I wait and watch for and read Rajan Parrikar's postings assidously, as he 
echoes my own views, though he writes far more eloquently than I could.  I dont 
know why anyone would have objections to his postings.  Unfortunately, most 
Goans have become like the proverbial frog who is placed in a saucepan of cold 
water which is then placed on the stove top.  The water is brought to boil but 
the frog does not budge, not realizing that the heat has been turned up.  And 
so many Goans have become used to all the adverse changes taking place in Goa 
and blithely accept it without complaint.  It takes someone who has left Goa 
and returns after many years to see and feel the impact  of the negative 
changes taking place .
  I dont believe that the word "ghati" meaning someone from over the Ghats is 
demeaning.
  It is a descriptive word for someone who has come from beyond the borders of 
Goa, or the
  Ghats.  It is not derogatory, but merely descriptive. If someone uses it in 
derogatory sense
  it is their problem.
   
  I am also delighted to find more Goans, primarily non-Catholic Goans, 
expressing their views on GoaNet, making this a truly inclusive forum for all 
Goans. I welcome differing political viewpoints.  I may not agree with them, 
but I learn and am enlightened. That is what a democracy is all about.   After 
all this is not an exclusive Catholic Goan forum, or else we should have called 
it that.  Catholics are after all a minority in Goa.  I once heard someone say 
about someone  "he is not a Goan, he is a Hindu".  I was livid on hearing that 
comment and would have been just as livid if someone said to me that "I was not 
a Goan but a Portuguese".
   
    Another description I hear relating to non-Catholic Goans is the "Tho 
Kokno" meaning he is of the Konkan region.  We are all :Kokne", Catholic or 
Hindu or Muslim, if we trace our origins to Goa which is an integral part of 
the Konkan region.
   
  Lets accept our diversity and learn to live with it, or else we will be 
divided along communal lines which leads to fanaticism and intolerance.
   

       
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