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Happy New Year Twenty-Ten
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Dear FN, Marshall, George, Floriano and JoeGoaUK,
I'm very surprised at the reaction in a Goan village to a village priest being
accused of violating the vow of celibacy. When the Portuguese first tried the
experiment of instructing native Goans into the priesthood they found the first
batch to be of "poor quality", says historian Dr Olivinho Gomes, and by poor
quality I somehow get the feeling one of the failings were not being able to
keep to the rigorous standards of celibacy which might have been possible in
cold, frozen European countries but which certainly weren't possible in the
more languid climes of Goa :-) In anycase for centuries there has been a tacit
agreement amongst the parishioners of villages that they will overlook their
priest's small peccadilloes.
The women who comes in for cleaning, the woman who drops in for confession at
odd times or the one who sings lustily in the choir and then goes up to the
private quarters. The villages have all learnt to turn a blind eye because Goan
villagers know the pull and tug of the human body. They understand the needs of
those running a parish in these isolated, solitary nooks of Goa. For the Church
now to suddenly assume this to be a massive affront on their reputation is
melodramatic.
I thoroughly enjoyed Gadgil's article in the Herald. It was amusing to note
that almost anything in India can now be construed to be an attack. Barbers,
cobblers, goldsmiths, almost anyone can feel slighted. I once had someone write
to me and complain bitterly that I had written "shastikar kastikar", in a
column, which as everyone knows is a common saying in Salcete. Luckily, so far,
no one has marched to my house to protest about insulting the kasti.
What bodes ill for Goa is the role played by politicians in this dismal affair.
Take care,
selma
