Of Goans, non Goans and anti-Goans
By Oscar Rebello
Long ago, when in medical school, I had this most horrifying encounter that
always disturbs one and remains deeply etched in the deepest recesses of my
heart.
A true blue blooded, 'niz Goenkarâ' colleague of mine once asked me, "Dude,
how is it that you have green eyes"?
I replied that some great grandmother of mine was of Portuguese ancestry and
that is how I'd probably inherited them. He simply glared at me and I didn't
recognise the glint in his eye then as he spat "Oh! So you are a Portuguese
pig then. You aren't Goan?"
Poof! There is one nanosecond of prejudice a fellow Goan had de-Goanised me
in his mind, just like that.
So, who's Goan and who's not, remains an individual perception, an
individual prejudice and individual bigotry.
The people of Goa must move on. The most hotly debated topic is the issue of
Goan identity today. And pretty much everyone is going in circles trying to
define it.
Is it the Saraswat Goan identity? Is it the upper crust Catholic identity?
Is it the Bahujan samaj identity? Is it Marathi or Roman Konkani or Devnagri
Konkani identity? Or is the 'real' Goan identity strictly by definition of
Kunbi, Gowda Velip one, the original inhabitants of this land who for
centuries have been subjugated by the economically and supposedly
intellectually classes? Or is it the identity of so many Indian communities
that have so harmoniously blended with Goa?
Importantly, is it an inclusivist or an exclusivist identity?
As Mr Peter Ronnie D'Souza, a renowned political scientist never tires of
telling me that Goan identity is kaleidoscopic, often chaotic celebration of
all the influences that a Goan has so gladly assimilated into the cultural
experience of his own.
To my mind, Goans have always looked outward and opened their hearts. A Goan
never looks inward and closes his mind. In that case, what explains the
rage, the pent up frustrations and bloodless revolutions that are springing
across the countryside? What are the protests about? Are they directed
against the outsider or the legitimate real estate industry? I think not.
The protests are clearly against two phenomena, unique to the state of Goa.
The first being -- the chronic lack of optimum governance and systemic
corruption that has taken the simple Goan for a jolly ride all these years
and the second being the malicious assault on the trusting, gullible and
'sussegado' nature of Goa. 'Sussegado' is not 'laidback,' but is contented
and when a contented tiger is needlessly provoked, it spells big trouble.
So, is there some way out of the quick sand then?
Yes, but only if we wake up to the realities of 21st century Goa.
And yes, we welcome capitalism but not reckless and irresponsible
capitalism; we need a higher standard of living but everyone must be
included; we need jobs for the economic prosperity of our youth and not just
to satisfy the greedy profit motives of a few, whatever the damage to the
environment and local culture. Immigration may be inevitable but we cannot
afford the luxury of slums or grandiose gated townships and above all we
need respect for the law, respect for the law and respect for the law.
In sum, purging a land of the imagined enemy, the outsider to cleanse it, is
an abominable stream of thought that has mercifully been buried with Hitler,
Idi Amin and Milosevic. We don't need to revisit or reinvent it.
What we, the people of Goa, need to do is purge ourselves of our avarice,
our prejudices, our hatreds and our propensity to break the rules.
Doing the smart thing comes easy for any human being. But, doing the morally
correct thing ... Ah!!! now that is a noble characteristic that will always
define a Goan.
(This is the personal opinion of Dr Oscar Rebello who is also the convenor
of Goa Bachao Abhiyan)
http://www.navhindtimes.com/articles.php?Story_ID=041616
