstoppable much to the dismay of
caste purists who are definitely today's dinosaurs who simply cannot adjust to
an increasingly cosmopolitan world and would rather wither on the vine than
adjust to any form of modernity. Some such caste dinosaurs are to be found on
Goanet and in the West too but they are definitely losing the fight for caste.
Education and material prosperity has taken the wind out of casteists and they
cannot even provide a rationale for their beliefs when challenged to do so.They
are the real losers in this game between social groups and the sooner they lose
their questionable caste 'status' the better
for society as a whole that is definitely progressing towards meritocracy.
2) Now Gabe my friend, you proposed that "if it ain't broke, why fix it?" We
are referring to caste here. Well, in India, caste is a major headache socially
and economically. Millions of bright lower caste people lose out in terms of
educational opportunities and this is a serious loss of brain power to the
nation. Upper caste people often take the best jobs via their opportunity for
education and connections but they are not necessarily the best suited to help
a country progress. Further, because of the reservation policy,
institutionalised with every good intention, it has serious shortcomings. As it
applies well after the age of say 21, the most competent people may not get
jobs as they have to be reserved for scheduled groups. I challenge anyone to
tell me that such a scheme ensures that the best in India are in the driving
seat for a modern economy. So, Gabe India is a very broken society that needs
fixing and one way to do this is to try, however difficult, to get
rid of this nonsense of caste, based on an accident of birth and obsolete
social system. There is a growing literature that explains how caste interferes
in terms of productivity and this is no laughing matter. [ See the Economist of
about 6 months ago]. While there are those who feel strongly that the
historical five year social plans, largely on socialist lines, seriously
hampered the Indian economy, caste impediment today is a major factor that is
hampering economic prosperity. As a banker Gabe, I am sure you would see that
there is much in India that is pretty broken and it definitely is not a case of
what you perhaps imagined..."if it ain't broke, why fix it?" Goa too is
troubled by many problems and caste may not be today's number one problem but
bear in mind that caste is incredibly divisive. It has divided Goans more than
anything else historically and it is a straightforward case of together we
stand and divided we fall. But it will not be easy to suddenly find a
kind of solidarity that has never been there...thanks to our casteists who
could never see beyond their noses except what was selfishly only in their
interests. Nor can they do so now. Believe you me, their pull towards caste is
so strong that they would happily jettison their weak link with Catholicism for
a more mainstreamed India, where minority religions will find it hard to
survive. Guess who would be the rats to jump ship first? It is the caste
carriers who have been fooled into thinking they were Catholics when the two
ideological systems are totally incompatible but sadly, they would have done
too much damage to retrieve a difficult socio-political situation today in Goa.
Well, Gabe, I pressed on nonstop at great speed for perhaps an hour and I am
sure many more ideas could be expressed here and more lucidly but I will stop
for now. Above all, this issue of caste is infinitely deeper than many of us
might want to imagine and it is an abomination with which we have lived for too
long.
Cornel DaCosta, Kunbi Vaddo, London, UK.
PS Gilbert, please note that this is not me using the Queen's English. It is
infinitely more humble than that---merely, Kunbi Vaddo, London English!
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