The "bloody" or "bleedy" piece, either taken from elsewhere and posted on Goanet, provokes debate as well as angers for words that hit at the "nuts." His language mocks Goans, but perhaps it can be taken as a satirical vein running through the piece. No doubt, Goa is undergoing vast changes that affect people in villages and towns. From the old mining barons to the new Russian mafia kings, Goa is raped and plundered. In this respect, I agree with Godfrey. With the same token, Bombay has undergone changes that should also wake up the East Indians. Check the East Indian strongholds from Mahim to Virar and one is shocked to see that East Indian lands are now in the possession of big builders. Hundreds of East Indians have sold their houses and lands to these builders for good bucks and in return to a flat, whether one-bedroom one or more, in a high-rise building. Even in East Indian pockets in the city, such as Cavel, Kothachiwadi, Matharpacady, Mazagoan, to mentions but a few, East Indian colonial houses have given way to modern buildings. Money can buy anything. In this sense, Goans have been also selling their lands to the rich from Mumbai and Delhi. After Liberation, Goa became ripe for the picking. One cannot fault outsiders lusting over Goa's pristine land. The slow train of people from other parts have now become a tide. Can Goans stem the tide? Looking at the issue constitutionally, I don't see any remedies. Arwin, however, has some. What Godfrey has failed to notice is that NGOs in Goa are putting up a fight to save Goa. It is a long, hard fight. Godfrey cannot expect each and every Goan to rise up to the cause and march to Panaji or go on a hunger strike. The Narmada Valley issue is a pointer. Despite valiant fight by those wanting to prevent the dam, their efforts bore little or no fruits. Those who have been following what the Goan NGOs are doing perhaps have a scorecard where they have won, scored little success or failed. Let's not get our "nuts" in a twist because of Godfrey's views. He could a gadfly, and as much as he has annoyed us by sitting on our noses or sniping or smelling our nuts we should just swap it with an well-documented and well-argued rebuttal. East Indians lament that their beloved Mumbai has been taken over by the Maharashtrians. And if we make sense of what Godfrey says, we may come to lament Goa's passing into the hands of "outsiders", as many hardcore Goans called these "new Goans." Let's not forget that Goans are screwing Goans, some of them robbing land or other property on the pretext of a lie. Some of these Goans project themselves as honest Goans or doing great voluntary service to Goans. We have seen family members or friends robbing each other of houses and other property. If we cannot be honest and true to each other, how can we expect non-Goans to be respectful, law-abiding and honest in their intentions? We can never learn the ulterior motives these people have just as we don't know the ulterior motives friends or just long-time acquitances have till they turn on you. I have recent experience where I have been falsely turned into a "liar" and from a "victim" to a "culprit". So, each of us Goan must be honest and true to oneself. .
Eugene PS: I think I know Godfrey as a journalist and I am bit unsure if he was in college with me.
