Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:29:32 +0530 From: Tony de Sa <[email protected]>
Comments addressed to Carmen Miranda: What makes you think we are fighting a losing battle? Is your perception coloured by your Western 'comfort zone' glasses? If you want to do something good for Goa and Goans, then how about starting with the Goans who live in not so well appointed circumstances in your comfort zone? Other than that if you really want to do something for Goa, then we the natives of this place would appreciate it if you translated your words in to action. Well frankly if you don't care then why bring it up? Do you have statistics of how many Goans were 'forced' by circumstances to work abroad? My perception is that most Goans who migrated did so to better their lot. I reiterate, we Goans living in Goa do not want sermons from NRG's. We are perfectly capable of electing our own Government and taking our own decisions. Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2010 06:46:21 -0800 (PST) From: Samir Kelekar <[email protected]> Response to Anil Desai with threats aimed at Rajan Parrikar: Take a good break, refresh yourself and be prepared for more. ?Let me tell you you have seen nothing yet. There is more to come. The only way opportunists like Rajan will gain respect is if they have the guts to take Indian citizenship. Why, Indian citizenship is no good for Rajan ? The white man's boots look better is it ? Rajan, the American boot licker, thorn on my side ? Give me a break man and talk sense. Now tell me what do you do there sitting in UK except perhaps increase your bank balance ? Why did you vamoos from Goa? The public would like to know. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. It is very clear that Rajan has adopted a hit and run technique, something which is very easy to do when someone is an American citizen. Any trouble in Goa and Rajan will not be seen around -- that is Rajan's plan. A PIL here or there does not count. We have to see what happens when this bloke comes in a bit of limelight (of course, other than abuse coming from his mouth) and really becomes a nuisance or a threat to the government. As of now, everything indicates that the bloke is going to scoot to America when the going gets tough. Mario observes: I am absolutely fascinated with this recent phenomenon on Goanet, where the primary targets of some angry local Goan activists are not the corrupt politicians and scurrilous business interests in Goa, but their fellow Goans who happen to live abroad, even Carmen and Rajan and Arwin, who only seem to want to help, with nothing in it for them that I can see. This probably goes a long way in explaining why Goa is in such a mess to begin with. Even Goa's fabled crabs must be cowering in their holes in embarrassment at being so upstaged:-)) Could there be some guilty consciences that are suddenly thrashing around to gain some traction after being asleep at the switch lo these many years since Goa was handed over the the Goans in 1987. In the meantime I plead guilty to all the charges against me. I grew up a Goan-Bhayya, and was always a lesser Goan-than-thou than the chest-thumpers. My freedom-fighter relatives did not live long enough for the pensions I keep hearing about. It never occurred to me to brazenly claim I was a SuperGoan like some who have also left Goa ostensibly to make a buck, but want us to ignore that little detail. I left India in search of those lousy greenbacks after Indira started putting ceilings on corporate salaries in India. I stayed away when I found to my delight that Americans are shamelessly consumerist and believe the good earth is far more rugged and sustainable if we could only get the elites who know what's good for everyone else better than they do, out of the way, politically speaking. In America, they actually do something about their problems folks, and some other country's problems as well, which infuriates some people. I think Samir is stuck in the John Wayne era:-)) Today, Indian-American boots must taste better than white man's boots, because Indian boots are in great demand among bootlickers:-)) I used to be an Indian first, when I had no choice, until India decided to screw me, and am now an American first. I do appreciate the good things about my ancestry and my homeland, without being weighed down by any debilitating sentimental baggage. I have invested some of my greenbacks in India because it suited me to do so. India has changed for the better since I left and Manmohanji began to impose some common sense on the place. I don't have "the guts" to become an Indian citizen. Sorry about that. When you are an American - the name ends in "I can" - you actually can do a lot as the old Soviet Union and Saddam found out the hard way. We're still working on the Taliban. If you don't like any of this, please sue me in the Hague:-))
