Great Goan Women
By Mr. Plastino DCosta This article is not about those Gorgeous Goan Women, whose beauty we admire, neither is this article about the affluent Goan women, who sacrifice their time and wealth to sincerely participate in philanthropy in their effort to uplift our society. In both cases, Goans are and should be very proud of them. Actually, this article is about those Great Goan Women that keep this society running despite all odds, by sacrificing their lives day in and day out, and maybe for no fault of theirs. The worst part is our society is yet to take notice and if we keep ignoring this issue as if it does not exist, than we cannot make way for a better future for our Generation Next Women. Most Goan women begin their journey of hardships when their time comes in choosing their life partner, majority of Goan women can never find a better or equally educated partner, leave alone a perfect partner. This gives a very sorry picture of our previous generation, a society which probably did not focus much on education for their children, and we still don't believe this is a problem. No one should buy this argument that Goans are not good in education, if they could excel in nearby Bombay then why not in Goa. This lack of education led to compromised careers and today Goan couples have been split geographically in the name of job opportunities. This has forced most of our Great Goan Women to run the family single handedly. Today Goans are not even in a position to take advantage of the reverse brain drain happening in most parts of India, therefore most Goan women will have to live with the fact that their partners will not come for good anytime soon, even if Goa turnarounds and creates opportunities. A society which indirectly makes partners stay separately in the name of opportunities, paints a very sorry picture we can't be proud of. This is a situation you might want to compare when men go to fight battles leaving their women at home to run the family. Our society pretends that everything is OK, if the women have to take care of the house and the children single handedly. Some might argue that in the western world, women prefer to be single mothers, but that is a life they choose to live and not forced into. No nothing is OK, when women are left at home without their partners it makes for an incomplete society. You don't have to be a genius to find out the sadness on a women face when they are forced to attend social obligations without their husbands, it's like a penance. A society which boasts of classy architecture, natural beauty does not mean we are a content society, a society which prepares women to stay alone without partners and children without their fathers in peace time does not speak highly of our society. Just because our Goan women are notch better than their Indian counterparts is no great consolation. Infact our Goan women are in a position to show the way to their Indian counterpart, specially those Indian women who are married to dowry sharks, where marriage is like a money back policy and the man and his family want their money back on the investment they made on his education. The worst enemy of the 'Goan Women' is the 'Goan Women'. Most of the problems our Goan women face today are of their own making, the hardships a Goan women faces today are made by the Goan women of yesterday. Therefore it makes sense that the best approach would be addressing the root cause and removing the obstacles they face, which will go a long way in improving the situation of the present Goan women and pave way for a better future for our Generation Next Women. There are no quick solutions in this article, because the one who might be in the best position to address and solve Goan women problems is the Goan women itself. She is in the best position to understand their situation, understand her point of view, think compassionately and address their problems one day at a time. With Goan Male Politicians performance hitting the low of lows, now might be a best time to give our Great Goan Women a chance to lead Goa. Wishful thinking?, but somehow if we could reserve 100% of the assembly seats to Goan women for just a decade, one thing can be guaranteed along with improving the state of women lives, they will bring dignity, honesty, integrity, and compassion in their work. No denying the fact that we have our share of not so Great Goan Women, but that is not the subject of this article. Above Article appeared in Herald on March 11, 2007
