12 Goan diaspora youth connect to land of forefathers TNN 7 December 2009, 04:52am IST
MARGAO: Emotions and excitement ran high at the Goa Chitra museum on Sunday as 12 Goan diaspora youth from Canada, UK, France and Mozambique experienced the overwhelming feelings of coming home as they interacted with the locals here in an attempt to connect to the land belonging to their forefathers. The event was a part of the Know Goa Programme (KGP) organized by the department of NRI affairs of the state government. Its like they own two different homes, but belong to neither, was how Aldina and Victor Gomes of the Goa Chitra museum attempted to describe the predicament of those youth of Goan origin, who had no opportunity to discover Goa and India. In a dialogue titled Reviving the past for enrich ing the future, the 12 diaspora youth in the age group of 18 to 28, while sharing their concern over various issues plaguing Goa, pledged their commitment towards the development of the land where their roots stood. Dr Savia Viegas and Dr Manoj Borkar chaired the forum that also saw the participation of local youth sharing their views, experiences and expectations. A panel discussion that saw the participation of experts in diverse fieldsPrajal Sakhardande, heritage activist; Clinton Vaz, garbage management consultant; Sobita Mauzo, language activist and Nirmal Kulkarni, environmental activist enriched the knowledge of the participants about the challenges and threats faced by Goa on various fronts. Sobita Mauzo sought to drive home the point that kindergarten children in Goa ought to be taught nursery rhymes in Konkani instead of forcing them to learn by rote English rhymes that have no relevance in their lives. English is making a backdoor entry into our homes, she pointed out and lamented the fact that tourism was making Goans move towards western culture. Prajal Sakhardande, in his brief speech, attempted to portray the other side of Goa by explaining how wanton destruction of Goa was being wrought about by destroying hills, filling paddy fields, damaging historical monuments and threatening wildlife. While Nirmal Kulkarni dwelt at length on attempts made by greens to preserve the fragile ecology of the state, Clinton Vaz stressed the need to adopt garbage disposal measures by every household. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/12-Goan-diaspora-youth-connect-to-land-of-forefathers-/articleshow/5309320.cms
