Cornel--
It's always a pleasure reading you even though we may disagree re some
points of view and ofttimes a pain in the you know where ;--)s
I was born in Goa--and even though I left at a very young age, I still have
very fond memories of my quaint village of Divar with that beautiful church
atop the hill with commanding views of Old Goa with its soaring cathedrals,
Ribandar, Chorao, and even distant Panjim. My mother and I, in our Sunday
best befitting a visit to our capital city, would walk down from our home
through the picturesque village scenery to take the "gazollin" (the
precocius boat) on the opposite side of Chorao to chug to our beautiful
city of Panjim to shop. We would include a visit to the fine boutiques of
Menezes & Cia and Cosme Mathias Menezes even though we could afford little
of the precious offerings--but we knew the personnel in those establishments
(the owernship was from Divar/Malar) and my mother would indulge in personal
banter and pleasantries. Panjim then was a beautiful, clean and vibrant
city, where everyone was properly dressed and some men would even wear a
suit and tie in the oppressive summer heat! Even though not everybody was
rich, most affected an air of elegance, the men were deferential to the
women and respectful to all others--the merchants treated you like some
distant relations, and the mellifluous sounds of Portuguese wafted in the
air mixed with Konkanni. The scenery was breathtaking and once we got off
in Panjim, there was Betim across the Mandovi in all its splendor. The
statue of Fr. Abbe Faria with the woman prone and hypnotized was a profound
mystery... For our young impressive minds, the visit to Panjim was the
ultimate experience in all its meaning before circumstances propelled most
of us inexorably to the deliverance of Bombay and the joys of Jer Mahal and
its environs. It is sad, but perhaps it is truly said that Goa is now
called a "toilet" and bears little comparison to the laid-back Goa I used to
know and remember. Hopefully Goans, regardless of their religion or
political affiliation will sit up and take notice and try to to stop the
savage assault and salvage what is left of it and restore it before it turns
out into another Indian urban slum. On one of my visits eight years ago, I
encountered a young white American female at the Majorda Beach Hotel
enjoying adult libations and during the course of our conversation she
discovered I lived in New York (NJ really), she exclaimed: "We come here all
the way from there to enjoy paradise here and what are you doing there in
that concrete jungle?" She made me feel guilty! Perhaps that was
prescient--now watching the Dona Paula skyline and what is being revealed
most of all over our "Sorrowing Land" through the fine lens of a camera.
The chickens are coming home to roost(?) But I digress.
So, to me Goa will always be a special place full of sounds and smells and
scenery that are vested. I have travelled many countries in distant and
beautiful places but my heart will always yearn for those pleasureable
memories of my youth which comfort and provided solace (now a stab of pain)
because that was and remains a love story which is forever part of me and
will refuse to die. As the saying goes "You can try to take Goa from me
but you can't take the Goan out of me" or something like that. Goa will
always remain "back home" to me as it should mean to all of us despite our
acceptance of alien nationalities. After all, we do owe allegiance to our
new hosts for their generosity in accepting us. I hope you feel
likewise....
Regards
Chris
----- Original Message -----
From: "CORNEL DACOSTA" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Goa's premiere mailing list, estb. 1994!" <[email protected]>;
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2008 5:09 AM
Subject: Re: [Goanet] Goanet Digest, Vol 3, Issue 658
Hi Chris
I hope you don't mind my coming in re your
