Dear Jason Keith,
Let me tell you this sincerely.
You are like a son to me. Your dad and I have been class mates during
our academic years.
I still address him by his pet name 'Amor'. And I know that he is as
good a fighter as I am.
Having said that, I have always believed that one is never too old to
learn, even from one's children.
That understanding dilutes your "apun odlo' complex that you believe is
a negative streak in Goans (at least in my case).
Coming back to the case of the Australian Boy , when a father feels that
there is no future in remaining in Australia anymore (due to this
mugging incident), it becomes a defeat of dreams one nursed for the
future of his children having giving up everything one had in one's own
land for a future for one's off-springs.
That is why I had used the word 'concerned'
I remember my mother's attitude when I was a kid. If I had to come home
beaten and crying from play, there was the likeliest chance that I would
get beaten more for having gone to play at all. Therefore, the
complaining streak was nipped in the bud and this singular attitude of
my dear mom who is now 88 years and bedridden makes me take care of her
every need on day to day, hour to hour- basis. Because it is the
payment for building a tough son that I am.
In the same manner, this father of the Goan boy in Australia is
expected to have a similar attitude. But when he sees that his son may
lose his eye, it makes all the difference. Again the word 'concern' I
mentioned.
It must be a tough choise for a father to decide to return home and
forfeit his life-time dreams. It shatters a person from within as
against from without.
Coming to the dialogue mode, we Goans have been dialoguing, discussing
and deliberating for years together since 1961. All that is happening is
that outsiders (read Delhi'ites, Maharastrians and the RSS fellas) are
taking the upper hand with us Goans and reducing us to mere jokers (
intellectual) with ever so more brains than brawn. Look at the way the
Navy is consolidating its position in Goa citing security reasons. And
what is it doing? Sweet nothing. They cannot even manage the airport
runway where they allow a fuel tanker to plow through the runway, taking
days to mend it. In the bargain vital civilian flights are disrupted and
Goa pays. And BTW the Navy took over a civilian airport in an illegal
invasion and is holding on to it as if it is their father's property.
Well, you might say that the Navy is our Navy. Yes. But Goa, being as
small as it is against the rest of India, does not have the
obligation of catering to the national security with its blood. Besides,
the Navy in Goa is on HOLIDAY, vacationing entirely and competely
wanting more islands off Baina for picnicing.
Why am I talking about the Navy?
Because, I believe that young Goan intellectuals like you must dialogue
more on this and less on less important matters like the muggings in
Australia of Goans who have fled Goa for their own pleasure and promotion.
They could all come back to their Goa not as prodigal sons and daughters
but by right of being Goans, if only we could throw out the people like
the Navy, the national parties, and the born and bred Goan chamchas
who are making the mess of every inch of Goa being their bumchums,
feathering their own nests, elections after elections and helping the
marauders to consolidate their positions more and more each year, each
month.
I am most interested in this type of a dialogue
Capice my friend???
Abracos to you from this end too.
and b/rgds
cheers
floriano
GSRP/GEAG/PPS/MNE
www.goasu-raj.org
----- Original Message -----
From: Jason Keith Fernandes
To: floriano
Cc: Oscar Lobo ; Marion Pereira ; fiona lobo
Sent: Saturday, October 30, 2010 7:07 PM
Subject: Re: Goan boy
Dear Floriano,
(and you continue to remain dear to me - especially for the brave and
wonderful initiatives that you have and continue to take)
I am not sure what you mean by 'DIALOGUE MODES', but let me hazard a
response anyway.
I wonder if you recall a column i wrote on the fact that I do not think
that we Goans have a crab mentality. What I DO believe that Goans suffer
from is an unwillingness to discuss, ie. willingness to listen to
another point of view and respond meaningfully and respectfully to it.
This is not surprising given the 'apun odlo' attitude that we have
created, not least because of the caste and class hierarchies in our
villages, that are invariably criminally humiliating.
The more and more I think of it, the more convinced I am that this is a
significant lack that prevents us from moving forward in solidarity with
one another.
To listen to the other, only educates us further. We need not have to
agree, but we see how the other side is thinking and allows us to
strengthen our own argument, or modify it to embrace the other.
Discussion and dialogue is important because it is when one listens and
discusses, that one develops the cooperative frameworks necessary to
take action.
In the instant case, I would hate to see an initiative like yours water
itself down and get caught into the nationalist trap of 'RAcism in
Australia'. The past Indian exercise was more to support its global
ambitions than about addressing the needs of South Asians in Australia.
There is racism in Australia, but can we think of other ways in which we
can address it, by building different kinds of networks with Australian
groups?
If on the other hand the concern was for supporting the family of the
boy - monetarily and emotionally, then I have wasted so much of our
combined time.
sincerely,
abracos,
Jason
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