StyleSpeak: Stockholm Syndrome
By Wendell Rodricks
Over a dinner, one balmy evening in Ucassaim, our Delhi based, Goa
loving (with Goan wife) host asked the Goans and Goan residents at table
about this love-hate relationship we share with the Portuguese.
On one level we are bitter about the Inquisition. On the other hand, we
are quite comfortable with the thought that we are more
"international/Westernized". The latter is actually a poisoned chalice.
Are we naive to believe that we truly are more "international' than our
Indian brethren? Or are we just a hopelessly confused people...
psychologically manipulated by colonizers. All colonizers: The Hindu
kingdoms from across our Northern and Southern borders, the Muslim
invaders from the Deccan and eventually the Portuguese, have left us
with psychological scars. That night I sat in my garden in Colvale and
looked up at the stars and a sliver of a moon. It is amazing to think
that this is the same sky that Alphonso de Albuquerque gazed upon when
he entered the Mandovi on 4th March 1510. Five hundred years ago, he
would have suffered the same summer heat. Remarkable that a European
took Goa over for three torrid months till 20th May 1510; a regrouped
Adil Shah army and a discontent local populace drove Albuquerque from
Goan shores to the land across the Mandovi and later to Anjadive. In the
pouring rain, he licked his wounds and waited for a flotilla of ships...
which arrived after the rainclouds vanished from the skies. It was as
late as 25th November 1510 when Albuquerque relaunched his campaign to
regain Goa. By 10th December 1510, his mission was accomplished.
When the 4th of March 2010 passed, I scanned the media for a mention of
the famed arrival of the Portuguese in Goa. Not a word! I presume that
on 10th December it will be the same story. No one wants to celebrate
the 500 year old Portuguese arrival in Goa.
And yet, one corner of our heart loves the colonizer. We have learnt to
appreciate the acts of kindness and aspects for Western culture which
the Portuguese brought to us. Farmers are grateful for better farming
methods despite what the Inquisition did to them. Sometimes the veil of
anger and hatred are lifted and Goans will admit that not all was wrong
with the Portuguese. How easily the wounds of infliction are forgotten
and healed. Or are they?
Today the Goa Government goes one step further and ensures that every
single advertisement for Goa reeks of fancy sounding Portuguese names.
What is this love-hate relationship about?
By the time the Colvale sky in the East turned a pale yellow, sunbeams
peeping shyly through the mango leaves, I had a possible answer.
Stockholm Syndrome!
For five days from August 23rd to 28th, 1973, bank robbers in Stockholm
psychologically seduced bank workers into helping them escape. It was a
paradoxical, psychological phenomenon new to the world. The hostages
expressed adulation and positive feelings for the captors. This is
irrational.. in light of the danger and risk endured by the victims.
This strange psychological behaviour was dubbed the Stockholm Syndrome.
The world's most famous victim of the syndrome is undoubtedly Patty
Hearst, who helped in an armed robbery with her captors in 1974. The
heiress who inherited the Randolph Hearst fortune was finally gifted a
Presidential Pardon by Bill Clinton in 2001. It was one of his last acts
of pardon in office.
What is it about the Stockholm Syndrome? I see it happening around us in
Goa today.
On one level we know we Goans are the victims in the hands of our
(beloved) rulers (we still use this colonial word for our public
servants). On the other hand... look at the newspapers. On Alemao's
birthday, more than half the newspapers were blocked for sycophancy. Who
are these people... claiming their love for their leader? Have they
enjoyed hidden blessings we don't know about? Ofcourse, dummy! Does
Alemao himself not realise that this is pure maskaa-lagaoing? Maybe not.
Maybe he feels these people truly love him more than they love his
office and signature. Frankly, who is the dummy here? Too many to count.
I have been watching with growing alarm and reading about the bad press
our CM is enjoying. Rather, squirming under. Doesn't he have some PR
spin heads to rectify this situation. Or is he so lost in his
cream-of-Goa crowd that he cannot see the growing discontent? I feel
sorry for him and his chamchaas.
It must be terrible to be surrounded by people who never tell you the
truth. For so many years I have commented on what is happening in Goa.
Along the way I have stepped on many corns. One sweet old lady told me
once "You really must hate them. The way you write about them". The fact
is that I do not. What is there to get personal with anyone in this
world? What I am saying is the truth. In fact it may be the only truth
they will ever hear. On a personal level I have nothing against any
politician. I can even enjoy a drink with them and appreciate their
human side. But when it comes to the rape of Goa, it is a different story.
Like all Goans who are at the end of their patience, I am aghast at the
way Goa is going. Where once was a golden land is now a garbage pile.
Where once was real music is now a Babel of discontent. Once content
farmers are now in revolution mode. The rampant corruption at all levels
is visible and atrociously commonplace. Where is the law and order?
Where are ethics and morals? Goans themselves are on the lookout for a
quick buck.
I recall distinctly how Raheja sent two men to talk to me to support
their plans for Goa. One of them was a Mr. Heredia, Mumbai resident. The
other was an ex Government thug clothed in fake innocence. I told them
to shove their plans where they crapped from. I refused to believe their
mantra of "jobs for Goans". The more they offered and pleaded, the more
I realised I was dealing with the devil. I threw them out of my office
and told them never to come near me again. That was two years ago. But
they are still around convincing our rather illiterate ministers that
"their" growth plans are good for Goa. Hogwash! That's like saying that
all industrialists and businessmen (myself included) profits are going
to flow into every personal account of every Goans. Utter nonsense! We
are now in a Stockholm Syndrome with our Government. Our leaders are our
captors. We are the victims.
Psychologists will list the following captor-victim Stockholm Syndrome
realities:
1. The hostages believe that the perpetrator gives life by not taking
theirs.
2. The hostage endures isolation and hence believes only what the
hostage-taker tells them.
3. The hostage-taker threatens to kill the victim and gives the
perception that they have the capability to do so.
4. The victim sees the perpetrator of showing degrees of kindness.
All of the above holds true with our pathetic situation in Goa. We know
we are being destroyed. Yet we felicitate our babus and netas at every
excuse. We forget that they are our servants. They are public servants
accountable to us. We are not accountable to them. We do not need to beg
and plead for papers and permissions which are legal. It is those who
want illegal favours who need to do the pleading and cash exchanges.
It is my hope now that we have The Lima Syndrome in Goa.
What's that?
In 1996, the Lima Syndrome entered the annals of Psychology. The
Japanese Embassy in Lima, Peru was taken hostage. But within a short
time, the hostage-takers realised that their victims were meek, kind and
harmless. So after a few hours, the victims were released. A rare case
where abductors developed sympathy for their hostages.
I hope our leaders realise a sudden Lima compassion and fall in love
with us Goa citizens and our needs.
Go on Mr. Kamat, show us your heart! (ENDS)
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First published in Goa Today, Goa - June 2010
