Title: Who the bleep cares about British-Goan identity? By: Selma Carvalho Source: Goan Voice Daily Newsletter, 13 March 2011
Full text: We don't take the car into Central London too often but when we do, I realize just how magnificent this city really is on a spring day. The sun shines with a rare sort of hubris on roads that twist and curve into lanes and alleyways. The arms of black wrought-iron gates rise like those of giants; fat Corinthian columns hold up flower-potted terraces; erotic half-naked men, cherubic angels, laughing gargoyles, and goddesses in flowing robes of cement plaster grace the entrances of buildings. Row upon row of glass windows shelter in walls of brick in every shade; grey-green, red, golden brown, muted yellow. This is a city of windows; looking outwards on its civilization, shedding light onto itself, baring itself in self-examination. We were on our way to an event, "Filling in the Cracks," organised by two enterprising young Goans, James D'Souza (checkout his blog at: http://jamesdsouza.blogspot.com) and Jason Fernandes, in the quaint "Palms of Goa" restaurant. For the first time I was to hear what being Goan in Britain meant, from speakers who spanned several generations. James himself met me at the bar, and told me that he was at one time fiercely "anti-Goan". I think he meant to tell me that he had recovered from that phase but we were interrupted by the smell of xacuti and pulau wafting from the buffet table. All four speakers were phenomenal; Anita Rebello, Myra Silveira, Louise de Sousa and Cliff Pereira but the two younger girls, Myra and Louise, took us by storm with their humour, courage and brutal honesty. Myra, now in her twenties, told us candidly that growing up, she felt a complete vacuum in terms of identity. She wasn't Portuguese, she wasn't English, she wasn't Indian and she didn't know what being Goan meant apart from accompanying her parents to tedious sing-alongs. James and she became Committee members of the Young London Goan Society and meeting other Goans, her own age, helped her to realize that she was not alone in this feeling of isolation. Louise, still in her teens, is a British-Goan and quite clear about the fact that very little of her is Goan in the traditional sense of the word. She is totally assimilated into the Western world and her identity is British above all else. This loss of cultural identity and its rediscovery in a different and assimilated guise is proof that cultural identities are never a constant. They are always in a state of evolution. And thank God, we Goans are capable of evolving. For if we look all around us, the only societies that decay are those that are incapable of evolving; incapable of dialogue, afraid of experimentation and closed to reformation. Societies that don't evolve, turn inwards, close themselves to outside influences and regress. They become materially impoverished and intellectually bankrupt. As much as we Goans are afraid that our culture is undergoing change, we also have to celebrate that change. But as Cliff Pereira was to make the point, even as we change and assimilate, we must also anchor onto a shared historical past. The many strands of influences we as Goans bring with us, from Goa, India, Africa or Portugal into the new countries we now inhabit, are part of a rich "inheritance". As the speakers spoke, it became apparent that this journey of who am I, unfolds as one moves from adolescence into adulthood. Then the curiosity about one's roots becomes more pressing. I've always believed our collective past is part of our individual psyche and there is much to be gleaned from knowing a past which remains obscured and in this our Goans organisations have a robust role to play, in bringing about an education. As Myra Silveira put it succinctly: "our culture is so strong.our spirit will also be strong enough to carry on." Do leave your feedback at [email protected] Selma Carvalho is the author of the book Into the Diaspora Wilderness. To check out reviews of the book, go to http://selmacarvalho.squarespace.com/
